Anesthesiologist dies during Mexico vacation

[deleted87051]

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There. I fixed it for you. The world loves to shove soccer in the US's face because it's all they have on us (well, that and Winter Olympics). If Soccer were the only option in the US and they paid multi millions of dollars for athletes to play it, you better believe we'd start collecting World Cups. Don't kid yourself. You're basically saying US kids can't learn to play soccer, and as FFP just said, our women prove that's we can. It's not arrogance. It's logic.

We’re not producing any 2:03-2:05 marathoners either.

 

[EyesInMyVeins]

There. I fixed it for you. The world loves to shove soccer in the US's face because it's all they have on us (well, that and Winter Olympics). If Soccer were the only option in the US and they paid multi millions of dollars for athletes to play it, you better believe we'd start collecting World Cups. Don't kid yourself. You're basically saying US kids can't learn to play soccer, and as FFP just said, our women prove that's we can. It's not arrogance. It's logic.

Disagree. Not to open a whole another avenue of discussion of freedoms, but the success of our women's team should also be considered by the opportunities that our women have in this country. In a lot of countries (most of y'all know which ones), to put it simply, no one cares about women's sports and their training opportunities to pursue careers in sports (or any traditionally male-dominated field) are at the very least limited if not shunned. Title IX essentially gave our gals a head start that few other countries have.

Essentially our men's team doesn't succeed because no cares (and our training methodology is poor), and our women's team succeeds because no one else cares.

 

[Twiggidy]

Well, now that this thread has turned to talk about soccer:

Ironic as it may seem, the fact that we are indeed the "biggest developed country" in the world may be impeding the skill and quality of play amongst our soccer players, even despite all the other major sports that dominate our market and public interests. The fact that young boys and girls in America have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to play and receive formal coaching in this country places soccer as a sport that is more easily accessible for wealthier families. On top of that, the future of a promising soccer player in this country is rather limited, unless he has the potential to be recognized by some of the European clubs (Pulisic). Most promising high school studs end up as another D1 player who may/may not play in the MLS, a league that is far inferior to the talent of other worldwide leagues. Yes, part of this is popularity. But, also look at our training programs.

The dogma of formal training in this country for this sport that relatively favors utmost mastery of technique and foot coordination over sheer athleticism alone emphasizes progressing from softer, smaller soccer balls and smaller fields/goals to "age-appropriate" incremental increases. Meanwhile, around the globe, kids are running around on full sized pitches kicking adult-sized soccer balls since they were 8 or 9. It is no wonder why 15, 16 year olds in some of those countries are running toe-to-toe and are displaying ball IQs similar to their 10-20 year older pro teammates. This kind of mindset to this sport also limits the potential of our players, as well as the popularity. Compare this to our traditionally popular sports like basketball or football. The rim height and basketball size that club 10-year olds play with are identical to the dimensions of the NBA (despite the slight court size/3 point differences). In both of these sports, the biggest progression from the youth to pro level is mainly the size/strength/athleticism of the athletes themselves.

Tennis is a good example of how systemic changes in training methodologies can ruin a sport despite the relatively popularity of it (in fact, tennis is the fastest growing sport in the US in terms of participation/popularity in the 21st century). Just about 20 years ago, the US was rampant with generational tennis talent. You had Sampras/McEnroe/Agassi/Chang/Lendl/Navratilova/Seles/etc. Ever since the USTA sparked this BS idea of 10-and-under tennis (using smaller racquets and foam balls at a young age for kids to master the fundamentals in an "age-appropriate" way), you saw a decline in the number of American athletes reaching the top 50. Since the 2000s, you had Roddick reach #1 momentarily (trained before this) and Sock/Isner making some noise. Ofc, you had the Williams sisters but their training via their father was also was completely unique and kind of mental from a young age. Like in soccer, the equipment and facilities needed for proper tennis training require $$$. But you did have a generation of greats that trained in conditions of the same accessibility. Whereas now, 10 year olds are running around on undersized courts with undersized rackets hitting Nerf tennis balls whereas 10-year old Nadals, Federers and even Agassis was beating grown men in their respective circuits.

