[quote]FredB4 wrote:
100m is more speed than power technically. Plus you all talk about it like it’s a sport… Maybe it’s the only thing you know about track, but it’s just one event. What about high jump, pole jump, triple jump, shot put, discus throw, hammer throw, javelin, decathlon… Those are real POWER event.
Olympic weightlifing is where the highest power output are recorded and it’s been dominated by white men forever. What’s your excuse there? Not interested in it? I thought all universities’ athetic program included cleans, snatch or power variations…
Now basketball, current NBA MVP is Nash right? Pretty white to me. But most importantly, the USA haven’t won any international competition for 7 years!!! That’s a long time…and that’s certainly not exactly what I would qualify as “domination”… You need to look outside your country sometimes, you may find out the US aren’t the best at this sport anymore. Get over it.
Then you mention American football… those guys are arguably the best all around athletes, I admit. But it’s still AMERICAN football, a sport that is played in the US only (except for 6 sorry teams in germany and they call it NFL europe) We play rugby, here and the athletes there are equally amazing.
By the way I dominate “100m around-my-block-nude dash” myself, it’s an explosive sport that is only played in my backyard…[/quote]
Fred,
I don’t see what your problem is with using the U.S. as an example. The fact that black athletes are dominating white atheltes in football and basketball in the U.S. is still important information. is it not?
Are you suggesting that white American athletes are somehow less athletic than whites from Europe? That is the only way to explain why we shouldn’t care about the disparity in American sports.
Also, it is a tangental issue, but you can’t even take seriously the idea that Americans no longer dominate at basketball in world competition. All the other teams play together as a national team for the entire year before a world competition.
The teams are made up from the absolute best that the country has to offer. In the U.S. it is a different story. First of all, the international competitions fall during the off season for the NBA. Playing in international competition means that the players will not come back to their professional season’s as recovered.
This understandably makes them hesitant to play on the team. As a result, our international teams represent not the best our country has to offer, but rather the best of the players that are willing to sacrifce their off time.
Secondly, given that the players spend the majority of the year playing for their professional club, they come together to practice as an international team under an unfamiliar coach only for a brief period. When you combine the lack of time spent working together with the fact that the athletes are not the best, is it any wonder the U.S. doesn’t win every single game?
The fact that they can still finish in the top three of internation competition (essentially fighting with one hand behind their back) shows you how badly the U.S. would blow everyone out of the water if we could (1) get the very best team together, and (2) have them play as a team for a substantial amount of time before the competitions.
I will agree that international competition has gotten better and therefore the U.S. can no longer blow teams out of the water simply by showing up at the last minute, but you know in your heart of hearts that the U.S. is not even really trying to put together the very best team.
One last thing on our main topic: Having done more thinking about it, the other examples you give of sports where blacks are not dominating are simply not applicable here.
I think the blame is mine for making the generalized statement that blacks are better at “power” sports. However, I think the unique limb ratios and tendon placements of blacks make them generally better specifically at sports involving running and jumping.
As you say, throwing events (i.e., hammer, shotput, discus) are true power events. But an athelete with long legs and high calves would have no real advantage in such an event. Hence, the lack of domination by black athletes. I think the same is true of olympic weightlifting, except maybe worse here because of two additional factors.
In weightlifting, as a sport with weight classes, it is disadvantagous to waste weight on thinks like bones and attachments rather than muscle. Hence, taller athletes are at a disadvantage.
Additionally, because of the nature of the pulls and dipping under, being short (relatively speaking) is also an advantage from a mechnical point of view. Since blacks on average tend to be taller, this would be an additional reason why their unique talents would be diluted in the context of weightlifting.
Again, the only one I can’t seem to figure out is the jumping events; the rest can be easily explained away. To conclude, I think blacks have an genetic physiological predisposition to success in events that primarily feature sprinting in an alactic environment and jumping.
does 142.5/162.5 with a crazy 120 PS from the hang. All numbers are in KG. PC 160Kg easy also. Monster guy.