Paris Olympics 2024 Thread

[utee94]

That's 1/2 the issue.  99.9% of youth athletes will never make a dime playing sports.  99% of them won't get a scholarship, but we can't even adjust to that bar.  We have guys rotting on the bench in college basketball and football who could be USMNT players if they had picked up soccer younger.

The other issue is the pay to play.  I think I mentioned here, but I had a college friend whose older brother moved to the UK after graduation.  His daughter was a very good, even by European standards, soccer player.  She's I think 19 or 20 now, and it's not going in a professional direction, but they also never paid a dime for her to play from about the age of 12.

Sure but at some point, almost every single one of them dreamed of balling out in the bigtime with Lebron or Mahomes or whoever is good in baseball.  That's what drew them to the sport, regardless of whether or not they ever truly had a chance to play professionally, which of course 99.9% do not.  But that's irrelevant, it's the idols and the dreams that put them in THAT sport, over some other.

But there's no equivalent of Lebron or Mahomes or whoever is good in baseball, in American soccer, for the kids to dream about becoming.  The soccer players just aren't getting the media attention, they're not getting the hype, they're not being turned into fathead posters on every kid's wall, and they're not getting the money, so as a kid all of your best friends aren't all saying, "Oh man I really want to grow up to be Pulisic!"  And if it's not cool with them, it's not cool with you.  There's just no focus or attention from anyone outside the sport.

And for sure, pay-to-play puts the US at a disadvantage as well.

[MaximumSam]

Football sucks up so much, and is incredibly different from soccer. Basketball is probably the most similar, and still probably the main sport kids play when left to themselves. Which is probably why we are good at it.

[Cincydawg]

One reason we guys played sports in HS was to attract attention, of the female type.  At my HS, the top sport was football, and then baseball and basketball.  The football players were higher up the food chain, so to speak.  We had pretty good baseball teams traditionally, won the state in '66 and '67, and the region in 1970 (when I played).  We'd attract pretty good crowds for baseball games, but football was king.

[ELA]

Sure but at some point, almost every single one of them dreamed of balling out in the bigtime with Lebron or Mahomes or whoever is good in baseball.  That's what drew them to the sport, regardless of whether or not they ever truly had a chance to play professionally, which of course 99.9% do not.  But that's irrelevant, it's the idols and the dreams that put them in THAT sport, over some other.

But there's no equivalent of Lebron or Mahomes or whoever is good in baseball, in American soccer, for the kids to dream about becoming.  The soccer players just aren't getting the media attention, they're not getting the hype, they're not being turned into fathead posters on every kid's wall, and they're not getting the money, so as a kid all of your best friends aren't all saying, "Oh man I really want to grow up to be Pulisic!"  And if it's not cool with them, it's not cool with you.  There's just no focus or attention from anyone outside the sport.

And for sure, pay-to-play puts the US at a disadvantage as well.

Exactly, and by the time they realize that, they are mostly too old to switch sports and still compete at that high of a level

[ELA]

Football sucks up so much, and is incredibly different from soccer. Basketball is probably the most similar, and still probably the main sport kids play when left to themselves. Which is probably why we are good at it.

Although the gap is narrowing because youth basketball development is broken in a very different way.  We can still largely out talent everyone, but that's about all we have

[Cincydawg]

The global advantage of soccer is the need for almost no equipment.

[GopherRock]

Stay classy, Argentina.

[Cincydawg]

Don’t cry for me…..

[CatsbyAZ]

The Turks arrived

Satire, nonetheless funny:

[Cincydawg]

While having brunch today, my wife unloaded on a lot of different things (not involving me fortunately).  I guess it's good for her.  One of them was how Paris has changed.  She watched the opening ceremony and basically called it vulgar, and a few other things.  She's a very open minded person, fortunately, but she remembers Paris from 1960 or so, and it has changed a lot.  She said the ceremonies had nothing of French culture or refinement, she used the word vulgar repeatedly.  I nodded a lot, seemed appropriate.  We agreed we probably wouldn't be going back except maybe to spend a day visiting some grave sites.  (She also is very concerned about how family members get buried, I don't really get that, but OK.)

She then said she'd watch the Closing Ceremonies as well.  (I won't be.)

I think when a thing holds a special spot in your memories and you see it changed badly for the worse, as you see it, it's hard.  I mentioned Pigeon Forge, which is kind of analogous for me personally.  Then we chatted about Helen, GA, which is touristy as heck, but she noted it isn't vulgar.  

She asks me about how I want to be buried, she has elaborate plans for her, and it involved entombment in .... Paris.

Weird topic.

[MarqHusker]

4X400 rarely disappoints.    NED had a torrid anchor leg to edge USA in mixed relay.     a day after US obliterated the world record in the semis.

[Honestbuckeye]

4X400 rarely disappoints.    NED had a torrid anchor leg to edge USA in mixed relay.    a day after US obliterated the world record in the semis.

Yes- but it’s not like the US team was bad.  That girl from Netherlands was INCREDIBLE!!

[Honestbuckeye]

The women’s soccer team had an amazing win over Japan.  Wow.  Great battle all game long.  

[Honestbuckeye]

Ledecky is beyond human.  Incredible.