T1B

Yes, if the 'big 3' guys all had NO other sport to choose from and HAD to learn soccer from a young age, the US would dominate.

I agree.

SoCalTrjn wrote:Soccer is just a god damn boring sport

Then why are you still here, you fucking mong?

Seriously, when you were a kid and the other girls were drooling over Donny, did you feel left out and tried to start your own Little Jimmy clique?

poptart wrote:Just step back, remove your emotion, and look at it objectively.

I have something better, pop. Experience.

When my h.s. team fielded its first-ever soccer team, few of our football and basketball jocks even tried out. My high school (Winston Churchill in San Antonio) was a football powerhouse, going to the state quarter or semi-finals every year. We had tons of great athletes.

Their were several reasons none of them even tried out for soccer for our first team, chief among them being they sucked at it and they knew it.

Not only do you have to be fast and have endurance, but you have to have technical skills. That is why size alone is not a primary factor to exceed in the game.

What part of that are you having trouble understanding?

It is MUCH more demanding to be a top 10 world tennis player than it is to be a top 10 world soccer player.

Well, if that's true (which it isn't and I wasn't arguing) then it's INFINTELY more demanding to be a top 10 soccer player than a top 10 baseball player.

Different skills, different strengths.

When I say if our "best athletes" don't play soccer, and if they did, we'd be much better, I am referring to those whom, for instance, go into the NFL draft as "Athlete" as opposed to QB, RB, WR, etc.

Basically, the Reggie McNeal, Twan Randle El, Dante Hall, etc. These guys really aren't cut out for the NFL. They have the perfect bodies for soccer. They may not have the stamina for it, but that's because they didn't train for that kind of thing. I have no doubt any of the above would make world class soccer players if they wanted to. All are coordinated, lighter than hell on their feet, quick and fast.

Many more an undersized QB or RB went into the draft who were outfuckingstanding college football players and would be equally outstanding at a professional soccer level but not an NFL level.

Size is not essential to be a great soccer player. When you are 6'0 and 160 lbs you are not going to play OT for the Rams. Hell, you probably couldn't play SS, WR, or Punter for that matter. The fact is, the most important things that make scooer players great are not essential for football, basketball or baseball.

First, you have to be an incredible athlete. Look at Ronaldinho. Bad hair, bad grill, skinny, but a magician with the soccer ball. Do you think Terrell Owens could kick a ball from the dead run 50 yards and hit his man in stride? I doubt it. But he can catch a football on the dead run from 50 yards.

Soccer also requires patience. I am always amazed how idiots will say that a 1-0 soccer game is boring. Yet, a 1-0 baseball game was a pitchers duel?? Soccer is always moving. How can you be bored watching guys stratigize about the next move of the ball. Watching Argentina take the ball down the pitch and have 8 guys touch the ball on 11 perfect passes followed by a great through ball that is back heeled for a goal is a thing of beauty. But c'mon, watching a team run the ball up the gut 10 plays is fun to watch too.

If you don't like soccer then don't watch it. 2 Billion people watched the first game of the world cup and I bet 3 million were in the US. Americans like their big 3. But saying soccer athletes are not great because of size is stupid.

I guess Manute Bol and Shawn Bradley are the greatest NBA players because they are like the tallest dudes to play the game. :D

Why are you here again, schmick?

I think it's kind of a given if you don't post in a particular forum, you don't enjoy what is being discussed there.

Seriously, this is one of those MYOB things and getting all in a tiffy if someone on the other side of the world disagrees with your take on something.

I'll be honest, if someone started a "Why I hate College Football" thread in the forum I mod, it would be gone as soon as I saw it...and I don't "mod" that forum.

This is a waste of a thread and those just coming here to shit on the game are a waste of time. Enjoy hating. Just seems to be a waste of time to be a hater.

RadioFan wrote:When my h.s. team fielded its first-ever soccer team, few of our football and basketball jocks even tried out. My high school (Winston Churchill in San Antonio) was a football powerhouse, going to the state quarter or semi-finals every year. We had tons of great athletes.

Their were several reasons none of them even tried out for soccer for our first team, chief among them being they sucked at it and they knew it.

Not only do you have to be fast and have endurance, but you have to have technical skills. That is why size alone is not a primary factor to exceed in the game.

What part of that are you having trouble understanding?

My opinion is that the football and basketball guys sucked at it because they weren't schooled in the skills of soccer at a young age. If soccer had been the ONLY sport available to them they would have played it and played it well. I'm not talking about the fat linemen kids, but I'm talking about the 'athlete' kids.

