[quote]Claudan wrote:
[quote]jjackkrash wrote:
Lebron James[/quote]
hes garbage at his own sport, I would definitely not want to see him in my superior sport.[/quote]
Come on dude this is getting ridiculous. You’re not some random troll, you actually post here for real. Get a grip man.
http://www.nba.com/playerfile/lebron_james/career_stats.html
I figured you would be above random trolling, but surely to goodness you aren’t serious when you say Lebron James is garbage at basketball rofl.
The better athletes in the U.S. would rather compete in even relatively obscure sports than soccer.
[quote]Teledin wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
[quote]Claudan wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Wow, Lebron as an impregnable elite goal keeper. Stupidest thing I have read all month.[/quote]
most goalkeepers that are worth anything are actually out-of-their-mind. A bit crazy-like.
you literally need to be a little crazy to spend all your time getting shot at obnoxious velocities.
[/quote]
It’s the contention that Lebron would have the developed ability to analyse foot & body placement along with understanding angles & ball spin to calculate trajectory and be able to anticipate where the ball is going at those kinds of speeds. It’s not a skill you learn from basketball, football or very many other sports if any. You learn that from years of goal keeping experience.
This is putting aside the fact he is over sized for that role and doesn’t have lateral quickness to compensate for his lack of soccer vision. Would he be a good keeper/player if soccer was his sport of choice since a kid? No doubt. Would he be able to compete at a major European club or international level? Futile argument as there are too many variables to consider.[/quote]
In the individual case, you are correct that there are too many variables to consider, though given his natural athletic ability, I doubt very much that James would have had trouble excelling in whichever physical team sport he chose.
But spread out across a nation of 313 million, the point becomes less hypothetical and more obvious–almost to the point of banality, but nevertheless.[/quote]
Natural athletic ability means very little when the player lacks elite sports specific skills which is a required trait for any elite athlete in any sport. Basketball is different from football which is different from table tennis which is different from baseball which is different from soccer, etc.
Anyway I think the point is clear.[/quote]
Yes, but elite athletic ability–elite speed, agility, reaction time–is still a sine qua non in physical team sport. Those who are the best of their sport lay specific technical prowess atop raw athleticism. If Messi weren’t able to accelerate in the way that he does, 3/4 of his career goals would not have been.
In the U.S., much of the elite athletic ability is diverted in the direction of more lucrative (in American markets) sports.
^ Besides, the point is that American athletes would develop the “elite sports-specific skills” if soccer were the reigning champion of sports in America as it is in most of the rest of the world. They’d all be playing soccer from age 5, and soccer fame would be their collective aspiration, as it is in Europe.
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
^ Besides, the point is that American athletes would develop the “elite sports-specific skills” if soccer were the reigning champion of sports in America as it is in most of the rest of the world. They’d all be playing soccer from age 5, and soccer fame would be their collective aspiration, as it is in Europe.[/quote]
I dont understand why 2 member here can not comprehend this concept^ Which is why i stated earlier i hope theyre just trollin and not actually that stupid.
for the record, i really like soccer.
GO USA!
That “i believe that we will win” chant is the most annoying god damn thing ever.
^ national anthem right there^
Shit, I like it. I wish we could get 100,000 fans at Jerry World to do that before every game.
[quote]mbdix wrote:
Shit, I like it. I wish we could get 100,000 fans at Jerry World to do that before every game.[/quote]
and they’ll have the same results as the men’s soccer team.
Wow!!! That was quick 1-0 USA
Ian Drake is d r e a d f u l
But Twellman is spot on with all of his analysis - it’s relevant
Good game, but godammit, would have to be a 'murican who starts crying when he scores
Damn good game, those guys played their asses off and didn’t quit.
Fuckin’ America mang !
That was a great game. The U.S. never folded under the pressure, and that 2nd goal was brilliant.
I would feel robbed of a victory if I was Ghana though, or perhaps angry at the players for somehow making nothing happen even though they essentially controlled the pace of the entire game.
Impressive game from the USA,defending was on point,and handling the ghanian physical game is commendable,it makes things interesting in that group. USA actually has a chance of beating portugal to third place
Great win. I would imagine Jozy Altidore would probably be out for the rest of the cup. The hamstring strain looked pretty painful and that isn’t something that gets better right away, especially for a sport like soccer.
