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re: Should the USA make an all out effort to be great at soccer?
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:56 am to boxcar willie
Posted on 7/2/14 at 12:56 am to boxcar willie
You sure? Because Olympic basketball seemed pretty damn important to the world.
You are having beta issues.
All because we're shitty at one sport, you want us to pour focus and resources to make top-tier soccer athletes.
News flash, you need willing people who want to play soccer. You lose superior athletes like LeBron, Calvin Johnson, Westbrook, etc to sports like basketball and football that pay vastly more and because those sports are more popular. I'm sure an all-state Football and Basketball LeBron James could've been a good soccer player, but too bad for MLS and the US he took his talent to the NBA.
So now you're left with above average athletes to play soccer whereas the rest of the world are having their calvin johnsons and russell westbrooks playing soccer over football, basketball, etc because its more popular and its more lucrative. Tough titties, soccer is not a lucrative sport in the US. Until it is, you won't get those freak of nature athletes that excel at everything to play for you.
You are having beta issues.
All because we're shitty at one sport, you want us to pour focus and resources to make top-tier soccer athletes.
News flash, you need willing people who want to play soccer. You lose superior athletes like LeBron, Calvin Johnson, Westbrook, etc to sports like basketball and football that pay vastly more and because those sports are more popular. I'm sure an all-state Football and Basketball LeBron James could've been a good soccer player, but too bad for MLS and the US he took his talent to the NBA.
So now you're left with above average athletes to play soccer whereas the rest of the world are having their calvin johnsons and russell westbrooks playing soccer over football, basketball, etc because its more popular and its more lucrative. Tough titties, soccer is not a lucrative sport in the US. Until it is, you won't get those freak of nature athletes that excel at everything to play for you.
3
Posted on 7/2/14 at 1:02 am to htran90
quote:
All because we're shitty at one sport
How is being one of the top 15 sides in the world out of 207 teams shitty?
Not to mention we did better than traditional powers Italy, Portugal, Spain and England. We may not be Brazil or Argentina, but we definitely aren't shitty.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 1:03 am to htran90
quote:
News flash, you need willing people who want to play soccer.
I am of the opinion that we can have our cake and eat it too in regards to sport. We ain't a tiny Belgium-sized country. We can and will produce elite athletes to cover soccer IMO.
quote:
now you're left with above average athletes to play soccer whereas the rest of the world are having their calvin johnsons and russell westbrooks playing soccer over football, basketball, etc because its more popular and its more lucrative.
I think above average American athletes can more than hold their own against the world's offerings.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 1:14 am to boxcar willie
No, it shouldn't.
If pro soccer gains in popularity in the U.S., the U.S. will get better naturally. If so, great.
But some big investment? No.
If pro soccer gains in popularity in the U.S., the U.S. will get better naturally. If so, great.
But some big investment? No.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 1:17 am to Overbrook
Agree.
The best way to grow a sport is organically. Honestly, we're already on the way. Just look at the expansion in WC coverage from, say, 2002 to now. Pretty remarkable.
The best way to grow a sport is organically. Honestly, we're already on the way. Just look at the expansion in WC coverage from, say, 2002 to now. Pretty remarkable.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 1:24 am to TbirdSpur2010
I've said it in other threads but people don't want to hear it. I'm not sure if it's because this is a college sports board or what, but we won't "catch up" to the rest of the world until we get rid of the NCAA restrictions on practice time.
When a kid in Brazil finishes school (at whatever level they quit school) if they're good enough they go on to a soccer academy where they practice 5-6 days a week with a coach 12 months a year.
When a kid in America finishs high school if they're good enough at soccer they go on to college where the NCAA says they can only train with a coach for 2 months a year.
So when our best players should be developing their ability and on-field tactics they're wasting 40 months without a coach (4 years x 10 months).
Remove NCAA sanctions on practice time and I really do think we'd see a marked improvement in our national team. Either that or set up soccer academies and tell the NCAA to shove it.
When a kid in Brazil finishes school (at whatever level they quit school) if they're good enough they go on to a soccer academy where they practice 5-6 days a week with a coach 12 months a year.
When a kid in America finishs high school if they're good enough at soccer they go on to college where the NCAA says they can only train with a coach for 2 months a year.
So when our best players should be developing their ability and on-field tactics they're wasting 40 months without a coach (4 years x 10 months).
Remove NCAA sanctions on practice time and I really do think we'd see a marked improvement in our national team. Either that or set up soccer academies and tell the NCAA to shove it.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 1:29 am to Atari
quote:
we won't "catch up" to the rest of the world until we get rid of the NCAA restrictions on practice time.
Valid point.
quote:
set up soccer academies and tell the NCAA to shove it.
