Don't speak ill of soccer or the soccer moms will pounce!!! LOL!

Bamabuzzard · Jul 1, 2014

We celebrated a family members birthday last night at my in-laws house and after eating cake and ice cream we were sitting in the living room where someone had turned on the world cup. A few weeks ago (on FB) I'd made a sarcastic comment about how soccer bores me to tears to watch which started a little "back and forth" between one of my family members who was at this bday party. She's a soccer (stay at home) mom with two boys that play soccer. They don't play baseball, football or basketball because to be honest they're simply not athletic enough. However, they are athletic enough to play soccer.

Well, the FB comment gets brought up and how "insulting" it was more than it was simply my opinion, and I must not like soccer because I wasn't "good enough" to play it. LOL! Which my response was "If I was able to play college baseball and hit a 90 mph fastball that looked like a baby aspirin coming across the plate. I think I was more than good enough to play soccer, which I did play for a short time but didn't like it so stopped." Then my follow up (which I probably shouldn't have said) was "Actually more people can play soccer because you don't have to be as athletic to play as you do say baseball or basketball. More people can run and kick a ball than can take a round bat and hit a moving round ball squarely." MISTAKE!!!! You would have thought I spit on her mother's grave. Argued me down how it takes just as much (or more) athletic ability to play soccer as it does any of the major three sports (Baseball, Basketball, Football). So, in my immaturity and lack of wisdom to just leave well enough alone. I challenged her to go outside and lets see. She could be the subject of the test. She's never played sports so she would be a great "tester". Let's get a soccer ball and have her "dribble" the ball and put a defender out there and let her see how easy that was compared to me throwing a baseball and having her try to make contact with it. I was serious because I've played both soccer and baseball and there's no question about it, it is much, much harder to hit a MOVING baseball than to kick a ball and keep it away from a defender. She didn't except my challenge. But she sure did take offense to my suggestion that it didn't take as much skill or athleticism to play soccer as it did the other major three sports.

crimsonaudio · Jul 1, 2014

Bamabuzzard said:
"Actually more people can play soccer because you don't have to be as athletic to play as you do say baseball or basketball."

Well, you lost the debate right there - most baseball players would be just as good if they weighed 300#.

You won't find a single fat professional soccer player...

If you want to talk about the skill of hitting a baseball, I get it, but many (most?) baseball players would be dead by halftime of a soccer game.

Bamabuzzard · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Well, you lost the debate right there - most baseball players would be just as good if they weighed 300#.

You won't find a single fat professional soccer player...

Being in shape and having athletic ability are two different things. There are a lot of in shape people who can't play sports. Sure, being able to run and kick a ball requires some level of athletic ability but the degree of difficulty and skill of running and kicking a ball isn't even close to that of hitting a baseball. Nowhere close.

TheAccountant · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Well, you lost the debate right there - most baseball players would be just as good if they weighed 300#.

No, they wouldn't.

PacadermaTideUs · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Well, you lost the debate right there - most baseball players would be just as good if they weighed 300#.

You won't find a single fat professional soccer player...

If you want to talk about the skill of hitting a baseball, I get it, but many (most?) baseball players would be dead by halftime of a soccer game.

I agree with that. I think the "athleticism" question may be a wash either way, maybe even leaning toward soccer players. It takes quite a bit of conditioning to jog/sprint/walk (interval training) for 90 minutes. It's not just dribbling the ball.

More technical skill to hit a 90mph fastball? OK - I buy that. But athleticism, not so much. It also takes more technical skill to put three darts in the triple 20 zone on a dart board, but I don't think anyone would argue that dart players are therefore better athletes than soccer players.

Bamabuzzard · Jul 1, 2014

PacadermaTideUs said:
I agree with that. I think the "athleticism" question may be a wash either way, maybe even leaning toward soccer players. It takes quite a bit of conditioning to jog/sprint/walk (interval training) for 90 minutes. It's not just dribbling the ball.

More technical skill to hit a 90mph fastball? OK - I buy that. But athleticism, not so much. It also takes more technical skill to put three darts in the triple 20 zone on a dart board, but I don't think anyone would argue that dart players are therefore better athletes than soccer players.

Endurance is not the pinnacle element of athleticism. It is much easier to acquire endurance than other elements of athleticism. The ability of hitting a baseball (yes it is a technical skill), requires hand/eye coordination, reaction time etc is still apart of the definition of athleticism.

bamachile · Jul 1, 2014

You could just calmly point out that the sammich materials could be found in the kitchen.

crimsonaudio · Jul 1, 2014

TheAccountant said:
No, they wouldn't.

Well, many would. Heck, some of the greatest baseball players in history were fat.

crimsonaudio · Jul 1, 2014

Bamabuzzard said:
Being in shape and having athletic ability are two different things. There are a lot of in shape people who can't play sports. Sure, being able to run and kick a ball requires some level of athletic ability but the degree of difficulty and skill of running and kicking a ball isn't even close to that of hitting a baseball. Nowhere close.