Access is definitely an issue. I pride myself as a pretty athletic kid growing up. I actually lived next door to an ice skating rink (in the south of all places) and taught myself to ice skate, first on figure skates and then on hockey skates. I asked my mother if I could play hockey and she said it was too expensive (Hundreds of dollars for a single mom). On the contrary, community center basketball was like $15. Interestingly, soccer was the first REAL organized sport I every played but my mother didn't really get it, so yet again, I found myself in the baskeball leagues, which were cheap and she knew how to cheer for. Organized soccer was expensive and if you were any good you had to pay to travel. I played football 2 years before high school for the first time and at that point if you were fast and could hit, they wouldn't make you pay for anything (or someone would pay for you). So I believe in essence, my story is a microcosm of the soccer story in this country. Had it been my focus, I probably would've been pretty good. Now make it the focus of all the young athletes in our state (and not football or basketball which we were known for)....we would've had a state full of insane soccer players.

This isn't to say wealthy kids aren't good at soccer. Many of them are. But in this country we literally price some athletes out of the game whereas, as we've discussed, in poorer, developing countries and in Europe, it's all they play. Everyone wants to be a footballer.....in this country people kids want to be the "other" footballer.


(As an aside. Quite honestly, I rather argue sports than some of the other stuff we argue on these forums. Just sayin'.)

 

[Twiggidy]

Disagree. Not to open a whole another avenue of discussion of freedoms, but the success of our women's team should also be considered by the opportunities that our women have in this country. In a lot of countries (most of y'all know which ones), to put it simply, no one cares about women's sports and their training opportunities to pursue careers in sports (or any traditionally male-dominated) are at the very least limited and even shunned. Title IX essentially gave our gals a head start that few other countries have.

Essentially our men's team doesn't succeed because no cares (and our training methodology is poor), and our women's team succeeds because no one else cares.

Well...our methodology is poor and we're just grooming 2nd class athletes. Again, I'd argue the athleticism of Rob Gronkowski is better than that of most goalies....now if he'd been a goalie all his life with that combined athleticism, I'd make an argument he'd been near impossible to score on.

This is all just theoretical and me dreaming of a way to make the USMNT better. It's me arguing just to make silly arguments, but I'd just like to imagine our superior athletes growing up soccer players and what that would look like, given this country's athletes and resources.

 

[deleted171991]

Disagree. Not to open a whole another avenue of discussion of freedoms, but the success of our women's team should also be considered by the opportunities that our women have in this country. In a lot of countries (most of y'all know which ones), to put it simply, no one cares about women's sports and their training opportunities to pursue careers in sports (or any traditionally male-dominated) are at the very least limited and even shunned. Title IX essentially gave our gals a head start that few other countries have.

Essentially our men's team doesn't succeed because no cares (and our training methodology is poor), and our women's team succeeds because no one else cares.

You're wrong. Women's sports are very present in many (not few) other countries. It's simply that soccer is seen as "manly", similar to the way American women look at football.

The reason soccer is popular among American women is postmodernism. Put it simply, many American women want to be seen like men with a different set of chromosomes, while most foreign cultures are much more traditionalist (not necessarily in a bad sense, men are indeed from Mars and women from Venus). Hence foreign women simply don't touch a soccer ball (while playing a lot of other team sports).

The reason American women's soccer does not attract more eyes is simply because women are much worse at soccer than men (anywhere in the world). Soccer IS a more manly sport, with some degree of physical contact, and another sport where being a man brings an innate advantage (as athleticism goes). So it's way more spectacular and exciting when played by men. Even the best women's soccer team doesn't come close to even the worst premier league soccer team from England, Italy, Spain or Germany.

 

[pgg]

The reason American women's soccer does not attract more eyes is simply because women are much worse at soccer than men (anywhere in the world).

It's true that the skill levels aren't remotely comparable. You've got to watch the later rounds of the Women's World Cup finals to see consistently good play, and even then the pace of the game is pretty slow. But there's more to it than that.

Objectively, college football sucks. Most of the players are terrible, barely 2% are good enough to ever play in the NFL, much less be long term starters. Half the games are blowouts with 30+ point margins.

And yet college football has a huge fan base.

 

[deleted162650]

So it's way more spectacular and exciting when played by men.

Wrong. It’s lame no matter who’s playing it.

 

[Twiggidy]

This is just a bit of the chauvinist in me, but I would watch Alex Morgan score goals all day....just saying. It was a sad day in my home when Sydney Leroux was no longer on the first squad.

