re: Why are so many in United States threatened by soccer?

So answer the question then. What sport requires less athletic ability than baseball?

This thread sure did get derailed quickly.

This thread has been completely derailed. The OP's point was that you can enjoy one sport and dislike another sport while still respecting the fact that both are legitimate sports and require their own version of athleticism. Instead, the thread has become an argument about which sport has superior athletes. The reality is that athleticism means different things to different people, and different types of athleticism are required for different sports. For example, an elite baseball player would most likely suck at soccer and vice versa. Same goes for football, track, basketball, hockey, golf, etc.

Each sport has its own subsets of skills which I would consider a form of athletic talent:

Soccer: endurance, agility, quickness and speed, ability to control an object with a non-conventional body part (i.e., not the hands)

Baseball: incredible hand-eye coordination, short-burst speed and power, ability to repeat the same complex motions over and over with minimal variation (harder than it sounds)

Golf: precision, ability to repeat the same complex motion over and over

Basketball: short-burst speed, quickness, a different type of endurance than soccer, leaping ability, hand-eye coordination

Football: depends on position (skill positions vs. linemen) but some combination of brute strength, speed, quickness, agility, catching/throwing ability


Obviously, that isn't every sport nor every athletic quality of each sport. The point is just that different sports require different skills. All are equally legitimate as sports, but different people just happen to like different things partially depending on where they grew up, what they've been exposed to, and what they played. I think that was the OP's point. It's possible to have a favorite sport without having to bash other sports that you don't like.

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So answer the question then. What sport requires less athletic ability than baseball?

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again, I think this is dumb b/c I think being athletic is of extreme importance to all of the big 5 pro sports (and anything else at the top levels) but if you want me to poop on something...

auto racing, curling, shooting, archery, golf, bowling, discus throw, javelin throw, hammer throw, shot put...

by the standards you gave you could even say most short distance sprinters aren't high on the athletic scale.

People who bash any sport don't understand the skills and abilities required for that particular sport. If there was a sport that didn't require any ability, then everyone would be equally proficient at that sport.

I think it's a good thing. As long as people are talking about soccer in the US, even if it is to complain, it is a good thing for the sport.

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This is what I think. Far more than replacing baseball or hockey, I could actually see soccer cutting into football. I am a HUGE football fan. It's really the only organized sport I played as a kid. But I think football, as popular as it is now, is in a lot of trouble. My sister has already flat said that my nephew will not play. I know alot of other parents feel that way as well.

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I agree with this.

I played HS football at a tiny arse private school and my body still got wrecked. The first year I was ok health wise but that is probably b/c I hardly played.

In the last two years I permanently jacked up my back w/multiple pulls, got my wrist caught between helmets causing it to forever grind/audibly pop when I rotate it, and had 3 concussions w/2 of them being in the last 3 weeks of my junior season, the last of which was bad enough that I had short term memory issues for the next few weeks.

What was crazy was even after explaining to my coach that I was worried about head injuries and was switching to cross country he guilt tripped me like I was letting everyone down. (as if losing a nickel corner, gunner on punts/punt returns, and first wedge/wedge breaker on kickoffs was going to be the death of the team )

Just based off that I think I would discourage my kids from playing even though its still my favorite sport.


I guess in my coach's defense there wasn't the widespread concern w/head injuries in the 90s that there is now but I still think it was fricked up how he blew them off like it was nothing.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that before over there and got essentially the same response that my coach gave me.

This thread should be whacked for derailment. I volunteer.