Please post your resume with cover letter. A psychological evaluation will need to take place before any position can be filled. Thanks, -Sports Fans Fans of the Cubs and Phillies need not apply.
Right here is one. - World's simplest sport - No previous knowledge required to appreciate - Can be appreciated at any intellectual level - No better or worse than any other team sport to watch - Fewer commercials - Continuous play (no stoppage) = maximum action - #1 sport in the world - #1 youth participation sport in America - Comparable to other team sports in demands for skill, strategy and physical contact - Requires one of the highest levels of fitness of all team sports - Enjoyable to watch at any level: men's, women's, youth, college, pro, etc. Watching soccer doesn't make me better than anyone else. Nor is soccer inherently superior to any other sport. It's just a great sport to watch and to play. And it's not alone in that respect. If soccer were to disappear tomorrow, there would other good sports to play and watch. For me, it would be basketball and lacrosse.
Soccer is like hockey, except it's on grass and the field is bigger... and you can't fight and only get a 5 minute penalty... and there are no wrap-a-rounds... Man, come to think of it, I think I like hockey much more.
I enjoy watching all sports and soccer happens to be my favorite. I don´t really care if you don´t like soccer because we don´t have to talk about it or watch it together. Among the many great things that soccer has to offer is the fact that it is done in under two hours and doesn´t kill an entire afternoon. Well, actually, it kills a lot of Saturdays and Sundays for me. That is all.
Oh, and I just want to add that nobody ever picked on me when I was young for playing soccer. Soccer always garnered respect from other kids for running up and down that huge field non-stop for 90 minutes. (Not like baseball.) And there was always this kind of respect that soccer players had to have these magical foot skills like Pele. And the movie Victory showed everyone that it could be a dirty, hacking, injury-plagued sport, too. Not for wusses. Basically, it was always seen as on par with basketball and hockey, a step below gridiron football, wrestling, or boxing, and a step above baseball, tennis, bowling, and golf in terms of toughness and physical demands. I'm not sure when, if ever, soccer started to get a reputation as a "sissy sport" or a "girl's sport". Maybe it was after the US women's team won the whole thing with the sports bras and all that. Or maybe after the US women's league started. When I see players like 148-pound Landycakes Donovan or Taylor Twellman, it makes a tad embarrassed to be associated with the sport. But then I see someone like Eddie Johnson and then I feel relieved again.
you know, if i remember it right, i'm pretty sure that the name "Victoire!" was a misnomer. I'm pretty sure the movie ends when the germans take a penalty and it's stopped by the italian stallion to preserve the tie.
Oh yeah.. because Eddie Johnson is a much better player than Landon. And the fact that he weighs more means that he is not a "sissy", right? You must also think that many of the Argentine team that went to Copa America are "embarassments" as well, for the same reason. You know.. players like Messi and Tevez... In any case
I think Cubs and Phillies fans are absolutley comfortible with the inferiorities of they're clubs. Now take a Cowboys or Giants or Yankees or Arsenal they got the inferiority complexes.
First of all, this whole thread is meant in a good-natured spirit. Second of all, Landon's a much better player than Eddie Johnson, in my opinion and probably everyone's opinion. Landon is extremely fast, has tremendous endurance, incredible skill, creativity, etc. He's arguably the best American soccer player we've ever produced. But I read that only 20% of Americans know who Landon is. He seems to be a little shy, articulate, educated, soft-spoken...and 5'8" and 150 pounds. He gets called "Landycakes" and "Ladycakes" all the time on these soccer discussion boards. Maybe it hurts that his name is Landon and not Mike or Joe or Bob. Now compare him to the great American sports icons of history, like Muhammad Ali, who was a one-man worldwide self-promotion machine. Or Babe Ruth. Or think about some of today's stars like Shaquille O'Neil. Or 6'6" 220-pound Kobe Bryant. All-time greats like Michael Jordan were 6'6" 215 pounds and even Wayne Gretzky was 6'0" 185 pounds. Or think of traditional American cultural icons: Rambo, Rocky, the Terminator, Superman, the Incredible Hulk. These are the subconscious standards by which Landon, and all pro athletes, are being judged by mainstream America, unfortunately.