 

[epidural man]

Well, now that this thread has turned to talk about soccer:

Ironic as it may seem, the fact that we are indeed the "biggest developed country" in the world may be impeding the skill and quality of play amongst our soccer players, even despite all the other major sports that dominate our market and public interests. The fact that young boys and girls in America have to pay exorbitant amounts of money to play and receive formal coaching in this country places soccer as a sport that is more easily accessible for wealthier families. On top of that, the future of a promising soccer player in this country is rather limited, unless he has the potential to be recognized by some of the European clubs (Pulisic). Most promising high school studs end up as another D1 player who may/may not play in the MLS, a league that is far inferior to the talent of other worldwide leagues. Yes, part of this is popularity. But, also look at our training programs.

The dogma of formal training in this country for this sport that relatively favors utmost mastery of technique and foot coordination over sheer athleticism alone emphasizes progressing from softer, smaller soccer balls and smaller fields/goals to "age-appropriate" incremental increases. Meanwhile, around the globe, kids are running around on full sized pitches kicking adult-sized soccer balls since they were 8 or 9. It is no wonder why 15, 16 year olds in some of those countries are running toe-to-toe and are displaying ball IQs similar to their 10-20 year older pro teammates. This kind of mindset to this sport also limits the potential of our players, as well as the popularity. Compare this to our traditionally popular sports like basketball or football. The rim height and basketball size that club 10-year olds play with are identical to the dimensions of the NBA (despite the slight court size/3 point differences). In both of these sports, the biggest progression from the youth to pro level is mainly the size/strength/athleticism of the athletes themselves.

Tennis is a good example of how systemic changes in training methodologies can ruin a sport despite the relatively popularity of it (in fact, tennis is the fastest growing sport in the US in terms of participation/popularity in the 21st century). Just about 20 years ago, the US was rampant with generational tennis talent. You had Sampras/McEnroe/Agassi/Chang/Lendl/Navratilova/Seles/etc. Ever since the USTA sparked this BS idea of 10-and-under tennis (using smaller racquets and foam balls at a young age for kids to master the fundamentals in an "age-appropriate" way), you saw a decline in the number of American athletes reaching the top 50. Since the 2000s, you had Roddick reach #1 momentarily (trained before this) and Sock/Isner making some noise. Ofc, you had the Williams sisters but their training via their father was also was completely unique and kind of mental from a young age. Like in soccer, the equipment and facilities needed for proper tennis training require $$$. But you did have a generation of greats that trained in conditions of the same accessibility. Whereas now, 10 year olds are running around on undersized courts with undersized rackets hitting Nerf tennis balls whereas 10-year old Nadals, Federers and even Agassis was beating grown men in their respective circuits.

Did anybody see that piece on HBO - by Byrant Gumble - about how there was an American soccer coach who went over to Japan (I think it was Japan...) and totally changed how they taught kids soccer and it is making a HUGE difference in their total skill level as a country.

 

[epidural man]

I went and found it.

Check it out....It is episode 248 of Real Sports - the bit called Soccer Sensei.

On that same episode, there is a guy that built a contraption that creates huge, perfect waves in a lake - so people can surf and practice on a perfect, reproducible wave. It's a pretty cool concept.

 

[epidural man]

I go to mexico 2-3 times a year.

Now you got me rethinking this ...althoug I love puerto vallarta.

Actually, I'm fine with all of you not going there...I agree. Stay away! Prices will likely drop.

Me and the canadians will enjoy it.

 

[epidural man]

Okay, finally read the story about the Imperial Beach dude in Mexico that was shot at 4am.

Here is what I learned.

Pay AFTER coitus, not before.

 

[EyesInMyVeins]

You're wrong. Women's sports are very present in many (not few) other countries. It's simply that soccer is seen as "manly", similar to the way American women look at football.

The reason soccer is popular among American women is postmodernism. Put it simply, many American women want to be seen like men with a different set of chromosomes, while most foreign cultures are much more traditionalist (not necessarily in a bad sense, men are indeed from Mars and women from Venus). Hence foreign women simply don't touch a soccer ball (while playing a lot of other team sports).

