Two of my favorite athletes

I was just reading a story on ESPN.com about how Andy Roddick withdrew from Memphis because of an ankle injury. Here is a blurb:

"The first really kind of significant move I made I just knew that it wasn't going to happen for me," Roddick said.He decided to pass on a chance to win his second tour title in two weeks in part because he wants to be healthy for the U.S. team's Davis Cup match against Croatia in two weeks.

"The repercussions of this injury wouldn't just affect me. It would affect my teammates and playing for my country as well," Roddick said.

Andy Roddick is one of the few openly and unabashedly patriotic American athletes. So many other countries just give glory to their country in the Olympics or say, "Yes I did it for Belgium" or something along those lines. I don't know whether this is a product of our individualistic society or that we have so many winners and famous people from the US, that they just don't feel the connection as much as someone who is the only gold medal winner from their country.
Roddick is one of my favorites and another one is Allen Iverson. I thought it was great what he did in the 2004 Summer Olympics(Tim Duncan deserves as much credit). Unlike so many of the other NBA Superstars, Iverson went to represent his country and not only did he not get rewarded for his efforts, he was embarassed! So many people from our own country not only didn't care that we lost the Gold, but actually rooted for the NBA players to lose for some ridiculous reason like that they are egotistical and overpaid and yada yada yada. Iverson did it anyways, and he kept his head high the whole time, and also stuck through it to win the Bronze. I think that was one of the most noble acts in athleticism I have seen in my short life.
I also want to submit that he may be the greatest basketball player of all time. Everyone says Michael Jordan this and Michael Jordan that, but Michael Jordan was born 6'6''. I mean he is a really big guy compared to the rest of us. Allen Iverson is only 6'1'' and leads the league in scoring and is his whole team. I just don't think he gets enough credit for overcoming how small he is and how much of a beating he takes and yet continues to score more than so many other big guys in the NBA. He's just really good and I am impressed by him.