Sadly I can’t link to it directly because it’s in an annoying popup, but the discussion of the best college basketball players of the year on “ESPN.com”:http://espn.go.com/, featured an hilarous quote from Andy Katz about Australian “Andrew Bogut”:http://utahutes.collegesports.com/andrewbogut/.
bq. Bogut is a unique foreign player. He has a toughness that contradicts the stereotype of foreign big men and has helped him become a force in the paint.
I’ve heard of German stereotypes and American stereotypes and Australian stereotypes and so on, but the idea of there being a stereotype for _foreigners_, i.e. non-Americans, as such is astounding. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so other in my life.
Seriously though, were Australians in the NBA perceived of as weaklings? I wasn’t following American sports when Luc Longley was with the Bulls, so for all I know he’s responsible for Americans thinking of us foreigners as people who can be blown over with a puff of wind.