Video: The 60-yard goal
posted at 11:34 am on May 27, 2008 by Allahpundit
A.k.a. “Man Hits Giant Unguarded Target With Ball.” Exhibit 6,428 in why I’ll never understand soccer’s appeal: Is this really some great shakes? Can’t most pro players (and even plenty of amateurs) hit an open net from far away? And yet, somehow, it’s a bona fide YouTube phenomenon, with 1.1 million views of this particular clip and literally nine other versions of it in the YT top 100.
What am I missing? Leg strength + basic accuracy + favorable wind conditions = a gimme, no? Is this just a byproduct of the collective European mancrush on Beckham?
Update: To put this in perspective, the net’s goalposts are 24 feet apart. NFL goalposts are 18 feet, six inches. He kicked a long field goal through a bigger target than football kickers have. On a hop.
Blowback
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OK. I know you were waiting for it (?) so here’s the view from a non-football (ie. soccer) fan from the UK. Yes. It should be fairly easy for a professional footballer to hit an empty net that size even at that distance. It still requires some skill and there’s every possibility that someone else would flub it but it is not the greatest piece of skill ever seen on a football pitch. In my opinion, Beckham is one of the most overrated players in football history. He can take a good free kick and cross the ball well and that, as they say, is pretty much your lot. The rest is hype.
As for football in general, I used to like it when I was younger but it’s just a big yawn-fest for me now. What’s really funny to me, however, is Americans going on about how boring football is. Sitting comfortably?
1 American football
You see, our ‘football’ is called that because you use your feet. See the logic in that? And don’t tell me about the guy who comes on for a couple of minutes in every game to kick a field goal and then for the rest of the time is on a sunbed or reading a comic book. And what is it that you have to have a whole army of players who are so super-specialised they spend most of the game watching form the dugout? Next up, everyone lines up for a scrimmage, some bloke throws the ball backwards between his legs to the quarterback, lots of people run at each other (some of these people never actually lay a hand on a football for the best part of their career, I’m led to believe), then either the quarterback gets hit by someone and falls over or he throws it to someone else and they drop it or run for a bit and then fall over. And then what? Then everyone hangs around for another five minutes doing not very much until the process starts again. How is this interesting? Can’t they pass the ball around? Get some free-flowing movement and inter-play without having to stop-start every few seconds? And a touchdown? Again, they don’t actually touch the ball down. Say what you mean, for the love of God.
2 Basketball.
Exclusively for freaks with pituitary disorders. Where is the skill in a 7 and a half foot tall human curiosity simply putting the ball directly into a basket without the ball actually leaving his hand to do so?
3 Ice Hockey.
You’re actually encouraged to periodically beat the crap out of your opponents….actually I quite like ice hockey.
4. Baseball
Ideal sport for unfit people with paunches.
I’m done now….
schiehallion on May 27, 2008 at 1:28 PM
Hockey is the sport of awesomeness. (American) Football is a fair substitute. Soccer is pretty far down the list, even farther down than curling and sychronized swimming. I’m not impressed – if he had done it with his head, then maybe I would be. Of course, I’m going to encourage my kids to play soccer, simply because all that running is bound to wear them out!
Moment of honesty about my sports-watching habits – I like to watch curling. More than any American should ever admit.
Anna on May 27, 2008 at 1:29 PM
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 1:23 PM
Then you didn’t notice when Adrian Peterson used his brute strength as well as his speed and agility to break the NFL single-game rushing record.
You can see people get a good cardio workout by watching a triathlon or a 10k run too; soccer just added a ball to try and keep the audience interested.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Pray tell, where’s the body armour in soccer? Or Rugby?
I enjoy all games (admittedly hockey seems like a excuse just to prove how ‘manly’ you are by fighting with the other team), but I pretty much expected everyone to use this post as an excuse to rag on how ‘gay’ soccer is. Awesome.
Reaps on May 27, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Did the English team keep using the Cross of St. George or did they cave to the Muslims? Please tell me they kept the Cross.
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 1:31 PM
Just because you can glide in hockey doesn’t mean it’s easy. For punishment, I would much rather have to run on a soccer field than skate on ice. It’s not figure skating, if you play hockey correctly you are mostly in a squat position and that’s not easy doing for any length of time at full speed.
