That's the whole point. The U.S. has to figure out a way to keep them from losing interest. With all the kids that lose interest or never play to begin with, that is an enormous pool of untapped talent.
For all those that say that the U.S. (men's national team) sucks at soccer, would you say the same thing about the Mexican national team?
One way is keep soccer moms happy, who in turn will make their kids happy, i.e., more dedicated to soccer than any other sports. To make soccer moms happy, we need to produce bigger SUVs ...
It is not being tapped by soccer, but it is by other sports, and that's fine, nothign wrong with that.
I am not saying there is anything wrong with that. Since soccer is a 2nd (or 3rd) class sport in the U.S. good athletes tend to venture towards sports that provide them recognition and exposure. It would be interesting to see all of those 3rd string college tailbacks/defensive backs focus on soccer instead to see how good the U.S. would become.
Soccer is a sport that does not have a very high ceiling in skill level, that is why players dont stand out as much as they do, as say in other sports like basketball and football. We also know that if you are unique in anything or are a stand out, you both get paid more, more fame, and get more endorsements. (See Micheal Jordan, Lebron James, Tiger Woods, etc). Soccer while a good sport does not have this element. And we know everyone is after the bottom line which is money. That is why athletes prefer to go toward the other sports.
Also the rest of the world loves the game, because it is an easy and cheap game to play. It requires no facilities, just a ball, and can be played anywhere.
Oh, there may be some who would be excellent, no question; at the same time I'm sure that Thierry Henry could be a good lockdown corner if he had played pigskin, or Shane Warne could have a wicked curveball, or the Nigerian B-side defender who lacks finesse could be a devestating strong safety; but that's life.
Other countries pay millions of dollars/year to their soccer players. The US does not. AT least not the extent that players get in the other major sports.
US > other countries Were have you been the past century? You know everyone else in the world strives to be american.
I didn't realize rookies were allowed to post anywhere other than GARM/Dish... p.s: On topic, I love soccer. Tis one of my three favorite sports.
Exactly...soccer players get a hell of a lot more money than athletes in the states. On the topic of stars that are out there, there is no question. Just look at Beckham. the guy has a following in every country and he's not even that big of a star. Some of the real stars in soccer are huge. Soccer players in europe are basically gods. Just becuase we dont see it here in the states due to our lack of support for soccer does not mean that they don't have stars. Only someone who doesn't know a thing about soccer would make comments like "wise on Top did" Soccer teams make much more money than any other sports team in the US and they pay their players a lot more than any basketball player here at times after all their endorsments. Of course if you don't follow the sport you won't know who the stars are.
"Wise one on top" does not refer to me, it is the definiton of the name of one of my favorite players. How much money does a soccer player make in a year? Do you have any proof to your statement claiming that soccer players make more money than athletes in the US? Can you back it up? The highest paid athelete in the world, are basketball players, and Tiger Woods. Beckham is the only soccer athlete on that list, which is dominated by other sports. Go look it up in Forbes, richest athletes. Dont just spew garbage out without backing it up.
I wasnt refering to you or the definition of the name. I put quotes around the name so i you knew who i was talking about. They might not make more money but if you include the amount of money they get transfered to other leagues they do make quite a bit of money. As far as being world renounded and getting exposure there are more on the list than just Beckham. There is Ronoldinho and even home grown Freddy Adu got a crap load of exposure. There are many more that are in europe that do get that type of exposure. It's basicaly only in the US that we don't see any exposure.