I think your bias is showing. If you carefully watch what these World Cup players are doing with the soccer ball, it's simply amazing. They regularly do things that I couldn't do when I was at my peak and had played soccer for over a decade competitively.

Baseball is great, but it's an awful example of 'athleticism' much of the time. They have great skill, excellent reflexes, etc, but I'd bet dollars to donuts many professional soccer players could play baseball at a very competitive level, while the converse is the opposite. The soccer players are tremendous athletes.

TheAccountant · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Well, many would. Heck, some of the greatest baseball players in history were fat.

300 lbs? No.

Some of the greatest football players were fat too. Over 300 lbs to boot. I'm not disagreeing that overall soccer players are in better endurance shape but to claim MLB players would be just as good if they tacked on 50 - 100 lbs is ridiculous on its face.

RTR91 · Jul 1, 2014

Bamabuzzard said:
We celebrated a family members birthday last night at my in-laws house and after eating cake and ice cream we were sitting in the living room where someone had turned on the world cup. A few weeks ago (on FB) I'd made a sarcastic comment about how soccer bores me to tears to watch which started a little "back and forth" between one of my family members who was at this bday party. She's a soccer (stay at home) mom with two boys that play soccer. They don't play baseball, football or basketball because to be honest they're simply not athletic enough. However, they are athletic enough to play soccer.

Well, the FB comment gets brought up and how "insulting" it was more than it was simply my opinion, and I must not like soccer because I wasn't "good enough" to play it. LOL! Which my response was "If I was able to play college baseball and hit a 90 mph fastball that looked like a baby aspirin coming across the plate. I think I was more than good enough to play soccer, which I did play for a short time but didn't like it so stopped." Then my follow up (which I probably shouldn't have said) was "Actually more people can play soccer because you don't have to be as athletic to play as you do say baseball or basketball. More people can run and kick a ball than can take a round bat and hit a moving round ball squarely." MISTAKE!!!! You would have thought I spit on her mother's grave. Argued me down how it takes just as much (or more) athletic ability to play soccer as it does any of the major three sports (Baseball, Basketball, Football). So, in my immaturity and lack of wisdom to just leave well enough alone. I challenged her to go outside and lets see. She could be the subject of the test. She's never played sports so she would be a great "tester". Let's get a soccer ball and have her "dribble" the ball and put a defender out there and let her see how easy that was compared to me throwing a baseball and having her try to make contact with it. I was serious because I've played both soccer and baseball and there's no question about it, it is much, much harder to hit a MOVING baseball than to kick a ball and keep it away from a defender. She didn't except my challenge. But she sure did take offense to my suggestion that it didn't take as much skill or athleticism to play soccer as it did the other major three sports.

I played basketball, soccer and baseball. They're all tough. They have their particular areas of difficulty.

You're past out of line here, though. You're to the point of obnoxious.

First, tell me Tim Howard isn't athletic with the saves he's made for USMNT.

Second, you are taking the simplest soccer points and comparing it to hitting a 90 MPH fastball. Keeping the ball away from a defender in any soccer league over the age of 12 isn't limited to just dribbling. Look at the footwork players use. Players don't have the mindset "I'm going to kick the ball straight down the field and nobody will stop me. I'm awesome. I play soccer!"

Finally, don't talk about soccer being boring while comparing it to baseball. That shows your bias.

Bamabuzzard · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
I think your bias is showing. If you carefully watch what these World Cup players are doing with the soccer ball, it's simply amazing. They regularly do things that I couldn't do when I was at my peak and had played soccer for over a decade competitively.

Baseball is great, but it's an awful example of 'athleticism' much of the time. They have great skill, excellent reflexes, etc, but I'd bet dollars to donuts many professional soccer players could play baseball at a very competitive level, while the converse is the opposite. The soccer players are tremendous athletes.

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I played all four sports competitively and soccer was much easier for me to adjust to and pick up on than any of the other. And that's after not ever playing it until I was in 8th grade. Personally, IMO, basketball players are the best athletes or the most versatile. Maybe I was just a natural at soccer and didn't know it. :biggrin2:

PacadermaTideUs · Jul 1, 2014

Bamabuzzard said:
Endurance is not the pinnacle element of athleticism. It is much easier to acquire endurance than other elements of athleticism. The ability of hitting a baseball (yes it is a technical skill), requires hand/eye coordination, reaction time etc is still apart of the definition of athleticism.

Eh. We agree on that point. But neither is eye/hand coordination or reaction time. If so, 15yo video gamers are the world's greatest athletes. Like I said, it's likely a wash either way with baseball and soccer. I wouldn't argue that either requires greater athletic ability - the sports are just too different and require completely different athletic skill sets. It's like arguing over which is the better fruit: tomatoes or bananas.

TheAccountant · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
Baseball is great, but it's an awful example of 'athleticism' much of the time. They have great skill, excellent reflexes, etc, but I'd bet dollars to donuts many professional soccer players could play baseball at a very competitive level, while the converse is the opposite. The soccer players are tremendous athletes.