And also, you see empty net goals in hockey all the time and rarely does the scorer even raise his hands. Because it’s not that big of a deal with no goalie there.
matd on May 27, 2008 at 1:32 PM
Come on. Seems even soccer is a HA war topic.
Limerick on May 27, 2008 at 1:34 PM
Actually, ‘hallion just reminded me why it’s so peculiar that NASCAR is so popular in America but not so much in the rest of the world, considering how compared to NFL it’s not excactly a ‘stop-start’ style of sport. In fact you could probably consider it AFL with wheels. Also peculiar is that baseball is popular and yet cricket is derided as ‘boring’. At least you get six balls an over before they decide to take a commercial break.
And on and on it goes. Really now, these posts are the absolute idiom of the old ‘arguing on the internet‘ policy..
Reaps on May 27, 2008 at 1:36 PM
And you’d be right there. I’m surprised the thread hasn’t reached the point where it’s arguing about atheists, christians, ‘tr00′ conservatism or outrageous outragessness yet.
Oo, oo, I know! “Only liberals and atheists play soccer”.
Free of charge!
I’ll be off to bed now so I don’t get to enjoy the rest of this thread
Reaps on May 27, 2008 at 1:38 PM
I enjoy watching my grandaughters play soccer but I wouldn’t buy a ticket to watch strangers do it. I would buy a ticket to watch a soccer player try to hit a Joba Chamberlain slider off the outside corner after taking some high inside heat.
a capella on May 27, 2008 at 1:39 PM
People are feeling feisty after a long weekend. ;)
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Once again you show how naive in sports you are. Hockey players exert so much more energy in a shorter length of time. Every watch a hockey game?
Try this on for size.
At 300 lbs. and a 5.0 sec. forty (10 yards in 1.72 secs.), I would say he could get the job done. And there were a few more before him.
Sockher is a sport for the “small” people to play.
right2bright on May 27, 2008 at 1:40 PM
Of course they did. Some busybody cop told a fan that the cross was “offensive” to some people and should be removed. On top of that Rooney got in trouble for posing in an ad while painted (or something) in a red cross – people accused him of iconoclasm, among other things. Soccer is officially, however, a front of the jihad. So, by ragging on it, you’re proving your dhimmitude.
Anyone can tell you, that’s remotely connected, that basketball in the south was (maybe still is) a big deal, even among average-height white folk like my family.
By the by, I meant “bombing of Dresden,” which you probably realized.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 1:41 PM
You see, our ‘football’ is called that because you use your feet. See the logic in that?
So…you call cricket “cricket” even though you don’t actually use cricket bugs during play. See the logic in that? I don’t.
Basketball should be called “handball” or conversely soccer should be called “netball” or “headball” because soccer players also use their head..though the goalies DO use their hands. Hmmm, this could get worse.
Tennis could be called racquetball or netball (but that would conflict with soccer potentially being called netball) and baseball could be called mitty or batter but then racquetball would have to be known as…..or I suppose we could quit trying to find logic in sport naming and accept that sometimes they might not make complete sense.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 1:42 PM
Granddaughters being the operative word.
a capella on May 27, 2008 at 1:39 PM
Why pay money to see an absolute impossibility? ;)
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 1:42 PM
There is one, and only one sport for real men……………Rollerball!
Limerick on May 27, 2008 at 1:44 PM
Randomly saying that “You’re naive, so you’re wrong” is not proving that hockey is more of an exercise. I’m not saying it isn’t an exercise at all, only that soccer is more of an exercise – which is why you can have fat hockey players but you rarely have fat soccer players; soccer is more intense.
As you your question, yes, I have watched a hockey game, both NHL and whatever you call local teams that play in neighborhood ice rinks.
I didn’t say football players were categorically banned from being quick. Just because the football player is quick does not mean I’m wrong. I doubt very seriously that, if he was coming from 40 yards away, a soccer player couldn’t get around him. Ever watched a soccer game?
If, by small, you mean faster and more athletic, then by all means, soccer players are small.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Actually, my dad (who lives in Scotland, same as me) loves NASCAR and watches it all the time. And Dario Franchetti is from Bathgate, very close to where I used to live.
