We need Yahtzee as extra moneymaking casino, no Bookies... It's fun, leave it as it is....

made my day really !

Sounds like an invitation to get raped.

lol, yeah well, I guess baseball is a mostly stationary sport, with just moments of running. A lot of time is just sitting on a bench eating sunflower seeds. I guess the emphasis is on power hitting, not running nowadays. You know, I was a skinny fast kid and played soccer when not running track or cross country for several yrs until I was about 12 yrs old. I then moved to florida and it was all about college and nfl football. Soccer was a laughable sport not offered in my junior high or high school. I think thats the situation in many places in the USA. But it prolly a moot point since so many of us americans are fatasses even as kids nowadays. We got some issues with big macs etc :)

It was actually me who said Americans would pwn in soccer/football if they turned their sports machine towards it and the reason I said so was I believed it to be true, now you've set out your credentials with your tldr ;) lemme explain why i think what I think.

I have dual citizenship you might think it pointless but it means I dont' need a visa to work in america when I spend the large part of my summer there, and I do work there, in soccer camps, and teaching soccer. Andin my spare time I play soccer, there are loads of small/medium/big kids boy and girl alike who are actually talented with soccer, as well as other sports such as hockey, basketball american football etc etc.

Most people can master a sport if they pay enough attention to it, its just a matter of training, however some people as we know are talented at certian things. From what I've seen i dont think america has any more talented people than other countries, or any less, I just think its an average spread etc, but there are more people in the USA than there are in any other european country, so if you get say 1 talented soccer player per million, than the USA is going to produce more than other european countries, because of the more people.


However your other point about fast moving people moving into athletics instead of soccer is a good point :), which is why soccer camps have a good purpose, take these wanna be sprinters, none of whom are jamaican so they aren't going to win the olympic 100m. And being fast in soccer (see I'm getting americanised... ) does definately help ;)

I dont know really who is right and who is wrong, but I will watch with interest the progress of various clubs, players and youth players!

Btw, anyone in the Grand Rapids area of Michigan is welcome to play soccer with me!

P.S this is aimed at Octavello and Josephc and other American players, can I ask, how the FUCK are your baseball players so fucking fat :P I was watching this black guy bowl in baseball in a screen in applebees a few days ago, I think it was some chicago team vs some other team, and gosh the size of the gut on that guy..... btw, Applebees so so amazing <3 esp karoake nights, I love america I really do :D

come on people, we Americans aren't trying to screw with your football. For the most part, we dont even care about it. Yes, your football is a world sport, the biggest sport and that's cool. Your football players are great athletes and they also have great technique (the better players). Just cuz you're not some musclebound giant or a 350 lbs fatass (as many NFL football players are), it doesnt mean you arent an athlete. Your football players need great endurance to run around for such extended periods, not just anyone can do it. So basically, both sports, require skill and physical prowess, the physcal prowess is just not exactly the same. In our NFL football (National Football League) we have a Superbowl where a winner is determined. We dont call that team a world champion, so just relax man. Soccer will never be huge over here IMO. Our schools can only afford so many different sports, and soccer is low on the totem pole. If we had scores of children wanting to become professional soccer players, I think we could have a shot at being a great world team in the future. But we dont have scores of kids wanting that. Relax fellas, enjoy your soccer in peace.

+1

Fuck off all arrogant American People

I'm not a big football/soccer fan, but you're really wrong there. I'm sorry, but it is arrogant to think that America can become the #1 in some sport if they put effort in it. Football is one of those sports that has to be in your blood and has to live among the people. It's just something that we Europeans have, and, as you indeed state, America doesn't. I don't believe for a second that if you would take your top athletics into a hypothetical world where they were trained to be football players they would be able to beat Holland, Spain, England, Italy or Brazil soon. It needs decades for professional clubs to rise and training schemes based on your population to be developed.

Further more, me as a noob in most sports, I think that America and Japan are the two countries which will become good, but not great, football playing nations. America last year on the world championships did well and they even got past the group round if I'm remembering correctly, and Japan doing good on the WC as well and winning the WC with the ladies this year.

Also, don't forget that every nation or region has sports in which they are good. America and Canada (for this sake I look at them as one) are good in basketball, baseball, American football/rugby and (ice) hockey, while we here in Holland are good in football/soccer, (field) hockey (we call that just "hockey" here, and the other we call ice hockey) and volleyball. Personally I would want ice hockey to rise here as well though, because I love that sport (more than football).

By the way, I think it's the best (but, then again, I don't have any power to change it) if people would just call European Football "Soccer" in English, and American "Foot"ball "Rugby" (even though Rugby isn't exactly the same I believe).

Tl;dr: long crappy post from a Dutch guy saying Holland pwns atm in football, but basically says nothing.

I guess I struck a nerve.

First off, anyone that hates the term "soccer" can blame England, not America, as it is term created there to distinguish "association football" from what THEY considered "real" football, which is now known as rugby. Furthermore, if I'm speaking to Europeans I refer to "soccer" as football, but when with a broader audience is involved I call it "soccer." You guys can hate the terminology all you want, but I didn't come up with it.

My comments about "soccer" not being a "real sport" and other such demeaning comments are in jest and are really more about making fun of the "American perspective of soccer" than are about how I really feel. You should laugh about those comments as much as I do when I think of them.

After looking up the players that were mentioned, you're only further proving my point. America doesn't have any great soccer players; we import them from other countries (usually when they're past their prime). Creating great American soccer players and therefore a competitive national team is ultimately what I was arguing wouldn't happen anytime soon. Of course our professional soccer league is horrible; we don't have any good players!

