I'm an unnamed local celebrity!

[DannyD]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

lets crank this up one education level, what about college, when a school pays a coach millions yet the educators get a bit more than enough to live on.

tuition goes up to a point that some can not go.

but hey they have football and basketball.

 

[EastTexFrank]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

I tried to stay out of this one but I just can't.

I played both soccer and rugby growing up. I played organised soccer from 9 years old until I was 30, when the pressure of work forced me to quit. Let me say that soccer is the ideal sport for any child to play. Why? ... because you don't need to be a physical "specimen" to play it. American Football ... takes 60 players to make it through one hour, half the team weighs over 300 pounds and can hardly jog never mind run, can't be played without body armor, etc., etc. Basketball ... better physical condition than football players but under 6' you have little chance of playing major college ball and practically no chance in the pros so essentially your competative sports career ends at 18. Soccer .... any size, any weight, any height, you can play, participate and contribute to your "team" at some level. What does it teach kids? ... if you want to compete you have to be in good physical shape, teaches them to work with others to achieve a goal (sorry about the pun), teaches them to control aggression, not deny it but to control it. It takes speed, stamina, heart (try sticking your unprotected head in where boots are flying), forethought and planning, anticipation, in fact, all the attributes that go towards building what we call "character" in a human being. Since you basically play the whole 90 minutes, there is no place to hide if you make a mistake on the field or are having a bad day. You just suck it up and continue to give it your all ... continue to compete. If you don't, you're letting down 10 other members of your team and that's probably the one thing they won't stand for. There's no taking yourself out of the game in soccer unless you're physically unable to perform.

As far as the violence thing is concerned, soccer has the potential to be an extremely violent game but since neither you or your opponent has any protection, you learn to control that aggression. If you don't, you are removed from the field and again leave your team short handed and facing probable defeat.

When I read opinions like yours on soccer I always write it off as you have never played the game and don't understand it. But please, don't demean what are probably the best professional athletes in any major sport and don't deny your kids the chance to paticipate in a sport that instills in them the characteristics that help make a good human being.

 

[Av8r3400]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( educators get a bit more than enough to live on)</font>

Where is this? I am currently attending a small college in Wisconsin and the starting professor salary here is $40K +. I don't now about you, but I'd take that any day.

 

[riptides]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Forget this crapola....

The answer is TRACTOR pulls. You need and engineering, vocational education, chemistry, mechanical design and a few other tough skill sets.

I'd PAY to go see this event at our local HS. Heck, I'd even encourage my girls to take it on!

You want controlled aggression! You got it.

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Inspector507]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

I hope to be named in my letter. Actually got confirmation today that it is "in line for print".
Our local school district is putting a 9.7 mil levy on the ballot in May, for the 3rd time. This will be a 30% increase in the school taxes that I pay. It was defeated in November and again in February. But they insist on doing it again. They have threatened the elimination of all extra-curricular activities which has the area in an uproar. Since when did sports come before a good eductaion? I'm upset that they have let their spending get so far out of hand that now they need MILLIONS to keep things running. They stand to collect an additional 22 million a year if this passes, but if it fails, they are only planning on 12 million in cuts?? Something doesn't seem right here.
If you care to read the letter of mine that will soon be published click here

 

[EastTexFrank]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Now you're talking. That's got my vote. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bird]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Coach's salaries were a distant third. )</font>

I don't doubt that it was true in a small school and if you're comparing overall coach's salaries against total expense, but I can tell you that in the high school from which my daughters graduated, the football coach was the highest paid "teacher" on the staff. And when a big bond issue passed easily for "additional classrooms", they then decided they needed to spend that money instead for a fancy football stadium and a natatorium. At the public meeting, those opposed to the sports facility listened quietly and politely while the advocates spoke, but when it came to the opponents turn to speak the "sports fans" shouted them down and drowned them out. And they got away with the illegal construction, after a lawsuit (guess the judge was a sports fan), by building 2 classrooms under the bleachers. Of course they assured the public and the court that our school taxes would not be increased, but the next year they went up 25%. Now the high school to which my grandson goes (and plays football) is admittedly a very large school, but fifteen coaches, plus all the trainers and support personnel as well as a stadium and field house that most pro teams would have envied 20 years ago.