Regardless of which sport, women around the world do not draw the same kind of funding, societal support, or freedoms that men draw for sports. While I agree that soccer can be viewed as a "manly" sport, I don't think that alone explains the traditionalist attitudes of keeping women away from it, especially considering the cultural attitudes of women's general freedoms in some of the Islamic countries. Even despite the increased opportunities American women have, the gender inequalities are staggering. The USWNT won $2 million for winning the World Cup. That is 1/4 of what the 9th place men's team won in the past World Cup.

But I do agree that there will always be a huge skill difference in women and men in soccer, as well as most sports. Even tennis, a sport that has much more parity in that it is not just viewed as a "manly" sport, the skill difference between men and women is unreal. There's a reason the men play 5 set matches in the major tournaments whereas women only play 3 sets.

As someone that wishes for more success in our USMNT, I still believe that more is needed than simply increased popularity alone. Soccer isn't a sport where having the fastest, strongest athletes alone will bear a big advantage. While it is fun to imagine having dudes with world-class, NBA/NFL-caliber athleticism on the soccer pitch, our "coddled" training methodology and accessibilities still need to be changed. When I went to France earlier this year with some friends, we played pickup 4v4 against some routine 11-year old club players. I played varsity soccer before med school but the other three on my team were two standout D1 soccer players and one of their's little brother who is on the U19 USMNT. Needless to say, those 11 year old kids completely wrecked us; it was almost demoralizing. The talent and ball IQ these kids have from such a young age is stupefying.

 

[EyesInMyVeins]

It's true that the skill levels aren't remotely comparable. You've got to watch the later rounds of the Women's World Cup finals to see consistently good play, and even then the pace of the game is pretty slow. But there's more to it than that.

Objectively, college football sucks. Most of the players are terrible, barely 2% are good enough to ever play in the NFL, much less be long term starters. Half the games are blowouts with 30+ point margins.

And yet college football has a huge fan base.

100% agree. While college football can be fun for the environment and school spirit, I'm always laugh at those comparing the highest caliber NCAA teams with some NFL teams (ie Alabama possibly beating Cleveland Browns LOL).

 

[GigiBuffon]

Well...our methodology is poor and we're just grooming 2nd class athletes. Again, I'd argue the athleticism of Rob Gronkowski is better than that of most goalies....now if he'd been a goalie all his life with that combined athleticism, I'd make an argument he'd been near impossible to score on.

This is all just theoretical and me dreaming of a way to make the USMNT better. It's me arguing just to make silly arguments, but I'd just like to imagine our superior athletes growing up soccer players and what that would look like, given this country's athletes and resources.

I fear you are wrong again, my friend. Gronk has a good height at 6'6", but at 265 lbs he is way too heavy. He's athletic compared to most NFL linebackers, but that doesn't mean much in soccer. Speed and agility are much more important. David de Gea, Spanish national keeper, is 6'4" and somewhere around 165lbs. You read that right, a whooping 100 lbs less than your Gronk. If you think Gronk is athletic, maybe watch de Gea sometime, he will seem supernatural to you flying around the box.

Your point about imagining having the tallest and biggest athletes of the major 4 American sports in soccer is just that, an imagination. Soccer is one of those rare sports where height and weight are (few positions being an exception) not as important as agility, ball control, speed, and loads of experience as early as possible on the highest level possible.

You bring enthusiasm to the table, Twiggidy. I like it. 👍

 

[GigiBuffon]

Regardless of which sport, women around the world do not draw the same kind of funding, societal support, or freedoms that men draw for sports. While I agree that soccer can be viewed as a "manly" sport, I don't think that alone explains the traditionalist attitudes of keeping women away from it, especially considering the cultural attitudes of women's general freedoms in some of the Islamic countries. Even despite the increased opportunities American women have, the gender inequalities are staggering. The USWNT won $2 million for winning the World Cup. That is 1/4 of what the 9th place men's team won in the past World Cup.

But I do agree that there will always be a huge skill difference in women and men in soccer, as well as most sports. Even tennis, a sport that has much more parity in that it is not just viewed as a "manly" sport, the skill difference between men and women is unreal. There's a reason the men play 5 set matches in the major tournaments whereas women only play 3 sets.

