Does race matter in sports???

It's genetics, but not in the race. It's all about the athletes parents. Look at Yao Ming, his my and dad were tall rascals and he ended up being a giant. Who ever thought a Chinese male could be the biggest-talked about NBA player since MJ in his prime?

So race doesn't have a thing to do with how athletic you are. It's just how God made each one of us.

 

I heard that the muscle structure of the black african runners is different to those of other races. Something to do with the density of muscle cells or something like that....not sure of the exact definition. Anyway, it gives them the ability to run faster and for longer distances without getting tired.

 

I think it has more to do with fashion.

Darker skin looks better against some of the uniform colours. Compare Langhi to Francis. Francis looks much sharper. The baggy pants just don't do it for fairer skinned players. Yao's making the transition ok, but early in the season his Payton love-scratches clashed with the rest of the ensemble. Rudy's asked him to be less aggressive so he maintains the optics.

Also, the hair. Moochie lets his hair grow, and we celebrate. Absolute genius. Bobbleheads for everyone. Nash lets his grow and we shudder. We must remind ourselves of his money and success with women before we retain any respect for the man.

Entertainment and TV dollars. This issue is always so much more complex when we really delve into it.

 

The black athlete is bred to be the better athlete because -- and this goes all the way to the Civil War -- when the slave owner would breed his big woman so that he would have a big black kid.

Sincerely,
Jimmy The Greek

 

There may be genetic differences but it is impossible to tell now.

Take me for an example, I am growing up in a third world country. The food I ate growing up virtually completely devoid of any protein (meat, milk, etc.). It is virtually impossible for me to grow to be 6 foot five even if I had the gene. Now my boys who is growing up here are 75 to 85 percentile on their growth chart.

For people in China, India, Africa, or Latin America, we really don't know how good they will be until their economy picked up. Put it another way, how many medal did blacks from Africa got vs. how many medal did African American got and compare that with the population ratio between the two groups.

 

At the very highest level of sport, the slight differences in the gene pools can be seen in statistical anomalies. At those levels the best are all giving 100% of what they were given at birth and all are receiving the best training available. Genetic variations give a slight advantage among groups as well as individuals, depending on the sport played.....well in individuals the advantage can be from slight(Kobe v T-MAC) to infinite(Me v. MJ).

 

Just check boxing champions. Historically the sport has been dominated by the group in the ghetto. Earlier in the 20th century that was Jews then Irish. Check military enlistments, too. NFL histories. So on.

Genetics are discountable. Motive is never discountable. Those on the lowest economic strata generally (G E N E R A L L Y) look for the best ticket out.

 

Which may explain why there are so many good BBall players coming out of the remnants of the old Yugoslavia.

 

Bingo!!!! It's all about survival, opportunity and motivation. Asian cultures does not revere basketball players the way american cultures do but Yao is changing that. Tiger Woods is doing it for golf even though most black kids can't afford such an expensive sport. The williams sisters are doing it for tennis.

Yes, you have to be genitically gifted to be an elite athlete but there enough people of all races that you can find those individuals. The reason american and the former soviet union dominated the olympics is because they had the money and resources to cultivate that talent.

 

Do you mean running, walking, swimming or driving. To me they are all boring and thus do not really matter, but I am of the opinion Formula 1 and NASCAR are not real sports at all.

 

CBrownFanClub took the words right out of my mouth. After reading the initial post, I started searching the web for a Jimmy the Greek picture to post here. Then I read the responses and saw I was too late.

 

of course not, white men can jump also........or can they? lol

 

just look at how many white Olympics high jump champions there have been.

 

Of course there are genetic differences between races. How do you explain the different skin colors other than genetics?

Does it affect athletic abilities? I bet it does. But the concentration of one race in a certain sport has many other factors too. It's too complex to put it all on just race.

 

BTW, I've heard that few blacks are good swimmers because of their hairstyles.

 

Well race does matter.

No one talks about it.

But usually African Americans are more athletic.

And Yao Ming gets discriminated!!!!!!!!!! No calls...

 

Insects like Shawn Bradley don't get much respect from the refs either.

 

this is just my little opinion, but i am guessing that American blacks of slave decent are more evolved physically because of slavery. i say this because i think about 50% of slaves died in transit and i am just guessing that the physically stronger ones survived while the weaker ones did not.

also slave owners did not do a lot of breeding of slaves if i remember correctly. maybe i am getting my countries mixed up, but i think in north america they concentrated more on just bringing them in, over breeding them which was more expensive since you had to raise the child. i may be getting that mixed up with spanish america where i know they just brought the slaves over and did not concentrate on breeding them.

also you have to look at what part of africa the slave were brought from since not all african tribes have the same physical characteristics. kind of like comparing vikings to romans. vikings were much bigger people. why do you think those nordic people are always winning those strong man competitions?

also i know it is a biological fact that american blacks go thru puberty at a younger age than whites which also shows physiological superiority. if you mature faster you have a better chance at living.

i dunno just bringing up different things, but yes i do think american blacks do better at sports because they are physically superior in general. just like how i said before with nordic people winning strong man competitions....their bodies are just more naturally suited for that kind of stuff.