If anyone really wants to argue that you don't have to be a great athlete to be a great soccer player or that you don't need a collection of great athletes to make a great soccer team then have at it. If that is actually true then I never see a time when Americans care about soccer on a national level and it will never reach the level of American football, baseball, basketball, or even hockey to Americans.

Again, I will reiterate that I'm not overly familiar with soccer. That being said, if I look at soccer players that I know and have heard of like Beckham, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, or Rooney; I see athletically built bodies. I recognize the fact that they are not muscle-bound or have great upper-body muscle-mass like the athletes in more America-centric sports like football, baseball, or basketball; and I understand why that would be. BUT, they still LOOK like athletes. They are strong and thick through the torso and upper legs and that's where athletes are made. American soccer players simply do not look the same; they look weak through the center of their bodies.

There is no doubt in my mind that if you took the top 3-5 players in America's big 3 sports (football, baseball, and basketball) and had them grow up and train to be soccer players instead of the sports they chose to pursue that they would be great soccer players. They would obviously look different than they look now, but their athleticism would take them to that level. And, furthermore, if you took those 10-15 people and created a U.S. national team with them; I'm sure they would be highly competitive (and, honestly, probably dominate) within the world soccer scene.

At the end of the day, I don't really care how popular soccer is around the world or even in the United States; people can and should spend their money and time however they want. My argument is simply that America will not soon be competitive on an international scale because we don't create great (or arguably, even "very good") soccer players in comparison to the rest of the world. My hypothesis for why we don't do that is because none of our best athletes pursue the sport to a professional level.

for Josephc : http://img850.imageshack.us/img850/4525/3849.jpg

wow u rly don't know shit about soccer.. so sad.

u play with ur brain and ur feet, if ur a bit over weight you compensate that by ur tactical knowledge of the game, footwork, or smart passing.

there are loads of "soccer" players who never do 1 single step 2 much, just because they know how to play the game.

soccer is the #1 sport of the world. and still the biggest rising sport. this has nothing to do with economy lol, wtf... its growing and growning in america for years.

dont know if you know players like johan cruijff(best player in the world) he played soccer in america in 1979 already, or johan neeskens who played in america in 1985.. its big since then already.

Now u have beckham..

if you guys would pay the money you pay to your baseball/nhl/nba heroes you can even attract more great soccer players imo.

fact: the 1st league in america is a joke, prolly they are like a serie D in italy, or a 5th leaugue in holland or so, thats why no big soccer players from europe, or even latin america dont go there, but to europe, where they know how to play..
fact: At the turn of the 21st century, the game was played by over 250 million players in over 200 countries, making it the world's most popular sport

Josephc, football (yes football, fuck soccer, say american football or w.e) Football = Foot + Ball means you use your feet to kick a ball, not like your sport where you mostly use your hands and pick up a egg shapped thing, so call it american football or HandEgg w.e you prefer.

Anyways top football players dont need to be tower's of muscles or top athleets like u call it to be great, check the best football players in the world , like messi and so many others that are small, they just need the technic. Calling "real sports" to those american sports where u spend more time in breaks and half times so u can get fatter and fatter with ur hotdogs and burgers is rly a joke. Football is the king sport not those american franchises like HandEgg or Baseball that only you play so you can call yourselfs world champions even if only america plays it.

I "like" how you refer to other sports but soccer as "real"

I am, undeniably, an American exceptionalist, which should make me agree with you, but I unfortunately can not.

I would like to say that of course soccer is big in America right now, but once the economy picks up and families can afford equipment for real sports again they will gravitate back to football and baseball, but then that doesn't explain why basketball isn't seeing the amount of growth in the rise of popularity that soccer is.

No, the reason America will not be a top 10 soccer program in the world anytime soon is simply because top male athletes simply do not play soccer. I have no idea who the "best American soccer player" is, but looking at the roster for their most recent game the two most recognizable names to me are Landon Donovan and Freddy Adu. Donovan is 5'8" 160 lbs. and Adu is 5'8" 140 lbs. For comparison, Maya Moore, a top woman's basketball player, is 6' 170 pounds. This tells me that there is not a professional American soccer player right now that is in the top 5000 or more athletes in the United States right now, so there is just no way you are going to field a top 10 in the world program when you can't even get one, let alone 7 or 8 of the top say 1000 male athletes to take the professional soccer route.

Josephc, give it 10 years america will be in the top 10 in soccer, I've been out here for 10 weeks on holiday so far and there are so many soccer camps up and running at the moment, I even just started a monday night game for my friends to turn up and play, yesterday/monday 43 turned up, :) soccer is getting popular here! Mainly because its so easy to play, 4 pieces of clothing for goals and a ball :P

Who says admins don't read this ?

The main point of betting at a bookmaker is lost on an internet mob game. OK, maybe if you bet 100 million in Omerta cash on your team you might watch the game at the bar and start sweating when the other team is ahead, but if you bet 5 million, who cares? That's a $4 in real life money or less than a day of ranking. Why they even bother with the clunky BM setting to begin with is beyond me. Switch the BM to Keno or something, I see no ways that you could improve the setup without a complete overhaul of the system IE linking up with some 3rd party system. Even then it won't be as fun or as instantly gratifying as betting 5 million at the BJ table or spamming max bet on roulette numbers.

Improve it by adding a Lackey that bets on it!

I think this is one place for the Admins to gain some money.

Sell the Bookie to a known real life bookie, they get advertisement and we get objects to bet at. Then We can buy a bookie but must live with the odds the real life bookie sets.

That should be a cash machine for Omerta to improve other things in this game.

Go Trotters!