ESPNs Top Ten - Amazing Heat Pass Is Only The 2nd Best Play of the Day

[Pappy13]

^^ I said "average Joe Schmoe soccer player."  Not average Joe Schmoe.  Big difference.

Noted.

The point isn't how awesome the kick was, but that it scored a goal.

Why is it more amazing that it scored a goal over any other bicycle kick?  Rooney was just trying to get it on frame and it happened to be placed perfectly.  Do you know how many times Rooney has probably attempted that kick in practice?  Thousands of times.  I just saw a very similar kick in a US Mens practice game.  It's on YouTube as well I believe.  I'll find it.

Update: Here it is

And the game-winner at that.  I'm not saying that its an impossible kick.  I'm saying that its not every day that you see it score, and to win a huge game. It was a great play.

No it doesn't happen that often, but I wouldn't call it a huge game either.  It was just a league game.  The only thing special about the game was that it was against Man City who is a big rival.  It's the equivalent of a regular season Steelers/Ravens game or something along those lines.  It was a great play and certainly worthy as the best of the top 10 plays of the week, but it's wasn't one of the greatest goals of all time.

[Jim Gray]

I was a little surprised at how dismissive Pappy was regarding what I consider to be a great play; but I can understand his reaction.  There's a lot of hyperbole around the goal, and it's probably over the top to call it one the greatest goal of all time, but I'm still impressed.  I watch less soccer now, but I've watched quite a bit in the past.  This isn't the first time I've seen a bicycle kick go in, but I can't dismiss it as something that players can routinely execute.  Maybe I'm impressed because I consider Rooney to be kind of squat and think, and I didn't expect him to show that kind of athleticism.  (5'10 180lbs ?)

To add to the hyperbole - Alex Ferguson said Wayne Rooney’s goal was "the greatest strike he had seen in 25 years at Old Trafford".  - http://www.sportsnewscaster.com/watch-wayne-rooney-goal-vs-manchester-city-premiere-league-video/12188/

[Pappy13]

I was a little surprised at how dismissive Pappy was regarding what I consider to be a great play; but I can understand his reaction.

To add to the hyperbole - Alex Ferguson said Wayne Rooney’s goal was "the greatest strike he had seen in 25 years at Old Trafford".

This is what I'm talking about, he's making it more than it really is.  It's a very nice goal, I'm not trying to take that away from Rooney, but that's all it is, a very nice goal.  If you watch European soccer on a regular basis, you see a great goal about once a week.  No, they're not all bicycle kicks, but bicycle kicks are just more showy.  They really don't require that much more skill than a lot of other kicks.  Have you ever seen someone "bend" a ball around a keeper?  In my personal opinion that's MUCH more difficult to do.  You don't see 13 year old girls do that.  You don't see indoor rec players do that.  You ONLY see guys at the top of the European leagues do that.

Just look at Rooney's reaction to the goal from that article. “I saw it coming over and I thought, ‘Why not?’ Nine times out of 10 they go into the stand,".  He's admitting right there that there was a bit of luck involved, but that give him 10 chances at it, he'll put one on goal.  It's a 1 in 10 shot , maybe a 1 in a 100 goal, but not a 1 in a million.  That's all I'm saying.

[Phishfan]

Personally, I can bend a ball easier than bicycle kick. Granted, I can't bend it exceptionally well or I would have been a higher level player. Maybe some of that has to do with my stature though.

[StL FinFan]

I've played soccer most of my life and I have never seen a bicycle kick goal in a game that I participated in.  Pappy, if you don't think it was all that great, that's your opinion, but you are in the minority here.

[Pappy13]

I've played soccer most of my life and I have never seen a bicycle kick goal in a game that I participated in.  Pappy, if you don't think it was all that great, that's your opinion, but you are in the minority here.

You're correct, it's only my opinion.

However I do watch European soccer on a regular basis.  I have 4 kids that have played from the time they were about 4.  3 of them received college soccer scholarships.  My son is currently a senior playing on an NAIA team in Missouri.  I have watched sons and daughters of friends play at every level of soccer including pro.  We used to go watch the Dallas Stars a couple times a year when they were good.  It wasn't uncommon for my wife and I to watch about a dozen games in a day during tournaments when all our kids were playing.

I have watched a LOT of soccer in the last 15 years and I've seen a couple bicycle kick goals in games.  None that I participated in, but ones that my kids participated in.  I've seen several more on TV, including this one by Rooney that I was watching and at least 1 in the last world cup that I remember which was a much bigger stage than this one.

I never said it wasn't all that great, simply that it was being over hyped.  It was a very nice goal by a very good player that just happened a few days ago.  6 months from now there will be a new greatest goal of all time.  I remember a few months ago it was the Clint Dempsey goal where he chipped the keeper that was being touted as the greatest goal.  I get tired of seeing the greatest goal every 6 months.

[StL FinFan]

I don't think anyone ever said it was the greatest goal of all time, just the top play of the day on espn.

[Pappy13]

Here's almost the exact same goal from relative unknown Dax McCarty in a US Men's National team practice game.  Notice how there are a few claps and applause, but no one goes nuts, not even Dax.  If the bicycle kick goal is so amazing, why isn't everyone just in awe?  I dare say this goal is nearly as impressive as Rooney's, but since it's McCarty and the USMNT and a practice game instead of Rooney and Man U and the Premiere League, it's not even on anyone's radar.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6060504&categoryid=2378529

[StL FinFan]

I think it's time to let it go.

[Sunstroke]

Fausto and I were swapping youtube links back and forth today and debating the D-Wade alley oop pass. I thought the fullcourt baseball throw was very nice, but nowhere near the "greatest pass in the history of the NBA"...as debated yesterday on SportsNation on ESPN. I sent Fau video clips of Pistol Pete Maravich highlights, and he sent me back a top-10 D-Wade highlights video.

(aside... I love Wade,don't get me wrong, I just wish he'd lose the whole "fall seven times, stand up eight" mentality, because that shit's a career longevity killer.)

That pass was great, but the only really impressive part of it was the strength of the throw. It's not like LeBron caught it at the rim and flushed it, he went up and got it where it was coming in and then adjusted and made the layup.

I bet I could pick out at least a half dozen "amazing passes" each from the following list of PGs that I'd consider better:

Pistol Pete
Magic Johnson
Isiah Thomas
Steve Nash (can't leave my homey out of this game)

I would consider that short list to be the 4 greatest passers I've ever seen in the NBA...and in that order. Dudes who were freakin' magicians with the rock. The halfcourt bounce passing, no-looking, wrap-arounding, between the legging, behind the backing, point guard Maestros of my generation.

(and yeah, I know I left guys like Stockton, Big O, etc... off the list. Sue me.)