EPL has nothing on La Liga and Serie A, bro it is absolutely horrendous over in Spain and Italy with racism. For instance, a black man will get beaten up to a bloody pulp on the streets randomly and nobody will usually care to help or call police. It doesn't go in the paper either. France is actually considered the best place for black people to go to in Europe for immigration and other qualities of life (such as peace for goodness sake), but yet black people are restricted in that country to host television shows or anything high in the media or other things. There was one black host in the country, but his show failed as funny as he was. The thing is, the people aren't actually usually racist over it in France, they just don't seem to care. To them (some) it isn't about hate, they just act as though they don't exist for the most part. Better that then go somewhere in Spain or Italy and have bananas thrown at you and get beaten up for no apparent reason. During many away matches, Samuel Eto'o of FC Barcelona is often taunted with monkey noises and has fruits and even cell phone batteries thrown from the high levels by racist ultra groups. There is so much more man, I can't even begin to tell you. Not to mention some of the violent things I've seen and know about. Damn .. Oh, and don't even get me started on the lower leagues of Russia ... Whoaaa!!
<div class="quote_poster">Voodoo Child Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Lol, no kidding. I think Mamba has the order right with football > basketball > baseball. That's not how I'd rank them personally though. My list would go something like basketball > hockey and soccer > football >>>>> baseball. You couldn't pay me to sit through a baseball game. There's all this talk about U-20. My friend was training with the U-18 this summer. Are they any good too? He plays for Santa Clara as a rising sophomore. We used to go on bud-runs together every Friday. Good times...</div> Yeah man, any US soccer organizations under the age of 20 are getting really damn good on the International level. Those kids on the International squads are starting to become freaks at the game.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Baseball has become a bore amongst the black community, it's a damn shame that these kids would rather rob, steal, murder, slang crack, than play a game that takes a lot of patience and mental toughness and give themselves a chance to make something out of them. I think that's a major reason why there is such a negative feeling towards urban black youth who act like scum, well...outside of the fact that they act like scum.</div> WOW....what the hell?
<div class="quote_poster">M Two One Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">EPL has nothing on La Liga and Serie A, bro it is absolutely horrendous over in Spain and Italy with racism. For instance, a black man will get beaten up to a bloody pulp on the streets randomly and nobody will usually care to help or call police. It doesn't go in the paper either. France is actually considered the best place for black people to go to in Europe for immigration and other qualities of life (such as peace for goodness sake), but yet black people are restricted in that country to host television shows or anything high in the media or other things. There was one black host in the country, but his show failed as funny as he was. The thing is, the people aren't actually usually racist over it in France, they just don't seem to care. To them (some) it isn't about hate, they just act as though they don't exist for the most part. Better that then go somewhere in Spain or Italy and have bananas thrown at you and get beaten up for no apparent reason. During many away matches, Samuel Eto'o of FC Barcelona is often taunted with monkey noises and has fruits and even cell phone batteries thrown from the high levels by racist ultra groups. There is so much more man, I can't even begin to tell you. Not to mention some of the violent things I've seen and know about. Damn .. Oh, and don't even get me started on the lower leagues of Russia ... Whoaaa!!</div> Yeea man. It's a British magazine, but they cover a lot of what happens in the rest of Europe as well. I remember he was telling me about this one time he was taking a train to somewhere outside Austria to do a story on the Roma (gypsies). They stopped near the Czech Republic (or one of those Eastern European countries) and the train was literally overrun by skinheads who were just looking to cause trouble when they learned the train was from out of the country. He had get the **** out of there, because they would've went crazy if they saw a dude with a turban and beard.
<div class="quote_poster">M Two One Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah man, any US soccer organizations under the age of 20 are getting really damn good on the International level. Those kids on the International squads are starting to become freaks at the game. </div> I got chills reading that, because most of my friends in high school are U-20 soccer players. We had the #1 team in America (according to USA today), and I was friends with pretty much all of the team, because we were all the tolken stoners in our school. I think 10 (maybe 11?) of them went on to play DI soccer, one kid even got an offer from some professional team in Chicago (the fire?). He was this 6'5" freak who started as a freshman and was nationally ranked as a recruit. He was offered a scholarship from Northwestern as a 15 year old (as well as a few southern schools). He didn't want to play collegiate soccer though, just smoke bud and hang out with friends all day. I remember one kid saying something to me like, "You have no idea man. He could be making millions in Europe. What an idiot!" But he's one of my best friends, so I've never argued with him about it, even if it's probably in his best interests. I'll leave that stuff up to his parents and the media. Wow, I'm rambling. Is it that late?
