The United States’ woes in international competition continued recently with the U.S. dropping its third straight Ryder Cup and Andy Roddick’s 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, 17-15 loss to Russian Dimitri Tursunov in the Davis Cup.

After Lance Armstrong’s seventh tour de France triumph in July last year, the U.S. has not been able to put together an international victory. We won four fewer medals than the Germans in the ’06 Winter Olympics, were eliminated in the second round of our own World Baseball Classic, failed to advance to the knockout round in the World Cup, were humiliated by Floyd Landis’s and Justin Gatlin’s steroid disqualifications, and three Sunday’s ago, were defeated in the Ryder Cup for the third consecutive time.

This has to be fixed, but first of all we must address the question: What is wrong with American sports?

We the fans are to some extent responsible for America’s decline in world competitions. Players in other countries see their fans in public places, cheering their respective teams to international heroism, while most American sports fans show more interest in the domestic leagues: the MLB, NFL, NHL, and NBA. Kids in the US dream of winning the Super Bowl or World Series instead of the World Cup or an Olympic Medal. Champions in these strictly domestic leagues are often lauded as world champions, despite the fact that no teams from other countries were involved in the competition. Few MLB players would choose a World Baseball Classic title over a World Series victory; few NBA players would put the FIBA World Basketball Championship or an Olympic gold over the NBA Championship. No one questions, however, that the talent level in our top domestic leagues, soccer aside, is higher than many leagues abroad.

Soccer is the only sport in which some of the premier American players leave the US to play abroad. The best American players have little reason to stay in the MLS when there are much better players and better coaching in countries such as Italy, Spain, England, and Germany. Although the team was winless in their trip to the World Cup, the Americans played strongly against the World Champion Italians through 90 minutes, leading to their lone point, a tie.

As we move forward as a country, we have to eliminate the cheating in our sports. The MLB, our national pastime, has been ravaged by steroid accusations and scandals, as have our track and field and cycling stars. The international age is upon us, and if we are not careful, we may see more talented leagues rise up elsewhere if we cannot keep the integrity of sports in our country. Of course fans may be excited by booming home runs, and lighting fast runners, but, in the end, what is sport the races are no longer won by human means?

We need to rekindle in America the passion and intensity for international competition that is so prevalent in countries such as in Germany, Spain, Russia and Ireland. If Americans cannot rekindle their passion for international competition, then the age of American dominance in international competition has come to an end.