Clint Parsons

Selectivity does not equal quality. Selectivity can be gamed. If you make it trivial to apply and actively encourage applications from people you have no intention of letting in, you can become highly ‘selective’. If you have a rigorous application process and fairly clear standards, people who can’t get in wont bother applying. You become less ‘selective’.

It blows my mind that Northeastern is now a more selective school than Northwestern. US college reputations have changed a ton in the last 15yrs. — Vanderbilt / UChicago are now squarely elite: no different from MIT / Princeton in terms of SAT scores and selectivity. — The SAT has been gamed into oblivion. You used to rest assured that a 1600 meant you were going somewhere awesome. Now, the top 25% of the 20 universities are 1570+, including NYU. — Universities in big cities holistically see a huge rise: Boston (NE, BU), NYC (NYU), Chicago (UChicago), LA (USC). The whole "college is dead" is a luxury belief. At the upper end at least, college is very much alive and it's getting fiercely more competitive. If this continues, 15yrs later, most top 15 colleges will be <2% acceptance rate.

@PaulSpacey Nice straw man. Try this more accurate version. If all the soccer players focused on American football, a few of them would probably be really good because there is a significant overlap in attributes that predict success at certain positions.

If all the soccer players here grew up playing American football, they’d make it to the NFL because they are smarter than NFL players. Sit with the absurdity of that for a minute.

Look at this example. 95 football players every 4 years are getting a PhD in football and almost all of them are from the US and procreate in the US. This is replicated to a lesser degree at every level of football down to the high school level. The resources devoted to creating and passing along institutional knowledge of football are not remotely close to being replicated in soccer. Clemson University as an example: Men's Soccer Coaching staff: Head coach, Associate Head Coach, Assistant Coach Football: Head coach, Chief of Staff, Assoc HC Co-Def Coordinator Defensive Tackles, Assist HC Co-Offensive Coordinator Offensive Linemen, Assist HC Cornerbacks, Defensive Coordinator Linebackers, Special Teams Coordinator, Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Pass Game Coordinator, Offensive Pass Game Coordinator Wide Receivers, Co-Offensive Coordinator Tight Ends, Defensive Run Game Coordinator Defensive Ends, Offensive Run Game Coordinator Running Backs, Linebackers coach, QB coach, Safeties coach, Nickelbacks coach, General Manager, Dir of Football Admin and Player Personnel, Spec Assist to HC and Defensive Assistant, Sr Defensive Assistant/Assist DB Coach/Assist Special Teams Coach, Offensive Analyst/Assist O line coach, Defensive analyst/Assist Defensive Ends coach, Special Teams Analyst, Offensive analyst, Offensive analyst, Defensive analyst/Assist linebackers coach, Defensive analyst/assistant cornerbacks coach, Special Teams Player development/Specialists coach, Defensive Player Development/Assist Defensive line coach, Offensive Player development/assistant offensive line coach, Off Player development/Off line coach, Off Player Development/Assist wide receivers coach, Offensive player development/Assist tight ends coach, OPD/ RB coach, OPD/Assist WR coach, Defensive Player Development/Assist cornerbacks coach, Senior Director of Player Personnel Evaluation and Scouting The soccer program won the national championship in 1984, 1987, 2021, and 2023. The football team won national championships in 1981, 2016, and 2018.

@clintp16 @BrownbearSLC I’m trying to lead you somewhere. The question is why do they not have that experience?

It boggles my mind that we can produce literally thousands of football players every year that are now paid professionals basically on the backs of Dads coaching little league...but somehow soccer needs more money to pay coaches.

Clemson University as an example: Men's Soccer Coaching staff: Head coach, Associate Head Coach, Assistant Coach Football: Head coach, Chief of Staff, Assoc HC Co-Def Coordinator Defensive Tackles, Assist HC Co-Offensive Coordinator Offensive Linemen, Assist HC Cornerbacks, Defensive Coordinator Linebackers, Special Teams Coordinator, Offensive Coordinator, Defensive Pass Game Coordinator, Offensive Pass Game Coordinator Wide Receivers, Co-Offensive Coordinator Tight Ends, Defensive Run Game Coordinator Defensive Ends, Offensive Run Game Coordinator Running Backs, Linebackers coach, QB coach, Safeties coach, Nickelbacks coach, General Manager, Dir of Football Admin and Player Personnel, Spec Assist to HC and Defensive Assistant, Sr Defensive Assistant/Assist DB Coach/Assist Special Teams Coach, Offensive Analyst/Assist O line coach, Defensive analyst/Assist Defensive Ends coach, Special Teams Analyst, Offensive analyst, Offensive analyst, Defensive analyst/Assist linebackers coach, Defensive analyst/assistant cornerbacks coach, Special Teams Player development/Specialists coach, Defensive Player Development/Assist Defensive line coach, Offensive Player development/assistant offensive line coach, Off Player development/Off line coach, Off Player Development/Assist wide receivers coach, Offensive player development/Assist tight ends coach, OPD/ RB coach, OPD/Assist WR coach, Defensive Player Development/Assist cornerbacks coach, Senior Director of Player Personnel Evaluation and Scouting The soccer program won the national championship in 1984, 1987, 2021, and 2023. The football team won national championships in 1981, 2016, and 2018.

