We are all Slave now.

[Did you just call me Coltrane?]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Shut up, fool! Where are the current generation's Mister Ts?

TM

I think it's Ma Anand Sheela from Wild Wild Country.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Agree completely.

My daughter left a team that wanted her to give up all other sports and the HS team. For the newest level of elite program, they wanted her at practice 5 times a week for two hours. It's completely ridiculous, even at the not so crazy clubs. If you're kid hasn't already been identified as an automatic, no brainer selection to the junior National Team (and if she were, you'd know it), committing to something like this is pure insanity. If you're kid is going to get a scholarship to an elite D I team, I can see why you may push for this. But what's more likely is that you are delusional and/or your kid will burn the fuck out before it happens.

Parents are absolutely nuts. Two of the girls on her AAU team have personal shooting coaches. Everyone is crazy.

TM

The current wisdom is that the kids who do better in the long run are those who get to play in a unstructured way -- pick-up soccer, where they can be creative and try things out -- rather than those who spend lots of time being drilled by adults. Not sure that all that coaching is really helping the kids that much, relative to just finding a way to play. Obviously, it's better than nothing, but the middle-class need to take childhood activities and structure them under adult supervision is not the most positive thing. But in our area, all the fields have been taken over by organized activities, so I'm not sure where the kids would be able to go to play pick-up if they wanted to.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

See, this is better trolling.

umm, you called it your bible and said it framed your choices, but whatever. I haven't lived in DC in 30 years. Back then there was solid Chinese in Adams. Perhaps all good Chinese has left, I doubt it, but I will check it next time I'm there and let you know. Or should I write Mr. Cowan and suggest he update?

[sebastian_dangerfield]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

This is not really true. While that moment was a good one, you can't stand against that kind of bullshit and then pick a fucking rabid, racist, psycho as your running mate to reel in all of the rabid, racist, psychos in your party at the same time. There is no "having it both ways" when it comes to those people. And McCain with that pick (and Rove/Bush) did more to wake up that despicable portion of the electorate than anyone else.

TM

He has since said she was a massive mistake. And his sin there was picking her based on gut and superficial appeal (strong, attractive female republican) before adequately vetting her (which, yes, would have taken ten minutes).

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by sebastian_dangerfield

He has since said she was a massive mistake. And his sin there was picking her based on gut and superficial appeal (strong, attractive female republican) before adequately vetting her (which, yes, would have taken ten minutes).

If McCain's vetting process took ten minutes, it should have gone like this:

Minute one: Oh my god, she is simpleton dolt who is also as crazy as a demented loon, but far more dangerous.

Minutes 2-10: Sitting staring at floor wondering how things could have gone so wrong that he was actually considering her as a running mate.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

If McCain's vetting process took ten minutes, it should have gone like this:

She fucked Glen Rice. He may have been hoping for some black cross-over votes?

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by ferrets_bueller

I have a ton of experience with travel soccer and basketball, both boys and girls.

There are four types of travel teams I've seen.

1. Lily white. Expensive to join.

2. Lily white except for two players who are so good that they carry the rest of the team to a higher level. The two minority players are friends of the other players, and the players know that their team really needs the talent. These positions are often subsidized.

3. Teams formed by military families. Taste the rainbow. In my neighborhood, these kids are from Fort Belvoir.

4. Meritocracy without financial considerations. If you're better than somebody we have, you're in, and we'll find a way to get you a uniform, a ride home from practice, a place to stay four to a room on road trips, and whatever else you need. No player was ever turned away from any of the teams I was associated with for lack of funds. At one point my son played on a team which...because of the Jewish guy from Australia... had players from every occupied continent.

To your point, most teams fall into categories 1 and 2.

I have no experience with category 3. But category 4 is more AAU than travel soccer.

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

The current wisdom is that the kids who do better in the long run are those who get to play in a unstructured way -- pick-up soccer, where they can be creative and try things out -- rather than those who spend lots of time being drilled by adults. Not sure that all that coaching is really helping the kids that much, relative to just finding a way to play. Obviously, it's better than nothing, but the middle-class need to take childhood activities and structure them under adult supervision is not the most positive thing. But in our area, all the fields have been taken over by organized activities, so I'm not sure where the kids would be able to go to play pick-up if they wanted to.

I think is somewhat true. My daughter's foot skills, goalie technique, and understanding of the game are so beyond what she would have learned playing in an unstructured way that this is not really true. But coaching the creativity out of these kids is definitely a problem.

Every coach who is not personally involved in these travel programs says that they want kids who have played multiple sports--better footwork, more creativity, different muscles and skills developed, etc.

For basketball, I try to get my daughter out on city courts in the summer. She needs to play pick-up with kids who will foul her to keep her from winning, call bullshit fouls, and embarrass her with moves she's never seen.

We recently visited my old undergrad and the school was hosting an all-star game for MN high school kids. One of the players on my school's team (who was running the clock) told us that the girls we were watching were almost all going to Division I schools. Insanity. All of them were form shooters. ZERO creativity. 400 three point attempts. Those girls are in for a rude awakening, because we also went to an AAU tournament for HS girls* and the talent levels on some of those courts were absolutely fantastic. You can tell the best kids are the ones who learned on city courts who were scooped up into excellent AAU programs.

