Your opinion. Here is the video to get the ball rolling. Before you make jokes about England, remember we already make fun of ourselves plenty enough so back off, this is the topic about US football.

@sun racist ? Come on, did I said anything racist here ?

And it’s historical facts that Black people, got raised that way in the US, since they couldn’t bring anymore slaves from Africa anymore. They killed all those who looked intelligent and made the strongest sleep with women to get strong generations of slaves...
I don’t know what is bad, false or even racist on this statement ?

For Basketball, the youngsters for Instance in the all star games US vs rest of the world. They got trashed past years. But you know all stars and dream teams are irrelevant, it’s frindlies they don’t defend.

Blake Griffin?

His father is black.

Prime Pau Gasol?

Gasol was athletic, but nothing compared to a LeBron or Dwight.

Hell, you live in Toronto, have you seen Jonas Valanciunas?

Jonas is big and tall, but can't move for his life. Extremely slow and lethargic. I honestly doubt your basketball knowledge is on par with your football knowledge, Sun.

I'm not sure any of these guys are on LeBron athlete level, but then again who is?

If you're talking just the 2000's generation, a lot of players were near LeBron's athleticism. Wade, Shaq, Kobe, Vince, McGrady, Garnett, AD, Giannis, Dwight, Big Ben, etc. Notice the trend yet?

Not in the blood I guess. Practically every SA, African and European area except maybe Scandinavia have a strong love for football, and even for Scandinavia they have a lot of love for football. US is really big, but the focus isn't 'soccer'.

The main reason I can't find (american) football interesting is that a game is around 3 hours long but the actual playing time is around 11 minutes. Like WTF!

Any La Rams fans, I feel for you btw. We have to suffer too.

Tbh though, I don't know the difference between rugby and american football, but I'm not really a fan of either since it's really similar.

You probably know the visual differences... the helmets, pads, the fields, the hamburgers and pan-pizzas etc. A few notable differences are that in rugby you can not make a forward pass, and if the player in possession of the ball is tackled down he can resume the game if he manages to stand up again (This makes rugby more fluid and funnier to watch in my opinion). If the team in possession of the ball gets tackled 6 times they lose the ball to the other team. In american football the team in possession has 4 chances to advance 10 yards with passes, or else the ball goes to the other team. Also in rugby to score you need to make the ball touch the ground behind the end zone, in american football they don't need to (Funny that they still call it a touchdown).

I don't get why anyone should expect American soccer to be anything less than mediocre.

Soccer is not in their top 3 in terms of importance. Culture plays a huge role in the question or rather in the answer as to why the USA is not better. They are pretty decent if you ask me, they play lots of WCs with a few qualifications to further rounds. But why do people expect them to be even more successful? I know this question came from the qualification fiasco for the 2018 WC but that happens to lots of teams, that doesn't mean they are terrible at the sport.

They have the money and they've been spending it wisely but the culture is still not there. The average kid in America doesn't grow up aspiring to be a soccer player and that is juts a main concern; only time can build a sport culture. You can have millions of dollars spent in the youth divisions of the sport but if kids and families have no interest, there is just as much as infrastructure and money can do. Just think about the idea that maybe, the next Landon Donovan decided soccer was boring and dedicated his spare time to baseball and later got engaged in a traditional working class routine when older.

Another reason to believe their national team could be better is their league. I would say the domestic league, depending on the country, can have an impact (or responsibility) of about 60% in contributing to the national squad. And the MLS just doesn't have much American talent in it. Even though they have strong policies about international players and regulations that pursue domestic talent being developed in the league, the US raw material is not good enough, at least not as good as people expect.

Bottom line, it is not the MLS's fault, Americans are pushing for a BIG reform in the NCAA where they want to allow only american players in the league from 2020 onward which will imo be catastrophic not only for the development of sports like Tennis and Soccer but also to the education system and Quality of the spectacle overall. So those tactics don't really work well, no data can backup that having more national players in a given league yields a positive outcome for the Nat. Team.

America is one, if not the best, country in the world. There is little reason for them to care about a particular sport they have never been good at. They might not care much for soccer now but will surely have a completely different culture and perspective on the sport in 20-30 years to come.

@Tuanis also it was explained to me that in general, Americans have little patience for the reward for a goal in Soccer/Football. Whereas in American Football, NHL, NBA, Baseball, etc... there is constant scoring. There is difficulty understanding 90 minutes of play to get one goal or something if you look at it reverse.

@Ledley Thats why I compare football to wine sometime as it take a refined and mature taste to enjoy.

Ermm, I don't think it requires a mature mind to enjoy football, Emo. Like any other sport, one's understanding of how it's played and how it can be better is primarily a result of the time they've invested into watching/playing the game.

Amazing debate earlier. Bumping this thread.

His father is black.

Fair play, didn't know that.

Jonas is big and tall, but can't move for his life. Extremely slow and lethargic. I honestly doubt your basketball knowledge is on par with your football knowledge, Sun.

We were talking about Shaq in an athletic context and he was way slower than Jonas. That's why I thought it was reasonable to use him as an example. Not gonna lie though, I'm nowhere near into NBA now, pretty much watch game 7's and that's it. When I was a kid and the Nets were actually good I probably watched 50+ games a year, not so much now.

If you're talking just the 2000's generation, a lot of players were near LeBron's athleticism. Wade, Shaq, Kobe, Vince, McGrady, Garnett, AD, Giannis, Dwight, Big Ben, etc. Notice the trend yet?

