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Post by ironhammer on Mar 12, 2019 20:08:09 GMT -5
A question of scale. If you are currently a student or alumni for a certain college with a D1 program, you would care very much for them to win the NCAA championship. But that is a local community context only. Nation-wide, people honestly would not care about NCAA anywhere as much as an Olympic Gold. The average American on the street would know an Olympic Gold, but not a NCAA championship for volleyball. And globally, no one cares about the NCAA, it's irrelevant for them, but what do they know everywhere in the world is an Olympic Gold.
But then the question is fundamentally problematic to have to pick one over the other, of course all US players and fans would want BOTH.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 20:19:25 GMT -5
Well, you also have to look at it from a career perspective. As an Olympic gold medallist, you'll have no trouble finding work in something sports-related or as a motivational speaker, but you basically have to make your sport your career. For many athletes (certainly most college athletes), their thinking is "I love my sport, but I don't want to make it my career". They're more than ready to move to a "regular" career path after graduation. Of course, a professional or Olympic athlete can always transition to a non-athletic career, but for many fields, this essentially means starting over. Actually, I would say that for many sports/athletes the thinking is, "I would love to get paid to play my sport professionally. But, I also need to eat" For the athletes whose lives literally revolve around their sport, maybe. But contrary to what most people on this board think, this does not apply to the majority of college volleyball players. Most of them still want "regular" careers, and it's not like you can just show up to the Olympics and win a Gold medal.
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Post by donut on Mar 12, 2019 20:25:53 GMT -5
Actually, I would say that for many sports/athletes the thinking is, "I would love to get paid to play my sport professionally. But, I also need to eat" For the athletes whose lives literally revolve around their sport, maybe. But contrary to what most people on this board think, this does not apply to the majority of college volleyball players. Most of them still want "regular" careers, and it's not like you can just show up to the Olympics and win a Gold medal. For the majority of college volleyball players, the NCAA Championship is a pipe dream. The Olympic Goal is an even grander pipe dream. I'm not sure, when we're talking about these players, why they would be "practical" about what they would prefer, if both are out of reach. There are very few players every year who have a realistic shot at winning an NCAA Championship. I think you are underestimating the commitment and investment of these players, which is EASILY comparable or translatable to "making their sport their career." I also think you are underestimating the number of THESE players, the players on the Stanfords, Nebraskas, Texases, Penn States of the country, who go on to play international club volleyball after they graduate.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 20:48:36 GMT -5
For the athletes whose lives literally revolve around their sport, maybe. But contrary to what most people on this board think, this does not apply to the majority of college volleyball players. Most of them still want "regular" careers, and it's not like you can just show up to the Olympics and win a Gold medal. For the majority of college volleyball players, the NCAA Championship is a pipe dream. The Olympic Goal is an even grander pipe dream. I'm not sure, when we're talking about these players, why they would be "practical" about what they would prefer, if both are out of reach. There are very few players every year who have a realistic shot at winning an NCAA Championship. I think you are underestimating the commitment and investment of these players, which is EASILY comparable or translatable to "making their sport their career." I also think you are underestimating the number of THESE players, the players on the Stanfords, Nebraskas, Texases, Penn States of the country, who go on to play international club volleyball after they graduate. Of course, but I've seen people here basically assume that the only reason why a college player isn't playing pro overseas after graduation is because they're not good enough. Truth is, many (if not most) would not pursue the opportunity even if offered (and this does NOT diminish their commitment and investment in any way!) It's just that athletics is a chapter of their lives that they're ready to close upon graduation (as much as they miss it). They love volleyball, but not that much. Specifically, I was thinking of college volleyball players who are nursing majors (a significant number in some places). As great as being a professional or Olympic athlete is, it has basically zero directly relevant skills/experience to nursing. This means that a nursing major who pursued the path of a professional/Olympic athlete would essentially have a huge employment gap when they're done, and nursing is one of those professions where it is essentially impossible to get hired with a significant employment gap. I bet it's the same for some other professions as well. So what do they do after they retire as an pro/Olympic athlete?
