I'm an unnamed local celebrity!

CajunRider · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

( Soccer?? Wussy sport.
American football? Wussy sport.

Try rugby /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif All the contact of hockey without the wuss pads, and where else do you get to hang out with hookers and not PO the girlfriend?? /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif )
A ex-rugby player co-worker of mine used to say the same thing until he broke his left leg in 3 places when he collided with a goalie in a "friendly" soccer game. So much for non contact, non-violent sport hehehe.

For me I think football is actually more inclusive than soccer. You get more kids on a team, place kids in position according to their body size and speed.

BTW, I am a soccer coach with a class C license who loves football and would have played football had I grown up here. My sons played all the sports (Football, basketball, baseball, soccer, etc.). You named it, they played it. I still can't get my older son to do an ironman with me. I think he can't stand the idea of being beat by his old man. He may be bigger, faster but I can absolutely run all day long. I can still remember showing up as a soccer coach one day and I got a team of cocky 16-yr-olds who laughed when I couldn't kick as hard as they can. After a 4hr "conditioning" run, none of them could kick or move except for the old coach hehehe. No more laugh ever after that.

As to the new age sport games without keeping score, I am totally against that. How can you learn to appreciate the benefit of winning through hard work without having a taste of defeat? USA Today recently had a good article on how over-praised kids had difficulties dealing with real life criticism once they left school.

MadReferee · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Bird,
Varsity coaches were making between $1300 and $1800 depending on number of games played and number of days in the season. The varsity basketball coach was paid the highest. JV coaches where paid slightly more than 50% of the varsity coach. All, if any, assistant coaches worked for free.

Hardest part of the AD job (after dealing with parents which is another subject altogether /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif) was finding someone who wanted to coach and was qualified. 75% of our coaches (and me the AD) came from outside the teaching profession. Most teachers did not want to deal with after school activities after dealing with the same students all day long.

getut · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

bmac,

No I agree fully.. the pecking order is present in all sports. It just seems that soccer goes to great lengths to minimize it, to even out ability.

I don't particularly like basketball, but for completely different reasons. Boy I have it rough being from NC around March madness time and not particularly liking basketball. :O

You are both correct and incorrect at the same time about my pecking order point. For football.. YES!!! the top rungs of the pecking order are filled by those with the most size/muscularity, but just like in my kickball example. Little Johnny, who has his ego bruised because he is picked last in kickball, can bruise some ego of his own when he scores 1300 on the SAT (playing up to stereotypes here, but you get the idea). Taking it easy on Johnny and artificially moving him up the "pecking order" on the sporting field teaches him nothing and actually delays his exposure to it. His sheltered existence will come crashing down when he finally realizes how sheltered he was.

CajunRider · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

( artificially moving him up the "pecking order" on the sporting field teaches him nothing and actually delays his exposure to it. His sheltered existence will come crashing down when he finally realizes how sheltered he was. )
Sheltering doesn't just happen in sport. Our high school system here does not allow higher score for advance or AP courses. Quite a few parents allow their children to take the easy classes so they can get top grade. The end result is that we got so many co-valedictorians! Recently one of those kids went to West Point and wrote a letter to the editor to lament that our school system did not prepare him for West Point. He went from "co-tops" to "bottom-of-the-heap" in a hurry.

cowboydoc · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

Mad is right again,

The average per hour pay for a coach in any sport at the high school level is $1.30/hour. That's why they're paid a salary. They do it for the love of the game not the money.

As to the new age sport games without keeping score, I am totally against that. How can you learn to appreciate the benefit of winning through hard work without having a taste of defeat? USA Today recently had a good article on how over-praised kids had difficulties dealing with real life criticism once they left school.


Very true Cajun. And with regard to soccer, I'm not for or against it, there are many times that the defensive or offensive players are just standing around. As far as team work every single play in football someone has a job. You don't do your job believe me the whole team knows about it. The fans may not see it but your teammates and worse the coach know you screwed up. And everyone has a chance in football just as much as soccer. There are just as many kids cut from the soccer team every year as there are the footbal team.

As far as facilities Bird you need to come visit the soccer facility here. It is a 25 million dollar facility that is one of the top 10 facilities in the country. In the midwest it is the nicest facility bar none. The football stadium is the same one that has been in use since 1973. Soccer team hasn't been to state for 7 years now. The football team has made state the last 7 years.

