...because it all starts with footwork.

Man, why did this get moved here? Did the KKK picture have something to do with it? Oh well.

So that's why it called football. I know it was with a smile, but then why is basketball not called jumpball?

You don't have to jump to play basketball. You might get your ass kicked, but you can still play that way...

Ahemm... USA boycotted 1980 olympics, so they DIDNT win anything from "soviet professionals"..
They did however played nicely in World Championship prior to that.

I admire your patriotic feelings about it, but there are very few sports that States prooved themselves in SLC Olympic games either. And major of those sports is how to sue other's ass to get golden medals.

B/c you putting ball into basket? (and no you can not call football "gatesball" - Bill Gates will hunt you down )

Ian, there is actually game that called handball
I might be mistaken, but thats the one they playing in pools.. VERY brutal game (as you can use legs to kick others under water, and yes - they do it and much more). So its taken too.

The US Basketball Team lost pretty badly in the last world tourny.

Wasn't our best players either, but who's fault is that? :rolleyes:

Dunno. Who's fault is it. It pissed me off, I know that much. The Dream Team is no more.

It really doesn't matter though. Our Army can still kick your Army's ass.

He plays the banjo, what do you expect?

Yeah, but I can't stand English football supporters, bunch of neo nazis.

I just think it's kinda odd how the USA isnt goin to be represented in Athens at the Summer Games in neither soccer nor baseball.

Ahem... The 1980 Winter Olympics - the year our AMATEUR KIDS beat your PROFESSIONAL MEN in hockey - was held in Lake Placid, NY. There was talk of a Soviet boycott in return for the U.S. boycott of the summer games but it didn't happen.

I understand YOUR patriotism but the fact remains that the U.S. is by far the pinacle of professional athletics in the world. No other country, including Russia, can compete.

Other countries in the world rule sports like soccer and hockey because those are two sports that the U.S. doesn't take that seriously. Therefore, our best and most talented athletes do not participate in them. If they did, there would be no question as to who would run the table in those contests.

That's not an opinion. That's a fact.

You know whats fun? read the first page of any thread in the ALR then read the last 2, just to see how the topic shifts.

you guys whine an awful lot for adults.

USA boycotted the Summer Olympics of 1980, not the Winter ones. Hence the "Miracle On Ice".

And it's actually spelled "futbol" in Spanish speaking countries. A game that has been around longer than American football by a long shot(yes, even I, football junkie that I am, concede that).

The bottom line is, lack of interest kills our ability to play "futbol". Because people don't watch, MLS struggles every year. The women's league fully collapsed late last year, yet the WNBA has managed to survive for several seasons now and is overall fairly healthy.

If people were interested, MLS could afford to give multimillion dollar contracts to the players like the Euro leagues do, and more people would take up the sport.

Anybody who thinks any country could be the US in football is out of their fucking mind. And if you really think Americans are the best at baseball(or hockey), you are out of your fucking mind too.

Please, if you're going to talk sports, know what you're talking about, eh? Why do you think I talk so little in the politic topics?

And Kaiser, eat my ass. I'm half japanese, and I'm nothing like some chinese person. They are similar to an extent, but it's about as stupid as saying Brits and Americans are the same.

I know you weren't talking to me, but I saw a few comments I wanted to add.
Not to mention it's hockey without the ice and fighting. Some hockey fans just don't understand that.
I don't think that would do it becuase we already will do that. Didn't a 14 yr. old get a huge contract like that?
Not hockey, but definitely baseball. Now, if you take away the steroids... [/QB][/QUOTE]

I wish you guys would stop including Hockey as one of the sports the US is not good at.

1960 Gold
1980 Gold
1996 World Cup Champs (All pros in that tourney) Silver Medal in the last Winter Olypics.

Especially recently, The US is no slouch at hockey.

And if you still dont think we are the best at baseball, you are fooling yourself. That team that lost was made up of college kids and minor leaguers. They pummeled teams consistantly and then lost the game that mattered 2-1 or something like that.

You put the best american pro's together and that team wins 9 of 10 every time.

Talk about a sport that is glorious to watch, and is as extreme as almost any event other than marathon is pro cycling. In Europe, pro cycling is as popular as anything here is, and yet the US gives it no coverage at all except the bit OLN does.

Since I got turned on to pro cycling about 5-6 years ago, I have been in love with the sport. It really requires a level of skill and strength that is only rivaled by the best athletes in the world.

Maybe that's the problem to all this America vs. the world talk. What is considered a "sport"? Pro-cycling, NASCAR, golf, figure skating, curling, etc. all claim to be sports, but many will argue against that and for good reason. I guess that's a whole other topic altogether.

I disagree with you concerning baseball. Any athlete from another country that is worth a damn in the sport of baseball is here in the U.S. playing MLB.

People see the FEW Japanese or Korean superstars make the transition to MLB and they assume the entire country is made up of 105mph fastball pithers. The fact is that any foreign athlete that has the skills to play professional sports in the U.S. is already here. As a whole, those countries professional teams wouldn't be able to stand up to our professional teams.

Granted, Latin American teams turn out some of MLBs best and most talented. Again, as a whole, their teams wouldn't be able to compete with ours. The only team based sports that I have seen our professionals struggle against the world's are Hockey and Soccer. Read my ealier posts explaining why.

While some of you make valid points, you also have to realize the system here. The US puts billions into developing baseball players here. There is so much money at stake it's absurd. They don't do that in other countries.

I'd be willing to wager if Cuba or the Dominican Republic put in the same amount of money that America does into developing their baseball players, the US wouldn't be alone on top of the pedestal.

Not to mention in those countries most players don't have the luxury of playing for a living, cause they make jack shit. They have to bust their ass doing something else to put food on the table for their family, not playing a game. Hence why their top talent tries to come here. Several of the best players in the game today are not American.

Am I saying that America is not ONE of the best in hockey or baseball? Absolutely not. They are ONE of the best. But not the best. It's not undisputed, like in football.

And speaking of the whole "world champion debate", why are the NHL and NBA called "National" leagues when they have franchises outside the country in Canada?

What happens to all those kids riding around in the soccer mom driven SUV's?

Soccer seems to have emerged as a strong pastime for the youth of this country, yet the appeal seems to wane after the middle/junior high years.

I've always been curious, since the popularity is there early on, why doesn't that popularity continue on to the high school, college, and pro ranks for U.S. kids?

Because it (youth soccer) has just emerged relatively recently (last 15 years, really taken off in last 7 years). The high schools are kind of locked into the traditional sports program such as (American) football and baseball, and they are slow to develop their soccer programs. But those soccer programs are growing.

At the schools, there is a lot of infrastructure tied up into the traditional sports programs of football and baseball (fields, equipment, personnel, schedules, tournaments, playoffs, mom and dad's and other donors' money (who probably never played soccer), etc.). So new sports programs have to "work around" the other established programs. Result is that the new programs are slow to grow. But they are definitely growing. Soccer will be a strong high school sport in the future, I believe.