White American Basketball League

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basketball is popular with kids in low income situations because it is one of the cheapest sports to play. all you need is a ball and a hoop and you can work on your skill. if you have a friend, you can compete. you can not do this in football, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc. etc. etc. it is unique to the sport.

it's not a race thing... it's an income thing. the state of indiana became huge with basketball because the low income rural farm kids, mostly white mind you, could easily afford to play it. again... ball, basket. that's it.

a simple look at the history of basketball shows that it's always been a sport dominated by the poor, the down trodden... polish imigrants, jewish imigrants after ww2, farm boys from french lick, indiana...

Very insightful post, thank you Headache...

but you forgot to add milk:

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basketball is popular with kids in low income situations because it is one of the cheapest sports to play. all you need is a ball and a hoop and you can work on your skill. if you have a friend, you can compete. you can not do this in football, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc. etc. etc. it is unique to the sport.

Good post. This is nit picky, but I think the world appeal of soccer is, in some part, for the same reasons. I'd argue that soccer would actually be a cheaper sport to piece together than basketball, as you dont even need a ball that bounces. a bundle of old clothes taped together has served as a soccer ball for many a poor kid
 
Good post. This is nit picky, but I think the world appeal of soccer is, in some part, for the same reasons. I'd argue that soccer would actually be a cheaper sport to piece together than basketball, as you dont even need a ball that bounces. a bundle of old clothes taped together has served as a soccer ball for many a poor kid
On a broader scale, yes. But because basketball is also cheap and is vastly popular by comparison in the US, it's clear why kids turn to that. They want to play basketball and football, and basketball is the cheaper option.
 
Good post. This is nit picky, but I think the world appeal of soccer is, in some part, for the same reasons. I'd argue that soccer would actually be a cheaper sport to piece together than basketball, as you dont even need a ball that bounces. a bundle of old clothes taped together has served as a soccer ball for many a poor kid

Inner city kids in the US don't have big fields... but they do have concrete :shrug:
 
Inner city kids in the US don't have big fields... but they do have concrete :shrug:

Poor kids play soccer on grass, on sand, on concrete, that's really not a barrier at all. Proportionally far more of the poorest of the poor play soccer than any other organized sport.
 
Poor kids play soccer on grass, on sand, on concrete, that's really not a barrier at all. Proportionally far more of the poorest of the poor play soccer than any other organized sport.

I guess my point is that when you drive through Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, etc you don't see a lot of area where kids can play soccer, at least not anywhere close to regulation size, but you can learn to play basketball on a half court and you'll find these all throughout these cities. Jive was saying that it's even a cheaper sport to play, and he's right but you need the space, and that's something the poor in the states don't have a lot of access to. This is all going back to Headache's post and the poor in the U.S. Oddly enough I would say in the U.S. soccer is more embraced by suburban kids than any other group, but this is just based on the few places that I've lived in my life :shrug:
 
Jive was saying that it's even a cheaper sport to play, and he's right but you need the space, and that's something the poor in the states don't have a lot of access to.

But you don't really need the space. Kids play on the streets of the overcrowded slums in Brazil all the time. And Headache's post was good, but he also implied that it was rural poor who took up basketball due to low-costs...certainly in places like Indiana, you've got space.

Personally I think this has nothing to do with American poor people somehow having less favourable conditions for soccer and everything to do with there just not being the same sort of soccer culture, nor strong leagues from early childhood on to the professional level.
 
Yes but the ratio of courts and parks is very disproportionate in poor areas.

Personally I think this has nothing to do with American poor people somehow having less favourable conditions for soccer and everything to do with there just not being the same sort of soccer culture, nor strong leagues from early childhood on to the professional level.

I think you're right about the overall soccer culture, but soccer is very popular in young childhood suburban areas, so lots of leagues for that demographic but then they get weaker at the high school age.
 
Maybe it has something to do with the lack of big soccer stars in the US that are idolized by kids. Other than Beckham-and I don't know how much he's really idolized by kids.
 
I guess my point is that when you drive through Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, etc you don't see a lot of area where kids can play soccer, at least not anywhere close to regulation size, but you can learn to play basketball on a half court and you'll find these all throughout these cities. Jive was saying that it's even a cheaper sport to play, and he's right but you need the space, and that's something the poor in the states don't have a lot of access to. This is all going back to Headache's post and the poor in the U.S. Oddly enough I would say in the U.S. soccer is more embraced by suburban kids than any other group, but this is just based on the few places that I've lived in my life :shrug:
That has much less to do with it than basketball's popularity in the U.S. does. As someone who essentially used to live in a city, I can tell you that those who wanted to play soccer found the space. Basketball was just a lot more popular.
 
soccer will never be huge in america. it's a different culture. americans don't have the patience for soccer.

ironicly enough soccer players tend to make great basketball players due to their ability to understand that it's not all about them... that it's a team game. the concept of giving the ball up in order to score is one that is severly lacking in american basketball. american basketball has become more isolation, one on one, whereas the european game, largely influenced by soccer, is a more pure, team game (and more enjoyable for this purist, i might add).

but of course this has nothing to do with the topic at hand.
 
soccer will never be huge in america. it's a different culture. americans don't have the patience for soccer.

ironicly enough soccer players tend to make great basketball players due to their ability to understand that it's not all about them... that it's a team game. the concept of giving the ball up in order to score is one that is severly lacking in american basketball. american basketball has become more isolation, one on one, whereas the european game, largely influenced by soccer, is a more pure, team game (and more enjoyable for this purist, i might add).

but of course this has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

Well, you are a white guy, so you're still on topic.
 
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