I used to love soccer tournaments for the hotels full of girls teams. That alone almost makes club soccer worth playing as a kid.
There was a documentary on Netflix, I think it was called "Fastball". On paper, it is technically impossible to hit a major league fastball. What the brain does to track and predict the location of the pitch was rather fascinating.
I will say, I think it comes down to repetition so much, that it's a reaction once you decide to swing. All the different pitches screw that reaction up. Batters talk about "adjusting" to the pitch, but at that level there's very little adjusting. You're simply pushing the "go" button, and your muscle memory does the rest.
It's conditioning to look for it: played competitively football (running back, wide receiver, safety), soccer since I could walk (center mid and striker), baseball (started out as a catcher and then went to center field and batted anywhere from lead off to clean up). . .there’s bullshit theatrics in all sports. The truth of the matter is all you have to do is look at highlight reels for any given game and you’re most likely talking about single digit percentages of how much time the highlights represent to the overall length of that particular sport (shit’s the same with motorcycle racing). . .non soccer countries usually suck at it so their populations dismiss it, all good, really don’t give a shit, I just find it funny that the loudest shit talkers equate diving to being a pussy but then can’t back it up by throwing their asses on the field and showing the pussies how its done (which is like the first line in the manhood rulebook under “the definition of a pussy”). . .the rest of world looks past the diving like Americans look past the 20 -30 single digit yard running plays, incomplete passes, TV time outs and the over 70% failure rate to get a hit (if you’re really good). . .if any of them were easy, everybody would make the team. . . but the truth of it is, most people really aren’t that athletic to begin with. . . Since you don’t like the diving watch this. . . (and see how many times people try to take them out and they stay up). . . It’s incredibly difficult, no doubt (there’s a reason why the low percentages of success are considered exceptional). . .but it’s a totally different dynamic. . . as I’m sure you know, when you’re in the box, it’s basically just you and the pitcher. . .you need time, throw up a hand and step out of the box and reset. . .then get the pitch, depending on what happens get to do it all over again. It’s also different when it’s their first 10 pitches, 50th and 100th pitch. . .at 80mph, you can stick out a bat or check swing and the ball can still make it out of the infield with contact. . .having players come at you at full speed while you’re trying to execute precision movements, with no time outs, resets or do overs is a different animal. . .baseball is hard as shit, but it’s much, much slower and you have to process a whole lot less at once. . .still, most soccer players couldn’t hit a pitch from a 10 year old, let alone a MLB starting pitcher. . .and most baseball players would have their ankles broken in the first three minutes trying to defend a Premier level soccer player. You average middle age all American male would probably die an embarrassing death after 30 seconds of either. . .
Maybe the real solution here is to give the USWNT the equality they are looking for? Have one World Cup. Make it genderless. Have each country send their best players regardless of gender. Do not separate the World Cup into two different male/female championships. Then the women will have just as much chance to win a place on the National team and receive the same amount of money as every other team member.
Already being discussed but so is equalizing the competition whatever that means https://www.redstate.com/alexparker...anced-approach-the-new-criteria-are-stunning/
Well the goal of equalization of outcome would be achieved. I don't think anyone would participate, much less pay to watch.
Given your fussing, it’s obvious you’re a soccer player, and given your stated position on soccer players being the ultimate in athletic prowess, logic would dictate that you, yourself, are of superior athletic ability to, well, everyone. Dear me, I do hope your hypotheses isn’t proven wrong now.
You're a pot-stirrer. Go find something else to do. Oh, and please quote me where I said that soccer players were the 'ultimate in athletic prowess'. You keep making shit up to support your argument. That's not how it works, kiddo.
Dude, it's a waste of time to explains sports to: 1) People who have never really played any kind of sport. 2) They tried to play a sport and wasn't good at it, so there for it sucks.
I still don’t understand the relevance of how popular a sport is enters into a discussion of how athletic one particular group of athletes are compared with another. Soccer players are very athletic, no doubt but I would be hard pressed to believe that they are anymore athletic then baseball or basketball players. Too each their own I guess. I also wouldn’t describe any world level soccer players as pussies but at times their theatrics are a bit over the top. I’m glad the NBA took notice and started to call a foul on the defender when/if they flop, as it was starting to get ridiculous.
Yea, I saw that. You were replying to another of my comments where I called you out for making an exaggeration. Still waiting for you to post the video of a soccer player going down because grass brushed his shoe.
The whole argument started getting fuel when I called someone out for saying that US men's professional soccer players basically fell into the sport because they couldn't hang in any other sport. I never actually said anything bad about baseball or basketball players. I remarked that golf and basketball players shouldn't be the benchmark for it, and then that somehow spun off into a comparison of athletes. Pro-level anything is impressive. Hell, even these effin' e-gamers have skills.
Wait - did you really mean to type baseball? Overall though it's pretty simple. Basketball players get breaks, lots of them. They aren't running the entire time like soccer players. They sit a lot, have a lot of time outs, commercial breaks, and so on. That alone puts the requirement as being much higher for the soccer players. Same for football, lots of down time and player changes when one is winded. Are the soccer players stronger? Of course not, but I'd say more fit than the others. And I'd include runners as soccer players do a lot more than just running. Cyclists might be close but too much spandex takes them out of the running for anything. The theatrics and popularity don't have shit to do with athleticism. No clue why anyone would argue that.
So you know this first hand as fact that the majority of posters on here have never played any sports and were not good when they did? That’s rich. Even so, it still does not change the notion that people can form opinions based on what they have seen and what they like with being a fan of any one particular sport. You don’t have to play or be good at playing to know what you enjoy and what you don’t enjoy in watching a sport. I think most people on here can understand and appreciate what Motorkas was saying.
I haven't played lacrosse but that's because I didn't grow up in the Northeast. Other than that I've played most of the popular team sports. Good at some not at others. No I wasn't always this fat.
