I think people are taking the article too seriously.

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If soccer was as ubiquitous in American playgrounds as it is in European playgrounds, we would produce a real juggernaught of a team. Might not be the best team every year, but it would be in the running.

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Youth Soccer Participation > All Peewee League Participation + All Little League Participation

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HoustonTexan, I think he was saying that:

McBride, Donovan, Beasley : Soccer > LeBron : Soccer

I was a bit confusing, but reread the post...

It's not about MJ, Lebron, or any of those guys playing soccer. They are playing the sports that suit them the best. It's about the 6'2 kid with lightning speed that played basketball all his life because it was the cool thing to do when he should have been in soccer.

We lose the best athletes suited to play soccer to other sports becuase of the lack of focus on the sport here. That's where the difference lies.

you guys missed the point of the article.

it was saying that had some of the guys played early and developed, they could be truly amazing at soccer, similar to the way they are amazing at their sport of choice.

I don't think any baseball player could be "truly amazing" at Soccer...

Nor could anyone above the height of 6'5"... the center of gravity would just be too high, and smaller players would just Zip around them.

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I don't think any baseball player could be "truly amazing" at Soccer...

Nor could anyone above the height of 6'5"... the center of gravity would just be too high, and smaller players would just Zip around them.

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Holy cow! Carl Crawford, Kenny Lofton, A-Rod, this list could just go on and on. You really believe that NO baseball player could have been a great soccer player.

No player over 6'5"??? Jan Koller? You think 2 inches taller would make a difference for Gooch? Can't think of any 6'5" and over athletic basketball players?? When I was in high school, there were two great goalkeepers both 6'4" or over. One was for Klein and the other Klein Forest. I would love to see Kevin Garnett play goalkeeper. And Olajuwon? I never saw any smaller player just zip around Olajuwon..he was so quick and agile.

First off, Syd is a bone-head, is obviously sensative about something, and didn't even get the meaning behind the article.

Obviously these current pro players couldn't switch and become great soccer players.

But think about this; what if all the great highschool running backs in the nation grew up playing soccer instead of football? Then you've got an American team that would be a world power every year.