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Im going to have to agree with the other guy about hockey. Poor kids might get a chance to play....but if you do not get a lot of ice time as a youth, which cost money, you will rarely become as good as those whose parents can afford them much ice time in their youth.
Again, hockey has NEVER been a rich kid's sport. Lower middle class and poor children all over Canada and parts of the United States have always excelled at hockey.
BTW...hockey is actually losing popularity in Canada even with white kids.
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Originally Posted by CinSonic
baseball is not heavily black
Baseball is VERY heavily black. Always has been, always will be. You're not watching the games apparently.
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Originally Posted by Lucario
Watch a baseball game sometime.
LOL...change the black dudes name from Jackson to Ortiz, and somehow he ceases to be black apparently.
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Originally Posted by caribny
Jamaicans have the same genes as Ghanaians, Nigerians and Congolese. So why are the sprints basically Jamaican and African American athletes battling each other? Indeed genetics alone will suggest that West Africans should whip African Americans, and even Jamaicans as both have varying degrees of non West African ancestry.
West Africans haven't immersed themselves in the sport. Natural ability is fine, but you still need training to compete on an Olympic level. The Jamaicans were nobodies too at one time until they started entering American universities and track clubs to train. But the ability was always there.
Bobsledding and the Luge aren't exactly major sports.
Skiing and skating aren't major sports?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CinSonic
baseball is not heavily black.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lucario
Watch a baseball game sometime.
I watch baseball and CinSonic is right, it's not as heavily black as it used to be.
When I was growing up baseball was practically 50-50 white-black. Now, it's more like a mix of white and Latino being the majority, with African Americans next, and a growing presence of Asians.
Not that there's anything wrong with that but it's interesting that blacks have abandoned baseball for football and basketball over the years.
I watch baseball and CinSonic is right, it's not as heavily black as it used to be.
When I was growing up baseball was like 60% white, 40% black. Now, it's more like a mix of white and Latino being the majority, with African Americans next, and a growing presence of Asians.
Not that there's anything wrong with that but it's interesting that blacks have abandoned baseball for football and basketball over the years.
Hell no Skiing and Skating aren't major sports. Come on dude..get real. Those are niche sports. One requires snow, the other requires ice. And unless you live on one of the Earth's poles, you don't see either most times of the year (unless you have an actual ice rink in town. Good luck in most places).
And baseball is STILL heavily black. There are just as many blacks in baseball as there ever was. They just aren't from the United States. They're from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, Cuba, Curacao, etc...
The idea that there aren't many blacks in baseball is a myth.
Hell no Skiing and Skating aren't major sports. Come on dude..get real. Those are niche sports. One requires snow, the other requires ice. And unless you live on one of the Earth's poles, you don't see either most times of the year (unless you have an actual ice rink in town. Good luck in most places).
And baseball is STILL heavily black. There are just as many blacks in baseball as there ever was. They just aren't from the United States. They're from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Panama, Venezuela, Cuba, Curacao, etc...
The idea that there aren't many blacks in baseball is a myth.
For all intensive purposes, when we talk blacks in American sports we are talking African American, not black Latino's. Black makeup in pro sports here in America is approx 75 percent in the NBA, 67 percent in the NFL, and only about 9 percent in MLB.
On the topic of Hockey, it is a much more expensive sport to play then the others. Here in my area it costs a HS student playing hockey about 5 to 6 grand a year. Much of that is a contribution towards what the schools pay for ice time.
Black athletes tend to follow the money. In the case of baseball when a player is drafted out of HS they have about a 1 in 15 shot to ever get to the majors. A basketball or footbal playerl at a D1 University in most cases gets a free education even if they do not go onto the pros. Very few college baseball players get a full ride.
Last edited by jazzy jeff; 12-29-2013 at 02:00 PM..
For all intensive purposes, when we talk blacks in American sports we are talking African American, not black Latino's. Black makeup in pro sports here in America is approx 75 percent in the NBA, 67 percent in the NFL, and only about 8 percent in MLB.
On the topic of Hockey, it is a much more expensive sport to play then the others. Here in my area it costs a HS student playing hockey about 5 to 6 grand a year. Much of that is a contribution towards what the schools pay for ice time.
Black athletes tend to follow the money. In the case of baseball when a player is drafted out of HS they have about a 1 in 15 shot to ever get to the majors. A basketball or footbal playerl at a D1 University in most cases gets a free education even if they do not go onto the pros. Very few college baseball players get a full ride.
Doesn't matter where the blacks come from...that's the point i'm trying to make. It's a matter of choice. American blacks once dominated baseball from a proportional standpoint, but they DON'T WANT TO any longer. They aren't attracted to baseball anymore in similar numbers for a myriad of reasons.
But by proportion, blacks are still just as well represented in MLB as they've always been, it's just that the blacks are coming from other countries. David Ortiz isn't any less black just because he didn't grow up in Alabama. African Americans aren't being excluded from baseball, they just aren't interested any longer.