But never mind all that, who are you calling retarded? I’d say more except the staff here in the daycare centre don’t like me being on the internet too long. They say it makes me over-excited…
schiehallion on May 27, 2008 at 1:46 PM
We call them Lawn Fairies. Real men play football. Lawn fairies wear silky short shorts and play futbol.
dm60462 on May 27, 2008 at 1:47 PM
I remember that well. Back when I was still blogging, I covered that story. The pic that got lost when the site migrated, is this one. Great ad!
Get off it. You’re making me laugh even harder.
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Every time the subject of soccer comes up, there’s always one (or 100) person that has to chime in with “you have to understand the game”. Well, you know what? I understand the game. I lettered 4 years in high school and 3 years in college. Once I stopped playing, I realized the game was fun to play but really, really boring to watch.
I was no great player but I’ve scored a goal or two like this. Big deal. Open net. You’re supposed to make that shot. That’s why you get razzed if you miss it. It was a simple trap, simple juke, easy-open-net shot.
And don’t give me the “baseball is better” argument. It’s the one sport I like watching less than soccer.
schiehallion, American football got it’s name from the early days when the feet were a lot more involved and the forward pass had not yet been “invented”. Touchdown = to score, the ball carrier had to cross the goal line and touch the ball to the ground. I would say they did a pretty good job of naming the terms. They may have become b@stardized but were accurate at the time. Maybe you can explain how the ‘magic water bottle’ works on ankle injuries? Technically, I know it’s a South American invention but …
slug on May 27, 2008 at 1:48 PM
We can agree on that.
manly manly rollerball
Alright, rolly derby, but that just adds to the irony. Yes, you reminded me of that video.
Now, bed I must go.
Must.
Reaps on May 27, 2008 at 1:51 PM
You don’t understand, by me saying you’re are naive is precluding you from any comment to be taken seriously…you are banned by your naviete.
Elite athletes go into other sports, the rest play sockher.
If by pure exertion, and execution, you would have to say water polo is more of an elite sport then sockher. Sockher is like watching an endurance race with no lanes.
right2bright on May 27, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Beckam’s a Lawn Faerie. I played soccer a bit in my younger days, and it was fun to play, but I only liked watching the indoor game – much faster, more scoring, have to keep your head in the game.
I actually scored a goal from just inside the half field mark, and I was only able to do it because the goalie was up way too far. More of a goalie screw up than a great kick. Still, had to kick it high enough to get over all defenders and land in the goal.
kirkill on May 27, 2008 at 1:58 PM
The best thing I’ve read all day!
ITmonkey on May 27, 2008 at 1:58 PM
That’s funny. I wondered why the water bottles saw so much action in the soccer injury compilations. Now I know: they’re MAGIC.
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 2:03 PM
We have it now. Any clips of Dirk, LeBron or Duncan making a dunk get the mileage this clip has?
Others have said this, so I won’t add much, but your opinion is likely what it is because of your experience and not because of what professional hockey players actually do.
Baseball is just as boring as soccer (though much less so when you’re playing), but if it were about unfit people, we wouldn’t have the steroids scandal we do.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 2:06 PM
There are few soccer players that wouldn’t qualify as elite athletes. By contrast, there are few football players that would.
You confuse naivete and intentional, principled disregard for lesser sports. An easy mistake, though.
Do people still play water polo?
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 2:07 PM
Which is the only good thing about soccer.
——————–
Now look, all of you who are weeping big tears and fighting back an urge to roll around on the ground before leaping to your feet hysterically and demand that the referee wave a pretty colored card at us … before you prance off with your arms spread like a little kid playing airplane …
… there’s something you’re missing.
To wit: soccer is a great game. To PLAY. I played 11 seasons as a kid. Awesome game.
But to watch? As a professional sport? It’s simply the gayest, lamest thing of all time. It just is. And you prancing around excitedly and chanting because your team tied 1-1 … just doesn’t help.
If you don’t understand why soccer has not and will never catch on in America, you just don’t understand America.
Every single thing that makes America great is entirely antithetical to the culture of soccer.
Europe is where it is today because of soccer. Or, more precisely, it is where it is today because it has developed the sort of culture that could embrace an evil thing like soccer.
Now hurry off, you puffs, to your tellies and check your scores. I’ll bet your team is winning 0-0.
————-
Oh, and which of one of you brightly-colored-card-waving dancing-running-weeping-rolling-on-the-ground fairies actually compared soccer to rugby?
