[quote]Aggv wrote:
The most played sport in the world because what other options are there in 3rd world countries? Doubtful they have basketball hoops, sure hell cant afford gear for real football, hockey, or baseball.
We have a lot of options, and it’s a much easier path to college/pros in the other sports. [/quote]
Soccer and basketball are basically the same game with two important differences. They are both designed to allow poor people to play in groups with minimal equipment to distract them from rioting over their poor living conditions; they both involve forcing a ball through a goal while endlessly running up and down the playing field relatively unmolested by the defense to tire them out. Basketball is only slightly more highbrow because of the surface–blacktop or hardwood or whatever–you can play soccer on plain old dirt and use bushes for a goal.
The basic differences are that basketball is designed to allow scoring a goal about 80-120 times a game and our poor people like to score using gratuitously unnecessary aerial acrobatics just because its fun. These two differences make basketball much more interesting to watch. If soccer had a Pele or two on every team who kicked the ball backwards over his head for no apparent reason and scored 50-100 times a game instead of once every 50 years or so it would be a lot more interesting to watch. [/quote]
So in your opinion,what sports are suitable for the elites such as yourself?
[quote]Aggv wrote:
The most played sport in the world because what other options are there in 3rd world countries? Doubtful they have basketball hoops, sure hell cant afford gear for real football, hockey, or baseball.
We have a lot of options, and it’s a much easier path to college/pros in the other sports. [/quote]
Soccer and basketball are basically the same game with two important differences. They are both designed to allow poor people to play in groups with minimal equipment to distract them from rioting over their poor living conditions; they both involve forcing a ball through a goal while endlessly running up and down the playing field relatively unmolested by the defense to tire them out. Basketball is only slightly more highbrow because of the surface–blacktop or hardwood or whatever–you can play soccer on plain old dirt and use bushes for a goal.
The basic differences are that basketball is designed to allow scoring a goal about 80-120 times a game and our poor people like to score using gratuitously unnecessary aerial acrobatics just because its fun. These two differences make basketball much more interesting to watch. If soccer had a Pele or two on every team who kicked the ball backwards over his head for no apparent reason and scored 50-100 times a game instead of once every 50 years or so it would be a lot more interesting to watch. [/quote]
So in your opinion,what sports are suitable for the elites such as yourself?[/quote]
[quote]Aggv wrote:
The most played sport in the world because what other options are there in 3rd world countries? Doubtful they have basketball hoops, sure hell cant afford gear for real football, hockey, or baseball.
We have a lot of options, and it’s a much easier path to college/pros in the other sports. [/quote]
Soccer and basketball are basically the same game with two important differences. They are both designed to allow poor people to play in groups with minimal equipment to distract them from rioting over their poor living conditions; they both involve forcing a ball through a goal while endlessly running up and down the playing field relatively unmolested by the defense to tire them out. Basketball is only slightly more highbrow because of the surface–blacktop or hardwood or whatever–you can play soccer on plain old dirt and use bushes for a goal.
The basic differences are that basketball is designed to allow scoring a goal about 80-120 times a game and our poor people like to score using gratuitously unnecessary aerial acrobatics just because its fun. These two differences make basketball much more interesting to watch. If soccer had a Pele or two on every team who kicked the ball backwards over his head for no apparent reason and scored 50-100 times a game instead of once every 50 years or so it would be a lot more interesting to watch. [/quote]
So in your opinion,what sports are suitable for the elites such as yourself?[/quote]
Golf, sailing and equestrian. [/quote]
That’s good,very good, I have nothing to say anymore
[quote]Aggv wrote:
The most played sport in the world because what other options are there in 3rd world countries? Doubtful they have basketball hoops, sure hell cant afford gear for real football, hockey, or baseball.
[/quote]
I agree. All you need to play soccer/futbol is a ball and you are ready to go. The only other sport close to that is basketball because you just need a hope. We aren’t saying only poor people play, it’s just more accessible to parts of the world that can’t afford it. Hell I played for about five years of my life and enjoyed it. I just can’t watch it on TV unless it is the World Cup. I have never seen a sport where fans basically want to murder each other over a game.
[quote]stevekweli wrote:
It isn’t that soccer is boring,it is that americans can’t play it. Perhaps maybe because it doesn’t have the tackles and violence that american football, ice hockey has. All over the world soccer is probably the most played sport,definetely the most watched sport,and billions adjudge it to be interesting, it is just like saying a black man should enjoy swimming or ice skating,it won’t happen,because black people suck at it. I’m pretty sure if by a miracle the US won the world cup,it will suddenly become an important sport [/quote]
I have performed some incredibly boring pieces of classical music in my time. It’s strange, but I enjoy listening to the ones I’ve played, no matter how boring. Soccer is the same way. Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it any objectively less boring. And I promise you, if the US won the World Cup, many of us wouldn’t even notice.