Well I’ll be damned.
I strand corrected.
Merica!
[quote]Aggv wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
^ Besides, the point is that American athletes would develop the “elite sports-specific skills” if soccer were the reigning champion of sports in America as it is in most of the rest of the world. They’d all be playing soccer from age 5, and soccer fame would be their collective aspiration, as it is in Europe.[/quote]
I dont understand why 2 member here can not comprehend this concept^ Which is why i stated earlier i hope theyre just trollin and not actually that stupid.
for the record, i really like soccer. [/quote]
Which two members?
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
[quote]smh_23 wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
[quote]Claudan wrote:
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Wow, Lebron as an impregnable elite goal keeper. Stupidest thing I have read all month.[/quote]
most goalkeepers that are worth anything are actually out-of-their-mind. A bit crazy-like.
you literally need to be a little crazy to spend all your time getting shot at obnoxious velocities.
[/quote]
It’s the contention that Lebron would have the developed ability to analyse foot & body placement along with understanding angles & ball spin to calculate trajectory and be able to anticipate where the ball is going at those kinds of speeds. It’s not a skill you learn from basketball, football or very many other sports if any. You learn that from years of goal keeping experience.
This is putting aside the fact he is over sized for that role and doesn’t have lateral quickness to compensate for his lack of soccer vision. Would he be a good keeper/player if soccer was his sport of choice since a kid? No doubt. Would he be able to compete at a major European club or international level? Futile argument as there are too many variables to consider.[/quote]
In the individual case, you are correct that there are too many variables to consider, though given his natural athletic ability, I doubt very much that James would have had trouble excelling in whichever physical team sport he chose.
But spread out across a nation of 313 million, the point becomes less hypothetical and more obvious–almost to the point of banality, but nevertheless.[/quote]
Natural athletic ability means very little when the player lacks elite sports specific skills which is a required trait for any elite athlete in any sport. Basketball is different from football which is different from table tennis which is different from baseball which is different from soccer, etc.
Anyway I think the point is clear.[/quote]
Yes, but elite athletic ability–elite speed, agility, reaction time–is still a sine qua non in physical team sport. Those who are the best of their sport lay specific technical prowess atop raw athleticism. If Messi weren’t able to accelerate in the way that he does, 3/4 of his career goals would not have been.
In the U.S., much of the elite athletic ability is diverted in the direction of more lucrative (in American markets) sports.[/quote]
Finishing doesn’t stem from raw athleticism so your example shows a lack of understanding. From your other post it should be very obvious that if more attention is diverted to a certain area, higher quality is produced. That is true for almost anything but is going beyond the point I was initially making that saying a player like Lebron who excels at sport A (basketball) would excel at sport B (soccer) given his current sporting abilities. Which is plain stupid.
Edit
[quote]Teledin wrote:
Finishing doesn’t stem from raw athleticism so your example shows a lack of understanding.[/quote]
No, it doesn’t. Messi finishes, but he is great because of the lead-up to the finish as much as because of the finish. He creates the circumstances for the finish, and he does it on his own, more than any player in the game right now (and, I say, ever). He does this with an acceleration and an agility that opposing defenders still somehow underestimate. His athleticism is a sine qua non of his greatness. Same for Ronaldo. Same for Lebron. Same for Calvin Johnson–soft hands are about elegance and finesse; getting separation is about raw athleticism.
[quote]
From your other post it should be very obvious that if more attention is diverted to a certain area, higher quality is produced. That is true for almost anything but is going beyond the point I was initially making that saying a player like Lebron who excels at sport A (basketball) would excel at sport B (soccer) given his current sporting abilities. Which is plain stupid.
Edit[/quote]
It is a useful manner of illustration, nothing more. Lebron is a synechdoche, representing elite American athleticism. Do I think, specifically, that Lebron would excel in just about any sport he grew up playing? Yes. Do I think he’d mash any team on Earth on corner kicks alone? Yeah. But I have already said that there are too many “ifs” to the individual question regarding Lebron’s ability to excel in soccer. So if you take issue with Lebron as soccer player, in a literal sense, well that’s fine. The large point stands unaltered.