The wimpiest sport of all time

[wilt the stilt]

I was listening to Colin Cowherd this morning and he was interviewing Doug McIntyre of ESPN(soccer). If I hear one more time how well conditioned and how tough the game is I am going to puke.
Mcintyre was moaning how tough the game was and in the next match with Portugal that both teams are going to be tired. They have 5 DAYS OFF.

I could possibly understand some fatigue on a match on the third day but i even think you should be fully recovered by the 3rd. day These people are in their twenties.

I always hear how much they run. Bullshit. Watch a game closely. They stand around all the time. When the ball is on one side of the field everyone on the other side of the field are standing around. Midfieleders do run but by large it is short(20 second bursts of speed).

The NBA in the playoffs had a game every other day for 6 weeks. There is hardly any rest. Football plays games all the time 3 days after a Sunday game and talk about taking a pounding. Football is brutal with gigantic sized people causing mayhem.

I am a great believer in conditioning. when I was young i typically played 2 hours of basketball followed by a 5 mile run in 37 minutes with the last 3 being 6 minute miles I followed that with 250 sit ups and 150 push ups.

Even now at 62 I ride 16 miles a day on my bike and I am about to start doing the pushup/situp regimen again.

GIVE ME A BREAK.

[Renew Deal]

1. The next US game will be played in a jungle in over 80 degree temps with over 70% humidity

England and Italy could barely move by the time the game ended when they played there.

And on average, soccer players run more than any other sport including football with NO BREAKS! Basketball and football have frequent breaks.

<snip>
Football: SportVu found that cornerbacks and wide receivers, who tend to run the most, run about 1.25 miles per game, so it's safe to assume most players run less. An analysis by the Wall Street Journal found the average American football player only moves, let alone runs, for 11 minutes per game.

Basketball: NBA players run nowhere near the oft-cited five miles per game. According to STATS, the player who ran the farthest per game in 2012 was Luol Deng of the Chicago Bulls, at 2.72 miles on average.

Soccer: Long games, a massive field and a constantly moving ball add up to serious distance for soccer players. STATS puts the average at 7 miles per game depending on position, and as much as 9.5 miles for some players (not including goalies, of course).

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/sports-run-stats-show-burns-shoe-leather-article-1.1307763

[wilt the stilt]

3. 5 days rest

5 fucking days of rest. there is no pounding like football. I used to play basketball with the players of the Atlanta Falcons and my son is best friends with Bobby Butler who started for 12 years with the Falcons. These are people who are 200- 300 pounds running full speed at each other. Soccer doesn't come close.

My friend was Al Marshall who was the H back for Dan Henning on the Falcons. I asked him what was his body like at the 12th game of the season. He said it was completely black and blue. I don't see any soccer player with a black and blue body. i never hear anyone who is a football guy crying about how tired they are.

Maybe they run less in basketball but the game is EVERY OTHER DAY.

Furthermore 7 miles in 90 minutes means a 12 minute miles hardly killer. Watch the game and there is a lot of resting time. admit it.

[Renew Deal]

7. Admit what?

Football has 11 minutes of action. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704281204575002852055561406

Soccer has 90 full minutes with a break in between. One 12 minute mile is no big deal. Go to the track today and try doing it 7 times in a row.

I'm not sure what this argument is even about. Soccer players are more cardio fit than other athletes. Football players are physically stronger. Basketball players are somewhere in the middle. And soccer has significant contact as well.

Time off is another consideration. Football has generally 7 months off in the NFL (January-July). Basketball has generally around the same time off. Soccer has almost 2 months off in the summer and almost one month off in the winter. That adds up to a lot more time on the field.

[wilt the stilt]

8. there is more standing around than you think

up to 7 miles for some positions. Yes midfielders run the most the offense and defense less. basketball just finished It is June and the regular training camp starts in September. That is 2-3 months off. My son's best friend's brother is on the raiders. they work out all season. There is no longer anytime off.