 

I don't think its wrong to think that one race has natural physical characteristics that allow them to just be naturally better with certain physical abilities. Hell, it makes perfect sense to me. Blacks are more susceptible to sickle cell anemia and certain kinds of cancers while whites are more susceptible to skin and breast cancer. Hispanics have higher rates of obesity while having an incredibly low-rate of heart disease. So why shouldn't some of this carry over into physical ability? I think anybody of any race can get the proper training to become the best at a particular physical ability, but I also think that some people are just plain better at some things. "Its in their genes," is what we so often hear, but people don't like to talk about it "being in the genes" of a particular race. Could a white/asian/hispanic/whatever other race gain the title of Fastest Man in the World? Probably, but my money is on the American black guy every damn time down the track....but its not the same for a marathon, where my money is on the black person from Kenya every time. Strong Man Competition? Well, I can't say one country specifically, but my money is going to be on a white guy from a Scandinavian country. Are there exceptions? Sure: a guy from Poland currently hold the title of World's Strongest man, and I think those Kenyan's lose every once in awhile. I sure don't remember a time when an American black guy didn't hold the title of World's Fastest Man, though.

I think you it the nail on the head with that one.

In order to determine the ability to succeed in in a particular sport/athletic competition, you have to look at all the facets of the game. A guy can easily be slower than molasses, but if he can catch and shoot consistently, then he'll no doubt have success. I don't remember Chris Mullin being particularly fast, but man was he one hell of a shooter. Matt Bullard, while not a hall-of-famer, was certainly successful while being slower than Christmas with non-existent defense. Simple formula: drain the rock = have success. Larry Bird, John Stockton, Hornacek, Mullin, Maravich, Nowitzki, Peja, Vlade, Sabonis, are arguably some of the greatest of all time, especially as passers and shooters, and DEFINITELY on the All White-Boy Team. The list of sucessful white folks goes on. While black people dominate the sport, people of other races have definitely had great success at the highest level. FWIW, my favorite player has never been a white guy: Dream, then Francis, and now big Yao.

I think a lot (if not most) of over-all basketball success can be attributed to cultural upbringing. You're not going to see too many white kids (or Asian, for that matter) playing for those super-badass inner-city youth teams, streetball competitions, etc. My point is that while black Americans do dominate the NBA, there are more than enough aspects to the fundamentals of the game to allow someone who can't necessarily jump the highest or run the fastest to still have great success.

I don't think hoops is the best sport to focus on for this discussion as there are just too many aspects of the game from which a person can draw success. I think the better sports to focus on would be those that focus on a particular skill: sprinting, distance running, and strength competition. Even in football: are there any potentially great running backs and/or wide receivers out there who aren't black? I haven't heard of any. My roommate in college was an athletic trainer who told me that black people have a longer hamstring, which on average allows them to run faster and jump higher. This longer hamstring is evident in the generally more pronounced shape of black peoples' butts. I read a study awhile back that stated that most black sprinters are American and hail from West African ancestry, and most black distance runners hail from East African ancestry, specifically Kenya. Could these sprinters and runners ever be beaten by some white guy? Of course they could be beaten, but I think, in general/on average, black people are faster/better runners than are runners of other races. Like I said, in a marathon, my money is on the Kenyan EVERY time. Similarly, with the Strong Man Competition, my money isn't necessarily on the white guy, but on the white guy from a Scandinavian country. Are there exceptions? Of course. In high school, one of our best sprinters was a white guy....who was picked on (in a friendly way) by his black teammates for his "bootie."

I cannot emphasize "in general" and "on average" enough. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. Its like this: In general and on average, a man would win in a fight vs. a woman, but at the same time I have no doubt that there are plenty of women on this planet who could absolutely kick a man's butt up and down the street all day long.

As far as hoops is concerned, I think that on average black people are the fastest and the best over-all leapers of the races, but since there are a million other aspects to the game of basketball, being the best leaper and the fastest runner do not make you the best basketball player, though they certainly help.

I think cultural aspects and the quality of training you receive have a TON to do with over-all success in a given area, but I don't think it is racist to believe that, on average, one race has an advantage over another where physical characteristics are concerned.

Anyway, flame on.