As someone that wishes for more success in our USMNT, I still believe that more is needed than simply increased popularity alone. Soccer isn't a sport where having the fastest, strongest athletes alone will bear a big advantage. While it is fun to imagine having dudes with world-class, NBA/NFL-caliber athleticism on the soccer pitch, our "coddled" training methodology and accessibilities still need to be changed. When I went to France earlier this year with some friends, we played pickup 4v4 against some routine 11-year old club players. I played varsity soccer before med school but the other three on my team were two standout D1 soccer players and one of their's little brother who is on the U19 USMNT. Needless to say, those 11 year old kids completely wrecked us; it was almost demoralizing. The talent and ball IQ these kids have from such a young age is stupefying.

Couldn't agree more. I used to ski, and think at age 12/13 that I was really good. Not a superstar, but going almost every weekend, and better than my peers. Then we went skiing in the Swiss Alps... and the 5 year olds over there left us behind like we were some old trees blocking the slope. 🙁

Having a big pool of athletes definitely helps... but focusing on that, one ignores the fact that 1) other countries have athletes just as good, and 2) they find and develop these athletes at ridiculously young ages, throwing them into the adults divisions at a time when American athletes waste their time in college sports. Does it help that in most other countries in the world, soccer is the #1, #2, and #3 sport? Absolutely.

 

[Twiggidy]

I fear you are wrong again, my friend. Gronk has a good height at 6'6", but at 265 lbs he is way too heavy. He's athletic compared to most NFL linebackers, but that doesn't mean much in soccer. Speed and agility are much more important. David de Gea, Spanish national keeper, is 6'4" and somewhere around 165lbs. You read that right, a whooping 100 lbs less than your Gronk. If you think Gronk is athletic, maybe watch de Gea sometime, he will seem supernatural to you flying around the box.

Your point about imagining having the tallest and biggest athletes of the major 4 American sports in soccer is just that, an imagination. Soccer is one of those rare sports where height and weight are (few positions being an exception) not as important as agility, ball control, speed, and loads of experience as early as possible on the highest level possible.

You bring enthusiasm to the table, Twiggidy. I like it. 👍

I think you're underestimating the athleticism of these NFL/NBA players. Don't let that 265lb frame fool you. Gronk can't run a 40 yd dash in 4.68. That's fast. NFL receivers go around 4.4 which is superfast. They're also very agile. So while they may look big and slow, per se, they're incredibly explosive. I've looked around and some estimate the Messi's 40 yd dash would be about between 4.5-4.7. So they with 100 extra pounds is running about the same speed.

I suddenly love this thread. lol!

 

[epidural man]

i think what we are all forgetting - with regards to superb athleticism...

is that USA mens curling won gold this year.

(mic drop....)

 

[EyesInMyVeins]

I think you're underestimating the athleticism of these NFL/NBA players. Don't let that 265lb frame fool you. Gronk can't run a 40 yd dash in 4.68. That's fast. NFL receivers go around 4.4 which is superfast. They're also very agile. So while they may look big and slow, per se, they're incredibly explosive. I've looked around and some estimate the Messi's 40 yd dash would be about between 4.5-4.7. So they with 100 extra pounds is running about the same speed.

I suddenly love this thread. lol!

But I think that right there shows how immense strength, 30-inch verticals and 4.3 speed aren't necessary at all to succeed in soccer and in Messi's case, become arguably the greatest of all time. It's all about elite foot coordination, fitness and being acclimated to stiffer competition and more intricate play style from an early age to develop the skills needed to succeed amongst the immense global competition.

Also, the problem with some of those freak of nature athletes is that even if soccer becomes popular in the USA, their raw athletic ability can make them more likely to self-select into sports like basketball or football where such size/speed qualities give them a huge advantage over their peers from a young age. Whereas in soccer, they would have to differentiate themselves mostly based on skill alone which is a more difficult ordeal. That's why pro basketball players are so tall and it's why Gronk is in the NFL.

 

[GigiBuffon]

I think you're underestimating the athleticism of these NFL/NBA players. Don't let that 265lb frame fool you. Gronk can't run a 40 yd dash in 4.68. That's fast. NFL receivers go around 4.4 which is superfast. They're also very agile. So while they may look big and slow, per se, they're incredibly explosive. I've looked around and some estimate the Messi's 40 yd dash would be about between 4.5-4.7. So they with 100 extra pounds is running about the same speed.

I suddenly love this thread. lol!

