"I'm taking the basketball players over the athletes"

[MUsoxfan]

So much for a politics-free board.

Nothing has or will be solved by this BS thread.

[MU82]

I agree, there is no reason to stop fighting for what you believe to be unfair, the problem I have is who is the arbiter that decides WHAT is unfair ...

Well ... of course ... I am!

Next question ...

[Let's Go Warriors]

Well, as far as the topic of extremely gifted athlete vs basketball savvy player.

I think you would like to have a mix of each. 

What I do think happens though, is that coaches see the athletic ability of a player and believe they can mold said player into a great basketball player.  "I can teach him the game"  Problem is, just like its hard sometimes to developy athletic ability, its also hard sometimes to teach the nuances of the game to certain players.  Its not all about over all intelligence either.  Some kids just will never get "it".  With regads to basketball savvy.  The great players obviously usually have both.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Well, as far as the topic of extremely gifted athlete vs basketball savvy player.

I think you would like to have a mix of each. 

What I do think happens though, is that coaches see the athletic ability of a player and believe they can mold said player into a great basketball player.  "I can teach him the game"  Problem is, just like its hard sometimes to developy athletic ability, its also hard sometimes to teach the nuances of the game to certain players.  Its not all about over all intelligence either.  Some kids just will never get "it".  With regads to basketball savvy.  The great players obviously usually have both.

Sounds like a woman who is going to change her man once she marries him.   

[jesmu84]

Sounds like a woman who is going to change her man once she marries him.   

Wait... is that not what happens?

[keefe]

Sounds like a woman who is going to change her man once she marries him.   

Every woman's sworn duty to uphold...

[ChicosBailBonds]

Wait... is that not what happens?

Oh, they try, but rarely are successful.

[keefe]

Oh, they try, but rarely are successful.

"What did you do?"

"I stopped for a beer with my buds after work. How about you?"

"I left the toilet seat up..."

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Nutmeg

I grew up in Tokyo speaking Japanese. In fact, the best thing my parents did was put me in the Japanese schools for K-3 rather than an international school. I got picked on at first because I was different but was readily brought into the fold by classmates who saw the person and not the hapa gaijin.

I have spent most of my life living in Asia so I picked up Mandarin and Bahasa along the way. Nothing engenders friendship better than conversing in the other fellow's tongue. And if one wishes to get off the beaten path then knowing the local dialect is essential.

I found that in business I was a candidate for many opportunities because I had not just linguistic but cultural fluency. One of the biggest disruptions for an international office is having an expat throw in the towel because of inability to adapt to the local culture. My wife and I both spoke numerous languages and both GE and Microsoft knew that we were safe bets for expat assignments.

In Japan, shopkeepers would always speak to me in Japanese while ignoring my spouse. I would play dumb while my blond-haired blue-eyed wife from Thiensville would answer in fluent Japanese. It never failed to render them speechless. I miss those days.

I saw an article on language in the USA this morning.  The maps part was interesting.  I would have guessed my states 3rd language would be Italian or Polish or Portuguese instead or French.  I know there are tons of Quebecois here like myself just not as recent as the other groups.


What language does your state speak?
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/05/language_map_what_s_the_most_popular_language_in_your_state.html