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 12, 2019 20:50:46 GMT -5
For the majority of college volleyball players, the NCAA Championship is a pipe dream. The Olympic Goal is an even grander pipe dream. I'm not sure, when we're talking about these players, why they would be "practical" about what they would prefer, if both are out of reach. There are very few players every year who have a realistic shot at winning an NCAA Championship. I think you are underestimating the commitment and investment of these players, which is EASILY comparable or translatable to "making their sport their career." I also think you are underestimating the number of THESE players, the players on the Stanfords, Nebraskas, Texases, Penn States of the country, who go on to play international club volleyball after they graduate. So what do they do after they retire as an pro/Olympic athlete?If being an Olympic athlete has no career future for them after retirement, do you see most of them on welfare after their athletic careers are over? I think not...
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Post by Wiswell on Mar 12, 2019 21:00:11 GMT -5
I chose NCAA Title, as a fan. As a player, I'd want the Gold. I have a stronger connection to college volleyball than I do international competition. A volleyball gold medal would be great, but that is generally just as a national pride thing. I can get my national pride fix anywhere. I'm not if the poll is asking what we want, or what a player wants. As a fan, I totally pick team winning NCAAs.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 21:05:31 GMT -5
So what do they do after they retire as an pro/Olympic athlete? If being an Olympic athlete has no career future for them after retirement, do you see most of them on welfare after their careers are over? I think not... Your career options can be somewhat limited if your want a career that has nothing to do with sports (for example, nursing, as I mentioned). That's why Olympic athletes tend to stick to sports-related careers (like coaching) after they retire. And IIRC many NBA and NFL athletes face financial problems after their careers are over.
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 12, 2019 21:08:34 GMT -5
If being an Olympic athlete has no career future for them after retirement, do you see most of them on welfare after their careers are over? I think not... Your career options can be somewhat limited if your want a career that has nothing to do with sports (for example, nursing, as I mentioned). That's why Olympic athletes tend to stick to sports-related careers (like coaching) after they retire. And IIRC many NBA and NFL athletes face financial problems after their careers are over.You are throwing out terms like "many", but that is far too imprecise. Give us some hard statistics. Otherwise, that is simply bias. No one said there won't be sacrifices if one devote oneself to a professional athlete career, but it is erroneous to say it is an "either-or" situation. Choosing an athletic career does not mean you cannot choose another career after your sporting career is over. It is not a black or white situation.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 21:23:33 GMT -5
Your career options can be somewhat limited if your want a career that has nothing to do with sports (for example, nursing, as I mentioned). That's why Olympic athletes tend to stick to sports-related careers (like coaching) after they retire. And IIRC many NBA and NFL athletes face financial problems after their careers are over.Choosing an athletic career does not mean you cannot choose another career after your sporting career is over. It is not a black or white situation. Of course, but like I said, I was specifically thinking of nursing (look at what I already wrote about that). So choosing another career after your sporting career is over essentially means starting over. You might have to go back to college and earn a second degree. And a lot of people, even people who love their sport very much, are simply not up for that, just like how a lot of "regular" people are not up for a mid-life career change.
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 12, 2019 21:26:23 GMT -5
Choosing an athletic career does not mean you cannot choose another career after your sporting career is over. It is not a black or white situation. Of course, but like I said, I was specifically thinking of nursing (look at what I already wrote about that). So choosing another career after your sporting career is over essentially means starting over. You might have to go back to college and earn a second degree. And a lot of people, even people who love their sport very much, are simply not up for that. Not necessarily. It depends on what careers you pick. And if someone had a successful athlete career, they would have saved enough money to afford go back to school (if required) and not worry about immediate livelihood issues. Of course, if you are certain NBA players who spent all their millions and had no savings left after their career is over, well ok, but not every athlete is like that, some are wiser with what they choose to spend and save.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 21:39:42 GMT -5
Of course, but like I said, I was specifically thinking of nursing (look at what I already wrote about that). So choosing another career after your sporting career is over essentially means starting over. You might have to go back to college and earn a second degree. And a lot of people, even people who love their sport very much, are simply not up for that. Not necessarily. It depends on what careers you pick. And if someone had a successful athlete career, they would have saved enough money to afford go back to school (if required) and not worry about immediate livelihood issues. Of course, if you are certain NBA players who spent all their millions and had no savings left after their career is over, well ok, but not every athlete is like that, some are wiser with what they choose to spend and save. (since I edited after your post, I'll move my edit here) Remember, we're discussing the reasons why a college volleyball player might not pursue the opportunity to play professionally/on the National Team after graduation, even if offered. And that's not even getting into the personal reasons (e.g. family commitments, being away from friends and family etc.) Point is, a college athlete might actually choose to win a NCAA title over a Olympic Gold, despite the Gold being much more prestigious, simply because one requires a commitment after graduation, while the other does not. This doesn't mean that they don't love their sport: they simply don't want to devote their life to it.
