Soccer - "The Un- American Activity"

I will say the soccer players I knew in college got more ass than anyone I've been around.

 

I may have missed it but I haven't seen any discussion in the Canadian media about what happened to soccer in this country. All we heard abut not too many years ago was how youth soccer registration was outpacing minor hockey and we were well on our way to becoming a world power in the beautiful game while our emphasis on hockey would go in the other direction.

Well despite developing some quality players like Owen Hargreaves - who, of course, doesn't play for Canada - that hasn't happened. Canada is barely an afterthought on the world level and for the most part the coaching and facilities at the national level are a joke.

What happened to all those soccer kids? Did mom and dad sell the minivan so junior could concentrate on hockey or lacrosse? I don't know, but on the other hand Canadian baseball, mostly a non-starter in the 70s, has thrived, with plenty of terrific young players throughout the majors and a national team capable of giving anyone a tough night. And Canadian hockey remains very strong at the junior level and on into the pros these days.

As for the "pussification" of youth sports, my six-year-old son is in his first year of T-ball. It's his first year of organized sports and they don't keep score for the first half of the season so the kids can learn to play the game. I have no beef with that and even when we started keeping score (and I am the scorekeeper for his team) it didn't seem to be that important to the kids. But there's no doubt that little kids can be extremely competitive and some of them play the game very hard.

And JR's post about minor hockey up here is bang on.

 

Boom, I've played many sports. I have trophies from nearly every sport. Some I was better at than others.

This thread is primed for the discussion and it is shit. You can't argue broad strokes by plucking strands from areas. That is all that has occurred.

As to "Uncle Phil" to a degree he has held the league together. His politics are something I am at odds with however sometimes balances must be met. New owners are coming into the league, a fact somewhat glossed over. As such Uncle Phil has divested himself of one team, almost two (but the sale fell through) and it could be down another in a year or so.

The guy made his money and can do what he likes with it. He is also entitled to his opinions. One that we share is that of soccer. Common ground can be made.

 

Ragu, in my high school the best athletes went out for soccer. This is a simple fact. My high school contained a couple athletes that went on to play for the US National Team (I am much younger than them).

Now, maybe your high school was different. I'm guessing that it was.

I will only state that had your football players taken off those pads and played soccer and then a game of football against those I played soccer with, I think you would see the comparison.

 

The testosterone is oozing. :

 

This thread has turned into complete lunacy, with everything from people recounting their glory days to imagining Landon Donovan squaring off against Leon Lett on a gridiron.

Boom wins, again.

 

Compared to hockey, both football and soccer are games for wusses.  ;D

 

Yeah, but it wasn't complete until you made a commentary on the path of the thread. ;D