Exactly. You and I are on the same page, then. And this goes into American thinking of, "bigger is better" (in both physical stature and outspoken behavior) and equating such with superior quality. Not saying that Kobe and Ali, or the like, are not great athletes, but the fact is that Landon is up there with them. So is Kaka. So was Pele etc... yet Americans don't want to give them their due because they play soccer. Soccer players don't fit the big, powerful brutes in the NFL, NHL, and to an extent, in the NBA. Therefore, they don't fit in with the muscle-headed images of the American sports hero.
You go anywhere in the world and you can play Soccer. I went on holiday to Germany, didn't speak the language and played for hours with a bunch of Germans. Some Dutch boys came to my school for a week, couldn't do normal lessons, had to stick to their assigned partners for all the time but at lunch we got out a ball and they played with everyone else like they were part of our school. You can go to the remotest jungle in South America, you can go to the mountains in places like Mongolia, you can go to the poorest areas of Africa, get out something vaguely round and you can play without barriers. You don't need expensive equipment, you don't need to know who you're playing with, you don't even need to be playing on a proper pitch or be any good at it but you can enjoy yourself.
I'm confused by all of this. Landon is NOT in the realm of an Ali or a Kobe Bryant- not even close. He is definately not "up there with them". When you think of international reputation, he falls way short of the mark, especially when compared to the likes of Ali. And in terms of skill in his respective sport he is not seeing Kobe's gas. He can't be "up there with them" when nobody outside of America knows who he is or recognizes his talent for that matter. Comparing his situation with that of Kaka and Pele is rediculous! Kaka is lauded all over the globe, everywhere except for America. I doubt he cares about his reputation in the States. His skill is acknowledged from England all the way to Japan. That is the difference between the two players. And I don't think it's about "Americans not giving him their due". The main fact is that soccer in America is not a mainstream sport. If soccer games were frequented and watched with regularity like let's say basketball or baseball, then there's no way Landon's skill would go unappreciated. You have to respect the sport before you can respect the player right? If I'm not a fan of baseball, or don't watch the sport at all, how am I supposed to appreciate the talent of Alex Rodriguez? And please, don't make it seem as if Americans only watch barberous sports for entertainment. Athletics, Tennis and Golf are also highly watched sports. I doubt you would call Marion Jones, Roddick, the Williams sisters or Tiger Woods, "brutes". Different strokes for different folks as they say. But once again, Landon does not compare to a Kobe or an Albert Pujols in their respective sports. They are the best in the world at what they do--sadly, Landon isn't. If you get an American player of World Class caliber that dominates in the game of soccer, then many heads will turn and look this way; which is what they were trying to do with Freddy Adu until he fizzled out. America just needs that one star player, and you will see the difference it makes.
With all due respect -- to both you and the player about to be named here -- I think a player like Peter Vagenas is much more likely to be judged harshly than a Landon Donovan. Donovan may be short-ish, but he's got a solid frame, good muscle structure. He looks like somebody who would have athletic ability. Vagenas, on the other hand, is like a stick. And THAT is the sort of player who will be judged unfairly by American's pathetic mental criteria for sports stardom.
Agreed agreed, I was careless in putting Landon up there. My point was to highlight that Landon is IS a great athlete. Golf and tennis don't even approach the popularity of the "barberous" sports. That in itself says something about what we find appealing in sports. I do believe that golf and tennis require incredible skill, and tennis in itself has great athletes (although obviously, I can't say the same for golf). I also do not agree that having a "world class" player in itself will turn heads in this coutry; I think it's more about successive generations of soccer players in this country building up a large fanbase. Oh.. and yes.. I WOULD call the Williams sisters "brutes". Are you telling me that they.. Serena especially.. couldn't beat the average male to a bloody pulp? Lol.. I kid I kid, but there is no doubt that they are not even remotely "average" in size, strength and athletic ability.