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 12, 2019 21:42:11 GMT -5
Not necessarily. It depends on what careers you pick. And if someone had a successful athlete career, they would have saved enough money to afford go back to school (if required) and not worry about immediate livelihood issues. Of course, if you are certain NBA players who spent all their millions and had no savings left after their career is over, well ok, but not every athlete is like that, some are wiser with what they choose to spend and save. Point is, a college athlete might actually choose to win a NCAA title over a Olympic Gold, despite the Gold being much more prestigious, simply because one requires a commitment after graduation, while the other does not. This doesn't mean that they don't love their sport: they simply don't want to devote their life to it. I'm not disputing that some would want an NCAA title and I'm not saying that would somehow bring into question their love of the game, but we are asking what they prefer, and I would say most prefer an Olympic Gold. We are not asking about how "practical" or "realistic" their preference is. I mean, I would prefer winning an Olympic Gold for myself even if I know I have 0% chance of getting that.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 12, 2019 21:56:41 GMT -5
Point is, a college athlete might actually choose to win a NCAA title over a Olympic Gold, despite the Gold being much more prestigious, simply because one requires a commitment after graduation, while the other does not. This doesn't mean that they don't love their sport: they simply don't want to devote their life to it. I'm not disputing that some would want an NCAA title, but we are asking what they prefer, and I would say most prefer an Olympic Gold. We are not asking about how "practical" or "realistic" their preference is. Well of course a Gold medal is more prestigious. If you could just have one (or win one simply by playing in the Olympics without any training), it would be a no-brainer, so there's really no fun in discussing that. But I suspect this question is more aimed at fans anyway, since that's what most people on this board are. It's just that some of us chose to approach this from a player's perspective just for fun. So it's basically asking "As a fan, are you more loyal to your school or to your country (sports-wise)?". Of course, for me, I would have to substitute USA for Canada, so the Gold would probably have to come from the beach side (a bit of a stretch, but plausible) or from men's indoor (would probably require an epic Cinderella run). Or maybe I could do China for my ethnicity, but I was born in Hong Kong, and they compete in separate teams.
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Post by ericleo on Mar 12, 2019 21:57:33 GMT -5
Olympic gold. Not even a choice for me. I started watching NCAA because I am a USAV supporter in the first place. I do not have a home team at NCAA. I cheer for all good college players.
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Post by ironhammer on Mar 12, 2019 23:16:59 GMT -5
I'm not disputing that some would want an NCAA title, but we are asking what they prefer, and I would say most prefer an Olympic Gold. We are not asking about how "practical" or "realistic" their preference is. Well of course a Gold medal is more prestigious. If you could just have one (or win one simply by playing in the Olympics without any training), it would be a no-brainer, so there's really no fun in discussing that. But I suspect this question is more aimed at fans anyway, since that's what most people on this board are. It's just that some of us chose to approach this from a player's perspective just for fun. So it's basically asking "As a fan, are you more loyal to your school or to your country (sports-wise)?". Of course, for me, I would have to substitute USA for Canada, so the Gold would probably have to come from the beach side (a bit of a stretch, but plausible) or from men's indoor (would probably require an epic Cinderella run). Or maybe I could do China for my ethnicity, but I was born in Hong Kong, and they compete in separate teams. Well, I would have to disagree about "no fun", my point is that it is rather artificial to have to pick one over the other, and most fans would almost always want BOTH. There is no question about that. As for HK, I don't know...I've been to HK many times for work and I've spoke to Hkers, some of them take a big issue if you consider them just the same as mainlanders. They take pride in speaking Cantonese over Mandarin. They call mainlanders "Ah Chan" for some reason, any idea what that means? Another thing about HK...holy cow, their real estate price is through the roof! If you think New York or San Francisco Bay Area is expensive wait till you go to Mid-levels or the Peak in HK...wow, just wow.
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