[Triumph36]

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Obviously the "indisputable" statement about Iverson is retarded. However, I think it's pretty obvious that the best American athletes are not playing soccer and the U.S. would field much better soccer teams than it does if they did. Obviously Saquille O'Neal would not be a good soccer player, but a lot of other basketball, football and baseball players probably would.

It's also possible that a lot of smaller, speedier guys that would be good at soccer just never get the chance in the U.S. They start playing football or basketball when they're young and then when they finish college they go find a job because they just weren't big enough to play pro sports in the U.S.

It seems like most kids play soccer when they're very young in the U.S. but then switch to other sports as they get older. I've never been really sure why that is.

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Because soccer is boring, cheap, and not complicated to play at all. It's basically an excuse to wear the kids out when they're very young and give them some athletic training - but there's not much real emphasis on becoming good at soccer.

Basketball, baseball, and football, OTOH, are very difficult to play when younger, often requiring different equipment and rules.