Anonymous wrote:For those that care to face reality, there are plenty of DA kids that leave and go back to regular club play or even leave soccer. 4 practices a week can be a bit much.

Therefore, it could be 2 VDA today and tons tomorrow...or perhaps none. But let's not try to pretend that there isn't movement in all directions.

There are also those that leave because they get cut, or aren't getting much playing time. Going back to their old club team could be tough. Going somewhere different, with a more European based approach to training, might be more appealing under those circumstances.

Anonymous wrote:For those that care to face reality, there are plenty of DA kids that leave and go back to regular club play or even leave soccer. 4 practices a week can be a bit much.

Therefore, it could be 2 VDA today and tons tomorrow...or perhaps none. But let's not try to pretend that there isn't movement in all directions.

There are also those that leave because they get cut, or aren't getting much playing time. Going back to their old club team could be tough. Going somewhere different, with a more European based approach to training, might be more appealing under those circumstances.

For those that care to face reality, there are plenty of DA kids that leave and go back to regular club play or even leave soccer. 4 practices a week can be a bit much.

Therefore, it could be 2 VDA today and tons tomorrow...or perhaps none. But let's not try to pretend that there isn't movement in all directions.

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

I am not a previous poster, but Barca has different level teams. Some teams are strong and did well in the top divisions of EDP (2001s, 2003s), while other teams are still developing their game to reach a higher level (2004s, 2005s). I am not sure why an assumption was made that VDA players joined a team with "poor" results. My son's team has thee players that came from VDA and the team did well in EDP's top division. The new players are a good fit with the team. So while the question can be asked, it is premised on a faulty assumption or misunderstanding that former VDA players were placed on one of the younger teams. This is simply not the case. SVDA players joined a strong team that had strong results in the top division of EDP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

No, the de facto moderators of this thread have not agreed on your last point. They were making the point that there was a good deal of talent and that more elite talent had joined. That was the premise of the discussion that he involved himself in.

And this is the damage that saying "TONS" has done. The PP's only claim was that talent was starting to migrate in. An example was that a couple of VDA players had joined the program. No claim that the club was overtaken by DA quality players. Even "A team players" moving to Barca was downplayed to the fact that EVERY club, whether they are good or bad, has a "A Team". And that this fact should not even be news worthy because kids move from one club to another all the time. That it happens at Barca is worthy of some kind of "prove it" inquisition is what is lunacy. Is there another club heavy thread that has had to defend the fact that kids moved to their club? Here is a fact:

Every. Single. Kid. At. Barca. Moved. There.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

No, the de facto moderators of this thread have not agreed on your last point. They were making the point that there was a good deal of talent and that more elite talent had joined. That was the premise of the discussion that he involved himself in.

Anonymous wrote:He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

No, he didn't say "Several", he said "tons". You know the difference between several eggs and tons of eggs? And it was that choice of word that he used as the basis for his point about their game results. If your point is to state that the Barca coaching is not in fact worth $3000 then you would suggest that "even with tons of VDA players on the roster Barca teams still cant win". When THAT is your ultimate point then the hyperbole is not just a throw away line. It was the foundation to prove the larger point when the truth of a couple players wasn't as supportive of the narrative.

Again, had RSD used the same terminology it wouldn't be an issue. He admitted to the usage as being "harmless hyperbole" in order to exaggerate his point that the coaching at barca can't be worth a subjective amount in his mind. So he resorts, like many people to GotSoccer and tournament results as a lazy argument and attack on a very young program that EVERYONE has agreed has a shallow talent pool.

He was not discrediting that any one individual had joined. He was essentially saying that if several DA players had joined, which was the original statement, why were the results so poor. Now, he’s demonstrated the poor results in his follow up message. The results are all facts, not dishonest in any way. And it was a proper question to ask, based on the way the thread read

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could have simply said "Barca has lured players away from VDA" and it would not have been so hyperbolic. And that would have actually restated the claim in proper context. You took the OP's comment and embellished it with "Tons" as a descriptor when such a claim was NEVER made. You inferred "tons" when a "couple" would have been more accurate.

You completely misrepresented and restated the quote as an embellishment when such a claim was never made. On this point of fact you are wrong and your statement was leading and inaccurate.

