Yes, some athletes are perfectly suited for only one particular sport, and might suck in others, but that's certainly the exception. Basketball has the most stringent body type filter for sure. Most other sports are pretty much plug and play. And I think that's an interesting way to think about athleticism is by asking what other sports a given athlete could conceivably be playing.
So far you have used one of the most popular or recognizable athletes in the world, who the vast majority of people would show up to see run and an article from 1993. What actual, statistical proof do you have?
People who expect we would dominate like we do in basketball are insane. I think we will be very good in a generation or two, but we aren't going to dominate like we do at sports where there is no interest in most countries.
The part where we aren't good at soccer because our best athletes play other sports. Simply looking at the roster of the previous World Cup final should make that obvious.
There is also a knack for an athlete having a knack for a said sport. Example 1 - one of the best athletes at my high school was an outstanding football player on both sides of the ball. Watching him attempt to dribble, much less shoot, a basketball was hysterical. Example 2 - I think we would all agree Leonard Scott was a great athlete in general. He was by no means a great receiver (unless it's 2nd and goal on the 1 against Miami, then throw him the fade). You get the point. You have to be athletic and have a knack for the intricacies of that sport too.
as we've said, it's really more about culture and development in this country, not quality of athlete
http://www.oiselle.com/blog/evolution-fan-girl-why-do-all-cool-kids-go-europe-summer http://www.runblogrun.com/2012/05/is-track-field-dying-in-us-no-but-it-is-complicated-by-larry-eder.html
It's not hard to see. Kids abroad are institutionalized for the sake of the sport. They live away from their families and practice soccer with other elite kids, coaches by professionals. Whereas American kids aren't put trough that ringer. These kids live and breathe soccer and have for generations upon generations. Our level of dedication will never match those countries, not as long as we have the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL.
And why do we have a level of dedication in those sports that we don't have in soccer? Maybe because soccer isn't popular here?
Soccer players aren't cashing in here like they do elsewhere. If MLS started handing out 20 million a year salaries then I think you'd see a difference. Kids aren't dreaming of being Landon Donovan, they're dreaming of being Tom Brady or Mike Trout or whoever else.
I'm the not one who made the claim it was FAR (your emphasis, not mine) superior in Europe. In fact, I didn't even say I disagreed that track and field was more popular in Europe. I merely asked to see what numbers you had back this FAR claim up. So far, all we've got are Usian Bolt, and article from two decades ago and some blogs.