True, on a 40 yd dash, Im sure there won't be much of a difference... but in soccer, players go (with the exception of halftime) 90 mins constantly. No interruption unlike in the NFL when you have plenty of time to recover cause you're not on the field half the game. They routinely cover 10-15km during that time... and have to be explosive still in the 85th minute. I don't know how a big and heavy guy like Gronk would do in that... speculation on my part, but probably poorly. Just too much weight.

Agreed though-- we need more soccer threads to prepare for the WC this summer. 😉

 

[Twiggidy]

True, on a 40 yd dash, Im sure there won't be much of a difference... but in soccer, players go (with the exception of halftime) 90 mins constantly. No interruption unlike in the NFL when you have plenty of time to recover cause you're not on the field half the game. They routinely cover 10-15km during that time... and have to be explosive still in the 85th minute. I don't know how a big and heavy guy like Gronk would do in that... speculation on my part, but probably poorly. Just too much weight.

Agreed though-- we need more soccer threads to prepare for the WC this summer. 😉

it would essentially be a rugby player playing soccer. what a Premiership Rugby match (they been coming on after the Premier League lately on NBC Sports). those dudes are big and the match moves constantly like soccer.

 

[deleted162650]

I don't know how a big and heavy guy like Gronk would do in that...

Same way the current crop of elite soccer stars do it - doping.

 

[bedrock]

US soccer wouldn't be dominant. The US is only dominant in sports that nobody else plays. But there it is again, that typical American arrogance when it comes to sports. Whatever. Enjoy watching the World Cup.

Fairly certain that basketball and baseball are rather popular in many other countries yet the Dream Team stomps other countries in BB and World Series winner would do the same.

 

[dhb]

I think you're underestimating the athleticism of these NFL/NBA players. Don't let that 265lb frame fool you. Gronk can't run a 40 yd dash in 4.68. That's fast. NFL receivers go around 4.4 which is superfast. They're also very agile. So while they may look big and slow, per se, they're incredibly explosive. I've looked around and some estimate the Messi's 40 yd dash would be about between 4.5-4.7. So they with 100 extra pounds is running about the same speed.

I suddenly love this thread. lol!

Gronk is heavy because he needs to be to play his position. If he were a soccer player he would be much lighter.

 

[PlutoBoy]

Ha! When did this become a sports thread?! 😀

 

[acidbase1]

Seven stabbed including six in 90 MINUTES - as 13-year-old boy fights for life

Such a peaceful place

 

[deleted162650]

Seven stabbed including six in 90 MINUTES - as 13-year-old boy fights for life

Such a peaceful place

I blame the knives.

 

[facted]

There. I fixed it for you. The world loves to shove soccer in the US's face because it's all they have on us (well, that and Winter Olympics). If Soccer were the only option in the US and they paid multi millions of dollars for athletes to play it, you better believe we'd start collecting World Cups. Don't kid yourself. You're basically saying US kids can't learn to play soccer, and as FFP just said, our women prove that's we can. It's not arrogance. It's logic.

Many of the top paid athletes in the world are soccer players, so that doesn't make any sense. There's LOTS of money in soccer.

 

[deleted171991]

Fairly certain that basketball and baseball are rather popular in many other countries...

Baseball??? Where?

 

[acidbase1]

I blame the knives.

They need knive control

 

[bedrock]

Baseball??? Where?

Japan, Canada, Central America, Italy, Spain, etc.

 

[vector2]

True, on a 40 yd dash, Im sure there won't be much of a difference... but in soccer, players go (with the exception of halftime) 90 mins constantly. No interruption unlike in the NFL when you have plenty of time to recover cause you're not on the field half the game. They routinely cover 10-15km during that time... and have to be explosive still in the 85th minute. I don't know how a big and heavy guy like Gronk would do in that... speculation on my part, but probably poorly. Just too much weight.

Agreed though-- we need more soccer threads to prepare for the WC this summer. 😉

Top NBA point guards historically have very high court IQ, explosiveness, hand-eye coordination, understand positional play/tactics, and run a few miles every game. Would be interesting to see what kind of pitch IQ and foot-eye coordination these guys would have if they played soccer from 4 years old on.

 

[deleted171991]

Japan, Canada, Central America, Italy, Spain, etc.

I am sure Eurosport is full of baseball. 🤣

We may have exported baseball to a few countries during WWII, but don't fool yourself that baseball is actually popular anywhere else in the world.