We'll agree to disagree about whether that was harmless hyperbole, actually painting with less of a broad brush than you do "Barca's critics," or some sort of "inaccurate" statement.

And I think it's unfortunate that you're clinging to that as the rest of your prosecution has fallen apart.

Sorry to ruin everyone's popcorn-binging -- save me a kernel or two. Or tons.

The damage was that "harmless hyperbole" was in effect discrediting the fact that a couple of VDA players had joined Barca. You misrepresented an honest claim and exaggerated it to make the claim a punchline instead of a fact.

RantingSoccerDad wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You could have simply said "Barca has lured players away from VDA" and it would not have been so hyperbolic. And that would have actually restated the claim in proper context. You took the OP's comment and embellished it with "Tons" as a descriptor when such a claim was NEVER made. You inferred "tons" when a "couple" would have been more accurate.

You completely misrepresented and restated the quote as an embellishment when such a claim was never made. On this point of fact you are wrong and your statement was leading and inaccurate.

We'll agree to disagree about whether that was harmless hyperbole, actually painting with less of a broad brush than you do "Barca's critics," or some sort of "inaccurate" statement.

And I think it's unfortunate that you're clinging to that as the rest of your prosecution has fallen apart.

Sorry to ruin everyone's popcorn-binging -- save me a kernel or two. Or tons.

RSD,

For the record, I actually enjoy your podcast and some of your material. This thread is a pretty clear depiction of what is wrong with soccer in our area, the competition for our pocket books is much stronger than the competition to get good kids to develop. Focus on names such as VDA, Loudoun, etc versus the merits of good training. Open versus close leagues....etc. I'm new to Barca and was lucky enough to have older kids go through some of the other clubs in the area so I have at least "a" perspective. I'll repeat, BARCA is much more a school than a team that competes in XYZ league. In fact, i think they would not have joined EDP if it weren't the obvious issues of attracting new players, kids our society want to compete, training and doing internal scrimmages is not going to bring in top talent. Open market place and as consumers we get to choose, I would just leave it at that. I don't criticize parents for staying with our old club or moving to other clubs in general. Fact is, the club scene has not worked that well with most of your youth players not playing any higher than the U12-U14 level so if Barca has a system that "might" work....worth a look in my opinion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Running out of popcorn, can someone grab me a refill?

Do you want some popcorn or tons of popcorn?

Just two kernels please!

Anonymous wrote:Running out of popcorn, can someone grab me a refill?

Do you want some popcorn or tons of popcorn?

Running out of popcorn, can someone grab me a refill?

"Here's one of the posts I saw:

There are also kids who left VDA after being there a couple of years to join Barça - kids who were at least good enough they could have stayed


It didn't say "two." It said "kids." The reference to "two" came much later, and it was just tossed in. It wasn't "hey, we're only talking about two kids." So you can see how I had that general impression.

And again -- that's what I gave. A general impression. There was also plenty of talk about "other programs."


"
It didn't say tons either. It said kids. YOU ADDED "tons of players" yourself:
"Haven't checked in for a while -- is the basic gist of the last several pages that Barca has lured tons of players away from VDA and other programs because the training is better? And yet those players go to Barca and don't get great results? So Barca lured all these great players away for better training -- and they don't win much, even after a year or two with Barca? "

You could have simply said "Barca has lured players away from VDA" and it would not have been so hyperbolic. And that would have actually restated the claim in proper context. You took the OP's comment and embellished it with "Tons" as a descriptor when such a claim was NEVER made. You inferred "tons" when a "couple" would have been more accurate.

You completely misrepresented and restated the quote as an embellishment when such a claim was never made. On this point of fact you are wrong and your statement was leading and inaccurate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:RSD, you are welcome to post here, including things that are critical. This is an open forum. As a Barca parent, I recommend that you visit and observe any Barca's training session once the training resumes after the break. I know that you are probably busy, but you seem to be interested in the program and this is the best way to have an informed opinion or corroborate things that you hear from others.

This thread should be renamed to the Ike and Tina Turner show

Ike who? Geezuz you are old.

Ike abused Tina most of the time, but drew her back in by doting on her. Good analogy to how this schizophrenic thread treats RSD. too bad you missed the reference.