We're getting into an entirely different discussion here, but there are plenty of superstars in the NbA shorter than 6'5". Curry, Westbrook, Irving, Lillard, etc. But again, entirely different topic for an entirely different day. I agree with the synopsis here that basketball is considerably harder to make it to the "next level" at than other sports. But really with any sport, you have to be an absolute freak to even play at the smallest levels in college.
I agree that baseball has been losing popularity for quite some time now but I think baseball has a few advantages/differences that make it competitive even with a declining level of interest. There are a huge number of games (helps with revenue). It is all about tradition, Americana and is entrenched into our society; the game is secondary to the "experience" in many ways...it's about the peanuts, hot dogs and the seventh inning stretch. Because the other things are so important, it serves to insulate baseball from declining interest (to a degree). Also, much of the traditional media grew up with baseball as THE American sport. I think that baseball is the first of the major sports that soccer will overtake in overall popularity. (It won't be for awhile though)
E-sports. Not escorts. It's funny but my experience is the exact opposite. I basically only associate with sports fans. Not jut sports fans, but the type who can tell you everything about every single player. Football, basketball, baseball, even some of them can do it with hockey, mma, or tennis. Not one of them gives a shit about soccer. They say "wake me up when the World Cup starts."
There are players under 6'5", but not many under 6'. I think the different discussion you are referencing is the "best athletes" one. The one thing I'll say is American soccer hasn't done the best job of getting the kids with nothing to lose, the kids who will dedicate everything they have and every breath they take, to the sport. A lot of those kids are the ones who make it in basketball and football. Even baseball. I remember reading an article that said Alex Rodriguez used to break into the university of Miami batting cage at 5 am everyday before school. How many kids even have the opportunity to play soccer every free second they get in the US, and how many actually would do it? There are a lot of those kids who are too small for football or basketball. Even baseball has a bias towards them. Soccer would be perfect for them. I still think soccer needs something like the RBI program.
Majority are old. I used to work next to a Clemson nut, frat guy, about 28, former hs football, bk and baseball player, he was very aware of Ronaldo and Messi, some of his frat friends were FIFA guys, he knew who Howard, Dempsey, Donovan and Altidore were. We are talking of a 28 old who has never played soccer in his life and watches espn all day everday. Working next to me learned a little bit about Madrid and Barcelona but for the most part, he knew the "basics" to the point where he was texting me when Clemson made it to the national championship in soccer...
Both of my cousins walked into the hs football team because they were big, they can't do that in soccer as they need the skills, you are right about that, is no athletic kids we are missing but the ones obsessed with being the best... Maradona and Messi were naturally good at soccer but they also were brought a big amount of pressure since they were young, Ronaldo in the other hand was no the best but he was obsessed with being the best... You don't see this in American or concacaf players, other than Hugo Sanchez, nobody from our region tells you he is working hard to be a Madrid star... Jorge Gonzalez could have been but he was an idiot.
Here, a truly unpopular opinion: I think at some point the world is going to get a bit sick of soccer. It's grown too big too fast. Anything that does, causes eventually a backlash. At this point it's virtually the largest religion in the planet. People forget Ramadan, the Sabbath, and Sunday church services to watch soccer.
Where I'm from (a suburb of Detroit) you can live there without ever knowing soccer exists. In my family it is all about the Tigers, Red Wings and Lions. I actually did a test and not one person I asked even knew who Pele or Diego Maradona is. That was until I moved and I went to a majority-Arab school and a lot of them were obsessed with soccer. Prior to 2011 I myself didn't care about soccer. I was an NHL, MLB and NFL guy. However, I decided to watch Euro 2012 qualifying playoffs and ended up getting hooked on the sport. It actually pretty much killed my interest in baseball and football for awhile.
Pro/rel is not the end all to be all. You are concentrating to much on the bottom and not on the top. Imagine the EPL ending today and West Brom having a chance to hold the trophy at the end of the season tournament. Nobody is catching Chelsea this year so its a foregone conclusion on how the EPL ends. In pro rel you are more worried about the bottom teams. In championships such as the say American sports NFL, MLB you are more concerned about getting to the upper quarter. I guess I am mixing the ideas of pro/rel and championship tournaments but I believe that Championship tournaments make the league more interesting.
There are a few cases but is hard to think a casual sport fan doesnt know who Ronaldo, Messi or Pele are. If anything by now they should at least know who Hope Solo is haha
I think you'd be surprised. I know a lot of guys who don't know who Messi and Ronaldo are. They all know who Hope Solo is tho.
These aren't necessarily "the best" because this is a 30-man roster. But here's one possible group: G Howard, Rimando, Yarbrough D Yedlin, Chandler, Cameron, Brooks, Gonzalez, Hedges, Birnbaum, Villafana, Beasley M Bradley, F. Johnson, Pulisic, Jones, Nagbe, Kljestan, Hyndman, Arriola, Feilhaber, McCarty, Bedoya, Corona F Wood, Altidore, Dempsey, Morris, Johannsson, Boyd
The preseason isn't the reason MLS clubs mostly get their asses kicked by Mexican clubs in CONCACAF Champions League.
In ten years a franchise will probably be worth close to 500 million. For that amount no ownership group would want the risk of being placed in a second division.
Here is the thing. You sign your young kids up for soccer and t-ball. In soccer they'll get to play, run around, touch the ball and get good exercise, and MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS OUT THERE........and for the parents, it is all over in an hour or so. In t-ball, you need as many parents on the field as players cause you can't dumb baseball down. You have to know what to do anytime the ball is hit towards you...which may not happen for an hour if at all. Most of the time you are standing around waiting for some kid to hit it off the t or sitting on the bench when he other team is up to bat. There aren't even any pitching positions which allow at least 2 kids (pitcher and catcher) to get regular action. And...the GAMES TAKE 3 HOURS! Finally, all it takes is for a kid to get hit in the mouth with a hard hit ball to decide, ehhhh....this isn't really for me. If you are a parent, unless the kid really loves baseball, you are going to opt for soccer. So will most kids...at least the ones with enough athletic ability to be effective at it. I saw it every day in the youth soccer leagues. Very few of my club players ONLY played soccer, but once they hit 10-12 most of them played lacrosse or basketball, and several player hockey. Few played baseball and even fewer played football. The thing that can hurt soccer and football (and hockey- especially hockey where they allow contact) the most is the concussion stuff which is real.
Yep, Liga MX is clearly better than MLS, whether we like it or not. Nothing terrible with that, they're a solid league, around #13-#14 in the world IMO.
If the USA wins the World Cup the parade should be held in Seattle or Portland for being passionate fanbases, instead of NYC or Washington D.C.