How many US dads doing the coaching played pro/D1/D2/D3/JUCO/NAIA football with high level coaching often by a specialist in their position with hours of weekly film study for years on end in a culture that dissects every nuance of the sport? Compare that to the dad coaching rec soccer.

@NoRagretsUknow @BrownbearSLC No. I am saying there is a tremendous difference in the number of men in the US who have the described experience in football vs those who have similar experience in soccer.

@clintp16 @BrownbearSLC You are saying former players do not jump in to coach the young in soccer? Why?

Pretty sure he does understand that. Messi does have the ability to see things on the field no one else does and the physical ability to take advantage of it. Certainly, there is no one on a basketball court or football field with that ability (this is sarcasm). It is not that all of these people with demonstrated ability to hone high level skills that leverage elite athleticism to perform feats that leave us mere mortals agog would automatically be great at soccer. It is that in the US, the vast majority of those people do not play soccer. If all of them did, it increases the likelihood of finding the gems who can do that on the soccer field. IMO, that does not mean the US would leap to the forefront in soccer. You still have to identify and develop that talent and we have not proven our ability to do so at the top level.

@luke_mccown You don’t understand the levels there are to football. Players like Messi almost have a sixth sense compared to normal people playing the game. It’s not something you can train, you’re born with it. That’s why it’s ridiculous to assume athletes can just cross over sports.

The problem with the “our best athletes don’t play soccer” detractors is you when I or others say athletes, you immediately think that I mean biggest, fastest, strongest… etc You quickly dismiss the REALITY that whatever they are great at, that includes or is highlighted by the physical giftings, was indeed a developed skill costing countless hours of practice focus and intense training. So to say and ( I’ll stay in my lane and talk about football athletes) that the Lamar Jackson’s, J’mar Chase, T. Hill, Kyler Murray’s etc… and just about every CB, WR, most RBs in football… And this doesn’t include the slightly “lesser athlete” like highly skilled QBs that were proven extremely talented through a plethora of spots growing up.. You really think they don’t have the ability and aptitude to, and couldn’t or wouldn’t develop the intricate skill to be great and even world leading soccer players… World class athletes doesn’t just apply to size, speed and strength. And it’s in fact lazy to say so

@segalmr It's not so much non-soccer people as it is engagement farmers trolling.

It can be hard for non-soccer people to understand the level of skill and training that soccer requires. If top NBA and NFL players trained at soccer for 6 months, a good U16 youth team would completely dominate them.

@cianobriain Yes. There are. Maybe not more so than this particular American, but yes.

Is there a more ignorant & delusional people than Americans? All of their most popular sports have non-Americans competing if not dominating. SGA, Wemby, Doncic & Jokic in NBA. Ohtani the best in MLB. Jordan Mailata Super Bowl winner entering NFL w/ ZERO experience.

Track guy with elite straight line speed not remotely comparable to Tyreek Hill. Hill's ability to explode in any direction with power, accelerate and decelerate ridiculously combined with elite top end speed makes for an intriguing athletic profile for a winger. If you do not think he has elite body and field awareness, spatial IQ, and speed of thought, you probably don't understand American football. Does that mean he can switch to soccer and dominate at his age? Of course not. Does that guarantee he would be elite at soccer if he had started at age 2? Nope. If all (or even a majority) of Americans who have a similar profile dedicated their lives to soccer, would some of them also have the other attributes required to be an elite soccer player? Most likely. Would the USMNT be better? Probably. Would they dominate? I don't know. Probably have to improve the development system for that to happen. There are plenty of examples in both sports of people who have elite attributes (speed, strength, jumping ability) that do not the ability to leverage those assets on the field. There are plenty of attributes that may make a person suited for one sport that would actually be a detriment in another sport (excessive size comes to mind). But many sports have characteristics that translate from one to another and spreading those who have those attributes among many sports rather than concentrating them in one or two dilutes the talent pool.

