Open Mic: Best World Athletes

1. Where would the U.S.A. soccer team rank amongst the world’s best if its top athletes grew up playing soccer? Which athletes from other sports would make great soccer players?


Without a doubt, the American soccer game would be better if the top athletes were playing.  If the Marshall Faulk’s, Chris Paul’s, and Torry Holt’s played in the condition they do/did for their respective sports, American soccer would have a level of athleticism not previously seen.  Pure athleticism, however, might not be the sole issue.

This is a chicken or egg question.  Are the athletes playing professional football and basketball really better, or have their respective sports trained them to be better?

For the most part, the same kids are playing youth soccer and Pop Warner football when they are growing up.  At young ages, the athletes are equal because they are the same kids.  The athletic divide begins when players start choosing their sports and training accordingly.

Because the game of soccer does not value speed, weight, and strength like football, or even basketball, the players do not train the same way.

They want fast players, but 40-yard dash times are not paramount.  Likewise, the relative lack of physical contact and collisions does not necessitate that the players be able to bench a house.  Endurance is king and hand/foot-eye coordination is coveted, albeit in a different way.

Maybe American soccer players need to start training like other football and basketball players.  Take Tiger Woods for example.  He trains like a boxer, not a golfer, and he dominates his sport, which includes players from dozens of foreign countries.  Coincidence?


2. Which sport has the best pound-for-pound athletes from a physical perspective?  Which sport takes the most mental toughness?


For my money, the best pound-for-pound athletes are found on the football field.  Football players have to have all the skills of other athletes but have to execute those skills in an exceedingly violent arena.  

They have to run, jump, block, catch, and occasionally throw.  And, they have to do it at break neck speeds with a virtual guarantee of physical punishment at the conclusion of play.

If I had to choose a specific position, I would take NFL running backs.  They have to be fast enough to run away from defenders, strong enough to block blitzing linebackers, and skilled enough to catch passes out of the backfield while dodging defenders.  

And, they have to be physically and mentally tough enough to do it over forty times per game.  I watch LaDainian Tomlinson and I cannot imagine better athletes.

For the same reasons, football requires the most mental toughness.  It is modern day gladiators in the NFL and you routinely hear players mention not being able to get out of bed on Mondays during the season.  

These are some of the greatest conditioned men on the planet and their craft renders them helpless for one day per week.  You have to be mentally tough to put yourself through that year after year.


3. Which star athletes have the skills necessary to succeed in other sports?


This is an open-ended question.  I think there is a much more direct correlation between sports like hockey, baseball, golf, and tennis.  They train their body and mind to hit one object with another.  

You can see how a hockey player would be better at golf than an NFL or NBA player.  Don’t forget, advantages in basketball and football (sheer size and strength) are disadvantages in those other four sports.   How many 6’5” hockey players are there?  How about in golf or tennis?

Working from my previous arguments, I think NFL players could be very successful in other professional sports.  You often hear the names of celebrated high school football players announced during the baseball draft.  

The two most celebrated two-sport athletes in the last 20 years are both NFL players first.  Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders both played football, and used baseball as a nice offseason diversion.  Whether it was Bo running up the outfield wall or Sanders playing in a NFL and World Series game in the same day, they seemed to treat baseball like a hobby.


4. Why would a top young American athlete opt for soccer or rugby if he can make NBA dollars or play in the NFL?  Will this cultural dynamic ever change?


Simply put, he wouldn’t.  I can only think of one reason why this would ever change: money.  

Athletes may gravitate away from the NFL eventually but it needs to get even more violent for any serious shift to occur.  Boxing would have stayed popular forever if football, basketball, and baseball had not started offering as much cash for a longer and less brutalizing career.