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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]What if we’re looking at the wrong kind of athletes? [/quote]

We have the right athletes, just not the right culture. The culture is changing with the amount of European soccer on TV now and MLS starting to actually hit some stride. Atlanta is doing great with attendance and other MLS venues are doing great it is just the quality on the field is not quite there. But getting folks into the seats to begin with is an important piece of the puzzle.

We also tend to look at it as a simple equation of "our best athletes play football, basketball, etc". That is a lazy argument and doesn't really speak honestly to the unique qualities of athleticism each sport requires. Not every body type is suited for every sport. A marathon runner will never be great at sprinting events and a sprinter will not make a great marathon runner. We tend to look at soccer potential in kids the same way we look at potential in future basketball and football, i.e. size, speed and strength. And because many of "our" sports like football and basketball have specific demands required for specific positions. Until kids have gone through puberty you have no real idea exactly what sport and position will best suit the athlete. Our sports are more forgiving of late bloomers but heavy skill based sports like soccer are not at all forgiving to kids who start late, at least not on the world stage.

And with all that said, as a country we have a fundamental disrespect for the skills required to play elite international soccer. We approach the game like we do any of our other sports and soccer is unlike any of our sports.  [/quote]

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