Please. Rugby is cool. Rugby players are simply heterosexual soccer players with better taste in beer. There is no comparison.
Now, quickly, go check your scores: I’ll bet you’re team is winning 1-1!
————-
Soccer. The “sport” (cough) of the anti-Christ. And Regin Philbin.
But fun to play.
Professor Blather on May 27, 2008 at 2:09 PM
Okay, I take it back. There are two good things about soccer.
Number two is that soccer “fans” are so easy to get wound up. They’re very sensitive.
Which, of course, sort of proves the whole point.
Professor Blather on May 27, 2008 at 2:12 PM
Here’s how tough soccer players are – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5epK4YFFjh4&feature=related
I think they need acting lessons first.
Squiggy on May 27, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Then there’s lacrosse, a game I only recently discovered when my HS Freshman son began to play last year. They call it “the fastest game on two feet,” and it is. It’s loads of fun to watch, quite physical at times, and requires a lot of skill to carry and throw that ball with the stick. It is rapidly becoming one of my favorites!
BNCurtis on May 27, 2008 at 2:19 PM
So, quick summary of your point: Americans like to tackle. Soccer is opposed to tackling (at least in your sense). Therefore, soccer is opposed to Americans.
Watching two teams of athletes for 90:00 (with a break at the half) is much more American than the endless spectacles involved in American football. It is quicker; it is more efficient; and, given the current generation’s abysmal performance in math, it’s easier to count 2-1 than the multiples your teams put us through.
Being able to put a goal through Manchester United or Chelsea, or in America, through DC United or LA Galaxy is worthy of celebration. The retaliation is also worthy of celebration (though probably not for the same people). Getting drunk and acting like an ass because your team kicked the ball through a Y? Not as celebratory, and not as dignified. In short, not as American.
America is about skill, not brute strength. We invented the atomic bomb, not the cannon. I refuse to see America through your amber-colored glasses.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 2:19 PM
That should be read with a grin.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 2:20 PM
That’s what we’re talkin about.
right2bright on May 27, 2008 at 2:21 PM
Mine too.
right2bright on May 27, 2008 at 2:22 PM
You wouldn’t say the atomic bomb is about brute strength?
The other reason it doesn’t get anyone excited is because in 90 minutes, a 2-1 score is good. Only scoring once every 30 minutes makes it hard to get into the game.
Yes, football has its problems as well, but that doesn’t really take away from the problems soccer has.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 2:23 PM
False. However, there is a lot of illegal stuff that does go on that doesn’t get called.
If you want to name a most physical sport, I wouln’t argue with Rugby/Australian Rules Football
How was your post funny? Don’t worry, I’ll stop with the “distractions.”
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:24 PM
Yeah, but PETA is cracking down on the drowning horses.
right2bright on May 27, 2008 at 2:24 PM
I am supprised, it seems to me there are a lot of similarities. It was the similarities to soccer that led me to enjoy hockey. Well, that and all the fights you get at simi-pro games.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:27 PM
*throws self on ground in overly dramatic fashion after barely getting bumped by another player*
Most sports are boring as hell to watch.
doubleplusundead on May 27, 2008 at 2:31 PM
Wow, you really don’t know about football do you. I was originally just kidding about you.
Most of the football players were multi-sport players as kids, they just focused (say scholarship) on one sport.
Every db, linebacker, tight end, quarterback, and most linemen would more then qualify for “elite” athletic standard no matter what sport you put them in. You haven’t been around football players much have you?
BTW, where do they put the “elite” sockher players in the NFL? As a kicker, not a runner, not a receiver, but as a protected kicker. I guess they aren’t that quick and elusive.
right2bright on May 27, 2008 at 2:34 PM
Are those guys the icons Jordan and the like were? If you just want to acccount for viewership, I’d take a stab at soccer’s world wide audience.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:38 PM
See, I’m of the opposite view. The rarity of scoring heightens the excitement. The struggle is greater in a contest that produces 1 or 2 total goals than one that scores at light speed.
As for the atomic bomb, there’s obviously strength in it but it took a lot of skill and brainpower to create something that powerful. The cannon and the bomb are blunt; the atomic bomb is exponentially greater and is the result of, in a word, skill.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 2:38 PM
*yawn*
pecan pie on May 27, 2008 at 2:39 PM
False. However, there is a lot of illegal stuff that does go on that doesn’t get called.