I mean 75% of the NBA is black, so a 1 in 4 ratio on its own would be an expected trend. There are a few names in there I wouldn't put as notably athletic, I mean I doubt Wade was ever more athletic than Klay Thompson and I watched prime Wade. (My NBA years were about 2002-2009). The trend for big men to be more mobile is also a really modern phenomenon, guys like AD simply did not get out of the paint when I watched the sport, so my knowledge on that is limited.

I suppose my only way to contextualize this is to use institutions, such as the NFL draft combine, that clearly outline that in terms of 40-yard dashes, and other quantitative data, there isn't a significant difference between the races. Where there is a significant difference, is the positions in which they play, and the disparities within those positions. Essentially, white running backs run just as fast as black ones, but fewer white running backs exist. Why is that?

I spent a decent amount of time finding a Sports Illustrated article that I remembered reading a long time ago. It's actually over 20 years old now, but I think it provides some helpful context to this discussion.

@iHEART Maybe you right, still think being more patient is important. Know a lot of people who get bored easily watching football game.

Pelle

Thanks mate, it's appreciated.

@Amir: np :)

@Sunflash: LOL Shaq athletic?? He was just brute force and big sized! I'm pretty much into NBA at the moment, but I must admit that the dominance of GSW is a bit boring. Now everyone is talking about Lebron going to the Lakers teaming up with Lonzo lol. btw I'm rooting for Jazz

doubt Wade was ever more athletic than Klay Thompson

Dwyane Wade is arguably the most athletic shooting guard ever after Jordan. You're crazy to say he's as athletic as Klay.

This is Wade's draft description coming in to the league. Mind you, he became a walking tank after he developed his body more with Miami.

One of the game's best shooting guards due to his mixture of skill, athleticism, and unparalleled body control. A little short for a shooting guard, but compensates with a strong build and an incredible wingspan. Jumps out of the gym. Very hard to guard in many situations due to his first step. - Source: http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Dwyane-Wade-4726/ ©DraftExpress

There is no comparison between Klay and DWade. DWade has a vertical of 35" (Klay's is about 26") and DWade is 3 inches shorter than Klay. DWade's entire GAME was built off his athleticism, whilst Klay is strickly off-ball movement. Again, I persist that you don't know what you're talking about when you speak of the NBA because your takes are all completely off.

Fair enough. I stand by rest of the information in the post though.

Thats why I compare football to wine sometime as it take a refined and mature taste to enjoy.

Yea. Take the wine or beer 🍺, just one, and enjoy the game. 👌
Even a 0-0 I have found to be enjoyable don’t know why.

Love this topic because I get to see more opinions, from people who actually watch the game, who actually understand quality (In most cases), and who actually love the sport. Try having this discussion in any downtown city in America, and you get people who don't even know what offsides is.

There are a lot of valid points made already. It is not our top sport, it is not the go to for young players looking to get out and make a name for themselves, it is not a sport that people feel they can make a good living on (Think MLS), and of course, you have the crackhead youth system, preventing so many players from even getting on the pitch. You also have the arrogance of our nation because the US HAS to be the BEST!

The video interview is not too far off the mark either. Twellman has a lot of good points but also has no answers to the overall issue. It would be easy for me to think that given our size as a nation, the resources we have, if our best athletes had the passion, the drive, and the training for futbol, we would surely be a powerhouse. Not saying we would win everything, but we would be a factor, just as much as Holland, Italy, and other traditional big guns.

Futbol is not the way out for our young players. It is not looked at the same way and it could be that since we are not the best in the world, people don't want to be a part of that. Human nature in a way, why do something you are not good at?

As much as we pretend we are fixing the culture to drive interest and success, we shoot ourselves in the foot by having youth systems so far out of touch with how the world functions, we are like Stormtroopers, always destined to miss the mark.

I get that money talks here. You see that globally as well, but here it is taken advantage of for the sheer illusion of pay to play success. "You can only be on the best team and become the best player if you can afford to play with team A or team B". Nevermind that you are better than all the players on those teams, yet will never get seen because you cant afford team dues, travel, or anything else.

Futbol is a poor sport here. It is an immigrant sport and looked at like the step child from the "elite".

This game is also more intellectual than our top sports. It is human chess you are playing. You are looking to gain an advantage over another person and move them around to help your overall game plan as a team. This is all done on the fly with some of the most distance covered than any other sport. Not to say American Football and Basketball are not smart sports. You have some very crafty play books and set plays, but these all rely on execution and repetition. American football is not as on your feel free thinking as futbol.

Now, I love lots of sports, so I am not trying to put any one of them down. I just feel that the US will always be behind the power curve in futbol because it is not really "our" sport. We are not the best at it, so its attention will be limited.

Pretty much on point, along with what Sunny reflected earlier about the nation not being entirely focused on football. But that's not to say that the Americans shouldn't use that as an excuse to be "mediocre".

Other nations would kill to bring in some of the names that you're bringing to the league, e.g. Ibrahimovic, Beckham, Gerrard, Rooney, etc. Since you're the one receiving them, then that itself shows ambition as a footballing nation. You oughta do better.

"Football is looked at like the step child from the elite" lol. Love it

@DarthFooty,

Given that you seem to have a bit of knowledge on the subject, I don't know if you live there or what but... What do you think about plans being made for the NCAA to become 100% national talent?

It worries/scares me to see a division of sports in general I learn to love in recent years be threatened by this idea. But then again I have no clue what Americans think about it.

Anyone else who has some insight on this feel free to share thoughts.