Let me put it this way: even women's soccer is more popular than baseball. 😛

 

[bedrock]

I am sure Eurosport is full of baseball. 🤣

We may have exported baseball to a few countries during WWII, but don't fool yourself that baseball is actually popular anywhere else in the world.

Let me put it this way: even women's soccer is more popular than baseball. 😛

Baseball exists in many countries other than what I listed, but it’s popular in the ones I listed. All these countries have very active baseball leagues, and professional baseball in several of them.

Sorry. You’re just wrong.

It’s not that I even like baseball, but your generalizations are wrong. In particular look at all the MLB players from other countries.

You don’t get good enough to play MLB in countries where baseball isn’t popular.

 

[deleted171991]

Baseball exists in many countries other than what I listed, but it’s popular in the ones I listed. All these countries have very active baseball leagues, and professional baseball in several of them.

Sorry. You’re just wrong.

It’s not that I even like baseball, but your generalizations are wrong. In particular look at all the MLB players from other countries.

You don’t get good enough to play MLB in countries where baseball isn’t popular.

The fact that a country has players in our MLB doesn't necessarily mean that baseball is popular there. There is a huge difference between a game that's played by (maybe) thousands of people and a truly popular game, which is played/watched by millions. Anyway, let's agree to differ.

And I don't like baseball either, for the most part.

 

[POW16]

Japan, Canada, Central America, Italy, Spain, etc.

You are 200% wrong about baseball being popular in Italy or Spain.

 

[deleted171991]

You are 200% wrong about baseball being popular in Italy or Spain.

Sport in Italy - Wikipedia

Baseball sees less activity in Italy than most other sports. Introduced to Italy by American servicemen during World War II, professional baseball leagues were not established until after the war. The Italy national baseball team is traditionally ranked as the second best team in Europe, behind the Dutch national team.[3] Italy's performance during the Olympics has been consistently high for a European team, but is noted for its reliance on American and Latino players of Italian descent. The highest level of play in Italy today is considered to be on par with Class A ball in the United States.[4]

Sport in Spain - Wikipedia (Baseball is so popular it's not even mentioned.)

 

[Twiggidy]

Top NBA point guards historically have very high court IQ, explosiveness, hand-eye coordination, understand positional play/tactics, and run a few miles every game. Would be interesting to see what kind of pitch IQ and foot-eye coordination these guys would have if they played soccer from 4 years old on.

This.....

If Russell Westbrook had played soccer instead of basketball he'd be on par with Messi and Ronaldo. I'd argue he's far more athletic than the 2 latter.

 

[Twiggidy]

Baseball exists in many countries other than what I listed, but it’s popular in the ones I listed. All these countries have very active baseball leagues, and professional baseball in several of them.

Sorry. You’re just wrong.

It’s not that I even like baseball, but your generalizations are wrong. In particular look at all the MLB players from other countries.

You don’t get good enough to play MLB in countries where baseball isn’t popular.

The Netherlands also has very active and relatively good baseball in their country. Given their height, I'm suprised more basketball doesn't come out of the Netherlands. But again, given it's not a sport they grow up playing (which soccer and speed skating is) it supports my argument about why US soccer lags behind.

 

[facted]

This.....

If Russell Westbrook had played soccer instead of basketball he'd be on par with Messi and Ronaldo. I'd argue he's far more athletic than the 2 latter.

April fool's past.

 

[zero0]

I blame the knives.

I blame living in an upper middle class bubble your entire life and not knowing the signs of a bad neighborhood

Not to make light of the situation, but we had a classmate get stabbed near one of our rotation sites and I suspect it was due to lack of street smarts, some people just have no idea what the world is actually like

 

[acidbase1]

This.....

If Russell Westbrook had played soccer instead of basketball he'd be on par with Messi and Ronaldo. I'd argue he's far more athletic than the 2 latter.

Our best athletes aren’t playing soccer. This is fact. Think about how good a NFL corner would be at soccer. It would be stupid.

 

[facted]

Our best athletes aren’t playing soccer. This is fact. Think about how good a NFL corner would be at soccer. It would be stupid.

You vastly underappreciate how much coaching and training goes in to getting these players to the top. Even TOP S. American players who get sold to big European clubs usually take a few years to develop into the top guys in the game. So much player development. Young kids as young as 7 or 8 go away from the families and do schooling at soccer academies in some of these countries. It's just a while different playing field.

