wanna make your boys men, get em down to Australia and introduce them to Aussie Rules football… check it out if ya dont believe me.
No padding, hits just as hard as football, some players run 10 miles a game and these guys are much bigger than soccer players
Real men cook.
Thought I’d resurrect a dead thread, this is worth reading:
http://www.amconmag.com/blog/2008/07/10/this-fun-must-be-managed/
Let me preface my response with 2 things. 1. I think children should participate in as many sports as possible while they are young, and not specialize in one sport early in life. 2. I think that soccer players are some of the fittest, most athletic individuals on the planet.
That being said, I have long felt that the reason soccer is so popular with children (and their parents) is the fact that you can suck and it is not obvious. Think about it in this context:
Baseball: stike out, drop a fly ball, or let a ball roll between your legs - it’s obvious
Basketball: Miss your shots - obvious
Football: Miss tackles, fumble, drop passes - obvious
Soccer: With all those kids running around and the ball getting turned over all the time, you can’t tell who sucks and who doesn’t. Of course as in any sport the really good players with always be noticed, but in soccer, the average and really bad players look about the same on the field when they are kids.
Just my 2 cents.
[quote]Magnar wrote:
Let me preface my response with 2 things. 1. I think children should participate in as many sports as possible while they are young, and not specialize in one sport early in life. 2. I think that soccer players are some of the fittest, most athletic individuals on the planet.
That being said, I have long felt that the reason soccer is so popular with children (and their parents) is the fact that you can suck and it is not obvious. Think about it in this context:
Baseball: stike out, drop a fly ball, or let a ball roll between your legs - it’s obvious
Basketball: Miss your shots - obvious
Football: Miss tackles, fumble, drop passes - obvious
Soccer: With all those kids running around and the ball getting turned over all the time, you can’t tell who sucks and who doesn’t. Of course as in any sport the really good players with always be noticed, but in soccer, the average and really bad players look about the same on the field when they are kids.
Just my 2 cents.[/quote]
I’d agree with you about the soccer part. I’m glad my son played it and he got a lot of good out of it, but it is true about the lack of responsibility as opposod to other sports. But playing it well and practicing hard is a great way to get in shape.
[quote]tom63 wrote:
Magnar wrote:
Let me preface my response with 2 things. 1. I think children should participate in as many sports as possible while they are young, and not specialize in one sport early in life. 2. I think that soccer players are some of the fittest, most athletic individuals on the planet.
That being said, I have long felt that the reason soccer is so popular with children (and their parents) is the fact that you can suck and it is not obvious. Think about it in this context:
Baseball: stike out, drop a fly ball, or let a ball roll between your legs - it’s obvious
Basketball: Miss your shots - obvious
Football: Miss tackles, fumble, drop passes - obvious
Soccer: With all those kids running around and the ball getting turned over all the time, you can’t tell who sucks and who doesn’t. Of course as in any sport the really good players with always be noticed, but in soccer, the average and really bad players look about the same on the field when they are kids.
Just my 2 cents.
I’d agree with you about the soccer part. I’m glad my son played it and he got a lot of good out of it, but it is true about the lack of responsibility as opposod to other sports. But playing it well and practicing hard is a great way to get in shape.
[/quote]
While I agree that it is easier for mistakes to be overlooked, I take issue with the lack of responsibility.
I coach basketball and soccer, and at a young age there is not much difference in philosophy. I teach my kids that we may get beat, but it won’t be because we were out worked. Both teams were beat once last season because of lackluster efforts and it gave me a chance to show them what hard work means. If your not trying your going to hear about it.
[quote]Testy1 wrote:
tom63 wrote:
Magnar wrote:
Let me preface my response with 2 things. 1. I think children should participate in as many sports as possible while they are young, and not specialize in one sport early in life. 2. I think that soccer players are some of the fittest, most athletic individuals on the planet.
That being said, I have long felt that the reason soccer is so popular with children (and their parents) is the fact that you can suck and it is not obvious. Think about it in this context:
Baseball: stike out, drop a fly ball, or let a ball roll between your legs - it’s obvious
Basketball: Miss your shots - obvious
Football: Miss tackles, fumble, drop passes - obvious
Soccer: With all those kids running around and the ball getting turned over all the time, you can’t tell who sucks and who doesn’t. Of course as in any sport the really good players with always be noticed, but in soccer, the average and really bad players look about the same on the field when they are kids.
Just my 2 cents.
I’d agree with you about the soccer part. I’m glad my son played it and he got a lot of good out of it, but it is true about the lack of responsibility as opposod to other sports. But playing it well and practicing hard is a great way to get in shape.
While I agree that it is easier for mistakes to be overlooked, I take issue with the lack of responsibility.
I coach basketball and soccer, and at a young age there is not much difference in philosophy. I teach my kids that we may get beat, but it won’t be because we were out worked. Both teams were beat once last season because of lackluster efforts and it gave me a chance to show them what hard work means. If your not trying your going to hear about it.[/quote]
I think what he meant and what I meant is how parents look at it, not coaches. Of course the coach will see the mistakes, the average guy won’t see them. The parents then think their wonderchild is the next Pele when he is next to useless.
Of course, in a sport like football, very few people see the line play and will often blame the RB or QB.
All I can say is… see the 8 year old shorty on the right getting double teamed by 11 year olds at football camp yesterday?
That’s a future t-man and I am proud he’s my son.
If he could get that drive, discipline and spirit at soccer camp… I’d still send him to football camp.
I play soccer and I’m offended…
No, seriously, my plan is becoming professional in soccer and I agree , soccer players are weak.
By the way, my current.training routine consists in 2 days for acceleration, 2 days for the upper body etc, much like the training for the Combine.
Love it.
Nice bump
Well now that this has been bumped, as a person who played both semipro soccer as well as varsity football in highschool, football was much easier to transition to. In a few months I literally went from not being able to catch a football to playing regularly at running back. New soccer players have a terrible time transitioning from other sports because they:
If you’re missing even one of these playing soccer at any decent level becomes incredibly difficult, and taking contact in football was rather easy due to the amount of protection pads afford players. Football was harder for me because I couldn’t catch the damn ball and would often fuck up pitch passes, not because it was more physical.
Every sport becomes very specialized and skill specific when contested at a high enough level. A professional level athlete in one sport could probably easily transition and dominate (or at least be competitive in) another sport at an amateur or semi-pro level. But there are essentially no examples of someone successfully transitioning between two top tier pro sports in the modern era.
Definitely, but I think op was more implying that soccer and baseball was for wussies and football was a manly sport. Fwiw I don’t regret playing football as it definitely builds character, but 2 years of concussion inducing hits certainly makes me doubt whether it was all worth it, especially in light of all these cte studies.