If cricket, rugby and ice hockey can call their biggest international tournament a "world cup" basketball should be able to do the same. Oh well, I'll always call it the basketball "world cup".
Actually it's a good question. I forgot. But if they don't they should. To me "World Cup" sounds and reads better than "World Championship".
Cause there is only one World Cup. The rest are World Championships who dare to call themselves World Cups.
the iihf world championships is an annual event that is a much bigger deal in europe than in north america. at least at the canada cup/world cup of hockey that is played every 4-5 years everyone sends theit best players. the iihf tournament is second rate at best.
I would put the World Cup of Hockey below the World Championships. The World Championships have a longer history plus they have actual qualifying.
Well, yeah, but the World Championship like someone said are held every year, so it's not as much of a big deal because you can see it all the time and not have to wait 4 years. Not only that, but it, from what I remember, is held during the Stanley Cup Finals and maybe even earlier playoff rounds so the best players can't even play. Also, noone cares because it is held during another big competition from the same sport. I think the World Cup of Hockey will just get bigger and better as the years go on and tradition builds. -Von
There are so many Hockey-championships, right now there is one called Ceska Cup. However, The Olympics is still the biggest.
The World Cup of Hockey is a NHL tournament aimed at the North American audience. It's results don't count in the IIHF world ranking. I for one don't care for it and will always prefer the World Championships over some NHL effort...
Eventually, the World Cup of Hockey will get big. But as of right now, it is nothing compared to the World Championships.
It appears Japan is a two time World Champion in American Football. LOL http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Football_World_Cup