<div class="quote_poster">A.F. Venom Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">WOW....what the hell?</div> I was shocked by that comment also. That is extremely racist.
Wow, I wish Canada focused more on it's sports in the high-school and collegiate levels. Unless your sport is hockey, it's really hard to make a name for yourself out here on even a national level, so forget an international level. No wonder all of our non-hockey athletes bolt to the States...
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post">Baseball has become a bore amongst the black community, it's a damn shame that these kids would rather rob, steal, murder, slang crack, than play a game that takes a lot of patience and mental toughness and give themselves a chance to make something out of them. I think that's a major reason why there is such a negative feeling towards urban black youth who act like scum, well...outside of the fact that they act like scum.</div> You're not ignorant, don't worry about it.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Baseball has become a bore amongst the black community, it's a damn shame that these kids would rather rob, steal, murder, slang crack, than play a game that takes a lot of patience and mental toughness and give themselves a chance to make something out of them. I think that's a major reason why there is such a negative feeling towards urban black youth who act like scum, well...outside of the fact that they act like scum. </div> Whoa, you really should of thought of a better way to express yourself before posting that, it sounded really racist. One of the reasons I believe that there are not as many African Americans in baseball these days is, like Torrie Hunter said, baseball is something that requires a ton of resources that many people who grow up in an urban area don't have access too (bats, gloves, other equipment, field, 22 people at a time). Meanwhile, sports like basketball and football all you need is a ball and 4-6 people to get a decent game going.
The 2 biggest growing sports over here are Soccer and Basketball. Alot of people are starting to get into the NBA over here, and Basketball I think is the #1 most played sport amongst our Youth.
Was it worded terribly? Probably, but the opportunity is there for them. MLB is making a major push to the urban black community, but they're just not interested. It's not so much a matter of resources. I think the bigger reasons are: basketball and gangs. It's no secret that gangs are a MAJOR part of the urban community, so I'm not going to sugar coat that. I wouldn't really say football, that seems like a sport that comes in HS. Football takes just as many people and as much equipment as baseball. Overall, Baseball is declining in America...particularly amongst the black youth.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Mamba:</div><div class="quote_post">I wouldn't really say football, that seems like a sport that comes in HS. Football takes just as many people and as much equipment as baseball.</div> Backyard football only requires a ball and a minimum of six people.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Backyard football is completely different from an organized sport, though.</div> It may not be organized, but it allows them to be introduced to the support at an early age and build a love for playing it.
Yeah, but don't a lot of youths join gangs for the "support" and the "family"? I've always felt that organized sports is something that has a bigger impact on someone than just playing it casually.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Yeah, but don't a lot of youths join gangs for the "support" and the "family"? I've always felt that organized sports is something that has a bigger impact on someone than just playing it casually.</div> I don't have first hand knowledge on the matter, but that is aside the point. I am not trying to argue the impact of organized sports, merely that being introduced to the sport at an early age with backyard football and having regular access to an area to play and practice is the reason why so many urban youths are going into basketball/football and not baseball.
<div class="quote_poster">Mamba Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Out here in Southern Cal, the soccer hype is pretty dead. Hell, there's still hype from the Ducks winning everything compared to the poor hype of Beckham. Although, the Ducks hype is dying, quick. America is about three sports and in my eyes, will be for a long long time: Baseball, Basketball, and Football. Popularity wise, I think it'd be something like Football > Basketball > Baseball.</div> Maybe where you live there's not much hype, but I see A LOT of soccer fans all over Irvine and LA now. Every weekend the soccer fields are full with kids and adults playing in summer leagues. There's a lot of bars who cater strictly to the soccer fans. The LA Galaxy have sold out every game with Beckham coming over. The soccer hype is just getting started. Plus with the increase in the Latin community and Asian community (both hardcore soccer nations) I think it's going to really take off in the next 5 years. I also don't agree with our comments about baseball and black youth. The problem baseball is facing is the fact the sport doesn't translate well on TV. They need to do something to speed up the game or figure out some new technology to broadcast it. Hockey faces the same issues. Great sport, but they haven't figure out how to make it TV friendly. Baseball has lost its grip on being "America's Past Time," so you don't see the top athletes in America playing the sport anymore. Playing football or basketball is a lot more popular for black and white athletes. There's also an influx of Latin players because they don't cost as much to bring over and sign. Teams are able to pay them less than they would an American born player. An agent was recently busted for trafficing players illegally out of Cuba into the states.