LOL!

You do realize that many (most) foreign players in the MLB come from Latin countries? So those who chose to play baseball are terrible soccer players but those who chose soccer are also great baseball players? I'd be willing to take your bet and say there could be a fair amount of crossover between the two.

PacadermaTideUs · Jul 1, 2014

Bamabuzzard said:
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. I played all four sports competitively and soccer was much easier for me to adjust to and pick up on than any of the other. And that's after not ever playing it until I was in 8th grade. Personally, IMO, basketball players are the best athletes or the most versatile. Maybe I was just a natural at soccer and didn't know it. :biggrin2:

On that we totally agree.

Bamabuzzard · Jul 1, 2014

RTR91 said:
I played basketball, soccer and baseball. They're all tough. They have their particular areas of difficulty.

You're past out of line here, though. You're to the point of obnoxious.

First, tell me Tim Howard isn't athletic with the saves he's made for USMNT.

Second, you are taking the simplest soccer points and comparing it to hitting a 90 MPH fastball. Keeping the ball away from a defender in any soccer league over the age of 12 isn't limited to just dribbling. Look at the footwork players use. Players don't have the mindset "I'm going to kick the ball straight down the field and nobody will stop me. I'm awesome. I play soccer!"

Finally, don't talk about soccer being boring while comparing it to baseball. That shows your bias.

You're getting your panties in a wad and allowing your obvious bias to cloud what I actually said. I never said they weren't athletic. Baseball and soccer are boring as crap to watch. Both are exciting to play. But IMO (seeing that I played both sports) soccer was easier for me to play than baseball. Maybe not for you. That's cool. No need to be obnoxious.

TheAccountant · Jul 1, 2014

PacadermaTideUs said:
On that we totally agree.

I'm throwing hockey players in the running.

Bamabuzzard · Jul 1, 2014

TheAccountant said:
I'm throwing hockey players in the running.

I have ZERO experience with hockey but I've been told these guys are very good athletes. I went to college with a guy from Canada and he always talked about the skill set it took to play hockey.

dayhiker · Jul 1, 2014

Bamabuzzard said:
We celebrated a family members birthday last night at my in-laws house and after eating cake and ice cream we were sitting in the living room where someone had turned on the world cup. A few weeks ago (on FB) I'd made a sarcastic comment about how soccer bores me to tears to watch which started a little "back and forth" between one of my family members who was at this bday party. She's a soccer (stay at home) mom with two boys that play soccer. They don't play baseball, football or basketball because to be honest they're simply not athletic enough. However, they are athletic enough to play soccer.

Well, the FB comment gets brought up and how "insulting" it was more than it was simply my opinion, and I must not like soccer because I wasn't "good enough" to play it. LOL! Which my response was "If I was able to play college baseball and hit a 90 mph fastball that looked like a baby aspirin coming across the plate. I think I was more than good enough to play soccer, which I did play for a short time but didn't like it so stopped." Then my follow up (which I probably shouldn't have said) was "Actually more people can play soccer because you don't have to be as athletic to play as you do say baseball or basketball. More people can run and kick a ball than can take a round bat and hit a moving round ball squarely." MISTAKE!!!! You would have thought I spit on her mother's grave. Argued me down how it takes just as much (or more) athletic ability to play soccer as it does any of the major three sports (Baseball, Basketball, Football). So, in my immaturity and lack of wisdom to just leave well enough alone. I challenged her to go outside and lets see. She could be the subject of the test. She's never played sports so she would be a great "tester". Let's get a soccer ball and have her "dribble" the ball and put a defender out there and let her see how easy that was compared to me throwing a baseball and having her try to make contact with it. I was serious because I've played both soccer and baseball and there's no question about it, it is much, much harder to hit a MOVING baseball than to kick a ball and keep it away from a defender. She didn't except my challenge. But she sure did take offense to my suggestion that it didn't take as much skill or athleticism to play soccer as it did the other major three sports.

It sounds like she did pounce, but then instead of just deciding that discretion is the better part of valor, you essentially challenged her to a duel. Had this been your wife, I suspect that we would be reading a discussion about how the honor of your wife was challenged and how you had to go Roy D. Mercer on someone. Some things aren't worth getting in a lather about.

dayhiker · Jul 1, 2014

crimsonaudio said:
I think your bias is showing. If you carefully watch what these World Cup players are doing with the soccer ball, it's simply amazing. They regularly do things that I couldn't do when I was at my peak and had played soccer for over a decade competitively.

Baseball is great, but it's an awful example of 'athleticism' much of the time. They have great skill, excellent reflexes, etc, but I'd bet dollars to donuts many professional soccer players could play baseball at a very competitive level, while the converse is the opposite. The soccer players are tremendous athletes.

Years ago I read an article about how athletic John Stockton was. He'd never been a runner but signed up for a 10k. His time was what college runners were able to do. I'm curious now and will have to go look it up.

Don't speak ill of soccer or the soccer moms will pounce!!! LOL!

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