There are very few things that I'm sure of in this live, but I'm absolutely and firmly convinced that football is the worst thing that ever happened to the educational system in this country. And the truly incomprehensible thing to me is that it's supported by many of the same parents who complain about the lack of education their children are getting.

 

[Henro]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Getut,

My only comment, as I am not a sports fan at all, is that I would rather see a Football, yea! sticker than a Soccer, yuck! sticker.

Think positive, not negative! Life feels better that way... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif If I had a motto that's what mine would be... /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[getut]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Frank,

Please understand, I really do understand where you are coming from and I do agree that I have never played the game personally. But your exact arguments are the exact reason why I and others like me have such a disdain for soccer. I realize that is the sport you love and I won't change your mind, but at least you might understand me.

In many things in life, the EXACT same thing that someone sees as a positive, someone else sees as a negative, and this is the case for what you mention. The reason why I and others like me have such disdain for soccer IS in the same thing that you hype. The rules and techniques of soccer are such that it handicaps physical ability so badly people of lesser skill or lesser physical attributes CAN perform at some level. Soccer is one of the only sports where there is little to no disparity between the womens and mens variety.

I'm a BIG believer in exposing children to the "pecking order" as I said earlier. There is no denying that no matter how much a child is sheltered from a failure, that as soon as they start doing more on their own, they will experience it. Children NEED to learn to deal with the pecking order in everything. My father did not allow me to quit anything EVEN (ESPECIALLY) if I did not excel at that task. Failure or near failure is MUCH more of a learning experience than success at something that comes naturally. Soccer softens that pecking order in a way that seems very unnatural to me.

In the same vein, I am not a believer in letting up. When on the field in sports, I don't believe in putting in a second string to keep from running the score up. If a team or a person has the ability to crush the opponent, do it. It will make BOTH better in the long run. I feel stronger about this next statement than anything else in sports... Even though I beleive in "crushing" an opponent if you have the ability, I believe it should be done with the utmost sportsmanship. I ***DESPISE*** taunting. I seldom watch pro football, because the taunting, spikes, and end zone dances are so disgusting to me. The chest beating and pointing is sickening in pro football, so I love high school and college football.

The fact that soccer DOES let everyone play on more or less the same "footing" (no pun intended) is EXACTLY the main problem that I have with it.

 

[bmac]

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Getut,

When I read your first post in this thread I thought many of your points were right on target. However, as I continued through the discussion, it appears to me that "pecking" order in your world is established pretty much by size and muscularity, e.g. traits necessary for success in football. While I agree that football can be an excellent tool to teach the young men and boys good life lessons, I'm finding it difficult to understand your reasoning that other sports are incapable of accomplishing the same goal.

I don't like soccer. It bores me to death. However, I do believe that athleticism is a prerequisite for success on the soccer field. There is a pecking order in all sports, not just football. In soccer, you have the rec teams for your average joes and the premiere teams for those with above average talents. In both cases, there are players whose dedication, work ethic and talents exceed those of their teammates and they are rewarded with more playing time. These players are as competitive as football players and they go out to win every game. Now, they may not have the physical size to play football, but I don't think you can discount their athletic abilities.

Does your disdain for soccer carry over to basketball? Girls play basketball too. Court is the same size, goal is the same height. But, as I try to understand your logic, if girls can play the same sport, then there must be something unmanly about the game and, therefore, it fails to foster a competitive spirit.

I apologize if I misunderstood your point on this. I do agree with your comments about the attempts to emasculate the young men growing up today, about teaching kids that losing is OK, etc. It burns me up when everyone on a team (for whatever sport) gets a trophy without regard to performance, when the teams don't keep score for fear of bruising the little egos, and so on. However, I just can't make the leap that soccer is the root of all of these issues and that football is the only sport for boys to play if they want to be successful in life.