Basketball and Football, two of the most popular team sports in the U.S., place a significant premium on being big. Baseball (particularly pitching) does also, at least to some extent.
But sports in other countries, such as, soccer, tennis, skiing, cycling, don’t put anywhere near the same premium on size. So if you grow up in a non-US country, and you are really big, what sport do you play?
I guess Rugby, Hockey and Sumo three answers. Are there others? Do American Sports (American Football, Basketball and to a lesser extent baseball) put more emphasis on size than sports that are popular in other countries?
In Australia a basketball built guy, assuming he didn’t play basketball, could play AFL football as a ruck or be a lineout jumper in rugby union. Either position basically requires that you be tall, not much athleticism is required nor many other skills - they are both jumping positions. A guy built like a lineman may be able to get a job in the front row in rugby buty I don’t think they would fit in anywhere else.
Cricket is excluded from all these considerations - no matter how you are built if you can bat or bowl you’re in, and people of all shapes have achieved it.
True, but height often affects what you’re good at, even in cricket. Being tall is a big advantage in fast bowling, as anyone who ever faced Joel “Big Bird” Garner (6’ 9") can tell you, because you can get a lot of extra bounce off the pitch. On the other hand, many of the world’s top batsmen have been rather short fellows, like Lara, Tendulkar, and Bradman. The only very tall and successful batsman I can think of was Tom Moody…being somewhat tall myself, I know it’s a distinct disadvantage in batting.
It used to be in (soccer) football that you’d pick the biggest guy you could find to be 'keeper, viz. William “Fatty” Foulke. Nowadays you look for someone a bit more mobile, but Foulke would have certainly made a good NFL lineman.
Joe Veitayaki, the Fijian prop forward plays at 136kgs. Prop forward is a position where weight is important (most international weigh around 100kgs) but being tall is a disadvantage.
As indicated by Don’t Ask, in rugby union second rowers role have inherent advantages in being tall.
If you’ve big and fast you could take on Jonah Lomu on the wing.
In Aussie Rules the “bean pole” e.g. “Spider Burton” would play in the ruck. There are only a handful of players in the AFL who’ve been over 2m tall. Less mobile big men aren’t seen as often now with interchange but going back a few years Mick “The Galloping Gasometer” Nolan played in the ruck for North in their premiership years.
Being tall as a bowler in cricket confers a greater advantage than being a tall pitcher in baseball.
Excuse the hijack, constantine, but Duke’s post reminds me of a stunt they set up on TV once. They put a sheet of Plexiglas on the batting crease, put the camera behind it, and then they asked Big Bird to chuck a few medium pacers down to see what it looked like from the batsman’s POV. It was terrifying. His ball hand disappeared off the top of the sight screen and there seemed to be no time gap at all between his delivery stride and an almighty crash against the glass. I’ve sometimes called batsmen wimps for all the padding they wear nowadays, but you wouldn’t have got me anywhere near Garner without a concrete wall to hide behind.
To the OP, I’d concur with the others that most tall sportsmen in the UK would pick cricket (as a fast bowler) if they’re not heavy or rugby if they are. Or else they’d play basketball. There have been a few cases of soccer players well over six foot, but although it can give them an advantage for goalkeeping or heading it’s more often a disadvantage for general play.
Basketball is hardly an exclusively American sport anymore, either. The US sent a pretty decent team of NBA players to the last world championships and crashed out in sixth place.
I would venture to guess that most athletically minded, very tall people (from just about any country on earth) play basketball.
Did you read the OP? You seriously think that big people in countries where they don’t play football or basketball take up the “sport” of card games instead?
I think you will find that the best cyclists tend to be tall (obviously not heavy). Longer leverage in the femur. Though small cyclists tend to climb better.
Strongest man on ESPN always features 300lbers picking up boulders and other things.
Seems the top 5 always hail from Finland,Sweden,Netherlands,with a Brit or other euro thrown in the mix.Now and then a Yank.
Now, I don’t know that volleyball isn’t very popular in North America but COME ON!
Europe, and South America have pro leagues of volleyball and these guys are probably as tall as basketball players. There is a premium for height, jumping ability, timing and soft feet and hands in this sport. I can’t believe I was the first one to mention this sport and I live in Toronto.
It might not be the most popular sport up here in Canada, or even North America in general but I’m quite sure it’s just as popular as football (soccer) in Italy, France and Brazil. These guys are probably better jumpers than basketball players too. I can’t name any volleyball “gods” but COME ON this was probably one of the most obvious sports to be mentioned and it’s first addressed in my post.
Sorry to put all those COME ON’s [in the style of that MADTV freak (pic of him at right with biography under the pic)] but COME ON!
Here in Canada, a guy who weighs 200 lbs, stands about 6’2"-6’3" would probably find himself at home on the blueline of most hockey teams, provided he had the skill.
Some one a bit taller would find himself taking up basketball. Those a little on the hefty side would probably find themselves playing football.
In Australia you’d have to say the Rugby players are the biggest if we’re talking stocky. AFL players have athletic, fit-looking physiques. Basketballers are usually tall & lanky. Cricketers - yeah, any shape or size pretty much. Fat, thin, tall, short. Don’t think you have to be as fit for cricket. They seem to spend a lot of time just standing around. Now I’m getting off the track. Guess you can tell I find cricket extremely B-O-R-I-N-G.
Oh come on! Typical attendances in the top division of the men’s volleyball league in Italy are between 1,000 - 2,000. Football attendances in Serie A currently average 26,000 and three teams get crowds above 70,000 for top games.
In France, volleyball attendances range from a few hundred to 3,000 tops; football crowds go up to about 50,000.
In Brazil, football attandances have fallen sharply in recent years because all their best players have gone to European clubs, but volleyball is the second most popular sport there too, by quite a margin.
Volleyball is a fairly popular sport in some other countries though, such as Spain and the Yugoslavian ones, but I don’t think it’s as popular as football anywhere.
Basketballers are usually tall & lanky. Cricketers - yeah, any shape or size pretty much. Fat, thin, tall, short. Don’t think you have to be as fit for cricket. They seem to spend a lot of time just standing around. Now I’m getting off the track. Guess you can tell I find cricket extremely B-O-R-I-N-G.