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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: Why Soccer Will Never Be a Slam Dunk in America
TIME ^ | 07/01/2014 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Posted on 07/02/2014 7:49:10 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

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To: Straight Vermonter

That was true 20 years ago, but today most MLS teams play in there own stadiums, built with less taxpayer dollars than the other sports.


81 posted on 07/02/2014 10:23:42 AM PDT by gusty
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To: gusty

Interesting. When my son was growing up in Kansas all boys either played tackle football beginning at age 9 or were labeled as “butterfly collectors”. His father was a coach and neither he nor any of his asst coaches would ever try to play. Much has apparently changed over the years.


82 posted on 07/02/2014 10:25:01 AM PDT by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: Grams A

The coaches “KIDS” not the coaches. I reread my post and I specifically says coaches kids, not the coaches.


83 posted on 07/02/2014 10:28:20 AM PDT by gusty
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To: deadrock
Eventually, soccer will be the number 1 sport. More immigrants(legal and illegal) and no replenishment of whites will ensure that.

Strangely enough divorce is a big driver of soccer's popularity. Kids without a dad at home play soccer as a fall sport instead of football.

84 posted on 07/02/2014 10:31:51 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: kevkrom

Excellent point.


85 posted on 07/02/2014 10:32:47 AM PDT by wideawake
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To: Grams A

Since your son’s father was coach, I would bet anything he played every down no matter how bad he played. And the faster better athletic kid who threatened his playing time was buried on the bench.


86 posted on 07/02/2014 10:34:16 AM PDT by gusty
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To: Straight Vermonter

Never go full retard man, never.


87 posted on 07/02/2014 10:35:16 AM PDT by gusty
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To: gusty

Just one man’s observation but I’ve coached kids sports for a long time. The middle class white kids with single mom’s don’t play football and baseball.


88 posted on 07/02/2014 10:38:59 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Straight Vermonter

So let me get this straight. White kids with single moms don’t play football. But on the other hand, the NFL is populated by black kids with single moms and they dominate the sport. So it is not the single mom issue that is the determining factor here. Under your reasoning, black kids with single moms must be playing soccer. As a soccer fan, I hope your right, and so does Klinnsman.


89 posted on 07/02/2014 10:45:41 AM PDT by gusty
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To: SeekAndFind
From the article: Soccer is counting on the growing U.S. Latino population to raise its popularity. Between 2002 and 2012, the Latino population increased from 13.3% of the U.S. population to 17%. I’m certain that will be a factor, but perhaps not a huge one

I know many Hispanic immigrants and first generation Americans from Mexico, Guatemala, Equator, Columbia, and other Latin countries. Almost universally, they have gravitated away from soccer to American football, baseball, and to a lesser extent, basketball. Sure they still play soccer for recreation, but they are passionate about football and baseball and watch every game they can on TV. I've noticed the same trend with Irish immigrants.

90 posted on 07/02/2014 10:49:10 AM PDT by Labyrinthos
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To: gusty

As I said it’s my observation. My area is white and middle class so I probably should have qualified it that way from the beginning. I stand by my observation, though, that a lot of kids (friends of my sons included) play soccer because Mom doesn’t want them to play football. With the recent NFL concussion issues I think this is going to increase.

Lots of Dad’s at the football games though. YMMV


91 posted on 07/02/2014 10:53:55 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter (Posting from deep behind the Maple Curtain)
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To: Veto!

I used to think soccer was boring, and sometimes it is. But I find baseball to be quite boring too and I used to be a big fan. With a rooting interest for the US team, the game can be exciting, at least at times. But undeniable are the skill and athleticism of the players.


92 posted on 07/02/2014 11:37:56 AM PDT by luvbach1 (We are finished. It will just take a while before everyone realizes it.)
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To: discostu

Good points in your post #46.


93 posted on 07/02/2014 11:38:59 AM PDT by luvbach1 (We are finished. It will just take a while before everyone realizes it.)
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To: SeekAndFind
We are a country of pioneers, and we like to see extraordinary effort rewarded... with points.

And since it takes extraordinary effort to score in soccer, what's the problem?

94 posted on 07/02/2014 11:39:44 AM PDT by Colonel_Flagg ("Compromise" means you've already decided you lost.)
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To: dfwgator

In fact, once the NBA banned hand-checking 2004, players from foreign countries who learned basketball from sports academies started to become a lot more effective. Properly coached, these players’ ability to move and distribute the ball is literally driving American players who learned basketball through the AAU and one year of college crazy. Indeed, new players like Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins will likely have to learn the ball distribution aspects of FIBA rules basketball within the next 4-5 years as teams all over the NBA start to seriously recruit the best European players.


95 posted on 07/02/2014 11:57:29 AM PDT by RayChuang88 (FairTax: America's economic cure)
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To: Straight Vermonter

Pretty much now though any USMNT home game, even the friendlies are guaranteed sellouts, that certainly wasn’t the case only a few years ago.

A lot of so-called “Soccer”-mad countries can’t even make that claim.


96 posted on 07/02/2014 12:05:59 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Spirochete
It's perfect for the socialist mindset prevalent in foreign countries. No winner or loser suits Europeans, and zero score/zero sense of accomplishment suits third-worlders.

Why not say that a 120-118 NBA game suits the 'gibsmedat' crowd who wants something for nothing and a 55-52 NFL overtime game suits people who have to have a winner or loser regardless of the effort expended by two equally matched teams? It would make as much sense.

97 posted on 07/02/2014 12:10:14 PM PDT by Colonel_Flagg ("Compromise" means you've already decided you lost.)
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To: gusty

Since your son’s father was coach, I would bet anything he played every down no matter how bad he played.”

Well, you’re 100 per cent wrong about that. We didn’t play in a “show up and you play” league. Kids had to try out for and make a team and all the coaches in our league played to win. Kids had two-a-days before season started, lifted weights and ran every evening, lots and lots of conditioning, watched films of their game with each play critiqued by the coach - what was right, what was wrong - it was mandatory that every college and pro game that was on TV was watched in our household and all the plays and players were discussed. Any kid on the team who didn’t play well at their position sat on the bench, including all the coach’s sons. There was no partiality shown.

My son certainly wasn’t the biggest or fastest but he ended up receiving an award for the being the best outside linebacker in our league for six years in a row and went on to play that position for two years in college - primarily because he was smart, physically strong, quick off the ball and knew how to read and play against all kinds of different offenses.


98 posted on 07/02/2014 1:04:14 PM PDT by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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To: gusty

Sorry I misread your post. Had eye surgery recently which sometimes prevents things I read from going from my eyes through my brain.

Our coaches kids, including my own, did not play if there was someone on the team who was better at their position. We played to win, not to give the coaches and the kids something to do in their spare time.


99 posted on 07/02/2014 1:32:15 PM PDT by Grams A (The Sun will rise in the East in the morning and God is still on his throne.)
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