I know hockey very well and i understand that it's not a cheap sport to play as you go up, but it IS NOT a sport for the upper middle class as its being portrayed by people on C-D. I've stated time and time again that most of the guys in the NHL are from solidly working class families...and many of the players from Eastern Europe are from what we'd consider to be poor families. Hockey is and has always been a working class sport. In Canada, lower middle class Canadians have always played hockey at every level. Same for many parts of the U.S. In inner city Detroit and the inner ring burbs where whites (and a few blacks) are either poor or just barely considered middle class, they manage to play hockey at amateur levels and they find the necessary money to do so.
Still..money is not the reason why blacks don't play hockey. Most black children are from middle class households that can seemingly find the money for everything else. If they wanted to play hockey, they'd play hockey and they'd find the money to do so regardless of how cost prohibitive it might be in certain places.
However, you're right about black kids following the money and how that relates to college and the sports they choose. They don't really wanna play a sport in which you might have to spend several years in minor leagues...that's for damn sure.
Again, hockey has NEVER been a rich kid's sport. Lower middle class and poor children all over Canada and parts of the United States have always excelled at hockey.
BTW...hockey is actually losing popularity in Canada even with white kids.
Baseball is VERY heavily black. Always has been, always will be. You're not watching the games apparently.
LOL...change the black dudes name from Jackson to Ortiz, and somehow he ceases to be black apparently.
West Africans haven't immersed themselves in the sport. Natural ability is fine, but you still need training to compete on an Olympic level. The Jamaicans were nobodies too at one time until they started entering American universities and track clubs to train. But the ability was always there.
Jamaicans won 3 medals (one gold) in 1952 Olympics and FIVE medals 2 gold( in 1956. Pretty sure that these were in track. The reason why Jamaicans began to get scholarships from US colleges is because Jamaica had developed a solid roster of talent at the high school level and US colleges began to notice this.
Jamaicans do well because they take track very seriously. And they have now developed their own coaching talent so rely less on US training. The very talented Usain Bolt never had US training, and few of the more recent champions have had either.
So its not because the Jamaican is some "animal" with a body to run. No they train seriously which is why they beat just about every group if West Africans in track.
Note that Cuba has a large West African descended population, yet do poorly in the sprints. Some might argue that this is because their athletes are much more diverse in the range of sports that they are engaged in, so with less of a single focus on track they don't produce the talent that Jamaica does. Brazil has the second largest West African descended population behind the USA (depending on how you define this) and yet doesn't do well in the traditional black Olympic sports. Yes it does well in football but many of their players are so mixed that to attribute their skill to West/Central African ancestry is a stretch. Again they play a broader range of sports so less single focused. Indeed blacks from Latin America (and there are more of them than from anywhere outside of Africa) are outside of this conversation. European players do well in football so one cannot say that it is black dominated.
Maybe white American males just aren't interested in sports outside of niche activities. In the Olympics they only dominate swimming, while their European counterparts have a wider range of success.
Note also that white South African, who despite his disability, beat many of West African descent to get to the semi finals in the last Olympics.
I mean does any one claim that Michael Phelps wins Olympics because whites of northern European descent have a natural body to win in swimming. NO! They credit his hard work and his talent.
Jamaicans won 3 medals (one gold) in 1952 Olympics and FIVE medals 2 gold( in 1956. Pretty sure that these were in track. The reason why Jamaicans began to get scholarships from US colleges is because Jamaica had developed a solid roster of talent at the high school level and US colleges began to notice this.
Jamaicans do well because they take track very seriously. And they have now developed their own coaching talent so rely less on US training. The very talented Usain Bolt never had US training, and few of the more recent champions have had either.
So its not because the Jamaican is some "animal" with a body to run. No they train seriously which is why they beat just about every group if West Africans in track.
Note also that white South African, who despite his disability, beat many of West African descent to get to the semi finals in the last Olympics.
I mean does any one claim that Michael Phelps wins Olympics because whites of northern European descent have a natural body to win in swimming. NO! They credit his hard work and his talent.
No one said training is not a contributing factor. The point is with equal training west africans have better results except in marathon where east africans dominate.
No one said training is not a contributing factor. The point is with equal training west africans have better results except in marathon where east africans dominate.
So I will take it that you will agree that swimming is dominated by people of northern European ancestry only because of their type of bodies.
The major determinant of Phelp's victories isn't INDIVIDUAL talent, good training, and hard work, but his genes with the rest only accounting for about 25% of his results.
Also there has been a heavy amount of migration between various parts of Africa. So why this huge dichotomy between East and West Africa if genes are the main determinant. And why are the completely unrelated Mexicans sometimes competitors of these East Africans?
When is comes down to it Americans like making excuses for why they suck at something.
yes at the Olympics there is a clear difference between how white Americans males perform vs. their European peers. All this gene babble as just to disguise the fact that white American males are no longer hungry for success in sports so don't put in that extra effort.
Also many have bought into stereotypes that they are inferior in athletics/sports, unless its a niche game, so they shouldn't bother. You even hear some saying that they are good at this and that "for a white guy". Indeed there maybe even some reverse racism at work, practiced by some coaches.
This reminds of some inner city black (US/UK) males who have been brainwashed to think that they have some genetic code that makes them unable to do math, yet black immigrants arrive and excel in technical fields.
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