The point is Soccer players are the best cardio wise of these sports but i bet bicycle racers are way better than soccer players. None of these other sports whine like "soccer purists". These teams have 5 days off. They should be fully rested. There is no way a 90 minute game where the most a player ran is 7 miles that he should be tired after a 5 day rest.. pure bullshit.

[malthaussen]

2. Wimpier than golf?

Give me a break. Unless, of course, you don't consider golf a sport. What about bowling?

-- Mal

[wilt the stilt]

4. It's a game

I am talking about games that elevate your heart rate.

[malthaussen]

6. Aw, golf and bowling elevate your heart rate...

... only from anxiety, not exertion. They give you indigestion, too. There was a pro golfer called "The Pepto Kid" because he slugged back Pepto-Bismol like water during a round. The whole gestalt of golf is keeping anxiety and frustration from hindering your motor skills.

-- Mal

[TexasTowelie]

27. What about curling?

I don't know which is tougher--throwing the stone or sweeping the ice?

[wilt the stilt]

31. any game where you can drink a beer while playing

is high on my list of great sports.

[BeyondGeography]

5. What a dopey post...Footballers are in great shape

Much better than players in any of the major stop-and-start commercial-break laden American sports. They don't get that way by standing around.

[wilt the stilt]

9. All I am asking is stop whining

That's like a salesman who whines he has to cold call. it's part of the job.

[BeyondGeography]

11. Footballers can be a little precious

But the game is tougher than it looks. Clint Dempsey almost got himself a broken nose last night. Getting kicked sucks, full stop, and it happens a lot.

The play acting on the field used to be a lot worse; it's one area where FIFA has actually managed the game well. Honduras, otoh, were a throwback in the diva department against France on Sunday. But they were just trying to give themselves a break from chasing France all day long.

[KamaAina]

10. You left out the diving

players flopping down onto the pitch if so much as a fingernail brushes them, in an attempt to draw a foul (or a penalty kick, if it's in the area). In our four major sports, only hockey's Sidney Crosby has the knack.

[BeyondGeography]

12. Don't forget the Canadiens

[wilt the stilt]

13. I was playing basketball with the falcons in'86

and I was in the locker room with Buddy Curry(all pro) and he was retiring at 30 and I asked him why. He told me after so many hits that your muscle mass actually starts to deteriorate. Imagine that hitting causes you to lose muscle mass. He didn't whine.

[Upton]

15. Sure, no flopping in the NBA..

that must be why the league was forced to come up with anti-flopping rules

[KamaAina]

16. There just doesn't seem to be a superstar in the NBA

like Crosby.

[Upton]

17. LeBron flops regularly..

they just don't call it in the NBA..For that matter, stars like LeBron are protected in the league..

And due to the fact there are only 3 subs allowed and once you're subbed out you can't come back in, a soccer player would have never left the game with a cramp such as James did in game 1. The footballer toughs it out..

[hughee99]

21. Yes, but you have "diving" in basketball, football and hockey too.

In football, it's usually just limited to the occasional QB or punter, but it does happen and for the same reason. Even in baseball you'll see a batter who fakes getting hit by a pitch once in a while.

[Upton]

14. In soccer the clock never stops..except for HT

While in the NBA not only are there rest periods (also known as timeouts) but it takes a 1/2 hour to play the final 2 minutes..

GIVE ME A BREAK

NBA is far wimpier..

[wilt the stilt]

18. Have you heard one player(NBA)

or better yet one commentator complaining about the fact that the teams played every other night for 6 weeks.No one complained about the no air conditioning in the first game. They just sucked it up. Look at the comment earlier in this blog and someone is already complaining that the next game is going to be played in high temps and high humidity. I guarantee the heat in the arena is more than anything at the next U.S.soccer game

You soccer fans are always making excuses. 5 DAYS BETWEEN GAMES AND McINTYRE IS WHINING ABOUT HOW TIRED THE TEAMS ARE GOING TO BE.

I don't hear any complaining from the cyclists who ride 3 weeks in a row in the Tour with one day off. Get over yourselves and stop whining.

Finally, watch the next soccer game and honestly tell me that there isn't a whole lot of standing around.