It’s not that Americans can’t play soccer, it’s that we don’t play soccer. And why would you in this country? If you have any modicum of actual athletic ability you’d be a fool not to pursue either basketball or football; something that can bring you a scholarship and maybe even real money one day if you’re part of a lucky few.
[quote]csulli wrote:
If you have any modicum of actual athletic ability you’d be a fool not to pursue either basketball or football; something that can bring you a scholarship and maybe even real money one day if you’re part of a lucky few. [/quote]
So true.
Average salaries in the US:
NBA player $5.5MM
MLB player $3.31MM
NHL player $2.4MM
NFL player $1.9MM
MLS player $142,000
So, obviously our best athletes aren’t pursuing soccer.
[quote]csulli wrote:
If you have any modicum of actual athletic ability you’d be a fool not to pursue either basketball or football; something that can bring you a scholarship and maybe even real money one day if you’re part of a lucky few. [/quote]
So true.
Average salaries in the US:
NBA player $5.5MM
MLB player $3.31MM
NHL player $2.4MM
NFL player $1.9MM
MLS player $142,000
So, obviously our best athletes aren’t pursuing soccer.
[/quote]
But, if they are good enough to play in Europe the avg. would be the highest.
I would account for every eastern european league when saying the averages would be higher, because i doubt they pay anywhere close to what the average is in the EPL, Bundesliga, la liga, Serie A, and whatever the french league is.
Soccer is to the world, what basketball is to the USA.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
The most played sport in the world because what other options are there in 3rd world countries? Doubtful they have basketball hoops, sure hell cant afford gear for real football, hockey, or baseball.
We have a lot of options, and it’s a much easier path to college/pros in the other sports. [/quote]
Oh that’s arrogant,because you don’t understand a game does not mean you should class it as something poor people play. And what is real football? If I’m not mistaken american football is an adaptation of rugby and please baseball is just plain boring[/quote]
Just because you dont understand a game does not mean it’s boring, it just means you’re ignorant to what’s going on.
Everyone plays soccer, not just poor people, but what other sports do poor people have easy access to play around the world? enlightenment me?
[quote]csulli wrote:
If you have any modicum of actual athletic ability you’d be a fool not to pursue either basketball or football; something that can bring you a scholarship and maybe even real money one day if you’re part of a lucky few. [/quote]
So true.
Average salaries in the US:
NBA player $5.5MM
MLB player $3.31MM
NHL player $2.4MM
NFL player $1.9MM
MLS player $142,000
So, obviously our best athletes aren’t pursuing soccer.
[/quote]
But, if they are good enough to play in Europe the avg. would be the highest. [/quote]
It would, but the US doesn’t have the development pipeline into Europe.
[quote]stevekweli wrote:
It isn’t that soccer is boring,it is that americans can’t play it. Perhaps maybe because it doesn’t have the tackles and violence that american football, ice hockey has. All over the world soccer is probably the most played sport,definetely the most watched sport,and billions adjudge it to be interesting, it is just like saying a black man should enjoy swimming or ice skating,it won’t happen,because black people suck at it. I’m pretty sure if by a miracle the US won the world cup,it will suddenly become an important sport [/quote]
I have performed some incredibly boring pieces of classical music in my time. It’s strange, but I enjoy listening to the ones I’ve played, no matter how boring. Soccer is the same way. Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it any objectively less boring. And I promise you, if the US won the World Cup, many of us wouldn’t even notice.
It’s not that Americans can’t play soccer, it’s that we don’t play soccer. And why would you in this country? If you have any modicum of actual athletic ability you’d be a fool not to pursue either basketball or football; something that can bring you a scholarship and maybe even real money one day if you’re part of a lucky few. [/quote]
Americans can’t play football, if you guys could,you would compete at the top in it. For example track events and field events are not exactly america’s favorite sports,however at the olympics america clears almost everything. It doesn’t matter how fringe the sport is, the US will try to win it. It hasn’t just been possible with football or soccer as you guys call it. In addition football is more about skills, technique than athletic abilities, you rarely see footballer being super strong,super fast or any of that sort of thing.
[quote]Aggv wrote:
The most played sport in the world because what other options are there in 3rd world countries? Doubtful they have basketball hoops, sure hell cant afford gear for real football, hockey, or baseball.