Did your hs soccer guys just pick the game up and become amazing players when they got to hs ... ? No, I'm sure they played soccer from the time they were young. That's why they are 'skilled' at it.

Hakeem was a damn good goalie.

poptart wrote:It is MUCH more demanding to be a top 10 world tennis player than it is to be a top 10 world soccer player.
Mentally, physically and emotionally, the demands on a tennis player are much more.
It's not close.
It's a slap in the face of Sampras to put a Ronaldo in the same sentence as him.
Sampras is one of the top 10 athletes of all-time.
I don't expect you to like that take, but ... oh well. haha

Sampras would look like a shrimp compared to Germany's back line and would move like Bernie Kosar compared to any Brazilian soccer player, much less one of the greatest who has ever walked this Earth.

My guess is someone like Boris Becker would laugh in your face if you told him his countrymen on the pitch couldn't hang in his sport.

Odd that you use Sampras as an example given his obvious and repeated grand failures on clay, where your complete game - range, mobility, finesse - is ten times more important than simply how hard you can strike a ball. A top-ten all time athlete a cannon of a first serve does not make. I'm sure John McEnroe could hang with the Azurri, though.

OTOH, it's nice to see tennis fan in a thread about another sport's irrelevance in America. Pot d. Kettle 6-0, 6-2, much?

poptart wrote:If soccer had been the ONLY sport available to them they would have played it and played it well. I'm not talking about the fat linemen kids, but I'm talking about the 'athlete' kids.

Did your hs soccer guys just pick the game up and become amazing players when they got to hs ... ? No, I'm sure they played soccer from the time they were young. That's why they are 'skilled' at it.

It wasn't the "ONLY" sport then, and it isn't now, just like it isn't the "only" sport in Europe or Latin America, as evidenced by current NBA and MLB rosters.

The rest of the world is catching up in our games of basketball and baseball. We're also catching up in soccer, but it's going to take us a bit more time before we can consistently compete at the top levels, as I've said earlier in this thread.

Btw, when it comes to soccer, generational aspects of teams of great players goes in cycles for many countries (England, Holland and France for example). They might not even qualify for the World Cup, then eight years later be in the semis or final, depending on individual players. Even Argentina doesn't always make it out of the first round. Brazil is possibly the lone exception, even among traditional soccer powers, just like we will likely always be the lone exception when it comes to baseball and basketball. That doesn't mean we're going to win every single international game, but we should always be able to field a team capable of winning any particular tournament.

And just like in every other sport, tons of factors can have an impact on individual elimination games in this tournament -- injuries, bad calls, luck, phenomenal individual performances by relative unknown players, breakdowns in team chemistry or player/coach spats, coaching strategies, lineups, etc.

For shits and giggles...just came across this.

From Hakeem Olajuwon:

“As a goalkeeper in soccer, your main objective is to defend the goal,” says Olajuwon of his soccer upbringing. “So that experience was of great benefit to me. Blocking shots is an art, which is all about anticipation and timing. I guess that ability came naturally to me. Being a shotblocker allows you to intimidate and dominate in the middle and that is the value of a true big man.”

Guess SOME soccer players can hack it in "the big 3" :roll:

Oakley had a concussion to go along with the stitches. Oakley was a tough motherfucker. I hated his ass with a passion but I respected him greatly. He was the Ben wallace of his generation but he also had a decent shot.

No hockey player diagnosed with a concussion goes right back on the ice unless his name was Eric Lindros.

SoCalTrjn wrote:Jeremy Roenick played with a broken jaw

Rack Derian Hatcher for that, btw.

IndyFrisco wrote:For shits and giggles...just came across this.

From Hakeem Olajuwon:

“As a goalkeeper in soccer, your main objective is to defend the goal,” says Olajuwon of his soccer upbringing. “So that experience was of great benefit to me. Blocking shots is an art, which is all about anticipation and timing. I guess that ability came naturally to me. Being a shotblocker allows you to intimidate and dominate in the middle and that is the value of a true big man.”

Guess SOME soccer players can hack it in "the big 3" :roll:

Was Hakeem on the finely tuned Nigerian World Cup team? Doubt it. It would appear that he was much better suited for hoops. Therefore it should be said that a b-baller could hack it in soccer.

Of course he was a goalie. No wonderous abilities needed there. Aren't they the place kickers of soccer?

WolverineSteve wrote:It would appear that he was much better suited for hoops.

