re: inspired by the tiger woods athletic thread (soccer)

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i would pick cristiano in a race against lebron.

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Might be interesting... I would venture to say he might edge LeBron in the 40 but LeBron would take him in the 100 by a decent margin.

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cristiano ronaldo is a world class athlete, and he would not be successful in the nba. same goes for lebron and soccer.

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So you're saying given LeBron's skillset, it's absurd to assume that if he ate, slept, and drank soccer from early childhood he couldn't share the same success as some of the best keepers in the world?

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That doesn't change the answer. You are all assuming great athleticism automatically will translate to success in soccer if they are trained that way. It's not that easy, and in the end people really have no idea what the skill required to play soccer at a high level is. Being a physical freak like LeBron doesn't mean you will be able to play soccer. Even if you are raised playing it, doesn't mean you will be good at it.

Athletic ability does not equal success in sports. It can be a precursor and help, but there is much more to soccer than most Americans apparently seem to realize.

Using your feet to control a ball is completely different from running with it in your hands, catching it, etc. Even with practice, all the athleticism in the world doesn't do a lick of good for some people.

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I picked Lebron to be a goalie.



I think Bo Jackson, if trained from an early age, could be an all-star in any sport he wanted. Same with Deion Sanders, Jason Williams (white boy), Charlie Ward, Allen Iverson, etc.

Keeper may be the only position that it could translate too since upper body reflexes and length are much more key.

People love to make this argument as an excuse for US soccer sucking. In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with it. Stop the bullshite set up of the developmental programs and give the best players we have now to develop instead of little rich kids and their families, and maybe you'll have a shot.

Well, I don't think football players would be great soccer players besides receivers or DBs. Most Center Backs aren't giant bodies same with LB/RB. That said our athletes get the best training and if the game was popularized in urban areas, we would wreck.

KG: Shut down goalie

Kobe: Winger

to clarify things a little I'm not necessarily saying that it has to be the present pro athletes in our country...I'm talking about elite US athletes as a whole picking soccer over the traditional american sports.... also assume that coaching/developmental programs are all the same

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this is hilarious, especially given your previous statement. if you reversed them, you might have some credibility here.

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Say huh?

Tall guys do better in intermediate sprints (see Usain Bolt). Shorter guys do much better in shorter sprints (see Trindon Holliday).

This isn't exactly a bold statement.

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our american elite all-time soccer stars are slow turds compared to some nba superstars.

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Jozy Altidore begs to differ.

I sure as hell can argue it. You assume that being a great athlete and excelling at one sport means it will translate to another. This is utter bullshite. Not only is there completely different skillsets involved. You develop skills, you have athletic ability. They are not the same thing.

Worst of all you claim that being the biggest, strongest, fastest automatically makes these guys a cut above. That's bullshite and in soccer evenmoreso is useless. Soccer is as much mental as it is physical. Basketball compares in no way to it. all other sports have timeouts. All other sports have chances for the coaches to tell you what to do (see football) between each play.

Soccer is much more cerebral and thus your claims are stupid. This isn't to say that Lebron and others listed aren't smart enough for soccer, but its a totally different style of game. Even those who live and breath it, don't get it 90% of the time. It takes a very special player to have both the skill and intellect to play soccer. Its not to take away anything from other sports, I just thinks its retarded to try and compare these sports to each other purely on athleticism.

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Soccer is much more cerebral and thus your claims are stupid.

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You're right. The U.S. soccer team isn't moving toward more and more athletic guys... Oguchi Onyewu and Jozi Altidore probably don't owe most of their success to raw athleticism.

ETA: U.S. Soccer for years (and commentators have routinely agreed) has tried to drive home the fact that the game has to grow nationally to the point where elite athletes are playing it in order for the U.S. to join the upper crust of international soccer. I don't really see how this is such a revolutionary opinion.