The US simply doesn't have that development infrastructure.

If that cornerback/PG/Athlete went to Europe or S America at a young age for all the development that goes on, then sure, they could be among the greats.

 

[acidbase1]

You vastly underappreciate how much coaching and training goes in to getting these players to the top. Even TOP S. American players who get sold to big European clubs usually take a few years to develop into the top guys in the game. So much player development. Young kids as young as 7 or 8 go away from the families and do schooling at soccer academies in some of these countries. It's just a while different playing field.

The US simply doesn't have that development infrastructure.

If that cornerback/PG/Athlete went to Europe or S America at a young age for all the development that goes on, then sure, they could be among the greats.

No I’m not. What I’m saying is if a NFL corner started playing soccer instead of football at age 8 he’d be a stud. This obviously infers they’d have stellar coaching

 

[deleted59964]

They need knive control

lucky they don't have access to assault rifles

 

[acidbase1]

I know, just bombs instead

 

[Twiggidy]

No I’m not. What I’m saying is if a NFL corner started playing soccer instead of football at age 8 he’d be a stud. This obviously infers they’d have stellar coaching

this is exactly what i'm saying but the other people posting seem to think i'm saying if you took our top tier athletes and just stuck them on a soccer field now that they would be awesome. No, that's that what I'm saying.

What acidbase1 and I are getting at is that if our top athletes were groomed to play soccer at the age of six until adulthood, the US would have incredible soccer. instead, our insanely athletic kids play basketball, football, and baseball.

to reply that it's a joke (as someone did above) that Russell Westbrook would not have been a good soccer player if he'd grown up with high level soccer coaching....well, then someone hasnt watched enough Russell Westbrook

Many of the best Premier Leauge and Bundesliga players are all like 6'3 and fast. In this country that's a wide reciever, defensive back, or PG ......a NCAA scholarship....and possibly a multi-million dollar career in salary, endorsements, and celebrity. Elsewhere, it's just a really good soccer player that MAYBE gets an Adidas endorsement.

 

[Twiggidy]

Ha! When did this become a sports thread?! 😀

I like arguing sports more that the usual "here comes the end of anesthesia" or "this AMC sucks" thread.....

 

[facted]

No I’m not. What I’m saying is if a NFL corner started playing soccer instead of football at age 8 he’d be a stud. This obviously infers they’d have stellar coaching

What acidbase1 and I are getting at is that if our top athletes were groomed to play soccer at the age of six until adulthood, the US would have incredible soccer. instead, our insanely athletic kids play basketball, football, and baseball.

My point is that if he did this in the US, no, he wouldn't be a stud. We have nowhere near the level of training and dedication that other countries/clubs around the world have. It's not even close. The training academies that other countries have for soccer are insane. These kids grow up in a farm system of sorts from an early age and it's unbelievable training. We certainly have it for other sports, like football (Bradenton Academy, for example), but DEFINITELY not for soccer. You could take all the best athletes in the US and have them play soccer from age 5 and up and they wouldn't be even close to the best international players.

Watch this video and tell me if your weekend soccer games for your kids look anything like this: Top 5 goals from La Masia | FC Barcelona

That's Barcelona's young kids, some as young as 8!!!! It's a different level of training.

 

[Twiggidy]

My point is that if he did this in the US, no, he wouldn't be a stud. We have nowhere near the level of training and dedication that other countries/clubs around the world have. It's not even close. The training academies that other countries have for soccer are insane. These kids grow up in a farm system of sorts from an early age and it's unbelievable training. We certainly have it for other sports, like football (Bradenton Academy, for example), but DEFINITELY not for soccer. You could take all the best athletes in the US and have them play soccer from age 5 and up and they wouldn't be even close to the best international players.

Watch this video and tell me if your weekend soccer games for your kids look anything like this: Top 5 goals from La Masia | FC Barcelona

That's Barcelona's young kids, some as young as 8!!!! It's a different level of training.

I do think you're underestimating the athleticism of our top athletes. i'll agree with you that our training systems aren't good, but i'd argue the talent and athletes in that system aren't that great either.

i think a better comparison would be to show me Spain's little league basketball system vs the US AAU basketball system (Actually, that wouldn't be a good comparison because Spain's best athletes play soccer)