Can hardly wait for your water is wet take.

Therefore it should be said that a b-baller could hack it in soccer.

No, it shouldn't.

Btw, how many times have we all heard of such-and-such basketball player who didn't even pick up a ball until he was in high school or college, and excels at it? Many.

That just doesn't happen at the major club level in soccer. Ever. It takes many years of practice to attain the skills needed to play at the top levels. You don't just start kicking around a ball and end up on a major college or pro team in a couple of years, unlike many basketball players, including Hakeem.

If anything, the Olajuwon example shows exactly how it's easier to excel in another sport when you can't in soccer, even for a great athlete.

Which sport is the 'toughest' is always a lively discussion, and it lends itself to interesting opinions.

I won't pursue the tennis angle in this thread (out of respect to it being a SOCCER forum) other than to quickly answer Degenerate's charge.

Football QB is possibly the most demanding position in all of sport.
Many reasons for it.
The 'position' of tennis player is not too far beind.

Physically, a soccer player can 'coast' a good deal of the time the ball is in play.
A tennis player can never coast while the ball is in play, unless he is cool with the idea of the scoreboard moving rapidly in favor of his opponent.
There are NO timeouts to call when your opponent seizes the momentum.
It's sink or swim.
He has to bust ass from start to finish.
And if he starts to suck wind, or just plain perform badly, well tough shit.
Nobody is coming off the bench to give him a blow.
Having a bad day?
More tough shit.
There are no replacements available to give you a day off.
When a tennis player ages (or loses a step) he is EXPOSED immediately, because there is no place to hide.
In soccer a player's level of play can slip a bit and he can still 'hide' to a degree.
The diminishment of his skills is not readily apparent, as it is for a tennis player.

Mentally, a tennis player has to 'figure it ALL out' by his lonesome.
No coach to help, no teammates to lean on.
He must figure out his OWN strategy, while being IN the fry pan.
It's a tough gig.
Sampras was a genius, he was tough as nailz, he was a great athlete, and he had a a large set of walnuts.

He takes a seat among the 10 best athletes of all-time, IMO.

Always on their game?

Alaskan fisherman.
Boxer/Fighter
Drug dealer.
White House spokesman.
Discover Card fraud protection ('sup Russ)

Alright Socaltrjn, you're a boring cunt and are barred out.

MgoBlue-LightSpecial wrote:

Nishlord wrote:4) Finding someone in the UK who could tell you who won the Stanley Cup, World Series, Super Bowl or NBA Finals is about as easy as finding Jess a girlfriend.

Aren't you the same guy that runs like 13 NFL Fantasy drafts every year?

Only 4.

I actually like the NFL, because I'm intelligent and cosmopolitan and open-minded. But I adore proper football. Sport isn't a monogamous relationship, y'know.

you left out metrosexual, nish. Welcome back by the way? where you been? pilaging and burning munich, perhaps?

I just curled up in a ball on Saturday evening in reach of a bottle of cheap whisky for a few days.

I really don't know why I was so pissed off by England's inevitable knockout, but I was. Fucking Sven. Fucking Rooney. Fucking Lampard. Fucking everything.

Nishlord wrote:Alright Socaltrjn, you're a boring cunt and are barred out.

noooooooooo!!! you can't do that, mate. He's worth having around for that avatard alone. And as you said once yourself, "a board needs it's tards".

It also needs freakishly top heavy avatards.

I wish football/soccer would adopt at least one rugby rule.In case of injury you're asked whether you can continue and if not...see ya, no stretcher ride only to hop off and continue after 15 seconds.

smackaholic wrote:

Nishlord wrote:Alright Socaltrjn, you're a boring cunt and are barred out.

noooooooooo!!! you can't do that, mate. He's worth having around for that avatard alone. And as you said once yourself, "a board needs it's tards".

It also needs freakishly top heavy avatards.

There's a Smack board for that. I don't go on the NBA board and kick off just because I don't like it, because that's a cunt's trick.

RadioFan wrote:If ... Italy reaches the semifinals or the final, our showing won't look as bad.

Guess which team was the ONLY one to manage a tie with Italy playing a MAN DOWN virtually the entire second half.

Yeah, the U.S. "sucks" alright.

Idiots.

I am a boring cunt, and have been barred out.

^Rack!!

Hey dumbfucks ... try rereading the first sentence in this thread.

I'm eagerly awaiting all of the haters to start posting "Why basketball sucks" or "Why baseball sucks" in those forums.