Yari Allnut? Michael v. Ronaldo? You guys don't get it. It's one thing to have a boss or colleague who is a true professional. It's an entirely different thing to be a great professional athlete. If you want to call someone who is smart, intelligent, patient etc. professional - then we are adding an adjective to an already sufficiently described person. The market will pay people what they are truly worth - something that takes into consideraton their TOTAL contribution. Allnut may show up to each and every practice and stay late to sign autographs - kudos to him for being a great guy. Damarcus is going to get paid more and in the long run have a better more successful sporting career. Maybe Alnut will be liked by more kids but more kids will know Damarcus - and at the end of the day if this is about the best playing/paid athletes - the only measure that matters when trying to determine who is BETTER is how much they make. Now there will always be one hit wonders - guys who command a high transfer fee/salary and fizzle - and while that could happen to Rooney it's unlikely. Cantona may not have been the best guy - but he sure as hell was one of the best players of his age. And if your aim is to discern who the best are - that's the only criteria to use when you are talking about players at the highest level. The whole professional concept has been too easily coopted by all of us armchairs who look to draw inspiration from what is ultimately a game.
Beasley is a better professional footballer then Allnut but as a professional dealing with all aspects of soccer, Allnut is a better professional.
JMMUSA8 is right. I think the idea of professionalism as used in the context of this thread is different from the idea of talent. It is used in a similar way in medicine, and implies an ability to deal with the public, and in particular to deal with awkward situations gracefully. Correction: The market will pay people what they are truly worth to the market.
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. I think not. What you are talking about is "class" or maturity. Something you admire and want to relate to. Fine, but professionalism, in sport or medicine, refers to one's approach to their job. Usually it implies a serious personal commitment to doing the job to the best of one's ablility. Public relations, unless central to job performance, doesn't have much to do with it. Was Ted Williams a professional? Charles Barkley? Allen Iverson? John McInroe? Players are better judged by their effort and commitment to excellence than by how well they fit the stereotype of how we (mature white males for the most part) want them to behave. When teams or coaches lose sight of this distinction, useful players are often discarded or driven away.
Some of you are confusing ability with public persona. Gazza was one of the most purely talented players to ever put on a pair of boots. But he was an idiot when he opened his mouth. Rooney seems to be cut from a similar cloth. Would you want to have guys like that on your team (in their prime)? Absolutely. Would you want them marrying your daughter? Ummm.... "Professionalism" is about taking your job seriously. Eating correctly, staying fit in the off-season, not over-indulging in alcohol, having a disciplined training regimen, that kind of thing. Raul Diaz Arce was one of the best in this regard. When he was here, he was one of the better players, but he was always staying after practice working hard. He'd run the steps of the stadium, take hundreds of extra shots, etc. Why? Not because he was worried about his paycheck. Because he wanted to be the best player he could be, given his ability. That is what being a professional is about. If D Beasley did dog it and give less than his best effort for Chicago, shame on him. I haven't heard a lot of Fire fans complain about that, and that would be the first place I would expect to hear it if it was the case. Media savvyness is another aspect of being a professional athlete. We like the guys who say interesting things. We like it when guys say stupid/controversial things because they keep things interesting. Alexi Lalas was probably the best at saying interesting, non-cliche comments, but without getting himself into trouble or sounding ridiculous like DMB did in this instance. An example of that is his "I had and English muffin for breakfast and that's the closest I've been to England" comment when someone asked him about a Chelsea rumor. Unfortunately, not everyone can be as clever as Lalas. Tom PS--Happy New Year everyone!
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. Yeah, cause there are no white criminals, and if The Man wasn't around to keep The People down, then it would be perfectly acceptable to engage in retaliatory drive by shootings, drug binges, and rape.
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. See. This is what I'm talking about. I'm presuming that some of you were aware of this type of stuff and that's what caused you to make a refference to Jamar's lack of professionalism. If that's the case I'm not sure why someone just didn't mention it for the uniformed instead of making some vague refference.
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. Bad influences and a lack of maturity are a deadly combination. Hopefully Jamar's recent success in the MISL is a result of exposing himself to good influences and greater maturity. The Magpie
James Twellman will not help the revs. This guy is terrible. He doesn't have half the talent taylor has.
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. Well, part of the reason is that it's unfair, unethical, and disingenouous to pass off rumor as fact. I had heard many of these kinds of things, and even some worse things that did not come up in the article. However, I did not hang around with Jamar and his posse, nor did I ask him about these allegations (what would he say to that anyway?) It's always a judgement call to decide what you are going to believe. If some fool says that "James Twellman is crap" without any elaboration, it could very well be true that he isn't an MLS-calibre player. But I will let him come to training camp and give him the opportunity to prove that statement one way or another before I believe the word of "some guy posting on the internet." It's a bit more serious when you start alleging things about someone's character, especially when it involves the possibility of doing things that are illegal, like under 21 drinking. If I were to say that "I heard [player X] was out at a party until 7 am, taking ecstacy, and acting all kinds of crazy," unless I was there (or had a very credible source who was), it would be just hearsay. I do, however, know that Jamar was friends with some of the Patriots players at the time, one of whom got into some trouble on his own. Even Jonathan Kraft shook his head and had a concerned look on his face when he heard that Jamar was seen hanging out with this particular player. I have reason to believe that many of the things mentioned in the article are true, but I was not going to be the one to spread that around on an internet chat board unless there was a compelling reason to. Tom
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. Tom all of that is valid and commendable. I suppose I'm harping on a minute point but there are people on this board and on this thread that allude to something and don't elaborate on it and I think that is dishonest. When that sort of thing happens am I to believe that Jamar Beasley is 'unprofessional' because he's kicking kittens or because he spent one too many nights at Avalon? In my oppinion if people are going to metion something, even in passing, it's far better to metnion it fully and have people make their own judgements than being cryptic about it. When people aer coy I think it's more intellectual masterbation than it is contributing to bigsoccer or our collective knowledge.
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. Yeah, I hear you. Sometimes Big Soccer is like a contest of who can pose to being more of an "insider," and with any of that, there's always the risk of people who know a little acting like they know a lot, or worse, people who hear things third and fourth-hand acting like it's gospel. Fortunately, in this forum we get people who, by and large, know how to handle this kind of grey-area information. Tom
Re: JMMUSA8 is right. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/headlinenews?id=336310&cc=5901 "James Twellman tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during practice Tuesday and will probably miss the remainder of the 2005 season." Bummer.
Ah yes.....medically there is a big connection between two torn ACL's and getting kicked in the face....One always leads to the other in siblings. Thanks for you well thought out contribution.
Well, if he's torn both ACL's, he's got that out of the way (hopefully it wasn't the same one as before). As a recent beneficiary of an ACL reconstruction myself, it's reassuring to know that the grafts they use these days are quite a bit stronger than the tissue they replace.
I know he was on Quakes reserves in 05 and moved to Houston with them in 06, but then I never herd about him anymore...Anyone know whatever happened to James Twellman?