Really? So a soccer player could drive the opposing goalie to the ground right before Beckham dribbles in a shot? Could the goalie’s teammate wrap his arms around Dave’s legs before the shot is ever taken?
No shiite? Maybe I need to watch soccer more often, I had no idea it was so physical.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Football players, yes, I’ve been around, of several levels. And while they might be strong, they aren’t nearly as fast.
Of course soccer players are kickers; they aren’t built like football players and sending them out as anything but a kicker could be charged as homicide.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 2:41 PM
LMFAO
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:41 PM
Sometimez teh internets is teh ghey. Being a professional athlete in ANY sport is extraordinarily tough.
When I was in college I worked in the ice rink at a Division I school. I became well-acquainted with some of the players. They used to make fun of the figure skaters. Then one day the figure skating coach invited them to try it. The coach was a she, and she goaded them.
They tried it.
Then they never made fun of it again.
SlimyBill on May 27, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Perhaps in this country . . .
I would have guess he was referencing skil in making versus destructive impact.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:43 PM
There are few soccer players that wouldn’t qualify as elite athletes. By contrast, there are few football players that would.
And of course “elite” status is gained by having the ability to run up and down a field for ninety minutes?
Try and argue that Jerry Rice or Emmit Smith or Wayne Gretzky weren’t elite athletes in their playing days.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 2:44 PM
Lacrosse is a great game. It is the fastest game on two feet as well, except hockey, which is at least 2X as fast as lacrosse.
Zetterson on May 27, 2008 at 2:48 PM
LeBron is on my PowerAid bottle and in more commercials than I can count, and his high school games garnered national attention. I don’t know. You tell me, is he as much an icon as Jordan?
Besides, the question wasn’t about their popularity. It was about the dunk itself, which is very common in basketball. You can see several in just one quarter if you’d like. There’s no reason to upload one dunk on youtube, and very few would watch it.
Your last point is probably why this has been watched as much as it has. Soccer is world wide. American sports are not, though we do seem to recruit a lot of foreigners, so that could change.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Really? So a soccer player could drive the opposing goalie to the ground right before Beckham dribbles in a shot?
Are you telling me this is legal in hockey? pehaps I should watch more. All the games I’ve seen the hockey goalie gets his fair share of babying from the refs.
Could the goalie’s teammate wrap his arms around Dave’s legs before the shot is ever taken? not his arms, but he could sure knock him on his a$$ or break his shins provided he makes the proper play on the ball.
At the risk of stating the obvious, no one said it was the same sport. You said it was illegal, its not.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 2:40 PM
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:50 PM
You’re all WRONG! hahaha!
Beckham is not over-rated. You think this because he doesn’t score like MJ. He is however an absolutely brilliant passer. Think Joe Montana’s arms transmogrified into Beckhams legs. The placement of his passes to charging wing forwards is second-to-none. This is why his coupling with Donovan on the Galaxy is perfect. Second his corner-kicks are top-notch. Third his free kicks are legendary. Finally, comparing it to kicking a football is all wrong. The shape of the football is such that a spin can be easily placed on the ball when kicked such that it tends to travel in a straight path. When you kick a soccerball you will put spin on the ball. Any spin on a soccer ball results in a curved path, thus mastering the right amount of spin is a great asset (thus “Bend it like Beckham”).
_
Also, it is very hard to kick a soccerball as a “knuckleball”. Skilled players can do it but it is really only effective at close range (think ~PK range).
MechEng5by5 on May 27, 2008 at 2:53 PM
You tell me, is he as much an icon as Jordan?
He gets a lot of attention, but I wouldn’t say he has reached iconic status yet. Of course I’m not the guy who makes those decisions.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Since when did speed make someone an athlete?