@adamsonjon Ok. He’s fast. Cool. Did I say speed was the only factor?

Adam Gemili - 9.97 100m, 19.97 200m, played for Chelsea academy for 8 years - but couldn’t get a game for Dagenham and Redbridge, came 4th in the Olympic 200m and got a gold in the 4x100 🤷‍♂️🤣

@kingantony00 @liabinkin Not really. That’s only if you care what people who think like that say. If that is how they think, why would you care at all there opinion on anything?

@liabinkin It’s completely cooked because if USMNT wins it’s because he didn’t get suspended and if they don’t win oh yall need fifa and still didn’t win it’s a double edge sword atp

I want to clarify that I do not agree with government interference in decisions related to this World Cup. I also don't like that the USMNT players are now being portrayed as the villains for something that wasn't their fault. They had no control over what happened behind the scenes. It is also important to point out that Article 27 wasn't something FIFA just invented for this case. It's a provision that has been used before. That said, because of the reported government interference, the decision now feels tainted to a lot of people. I understand why people see it that way. Even if there was no rule technically preventing those conversations, it doesn't look good, and I don't agree with that kind of interference. At the end of the day, I don't want people taking this out on the national team because none of this is the players' fault. They're going to do what any team would do and prepare for the match they're told they're playing. If anyone has an issue with how this was handled, that should be directed at FIFA, not the players. I do think the decision should have come sooner and that there should have been more transparency throughout the process, but once the match starts it's still 11 vs. 11. The players didn't make this decision, they just have to go out and play, so blaming them for something they had no control over isn't fair.

The distinction w/o a difference people make is that they were suspended FOR the World Cup for offenses that did not occur IN the World Cup. It’s a semantic word game they play to pretend it’s different. Like arguing none of those players had names that rhyme with Bolarun Falogun so you coant compare.

Ronaldo, taking the field now for Portugal, had two games of his red card suspension removed by FIFA on appeal. If it hadn’t been, he would have missed the first two games of the World Cup. Zero outrage from anyone over this appeal being granted. Explain the difference. Thanks.

@DaleJohnsonBBC So you’re saying the US has inspired other countries to take a stand against injustice? God Bless America

France appealing Michael Olise's yellow. England appealing Jarell Quansah's red. This is where we are, and it's where we'll continue to be.

@Skinbeautiful1 @charles_watts I'm not left wing and I did not like listening to this. Does not change my opinion on whether or not a red card should have been issued (no) or suspended (yes). Does he have a point? Sure. Does his involvement improve things? No.

@charles_watts Charles, he’s got a point. Do you not think some of the jaw droopingly ridiculous reds we’ve had should’ve been over turned, like Declan’s, saliba at Brighton, Trossard at city etc etc. you sure it’s not because you’re left wing and don’t like trump. Genuinely asking

Just staggering to listen to. He even calls into question the integrity of a FIFA referee. Will Infantino say something? Of course not. Urgh, just awful. What a shame.

@charles_watts It would be better if he stopped talking. Best if he did not start.

@ArthurBoreman Yes, but how much attention are you going to generate for your account with that kind of take?

Isn’t the easiest explanation for all this that the referees did not follow the VAR protocols when giving Balogun his red card and rather than face a media blitz about that they thought this would fix it while saving face and it unexpectedly did the opposite?

@hugolowell It is an absolute travesty that the end result of this might be FIFA having to develop a process by which the damage a referee can do is limited to the game he/she is officiating. We are truly living in the end of days.

FIFA decision to suspend the Balogun red card appears to have opened a free for all — The French Football Federation has appealed to FIFA to rescind Michael Olise’s yellow card during the World Cup last-16 win over Paraguay on Saturday, per the Athletic: Star French player Olise was booked after an altercation with Matias Galarza, who went to ground holding his face, but replays showed Olise was holding his shirt

@flameosumeet Thanks. I had seen a lot of people claiming he took credit, but none of the quotes they gave until this one supported the claim. He is not usually nuanced or ambiguous about taking credit for things.

@flameosumeet Can you please post the quote where Trump took credit? I've been searching but have been unable to find anything.

Interesting point on the Balogun situation that’s gone unnoticed: Jenny Taft and now the NY Post are reporting that FIFA was already reviewing the red card (protocol?) before Trump made any calls, and that the USSF was threatening to go to CAS over the issue… Entirely possible that Trump swooped in and took credit at the last minute, certainly not out of the ordinary for him

@billbarnwell When seeking guidance on ethical matters, Sepp Blatter is an obvious first choice.

When even Sepp Blatter thinks you might have gone a little too far