The hardest sport?

[Phishfan]

Except for the size of the field, soccer is soccer from the beginning.  Except for the goalie, it's just running and kicking.

Only at an elementary level. I think you guys don't understand the sport much. The notion that a kid plays the same style game as an international player is laughable. If that's the case you can say football is just throwing, running, catching, and tackling.

[run_to_win]

Only at an elementary level.

We're talking about entry level kids, remember?

The notion that a kid plays the same style game as an international player is laughable.

Okay, what physical aspects of the sport in addition to running and kicking are involved in international soccer?  I've seen the video of young kids playing soccer in the streets all over the world.... it looked pretty much the same.

If that's the case you can say football is just throwing, running, catching, and tackling.

Except for ass-slapping you pretty much nailed it.  What makes it difficult is that most of it is done while another player or two is physically, and sometimes violently, trying to impede you.

[Phishfan]

Actually we are talking about what it takes to become a professional, not entry level at all.

I will restate my position that you apparently do not know the game if you think kicking a ball is all there is to it. A group of young children do kick the ball around the field with no control, no direction, no purpose. Once you understand the game you understand that ball control is the name of the game. The ability to control the ball is much more than kicking it. You have to have the ability to put the ball where you want it, know how to create space, know where to make runs, etc. If you don't believe me try playing the game sometime. You get a group of guys to just kick and run as you say and I will grab guys who understand the sport. I guarantee that we would have you running much more than you would be kicking.

I would also add that football is much more than that. I would give you the same challenge there. Grab a group of guys to just play a fundamental game and then give me a group who understand blitzes, stunts, zone coverages, play action, etc and we would again win easily.

To put you back towards the original topic, we are not talking basic fundamentals of sports. We are talking about what it takes to become a professional.

[Dave Gray]

If that's the case you can say football is just throwing, running, catching, and tackling.

It is, for the most part.  That's why I didn't pick it.

[run_to_win]

Why do people get so defensive when they find out that their beloved sport isn't so esteemed by others? 

ball control <= kicking precisely, but still kicking
put the ball where you want it <= more kicking
know how to create space <= running
know where to make runs <= running

We forgot heading the ball.  *GASP*  So now, with the exception of the goalie, it's kicking, running, and NOT ducking. 

Physically, it boils down to running and kicking.  Sure, pros do it better ... which is why they're pros.

Physically, kids play the same game as pros, the pros just play it better. 

[bsmooth]

I see a distinction between skill and athletic ability.

I also see a distinction between competition, sport and recreational activities. 

Anything that elite participants can still do at an elite level after age 40 is not a sport.  Golf may require the most skill of anything on the list, but if any elite 25 year old can't whip an elite 50 year old 9 times out of 10, it's not a sport. 
I have to agree.  Also, mind you, football is one of the few sports with intentional, brutal contact as part of the game.  Hockey would be right up there too.  Boxing has to be mentioned with brutal contact, but you're not focusing on something else like in football and hockey.  Combine boxing and juggling (or something) to get the same degree of difficulty.

In college I knew a member of the rifle team who was trying to make the Olympics.  He worked out like an animal.  I never understood.  He said that staring at a target the size of the head of a pin 300 yards away is the most physically demanding thing in the world.   I didn't, and still don't, agree and out of respect I didn't laugh.   Just goes to show that everyone thinks "their" sport is the most difficult.

Well then I nominate rugby and Aussie rules football. Just a violent as our football with no pads. How can you be considered an elite athelete when your belly hangs waaay over your pants?  I woud love to see offensive lineman try and play rugby, they would have heartfailure before halftime.

[run_to_win]

Well then I nominate rugby and Aussie rules football. Just a violent as our football with no pads. How can you be considered an elite athelete when your belly hangs waaay over your pants?  I woud love to see offensive lineman try and play rugby, they would have heartfailure before halftime.

America rugby - no doubt. It's played with a football mentality - which explains why we usually don't fair to well in internation competition. 

While overseas a few years back I was fortunate enough to watch the British championship on the telly.  I was impressed with the grace and fluidity of the game.  Players almost always pitched the ball before getting hit.  Except for the scrums, most of the contact was incidental - more like soccer than football.  Yes, incidental contact at full speed without pads can be brutal.  In American hockey teams sometimes have an "enforcer" - someone who's main purpose is to intimidate/hurt opponents.  I didn't see that aspect.

Linemen running around the rugby field is just as ridiculous as 150-200 lb rugby backs and flankers battling in the trenches against 300-350 pounders.  I'd imagine that, once they learned the game, the most athletic DBs, LBs, RBs, and WRs would fair pretty well.

Football was not a game invented for "fat" athletes.  Football, as well as baseball's DH, caused the evolution of the "fat" athlete.

[Phishfan]

Why do people get so defensive when they find out that their beloved sport isn't so esteemed by others? 

ball control <= kicking precisely, but still kicking
put the ball where you want it <= more kicking
know how to create space <= running
know where to make runs <= running

We forgot heading the ball.  *GASP*  So now, with the exception of the goalie, it's kicking, running, and NOT ducking. 

Physically, it boils down to running and kicking.  Sure, pros do it better ... which is why they're pros.

Physically, kids play the same game as pros, the pros just play it better. 

Trust me, you haven't seen the defensive side of me. I have seen what you offer to this board though. You like to chime in without any original content on almost every thread. I noticed while you seem to have several ideas of what is not the hardest sport, you have not given any insight into what you do consider the hardest sport to be.

[run_to_win]

 

[bsmooth]

America rugby - no doubt. It's played with a football mentality - which explains why we usually don't fair to well in internation competition. 

While overseas a few years back I was fortunate enough to watch the British championship on the telly.  I was impressed with the grace and fluidity of the game.  Players almost always pitched the ball before getting hit.  Except for the scrums, most of the contact was incidental - more like soccer than football.  Yes, incidental contact at full speed without pads can be brutal.  In American hockey teams sometimes have an "enforcer" - someone who's main purpose is to intimidate/hurt opponents.  I didn't see that aspect.

Linemen running around the rugby field is just as ridiculous as 150-200 lb rugby backs and flankers battling in the trenches against 300-350 pounders.  I'd imagine that, once they learned the game, the most athletic DBs, LBs, RBs, and WRs would fair pretty well.

Football was not a game invented for "fat" athletes.  Football, as well as baseball's DH, caused the evolution of the "fat" athlete.

Well  have watched and played Aussie rules, and there is a significant amount of contact. Also I haven't seen a 300+ person playing rugby here, but have seen a lot in the 230-240 range.

[run_to_win]

Aussie rules is awesome to watch and looks like a blast to play.  Isn't the contact incidental - meaning that it's okay to crash into someone while going for the ball, but not to intentionally do so?

Just for clarification... maybe accidental/unintended contact would be a more accurate description.  A head on collision on the freeway is accidental, but usually not incidental.

[bsmooth]

Aussie rules is awesome to watch and looks like a blast to play.  Isn't the contact incidental - meaning that it's okay to crash into someone while going for the ball, but not to intentionally do so?

While they don't tackle like we do, they do have a lot of incidental contact, and if you get the ball, look out. With so many people running back and forth it is easy to get blindsided. Aerobically it kicks you in the balls, but was one of the funnest sports I ever got to play. Yes our football team got our ass handed to us by a group of traveling Aussie's in high school, and they were on average smaller than us. After about ten minutes we couldn't run with them anymore.