That would make more sense, but even a cannon required skill in making it before it was invented. The gunpowder age dramatically changed warfare indefinitely.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 2:54 PM
Cut the field size by 50%, add a shot clock, and make it full contact, then maybe I’ll watch…
Wyznowski on May 27, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Yet, but the man’s only in his early 20s. He’s got so much left in him, that’s this is arguably him just starting out.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 2:59 PM
Ask yourself why baseball is embraced with passion in certain countries and ignored in others. What is it about the Japanese, Taiwanese, Korean, and non-European Latin American cultures that creates such fascination with it? Also ask yourself why, if baseball is boring as a spectator sport, that baseball ticket sales and revenues are accelerating at an unprecedented rate. Hint: Two reasons.
a capella on May 27, 2008 at 3:01 PM
That’s been posted already – check page 1. Still… funny enough to be posted twice! ;)
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Are you telling me this is legal in hockey? pehaps I should watch more. All the games I’ve seen the hockey goalie gets his fair share of babying from the refs.
Point taken, I will rephrase. Can one of Beckhams teammates stride ahead of him and intentionally knock opposing players on their ass? Are they allowed to lower their shoulders and drive other players into the sidelines?
not his arms, but he could sure knock him on his a$$ or break his shins provided he makes the proper play on the ball.
The operative term being “making a proper play on the ball”. Dave’s teammates can’t run across the field and intentionally smash into an opposing player with the purpose of keeping him away from Dave.
At the risk of stating the obvious, heavy physical contact while not “making a proper play on the ball” in soccer is not allowed…IOW illegal.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 3:02 PM
On the first point, it doesn’t. My point was that the football player is not as well-rounded as the soccer player; he is strong, not fast, while the soccer player is reasonably strong and fast.
On the second, it was a huge leap to the atomic bomb from the average bomb. Yes, it took skill to make gunpowder, but the higher level involved in atomic bombs was the point.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 3:02 PM
See, Owens, Jessee etc.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 2:59 PM
No argument here, could be. Of course, when I was a kid, the dunk was much more rare than now days. I guess an empty goal in soccer is pretty rare as well. Potentially accounting for some of the curiosity
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:06 PM
Enlighten me.
I don’t see how you’ve made your case that soccer players are reasonably strong. I’m not saying they aren’t, but I don’t see how you’ve explained what makes them strong, or rather, any stronger than any other generic athlete. They seem average.
I can see your point. It’s just that I don’t think skill rather than brute strength when you mention the atomic bomb. Maybe if you’d said a precision bomb, but that’s possibly just me.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Of course he’s an athlete. What I meant was, since when was speed the only way to judge what makes an athlete.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 3:09 PM
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Why aren’t you pimping rugby?
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:09 PM
Very funny. And very true – this thread as evidence. ;)
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 3:09 PM
It’s not. . . I imagine there are a lot of components to being an athlete, speed, skill etc.
New discussion topics:
1) What about golfers, are they athletes?
2) Ron Paul
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:12 PM
Number two is that
soccerhockey “fans” are so easy to get wound up.Fixed it.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:13 PM
Soccer players are trained exceptionally well, especially the expensive ones (if I’m a Russian mogul and I’m paying millions for a great line-up, they’re going to be in darn good shape). My point was that soccer players are well-rounded, in terms of strength, speed, endurance, etc., while football players overall focus on strength. You can have varying degrees of fitness for various positions; soccer players on the whole have to be in the best shape of their lives, in any position. It’s tied into the nature of the two sports.
Perhaps the atomic bomb was not the best choice. I was thinking of Ayn Rand’s arguments for the merits of free societies at the time. You’re probably right that I could have used a clearer example, but now I guess it’d be pointless to change it, since we’ve hashed it out.
emailnuevo on May 27, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Number two is that soccer hockey “fans” are so easy to get wound up.
Fixed it.
I don’t remember the last time that riot police had to be brought in to quell a bloody confrontation between two sets of fans ala soccer. When extra German cops are on standby in case the English fans decide to raise hell in the stadium, there is a problem.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 3:24 PM
I’d say no, but it does take an enormous amount of skill and practice.
A friend of mine has a theory that any sport you can do with a beer in your hand doesn’t count as a sport. He means bowling, pool, darts, etc… It’s not that you can do it well with a beer in your hand, but you can still play with one, which would include golf.
That’s true. It’s all very clear now. Maybe next time.
As to the rest, I don’t doubt that soccer players are more fit than say some baseball players. Beckham is obviously very chiseled.
But basketball players also need to be fast and strong. They don’t necessarily need the endurance soccer players have, but they do need more strength as it’s much more of a contact sport.
