The X-Box is killing soccer players

I know only about 3 of you will care about this, but whatever. For a while now there's been a concern that the English Premier League isn't actually British enough. The majority of players come from foreign countries. I don't really think this should be a surprise considering the EPL is generally regarded as the best soccer league in the world, so naturally it should be filled with the best players from all over the world and not just England.

But some people are fed up with that rubbish. Even though Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp hasn't volunteered to help teach young English kids soccer, he naturally won't blame himself for the kids' lack of skills. No, he prefers to blame everyone's favorite whipping boy - video games.

"It may sound old and corny but when I was growing up, working class lads like me in the east end lived and breathed football. Now I rarely see a kickabout in the park. All I see are the dazzling lights of bedroom windows from the glare of TVs and computers. It seems football cannot compete with an X-Box."

I always love this argument. "In my day, blah, blah, blah." The real reason there were more English soccer players playing in Britain during Redknapp's day is because foreign players didn't go abroad as much to play. It's really that simple. Pele played predominantly in Brazil. If Pele were in his prime today, he'd be in the EPL, probably taking a spot from an English player.

It's the same thing with major league baseball (and other sports). Baseball used to be dominated by fat white guys before the the color barrier was broken. Now players from all over the world come to play here in the states, meaning the best talent in the world is assembled on the field. But that also means we'll have fewer American players.

But if you're like Redknapp and too lazy to see that, just blame video games. Or if you're Homer Simpson, blame Tibor (which is known as hilarious xenophobia).

Besides, I've played a lot of video games in my day, and I've seen a lot of other people play video games as well. And I honestly can't tell you that I've ever said to myself, "You know what, I bet that kid would be a great pro athlete if he just stopped playing video games and picked up a baseball."

-WCK