This would be the option I'd go with, tbh. NCAA cares about one thing at the end of the day, and that's the NCAA. Definitely not the sports themselves.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 2:03 am to TbirdSpur2010
Non knowledgeable forum artists raging on a sport that they fail to understand the up trending progressung momentum being gained by the Yankees...
Should have just want with a tl;Dr..
Should have just want with a tl;Dr..
Posted on 7/2/14 at 2:06 am to iliveinabox
quote:no doubt about this..that and adding a collection of highly developed soccer academies would be an epic push towards being a top nation..what a wet dream
Remove NCAA sanctions on practice time
Posted on 7/2/14 at 2:14 am to Atari
quote:
Either that or set up soccer academies and tell the NCAA to shove it.
That's what the canadians have done with hockey - no need for hs grads to go to college right away if they think they can muster it and have proven in the minor leagues (little league, essentially), they go to the junior leagues and are fed hockey 24/7. If they wind up washing out, they're still eligible to play for college teams in Canada - but naturally the NCAA won't allow them to play here.
This post was edited on 7/2/14 at 2:15 am
Posted on 7/2/14 at 3:48 am to boxcar willie
boxcar willie
Comparing the space race and Cold War to soccer is just dumb. It's soccer it's a game. The launching of Sputnik was big from several points, mainly from the thinking of the time that space would be as important in time of war as air, land, and sea. In the end we won that race and never had a war, soccer doesn't come close.
quote:
Just that a great country like the USA is outplayed by the rest of the world makes the USA look bad on the world stage. It is the sport that the rest of the world judges a country by. If we took up the challenge, sort of like we did when Russia got into outer space before us, and made a country wide commitment to winning the world cup in 2022,
Comparing the space race and Cold War to soccer is just dumb. It's soccer it's a game. The launching of Sputnik was big from several points, mainly from the thinking of the time that space would be as important in time of war as air, land, and sea. In the end we won that race and never had a war, soccer doesn't come close.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 3:50 am to hendersonshands
quote:
We have made the all out effort. It takes time. Chill bruh
This is just dumb. Did you see that team we fielded? We have better athletes playing college football than the best athlete on that team.
They are slow, the guy who is supposed to control the middle of the field Bradley could not make a good pass if his life defended on it, we couldn't win a 1 on 1 with how pathetic our on ball skills are, and we had a coach who would rather let them play on our half the pitch the entire game rather than attacking their goal. fricking sad..
Posted on 7/2/14 at 4:45 am to LaBornNRaised
Honestly, with the way the US works you need to have a legit professional league that entices kids to emulate. The MLS is a joke to me. I am not the biggest soccer enthusiast, but there is no comparison between the MLS vs. the Champions League or La Liga. Kids need a player they idolize in American Soccer. There are a couple who could potentially be it, but they aren't household names like LeBron or AP or Jeter.
Academies at a younger age will develop and will certainly help, but until we have a league where every year people clamor to tune in and see high level soccer stateside instead of seeing our players play overseas and then get together only every 4 years I think it will be a slow process. Major strides have been made though.
Academies at a younger age will develop and will certainly help, but until we have a league where every year people clamor to tune in and see high level soccer stateside instead of seeing our players play overseas and then get together only every 4 years I think it will be a slow process. Major strides have been made though.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 5:17 am to boxcar willie
You should slap yourself for your posts in this thread.
Well back when Russia and the US were trying to get to...shut up
Well back when Russia and the US were trying to get to...shut up
Posted on 7/2/14 at 5:36 am to Ostrich
quote:
We would dominate if our best athletes played soccer.
Germany 80 million, Uraguay 3 million, Argentina 40 million people all disagree with you. They do quite well without the 'best athletes'. The USA with 250 million non-best athletes has no excuse not to do better.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 6:22 am to golftigers
quote:
As far as an "all out effort" think about Lebron, Adrian Peterson, Calvin Johnson, etc growing up playing soccer and going to year round soccer academies.
People who keep making this argument need to look at past cup winners and see how far off this argument is.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 6:35 am to boxcar willie
quote:
the rest of the world doesn't give a crap about those sports for the most part, especially not in comparison to soccer.
Exactly. Excelling at the Olympics is like excelling at women's sports at the college level. It's more about whose willing to take it seriously.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 6:40 am to ohiovol
The mls won't be big until they have their Michael Jordan
Posted on 7/2/14 at 6:45 am to SprintFun
quote:
Have the best baseball league in the world.
Well, we lose most of the time when our MLB all star team plays the Japanese. And the Japanese have long dominated little league.
Posted on 7/2/14 at 6:50 am to boxcar willie
Don't care.
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