No reason at all to even fight about these different sports. There is good and bad in all sports and all studies as well. Any of you that have looked at a textbook lately or heard what your kids are being taught in school know exactly what I'm saying. We've lost our way as a society in many more important areas than sports that's for sure. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

getut · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

You guys keep mentioning getting cut from the team. Why do you look at that as a bad thing? It is all part of the learning experience. Not all learning is pleasant. The school of hard knocks is by FAR the best teacher.

I will even go out on a limb and say this. A child who is cut from a football (or other sports team), is aided through the heartbreak by good parents, learns to handle it and learns that they can't be #1 at everything has learned more (and will come out of it a better person) than the child who breezed right through on star ability.

The child breezing through on star ability learns to be a leader for that respective task, but he is also VERY likely experiencing defeat in some other area of his life.

The only child NOT learning EITHER of lifes lessons is the one that is sheltered and put out on the field when he can't run 2 steps without falling down.

bczoom · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

I'm going to stay out of the sports debate but heard something somewhat related on the radio yesterday.

The high school football coach in a Canton OH area school got fired because he couldn't turn the team around and produce a winning record in the 2 years he was there.

I don't have the full story but heard the community is in an uproar but the school board doesn't care.

I guess football is pretty important to schools...

dummy · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

 Any of you that have looked at a textbook lately or heard what your kids are being taught in school know exactly what I'm saying. We've lost our way as a society in many more important areas than sports that's for sure. Too much truth in that statement. Everything should have a right and wrong place, but we keep trying to blur the lines.
Like the new diet Pepsi commercial, sometimes the right/wrong is transparent.

PBinWA · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

This canuck played played soccer(defence), rugby (loose head prop), and football (offensive tackle) all the way into college.

Soccer - nice game good for teamwork and low entry costs not too sure it satisfies the teen aggression issue. Good for smaller kids.

Rugby - a true Englishman's sport, good violence (nothing like a good ruck for kicking the other guy when they are down) , good cardio, good beer (oops - that's after the game). Great for teens.

Football - more brutal on your body than Rugby. Not much cardio. Fun as ****. Nothing like padded all out combat to work out that excess testosterone. I think it is a core institution in the US and it re-inforces many important skills and philosophies that allows the US to be a great super power. It is needed.

My first university degree was in Phys Ed. I've seen a lot of the dark side of organized sports. The "love of the game" is quickly lost when careers and money are at stake.

I have real admiration for people that can get together and just play sports for the fun of it - that is something that we all need more of.

The real dilemna is just getting kids to do anything. If all my kid wants to do is play a game of commmie ball ... err ... soccer then that is fine with me. At least they are exercising.

Varmintmist · Feb 23, 2005

Re: I\'m an unnamed local celebrity!

I just made one joking comment because I think sports are pretty worthless in general, and in the real world mean nothing. A kid will get more out of a holding a real job all summer every summer than wasting time at football/soccer/tiddilywinks camp. You will build more character working with MEN than playing with boys.

Football isnt any good for kids IMHO because they are not grown enough, physicaly. Find me a HS football player that is now 30 years old that isnt creaking like a 50 year old. Soccer is better because you at least give the kid a chance to grow before beating them up. My uncle was a pretty good football player, played HS and college ball. Washed out of Ranger school because of his knees. Which is more important? A silly game or a career? My boy wont be going into football if I can help it. Agrandizing a coach isnt worth the risk to your future.

Someone mentioned that they see soccer players standing around idle as a justifacation that football is better, HUH?? My daughter plays soccer kind of a intermural thing. Those kids are running all the time. At most during a football game the longest play is what, 10-14 seconds?

Just my opinion.

BTW, I was in HS track as a shotputter as long as it didnt interfere with work, played a lot of sandlot football in the service and a little rugby in college (not much, needed the time for study). The HS football coach wanted me, but it meant missing work, and he was a typical coach. That means that he thought that football was actually important and worthwhile, I knew better from actually having a job.

As for funding, in my HS experiance, football was funded a LOT more than other sports and activities. The football team had ONE winning season in the 6 years that I was at the HS. It was funded big time. The track team ALWAYS sent people to states and had the spear chucking record for a long time in PA, the Basketball team was a state champion team, the band was national champs, the wrestling team was outstanding sending people to nationals, but the money went to football.