Views
374
Comments
6
  • 06/01/2012, 03:56PM ET

How america can get better at sports

HighwayCrossingFrog (170-813-54) vs mikeycook (14-7-3)
0
Votes
2
Votes
0
Votes
2
Votes


1. There needs to be a club system for rugby, in north east, colorado and california, where guys can get paid.. Rugby is on NBC tommorrow.. So it does exist here.. If we want to compete and get to the quarter finals of the world cup.. Its going to take some crazy eccentric millionaire, like me, to put out a pretty penny!

2. SOCCER, we need to get lucky
At some point in our lifes.. there will be a freak american superstar in soccer
Dempsey finished 4th in most goals in the permiership this season
But we really need a superstar, if we want to capture the american minds

3. Tennis.. Go old school
We are not producing enough talent at the top level
Something isnt sitting right
The academies need to improve
The balotelli academy in the late 80's produced several tennis stars, including courier, agassi etc etc..
What is going on here?

4. Track and Field.. Europe has their own circuit..
WHY cant we do the same??
Another eccentric millionaire has to step up
Im already funding rugby. I cant do both, sorry

5. Have a school, for talented american athletes
And then hire a bunch of hot math teachers
Then Schilling wont invest 50 mill to computer games


1. Avoid wasting unnecessary resources on sports Americans don't care about.
Rugby fits squarely into this bucket, along with cricket, moto gp, and men's field hockey. There are only so many good athletes in any country and having them waste time on these euro sports will only hurt the sports we care about.

2. End the AAU approach to sports like basketball.
We need to stop recruiting 11 year olds and treating them like superstars until they are egotistic ball hogs who can't play team basketball. This is what kills us in international basketball tournaments and is why we need to overload on talent in international events, because our native born players don't really learn how to play.

3. Special Visas and tax breaks to allow easier emigration to the US for foreign athletes
You know how we use H1B Visas to bring in large numbers of tech workers from India, Pakistan, and China to the US to be our computer programmers? We need a similar approach for sports. How about no taxes on sports-related salaries earned in the US and an easy path to citizenship? We could improve greatly by targeting Mexico alone, not to mention the rest of Latin America, Asia, the Middle East, etc.


oh..
I thought you were going to say basketball players should stay in college for 4 years..
Or just give into temptation and pay college football players or something..

America has the talent to put out a great rugby team..
Think about all those great college football players, that couldnt make the cut in the NFL..
These are great athletes..
The NFL IS a cut throat league.. You either make it or you dont..
Us Euros.. If you dont make first division, then you can still live a decent financial life in the second division..
Our system is more fair..
I for one have faith in soccer and rugby in america..
Look at how far america has come in the past 22 years in soccer???
In 1990, we were a freakin joke at the world cup, losing 5-nil to the plain jane Czechs!!!??!!

HAVE SOME NATIONAL PRIDE..

This country is big enough to support a multitude of sports..

The beauty of rugby, is that, on any given day, ANYONE CAN BE THE MVP OF THE MATCH..
NFL?
SB MVP is the QB..

Is that what you want to teach your kids?
One person gets all the glory and everyone else is a bum?


So, you're saying we can put together a good rugby team out of people who aren't good enough for other sports? isn't that the whole problem? The reason we're not good at soccer is because our best athletes choose to play other sports. Our soccer teams are built exactly the way you describe. This isn't the way to success.

The best way to create a good rugby team would be to convince enough top athletes to play that instead of football, but that's never going to happen.

And, actually, we do have great rugby players. If you spend time on any of our college campuses, you'll find plenty of talented, tough women playing.

Also, no sport preaches all of the glory for one person more than soccer. Even though it's a team game, it's driven by the star power of people with one name and they get virtually all of the glory. We don't hear about Barcelona. We only hear about Messi. It's just like the NBA, where everyone can name Kobe, but can't name another Laker.


Dude, this country is 300million.. You are getting way to capitalist on me..
capitalism does not belong in the sports world..
Your attitude, is like, oh, well, if we cant be the best, what is the point in trying..

I guess I am a communist, when it comes to sports..
The people's champion..
In american highschools, they only have one american football team..
You either make the cut, or you hang out with the fat dude who has cellulite on his thighs..
In England, in my highschool, the juniors and seniors would play together, we would put out FIVE COMPETITVE TEAMS, 15 guys on each team, plus one sub.. The top 80 guys, made the cut, out of a possible 300!

My fantasy is set up my own rugby Division.
The best 20 clubs in the country, mostly north east, colorado and california.
Each team would have a squad of 30 players. so 600 players.
I would start off paying them 50,000 a year.
so that would be 30 million per year.
When Im 60, I will get 100 million.
I could theoritically do this.
Obviously I would need sponsors.
They would take care of hotels, and planes, and food on the road.
If Im lucky, it takes off, and america gets to the quarters in the WC!


So, you're saying we can put together a good rugby team out of people who aren't good enough for other sports? isn't that the whole problem? The reason we're not good at soccer is because our best athletes choose to play other sports. Our soccer teams are built exactly the way you describe. This isn't the way to success.

The best way to create a good rugby team would be to convince enough top athletes to play that instead of football, but that's never going to happen.

And, actually, we do have great rugby players. If you spend time on any of our college campuses, you'll find plenty of talented, tough women playing.

Also, no sport preaches all of the glory for one person more than soccer. Even though it's a team game, it's driven by the star power of people with one name and they get virtually all of the glory. We don't hear about Barcelona. We only hear about Messi. It's just like the NBA, where everyone can name Kobe, but can't name another Laker.

And, as far as my feelings about losing to the Czechs in 1990... losing to a team we don't care about, in a sport we don't care about, using our 2nd and 3rd tier athletes, is fine with me. No loss of pride there.

Comments (6) Add A Comment

June 1, 2012  04:42 PM ET
Report Abuse | QUOTE

Why would you title this "How America can get better at sports" and then proceed to talk about rugby, soccer, tennis and track?

Comment #2 has been removed
June 1, 2012  04:57 PM ET
Report Abuse | QUOTE
QUOTE(#1):
Originally posted 04:42 PM ET  06.01 by williewilliejuan

Why would you title this "How America can get better at sports" and then proceed to talk about rugby, soccer, tennis and track?

You'll prefer my argument, then. Improvement by elimination.

Comment #4 has been removed
Comment #5 has been removed
 
Comment #6 has been removed

Comment

Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.


Leaderboard

  Fan W L T Win %
1 OJ Simpson 48 11 4 79.4%
2 Bloggers Needed 1094 336 89 75.0%
3 JimJ77 Can't make it up 130 53 26 68.4%
4 :CubanM... 62 27 7 68.2%
5 Marlins Fan 146 66 32 66.4%
6 J-Business 91 73 24 54.8%
7 ()0P()0... 926 1536 406 39.4%
8 Highway... 170 813 54 19.0%

The Si.com Cover Hub Go to the Cover Hub

Truth & Rumors

MOST POPULAR

  1. 1
    Mavs shopping pick, eyeing Howard (and CP3)
    Views
    10434
    Comments
    924
  2. 2
    Donnie Baseball trying to get himself fired
    Views
    15257
    Comments
    607
  3. 3
    Howard considering five teams
    Views
    3325
    Comments
    101
  4. 4
    Careless Jets already steaming Ryan
    Views
    50943
    Comments
    85
  5. 5
    Why Tennessee's the problem in the SEC
    Views
    748
    Comments
    72

Most Active Users

Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns

  1. 1
    dc packer backer
  2. 2
    Tin Man
  3. 3
    BackRoads
  4. 4
    Finkelstein
  5. 5
    DJ: RIP OKC victims

Blogs