TM

*It's just absolutely amazing that girls have these opportunities now. It was breathtaking to see so many young women playing at such highly competitive levels and coaches scouting them.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I think is somewhat true. My daughter's foot skills, goalie technique, and understanding of the game are so beyond what she would have learned playing in an unstructured way that this is not really true. But coaching the creativity out of these kids is definitely a problem.

Every coach who is not personally involved in these travel programs says that they want kids who have played multiple sports--better footwork, more creativity, different muscles and skills developed, etc.

For basketball, I try to get my daughter out on city courts in the summer. She needs to play pick-up with kids who will foul her to keep her from winning, call bullshit fouls, and embarrass her with moves she's never seen.

We recently visited my old undergrad and the school was hosting an all-star game for MN high school kids. One of the players on my school's team (who was running the clock) told us that the girls we were watching were almost all Division I players. Insanity. All of them were form shooters. ZERO creativity. 400 three point attempts. Those girls are in for a rude awakening, because we also went to an AAU tournament for HS girls* and the talent levels on some of those courts was absolutely fantastic. You can tell the best kids are the ones who learned on city courts who were scooped up into excellent AAU programs.

TM

*It's just absolutely amazing that girls have these opportunities now. It was breathtaking to see so many young women playing at such highly competitive levels and coaches scouting them.

What I was saying about pick-up is least true for goalies. Our program has a coach who does specialized goalie training, and he does really neat stuff. Kids playing that position on a playground are going to teach themselves some bad habits without even realizing it, and the kids with the resources to get the individualized coaching are far better off.

Another way that American youth soccer fails its kids is the focus on playing games, instead of practices. Especially tournaments, where kids play multiple games in a day and can't play as well. But parents want to see their kids playing games.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

I think is somewhat true. My daughter's foot skills, goalie technique, and understanding of the game are so beyond what she would have learned playing in an unstructured way that this is not really true. But coaching the creativity out of these kids is definitely a problem.

Every coach who is not personally involved in these travel programs says that they want kids who have played multiple sports--better footwork, more creativity, different muscles and skills developed, etc.

For basketball, I try to get my daughter out on city courts in the summer. She needs to play pick-up with kids who will foul her to keep her from winning, call bullshit fouls, and embarrass her with moves she's never seen.

We recently visited my old undergrad and the school was hosting an all-star game for MN high school kids. One of the players on my school's team (who was running the clock) told us that the girls we were watching were almost all going to Division I schools. Insanity. All of them were form shooters. ZERO creativity. 400 three point attempts. Those girls are in for a rude awakening, because we also went to an AAU tournament for HS girls* and the talent levels on some of those courts were absolutely fantastic. You can tell the best kids are the ones who learned on city courts who were scooped up into excellent AAU programs.

TM

*It's just absolutely amazing that girls have these opportunities now. It was breathtaking to see so many young women playing at such highly competitive levels and coaches scouting them.

AAU is an equalizer, and a reality check. "I can bury the three!" Yep, as can the other 100 kids in this gym.

But the thing that made my guys toughest was playing Gus Macker 3 on 3- I'm sure there is some equivalent there. We'd see a city team of kids who had next to nothing. They might not have been as talented as my guys, but fuck if they were going to lose. There was a ref, but it tended to be a kid, and the city teams had coaches yelling at the refs, so few calls. EVERY game with a D team it seemed we got down 4 or 5, then remembered you had to be willing to fight through the shit. Mostly came back and won, but these were the best lessons of all the lessons.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Replaced_Texan

I hope for your sake they are more like this:



than

this:





We have THREE now in the neighborhood. Before, we had to go to Chinatown. I think the menus are slightly different in our part of town than Chinatown, but I'm not complaining.

We still have to go to Chinatown for soup dumplings, though.

I have eaten a lot of Chinese food in a lot of places. SF first, and NYC second, have been heads and shoulders above every other city (I haven't tried Houston) in the U.S. (and both miles ahead of DC, Boston, Chicago, LA, etc.) But an interesting thing in the Boston area these days is that the Chinese food may be better in the Burbs than in Chinatown - Chinatown is filled with homestyle Cantonese places opened fifty years and two generations ago, while there are three or four little clusters in the Burbs that have the Chinese places opened by recent immigrants with more ambitious culinary goals.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I have eaten a lot of Chinese food in .... NYC

in Flushing?

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

I have eaten a lot of Chinese food in a lot of places. SF first, and NYC second, have been heads and shoulders above every other city

I'd put Queens up against the rest of NYC and probably any place else in the country. I don't go out there often, but their Chinese is just insanely good.

TM

[ThurgreedMarshall]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Another way that American youth soccer fails its kids is the focus on playing games, instead of practices. Especially tournaments, where kids play multiple games in a day and can't play as well. But parents want to see their kids playing games.

Also no one knows what to do about this:



TM

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by ThurgreedMarshall

Also no one knows what to do about this:



TM

Not youth soccer, but this was cool:
https://www.theguardian.com/football...mi-final-video