From: William Clark on
In article <9198169gidbt699d9n34l2ssjjqsis5t71(a)4ax.com>,
Jack Hollis <xsleeper(a)aol.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 11 Jun 2010 10:41:02 +0000 (UTC), Jesper Lauridsen
> <rorschak(a)sorrystofanet.dk> wrote:
>
> >On 2010-06-09, Jack Hollis <xsleeper(a)aol.com> wrote:
> >> On Thu, 6 May 2010 02:20:28 -0700 (PDT), Insane Ranter
> >><logwyn(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>>If the US national team didn't tank it so often maybe Americans would
> >>>care more.
> >>
> >> The US dominates Track & Field and your average US sports fan doesn't
> >> care.
> >
> >Top of the medal table, yes, but dominates?
> >
> >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_2008_Summer_Olympics#Medal_tabl
> >e
>
> From 1983 to 1991 they held the IAF T&F World Championships every four
> years. Since then it's been held every other year. The US team has
> won the medal count every time. The US has an almost 2 to one
> advantage in overall medals and over a three to one advantage in gold
> medals.
>
> If you don't want to call that dominance, that's fine, but there's no
> doubt that the US is the best in the world. Despite that, T&F has
> virtually no major following in the US aside for a couple of weeks
> every four years during the Summer Olympics.

No, Jack, go track this "dominance" in recent history, and there is
little doubt that the US grip is slipping. The Jamaicans have taken
sprinting away (at least partially), the Africans and Europeans continue
to dominate middle and long distance running, as they always have. The
US won precisely three gold medals in T&F in Beijing - the same as
Kenya.

The US now really only produces athletes in the "power" events - the
sprints and high hurdles of 400m or less, and these athletes are almost
exclusively black. Field event dominance is gone, distance running is
now a joke in the US. Only the women bail out the medal count, but that,
too, is fading.

But carry on living in your dream world. The fact is that T&F is far
stronger in the rest of the world than in the US, and that is why all US
athletes head to Europe for the lucrative Grand Prix meets - money and
strong competition.
From: Deeppe on
On Jun 13, 9:51 am, William Clark <wcla...(a)colnospamumbus.rr.com>
wrote:

> But carry on living in your dream world. The fact is that T&F is far
> stronger in the rest of the world than in the US, and that is why all US
> athletes head to Europe for the lucrative Grand Prix meets - money and
> strong competition.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Yep, It's been almost forty years since San Jose Ca. was known as
"Speed City". American T&F did very well up to/through the 80's, but
has been slowly eroding since.
From: Mark V. on
On Jun 13, 9:40 am, William Clark <wcla...(a)colnospamumbus.rr.com>
wrote:
> In article <MPG.267e9148dbbf9c6798d...(a)news-europe.giganews.com>,
>  Manx Gunner <goal(a)4thegunners!com> wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 13 Jun 2010 11:48:27 +0000 (UTC), Jesper Lauridsen wrote...
>
> > > On 2010-06-10, Manx Gunner <goal(a)4thegunners!com> wrote:
>
> > > > I've explained this before but I shall be happy to do so again.
>
> > > > Let's consider a 10-year-old athlete, gifted with the talent to become
> > > > world class at whatever sport he chooses to pursue.  That athlete has
> > > > grown up watching LeBron James (NBA, $100M+ by 21), Steven Strasburg
> > > > (MLB, $20M+ by 21), Matthew Stafford (NFL, $50M+ by 21), and Freddy Adu
> > > > (MLS, $3M+ by 21).  Gee, which do you think he's going to pick?
>
> > > If Messi had been born in the US, what sport would he have played?
>
> > Probably baseball, if anything at all.
>
> He could not have played any American sport because he is simply too
> small. Perhaps an undersized point guard, maybe, but that is about it.

He could have played *any* sport as a youth and perhaps into high
school, but his stature would probably have prevented him from
becoming a prospect.
From: Bruce D. Scott on
ken.overton(a)gmail.com (ken.overton(a)gmail.com) wrote:
: On Jun 13, 10:34=A0am, b...(a)ipp-garching.mpg.de (Bruce D. Scott) wrote:
: >
: > Ken's points are well taken but the altar of injury at youth level for
: > too much emphasis on power and speed and early results is a problem in
: > Germany as well.

: I wasn't just speaking to the *type* of game we play, but the fact
: that kids are playing that way for too many hours at a time, which is
: where injuries really come in. From the article, the reporter was
: surprised at how little time Ajax academy kids spent in organized,
: competitive matches. The answer was that the club regards them as a
: long-term investment so naturally they want to protect and maximize
: that investment. Their time spent at the club is first and foremost
: acquiring skills and secondarily playing matches. Instead of 'match
: experience' the clubs prefer for the kids to play informal, pickup
: games in their neighborhoods for the bulk of the time.

That's a very good point, to which I would only add that our coaches are
doubtful in their ability to teach such skills. Above all, the football
mentality. As a culture we're light years away from this.

The F-Jugend and D-Jugend and the like do play competitive matches, and
there are national and regional champions at all levels, but they don't
play 50 matches a season to do that. Sort of like high school football
for a little longer. In between, much more time in training including
scrimmages.

--
ciao,
Bruce

drift wave turbulence: http://www.rzg.mpg.de/~bds/
From: El Kot on
ken.overton(a)gmail.com wrote:
>
> I'd say the biggest reason we (USA) are not major players in the sport
> is due to our substandard model for development of talent. If
> anybody's actually interested in this (and I don't blame anyone for
> not caring) there was an excellent NYTimes article about it. Our
> player development model in all sports sacrifices a tragic number of
> young men on the altar of injuries due to excessive competitive
> matches and lack of skill development.
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?sq=Ajax&st=cse&scp=1&pagewanted=all

Interesting article. It made me smile in some places, writing
things only an American could say / write / find remarkable, for example:

"Gregarious and opinionated, he introduced me to other parents, ..."
"(All are male; Ajax has no girls� program.)" and so on...

But he mentions the most important reason - the US won't become a
true soccer power, until kids start playing pickup games in the streets,
parks, and school grounds. Heck, I remember we used to play with my
brother at home in the apartment (with a small ball, of course). I'm
wondering now, thinking back about it, how relatively few things we
broke. :)

--
No, no, you can't e-mail me with the nono.