the stretcher thing is per rule, and a tradition, but then again, as aggies we don't do anything peculiar due to tradition, do we?

grego, its no different than john starks acting like a killeen luby's victim after he brushes off a screen. its acting and its to get calls.

that being said, i guess starks was a terrible athlete. great logic.

I’m probably a lot older than most of the posters on this board and I have to laugh ‘cause I’ve heard for 40 plus years how soccer was the most popular sport in the world and how it was on the verge of taking over the U.S.

I remember being lectured to by an Irish priest when I was a youngster attending a Catholic school in Ft. Worth many years ago. This priest was what I call a soccer snob. He denigrated all of the sports we kids liked to play (baseball, basketball, football, etc.) and tried to impose soccer on us, telling us all the while that he was doing us a big favor by introducing us to soccer and making us civilized like the rest of the world. Needless to say, his strong-arm tactics didn’t work with us.

About twenty-five years ago or so a terrific all-sport athlete from the Dallas area (I think) by the name of Kyle Rote, Jr. decided to devote himself to soccer following high school. (Note: He was the son of the famous SMU football legend during the early 50’s). Kyle Rote, Jr. was a great athlete and allegedly could have gotten D1 scholarships in football and maybe even basketball or baseball. But, instead, he chose to pursue his athletic career in soccer and was a heralded player in whatever the name of the American professional soccer league was at that time.

All of the soccer aficionados claimed Rote’s choice was the breakthrough that was finally going to propel soccer to its rightful place at the top of the athletic food-chain in the U.S. as other great American athletes would follow him into professional soccer.

Didn’t happen.

Beginning twenty years ago or so folks began claiming that umpty million youngsters between (insert ages here) play soccer in the U.S. and that, as they mature, they’ll be the fan base causing soccer to soar in popularity.

Didn’t happen.

There are simply too many sports in the U.S. vying for the attention of potential athletes and fans. In countries like Brazil, however, the poorest kids can find a relatively flat piece of ground and use an old, taped up ball to play soccer. They don’t have access to football equipment, a basketball court, etc. So, in many countries soccer is “the” sport because that’s what everyone has played since childhood. But, there are too many alternatives in this country and, IMO, most of those alternatives are both more fun to play and to watch.

But, what do I know?

I am suprised no one has taken on the article I posted.
Do you agree that american sports are socialist?

I really didn't have time to read it until now.

It's an interesting article, though, and some of the points it makes regarding "socialist" philosophies certainly apply to professional leagues and teams in this country.

In a sense, D1 NCAA athletics would seem, in some ways, to follow the "capitalistic" model. Once television money started pouring in with the advent of cable and many college games began being broadcast each week, some conferences that were once strong broke apart and a major restructuring started taking place.

Take the SWC for example. Once a conference comprised of 8 or 9 teams, all of whom seemed to enjoy periods of relative prosperity (in the win/loss column, that is). But, by the 1990's the landscape had changed and, even with tighter restrictions on scholarship limitations, the Rice's, Houston's, TCU's etc. were destined to fall into a lower level conference.

Now, teams like TCU strive to upgrade their programs so that they can "step up" into stronger and more lucrative conferences.

Also, unlike in basketball when you flop, if you are faking in soccer you can get a yellow card for acting. Also, a lot of the time it may look like they are acting, but if you are running full speed and you get your leg kicked to the side, you are going down...I dont agree with the rolling on the ground like a p*ssy though, and fortunately, neither do most of the us players. In fact, we tend to be more hardass than most countries, england as well.

quote:

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He prefers the sports that require the athleticism of a sumo wrestler.

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This might be the most ridiculous comment you've ever made FXST, and you've made quite a few. You're going to sit there and tell me that guys that play football, baseball, basketball aren't any more athletic than a sumo wrestler, while guys that play succor are? The fact that you at your age can still play succor and not football (tackle or flag) anymore, pretty much disproves your point about the athleticism required as compared to the other sports.

T-Bird he is an idiot, but there are some old farts still playing baseball. And some real fatasses that have played the sport.

you dont exactly have to be donald trump to play bball.

Tbird it is not really an idiot in general. He's just passionate about the sports he plays and understands. When it comes to soccer - yes - he's an idiot!

Tbird,
Any comment in response to curling iron should always be taken with a grain of salt. Brandi claims they are all pansies (Soccer players) and I always retort we can tie our own friggin shoes. Point being, there are no 300lb soccer players who run 100 yrds and then die if they don't get a drink, time out and an oxygen bottle.

I played varsity everything in HS ( db/flanker, second base, point guard, 1&3 meter diving) and no skill set was as difficult to master as soccer was and still is.

And as far as the age comment I play in an over forty league spring and fall and survive at fifty just fine. In summer I play open age league and the young ones certainly do run me into the ground.

"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others!"
Groucho


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[This message has been edited by FXST (edited 8/3/2005 3:05p).]

quote:

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Tbird it is not really an idiot in general. He's just passionate about the sports he plays and understands. When it comes to soccer - yes - he's an idiot!

Tbird,
Any comment in response to curling iron should always be taken with a grain of salt. Brandi claims they are all pansies (Soccer players) and I always retort we can tie our own friggin shoes. Point being, there are no 300lb soccer players who run 100 yrds and then die if they don't get a drink, time out and an oxygen bottle.

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I actually did play soccer back in the day, but I gave it up after I was about 10 or 11, like most do. You can't sit there and tell me that a guy who runs around kicking a ball is more athletic than a guy taking hits from safeties, linebackers, and d-lineman and then getting right back up. No way. Sure they've got good endurance, much like distance runners, but I'd compare their athletic abilities to a tennis player (again, not dogging tennis, since I play).

Show me a soccer player that could survive a hit from Ray Lewis or Roy Wiliams, or one that could body up Shaq or Duncan and I'd be awfully shocked.

I don't see where taking a hit has anything to do with being athletic. Avoiding a hit maybe. Jerry Quarry took a few and no one accuses him of being an athlete.

The skills needed to trap a ball at all speeds, angles and with the different parts of the body alone takes a lifetime to learn. The attacking moves are more varied than the the ones a basketballer has to learn and every bit as difficult. Don't get me wrong, I love football and basketball and played both for a long time. They just were not as difficult learn.

"Those are my principles. If you don't like them I have others!"
Groucho