I enjoyed Lior Rozenman's 'Land of the freefall' rant about the demise of America's golf and tennis stars (good headline, by the way). It's lovely to see the self-proclaimed giants of world sport squirm rather than gloat for a change.

Yes, I use the word gloat because that's what Lior would have us believe we Europeans are guilty of. What his moans seem to indicate is that some Americans are bad losers as well as bad winners. How sweet that the pathetic whooping, puerile cries of 'U-S-A' and apparent belief that God blesses only America have been silenced, albeit temporarily.

I still haven't forgotten the Yanks' rare Ryder Cup win at Brookline in 1999 - and not just for their amazing final-day fightback from 10-6 down. The whole occasion was marred by US players, their wives and fans running on to the green after Justin Leonard holed a 45-foot putt against Jose Maria Olazabal on the 17th.

The incident came at a crucial point, with the overall result still in doubt, and undoubtedly affected the Spaniard's concentration. He predictably missed his own putt, which of course sparked more uncontrolled US yelps of delight.

Apparently no official rules were broken by the American histrionics but there is no doubt their behaviour was over the top. Indeed, the Europeans were convinced that a number of unwritten rules and codes of conduct were ignored. There was still considerable bad blood after the match with European players complaining about the behaviour of the US galleries throughout the match. Sam Torrance branded it "disgusting," while captain Mark James referred to it as a "bear pit".

Certainly there can be no complaints about the impeccable behaviour of Tom Lehman's beaten team at the K Club - or their grace in defeat. And as the whoopers and yelpers had little to shout about, there was no OTT behaviour from them, either. As for the Irish public, they showed the utmost respect for their visitors throughout, so who could begrudge them their joyous celebrations - and indeed tears.

Unfortunately many Americans seem to think they have a divine right to win everything. The reality, I am afraid, is that in today's world they are moderate sportsmen at best.

It's the sort of things Brits are used to. During my lifetime (and that goes back a long way), we've see-sawed between average and absolute c*** at just about everything, so why deride us for enjoying our rare moments of pleasure?

As I see it, the only sports the Americans seem to excel at are the ones only they and their lapdogs play - like grid-iron football and baseball, or rounders as we European girls call the game from which it evolved.

Indeed, their games aren't even their own. American football wouldn't exist but for William Webb Ellis picking up a soccer ball at Rugby School in 1823 and giving birth to yet another of the globally-played games we Brits invented.

And what are those laughable tin helmets and all that body armour about? Top-class rugby is just as tough (I'd back an All Black forward against any overpaid grid-iron star), yet a bit of shoulder padding is all the body armour our sporting hard men seem to need.

And what's this 'World Series' of baseball? A big world, indeed - comprising the United States and Canada, with a little help from the Japanese and some also-rans from Central America. No wonder the Yanks aren't big into the REAL game of football...there's too much competition when they enter the real world.

It's always irritated me how the Americans have ruined our language (and have the cheek to still call it English). And as for those irritating, insular cries of 'God Bless America', has no one told our friends over the pond that God is a European? What was the final Ryder Cup winning margin, eight and a half? The very name of Italian cinema icon Frederico Fellini's 1960s classic.