[Upton]

20. The finals at least weren't played every other night..

and basketball players not only have TOs, commercials, HT and the ability to be substituted for a rest anytime all game long, but has as already been pointed out to you, they cover far less than 1/2 the distance during your average game.

Have those precious NBA players of yours play 2 45 minute halves of non stop basketball on a 110 yard long floor, with no timeouts and no going to the bench for a rest, and you'll see some big time for real whining.

When it comes to endurance in the major sports, footballers are the undisputed kings. Basketball players ain't got nothin'

[wilt the stilt]

22. I never said that soccer palyers were not in better shape.

I said their fans are whiners. have you ever heard anyone of us complain that there was a game every other day? Did you ever hear us complain that there is a Thursday night football game after a Sunday game.

my point is we take it in stride that is the way the game is and the way the schedule is. All i ever hear from soccer people is that soccer players are the most fit(which is probably true) and that they run up to 7 miles in a game(only the midfielders) and that it is gruesome physically. The reality is that there is lot of standing around in soccer and for you to deny is this is a joke. I watch it and this may shock you but I can see that there is more standing around. The players basically run in short 20-30 second bursts.

When it is on one side of the field the other side of the field is resting.

Football is way more gruesome physically and if you ever played with them the lineman are better athletes than you think. The killer basketball player on the falcons was the center(Jamie Dukes). Even the skilled position players acknowledged that he was great and he weighed 270 lbs.

These are supposedly the most fit athletes and this guy get's on Cowherd and starts whining how they are going to be tired. They have 5 days of rest. They are in their twenties. NO MORE WHINING.

[ProfessorGAC]

24. Utterly Silly

There is 10x the physcial contact in basketball, because continuous contact (not impact) is within the rules and is part of the way the game is played.

The physicality of soccer isn't even close and you know that, i think. You're just being contrarian.

[wilt the stilt]

28. it's the fans

that is my bitch.

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. So the guy who started a thread to go on about how other sports have it tougher

is the one complaining that soccer fans are whining?

[Capt. Obvious]

19. Another I hate soccer thread

Fascinating. DU needs more of these.

[wilt the stilt]

23. i'm not knocking soccer

It's the fans who irk me.

[ProfessorGAC]

26. Actually Wilt, For Me. . .

. . .it's the American fans. I've been to dozens of other countries and they don't have a desperate need to sell their favorite sport and they don't cop a faux superiority over their chosen fandom.

[wilt the stilt]

30. makes sense

it is the American fan.

[JonLP24]

25. I've played football, basketball, and a little baseball

and soccer which was by far the toughest from a conditioning aspect. Basketball was rough too but you got too rest in that game. Baseball was the "wimpiest" from a conditioning aspect and I was an outfielder.

[wilt the stilt]

29. baseball is easily the wimpiest

except one thing. a pitched baseball can kill you. ever been hit by a 90 mile an hour fastball?

[JonLP24]

32. I never made it in baseball

because I couldn't ever hit and I don't mean can't hit because baseball is 1vs9, I mean literally couldn't make contact w/ the ball. That is one of the things that makes it the most frustrating difficult sport(besides golf).

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

34. Uh-oh, you've drawn the ire of American soccer "fans", keep up the good work...

I like the game, despise the whiny and insecure American fans that obsess over the fact that not everyone enjoys it on the same level that they claim to.

I'm convinced that most American "fans" only claim to like the sport because they think liking it makes them seem worldly, sophisticated, and part of a counterculture. Most of them talk as if they invented the game, despite the fact that they have only been vaguely familiar with it for less than a decade.

[fishwax]

35. there were questions about postponing game 1 b/c the air conditioning was out

There is always talk about how grueling the season and playoffs are. There has been talk about how LeBron's future depends on getting his minutes down to save his body. There has been lots of talk about how the playoff pace would affect Wade's body. There has been tons of discussion about Pop's decision to rest his starters for entirely games to keep them fresh for the playoffs. And so on.

I didn't't here cowherd's show, though, so I don't know why that counts as whining for soccer while the rest of all this is just analysis or speculation.