We have a lot of options, and it’s a much easier path to college/pros in the other sports. [/quote]
Oh that’s arrogant,because you don’t understand a game does not mean you should class it as something poor people play. And what is real football? If I’m not mistaken american football is an adaptation of rugby and please baseball is just plain boring[/quote]
Just because you dont understand a game does not mean it’s boring, it just means you’re ignorant to what’s going on.
Everyone plays soccer, not just poor people, but what other sports do poor people have easy access to play around the world? enlightenment me? [/quote]
You right in the fact that it is a global game played by all nations and races,my issue was with your earlier post that implied that it was a game for the poor. I am not poor,the pope is not poor e.t.c
It is for the poor, and the rich and everyone in between.
[quote]stevekweli wrote:
Americans can’t play football, if you guys could,you would compete at the top in it. For example track events and field events are not exactly america’s favorite sports,however at the olympics america clears almost everything. It doesn’t matter how fringe the sport is, the US will try to win it. It hasn’t just been possible with football or soccer as you guys call it. In addition football is more about skills, technique than athletic abilities, you rarely see footballer being super strong,super fast or any of that sort of thing.[/quote]
I used to be one of those little poor kids that played soccer barefoot with a coconut (yes yes like Pele…). Played it a lot in my teens with proper equipment. It was fun.
But till today i can’t watch an entire match on tv without falling asleep. It really is fucking boring.
I’ve been working on a theory the last few days after reading quite a few articles about the role ref-ing decisions have played so far this WC and reading this quote in particular, “…trying to win a call is part of the game. 'Any team I’ve ever been on, if we feel contact in the box, go down.” I really can’t imagine a defensive end falling to the ground and whining to the ref if he thought he got held. Or a wide receiver collapsing into a pile if he’s bumped 6 yards off the line. I think the combination of a low scoring game and the huge advantage a PK gives, puts the course of the game in the ref’s hands, not the players and I believe that this doesn’t sit well with Americans. In fact, I think it is directly contradictory to our idea of a meritocracy and rugged individualism.
Therefore, I believe that the reliance upon a higher authority to determine the outcome of a game is attractive to those who have been bred to believe that they are but serfs and the outcome of a game must be trusted to a higher authority.
Let’s look at the winning WC teams over the last 50 years:
Spain - Authoritarian dictatorship until 1975
Italy - Fascist dictatorship until 1943, king until 1946
France - Socialist surrender monkeys
Brazil - Authoritarian military dictatorship until 1985
Argentina - Democracy in spirit, punctuated by military coup d’etets and military dictatorships. Most recent dictatorship ended in 1982
England - Currently supports a Monarchy, considers themselves subjects
W. Germany - German Empire ruled by royal families until 1918 when the German’s threw off the yokes of monarchy and embraced democracy. At which point they promptly voted A. Hitler into power.
In conclusion, I don’t see soccer as a sport that appeals to strictly the poor, but to those of weak mind who have been recently colonized, ruled, or otherwise oppressed.
[quote]stevekweli wrote:
It isn’t that soccer is boring,it is that americans can’t play it. Perhaps maybe because it doesn’t have the tackles and violence that american football, ice hockey has. All over the world soccer is probably the most played sport,definetely the most watched sport,and billions adjudge it to be interesting, it is just like saying a black man should enjoy swimming or ice skating,it won’t happen,because black people suck at it. I’m pretty sure if by a miracle the US won the world cup,it will suddenly become an important sport [/quote]
I have performed some incredibly boring pieces of classical music in my time. It’s strange, but I enjoy listening to the ones I’ve played, no matter how boring. Soccer is the same way. Just because it’s popular doesn’t make it any objectively less boring. And I promise you, if the US won the World Cup, many of us wouldn’t even notice.
It’s not that Americans can’t play soccer, it’s that we don’t play soccer. And why would you in this country? If you have any modicum of actual athletic ability you’d be a fool not to pursue either basketball or football; something that can bring you a scholarship and maybe even real money one day if you’re part of a lucky few. [/quote]
Americans can’t play football, if you guys could,you would compete at the top in it. For example track events and field events are not exactly america’s favorite sports,however at the olympics america clears almost everything. It doesn’t matter how fringe the sport is, the US will try to win it.[/quote]
My sister was once Washington State high-school athlete of the year; soccer was her main sport. She had multiple scholarship offers including from Stanford; but the combination of her undiagnosed dyslexia and 1.8 GPA resulted in all of her offers falling through. She ended up playing at a local junior college, where she is now in its athletic department’s hall of fame. So I guess the moral of the story is soccer is a good sport for high-school girls who can’t read.