The best example of a well-rounded athlete (in my opinion) are the Ninja Warriors. They have to be very fast, very strong and very balanced. The top guys show just what the human body is capable of.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 3:25 PM
Ooh, Bishop, I’ll help. ;)
Enjoy.
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 3:26 PM
That settles it . . . ninja warriors it is.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:27 PM
Why aren’t you pimping rugby?
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:09 PM
You’re right, I should have mentioned Rugby as yet another sport that makes soccer look..well..dull and boring.
My bad.
Bishop on May 27, 2008 at 3:27 PM
That was hllarious.
Still I think it’d be hard to argue that any sport is more physical than rugby. Of course, I’d love to be enlightened.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Sorry,
That was hilarious
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:30 PM
AP has it right – this was a complete nothing of a goal. Where he has it wrong is in thinking that this is representative of the weakness of soccer in general. There were 10 better goals scored this weekend than an open net, unmarked effort from midfield. BFD.
Jaibones on May 27, 2008 at 3:34 PM
I know – I love it. I was in Scotland last September when the Scots met the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup. Saw the haka up close and personal, and hope to see it again in 2011 in NZ for the next RWC. It really was awesome.
My husband is 40 and still plays rugby. It’s just about ruined his back, but he figures he’ll be in pain anyway, so why not be in pain doing something he loves. Rugby players are a whole ‘nother breed.
Redhead Infidel on May 27, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Our college soccer coach (a white african american BTW) would play the All Blacks video to get us psyched up for games. It was always inspiring.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 3:43 PM
Wow, you people obviously aren’t well versed in the strategy of football. In football, SPEED WINS! Deon Sanders ran a 4.2 forty. . . I bet he could outrun any soccer player and hit you at full speed. Michael Vick? Also a 4.19 40 faster than any player on the field – without his speed, you wouldn’t have heard of him.
When looking at football recruits, they look for speed if they want to win. Speed first, then size. I’d venture to say that the 10 fastest football players are MUCH faster than the 10 fastest soccer players.
In football, if you have speed, you get to the corner, you get behind the defender, you can’t be outrun if you are a fast defender. Speed is the critical ingredient to a football player. If you don’t have it, you don’t play.
Just because they are 6’5 280 doesn’t mean that a 4.8 40 isn’t fast and won’t hurt when you hit them. Football players are PLENTY athletic. YOU try outrunning Julius Peppers. . . and know that if you don’t, he’ll C-R-U-S-H you like a twig. Many track stars are made into elite football players for a reason.
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Actually, without his dog fighting I never would have heard of him. I’m not big into football, but I know how its played and know a few key players.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 3:59 PM
The only time I liked soccer was when my kids were playing.
roux on May 27, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Well Esthier, he wasn’t very talented for anything other than he was fast. His passing accuracy was always questioned. . . and he never really won important games. The problem with Vick (for defenses) was that he was the fastest guy on the field. So when he would roll out to pass, someone had to make sure that he threw the ball instead of ran. Once he was in the open field – or behind the defense – nobody could catch him because of his speed.
I’ve never been a fan of his anyway, but he created nightmares for defenses because of nothing but his incredible speed. . . and while I’m not a fan of his. . . I doubt that there is a soccer player on the planet that is as fast as Michael Vick (and several other football players).
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:12 PM
Thacker, I’ll take your word for it. After the scandal broke, I asked around about him and heard that he would indeed be missed, and it’s certainly true that many football players do have to be fast.
Esthier on May 27, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Soccer always was a sport for the guys who couldn’t make the football team.
Alden Pyle on May 27, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Soccer is so manly, it should be played in kilts.
meci on May 27, 2008 at 4:22 PM
Yup.
And here’s the not-so-secret secret: soccer fans invariably get their panties in a bunch whenever you mock their fruity sport because they KNOW we’re right.
They have to.
C’mon. Admit it, you poofs. Admit that when your team finally scores in the final minute of a 90-minute yawn fest and the players begin dancing around like Ice Capades on grass, you’re a little embarrassed. And some tiny voice says: “Geez. This IS a gay sport!”
Better yet … just acknowledge the blindingly obvious truth that every time you see a player on your team take an equally obvious dive and start writhing and moaning and putting on a performance that makes Laurence Olivier seem like a talentless piker … complete with tears and protestations and desperate pointing at the non-existent yet life threatening injury because they tripped and went boom …
… a little part of you dies inside.
C’mon. You know its true. We know its true. You get upset because you know we know you know its true.
Just fess up and let’s go watch some rugby.
Professor Blather on May 27, 2008 at 4:25 PM
Yawn. Wake me up when he can hit a fastball.
Bad Penny on May 27, 2008 at 4:26 PM
Vick was actually a 4.25 and Deon ‘only’ 4.23
But here are the fastest in the NFL currently top 9:
The Fastest Players in the NFL include the following.
1. Michael Bennett ( 4.13 @ Wisconsin pro day)
2. Laveranues Coles (4.16 @ Florida State University, 4.29 @ Jets Media Guide)[5]
3. Ahman Green (4.17 @ Pre-Draft Workout in Nebraska)[5]
4. Donte Stallworth (4.22 @ 2003 Tennessee Pro Day)[5]
5. Willie Parker (4.23 @ 2004 North Carolina Pro Day)[5]
6. Randy Moss (4.25 @ Marshall University)[5]
7. Champ Bailey (4.28 @ 1999 NFL Combine)[5]
8. Devin Hester (4.311 and a 4.38 @ Miami Pro Day, 4.45 @ 2006 NFL Combine, 100 speed in Madden 08)[5]
9. Reggie Bush (4.33 @ University of Southern California at Pro Day 2006)[5]
What are the speeds for the top 10 soccer players? I bet none are faster than 4.33
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Well, sure. But they look great in shorts.
And have you seen their hair? Sheesh. It’s fabulous, man!
Plus they give way better hugs than Randy Moss.
Professor Blather on May 27, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Julius Peppers – 6’7″ 283 lbs. 4.5 40!!!
You soccer people better hope he ain’t chasing you, or pray that he slows down.
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:38 PM
This has become my favorite game, bar none. All my kids played the game, and our entire family is hooked. I just spent three weekends watching the NCAA tournament on ESPNU. I don’t understand why it’s not the Great American Game. It has speed, hitting, throwing, precision. It’s a game where possessions actually mean something, unlike soccer and hockey.
It’s the fastest growing sport in the nation at the high school level. The difference between soccer and lacrosse (aside from the fact that you actually score in lacrosse) is that the parents of kids who play lacrosse keep going to games after their kid quits playing.
rivlax on May 27, 2008 at 4:44 PM
Agreed on Lacrosse. I got introduced to it my senior year when I got shipped to boarding school for being bad. We had a good team there and it is a great sport.
You can get some of the most amazing hits on blindside angles in Lacrosse in ‘ball down’ situations. I played club in college for a season. Lacrosse should definitely get more play in America. It combines the best of most sports.
I love big hits. . . that’s the joy of football. . . crushing blows every play. In football, it’s not contact, it’s a collision every play.
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:49 PM
He hasn’t run that fast since just before signing his multi-million $ deal with Carolina. He’s been a flub lately.
MechEng5by5 on May 27, 2008 at 4:50 PM
Mech, he was hurt last year. He has had a couple bad seasons. But he was really just one example out of many ‘superfreak’ athletes in the NFL.
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:52 PM
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 3:44 PM
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Professor Blather on May 27, 2008 at 4:31 PM
ThackerAgency on May 27, 2008 at 4:38 PM
Keep beating the strawman you took from emailnuevo’s post and ignore all the other comentary re: other skills, time outs, substitutions, endurance, padding etc.
infidel2 on May 27, 2008 at 4:54 PM
Sorry, Sparky. I’d have to read “emailnuevo’s” posts in order to find some good strawmen. Let me know what they are so I can beat them, once you get your futbol-obsessed panties out of your crack.
You aren’t helping make soccer look less fruity, you know. and you’re proving my point about how easy it is to get you krazy kids all excited.
It’s just a game, man. A really, really gay game.
Okay, I’ll give you endurance. Those little flower children can run around the “pitch” for what seems like hours shrieking like a girl after their team goes up 1-0 after an hour and 15 minutes of tedious tedium.
That takes a lot of endurance. Plus, all that rolling around on the ground and weeping and pretending to be hurt? That’s takes some pretty good aerobic capacity.
Good point.
Professor Blather on May 27, 2008 at 4:58 PM
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