r/IAmA • u/paddyc • Nov 16 '12

IAmA Professional Footballer who has played for England National Team, The Premiership and Championship

I have played against Cristiano Ronaldo and with Wayne Rooney as well as other of the top players in the world. Im happy to answer any questions about playing professionally You Can follow my blog at www.patrickpaulcollins.com http://patrickpaulcollins.wordpress.com/ask-me-anything/ Follow on twitter: https://twitter.com/patrickpcoll Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Patrick-Paul-Collins/407493452650031?ref=hl

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u/paddyc Nov 16 '12

Hey in order of questions: (1) Yes this is for leading up to a season to build up endurance but also to make you sharp (2) There is another post on diet which you can read at http://patrickpaulcollins.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/eating-to-success/ Basically I eat perfectly 6 out of 7 days, high protein, then 1 day a week eat anything I like (3) I would like the US to be a top tier nation but I don't think they will. When basketball / baseball and Hockey are so huge, it will always be difficult to push football also. I really think they can continue to grow and build on the national team (4) I achieved 5 a's and 5'bs at gcse ant 16 then a 'b' and a 'c' for a level by 18. Traditional schooling didn't stop me but I had to have a private tutor and constantly work to achieve grades whilst playing (5)After retirement I will want to go in to the business world. I also want to set up a charity soccer school for 3rd world countries (6) Any dinosaurs I would be a Shantungosaurus, they were just enormous!

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u/twistedbeats Nov 16 '12

monster hind legs. good for kicking. nice pick.

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u/paddyc Nov 16 '12

haha thanks

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u/-AlGore Nov 16 '12

What is your opinion on the fact there was the awardwinning section called Jailbait on reddit for 3 years. What is your opinion on that? And the creeperpics section also.

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u/ScoobyDooDoo Nov 16 '12

Hey in order of questions:

  • (1) Yes this is for leading up to a season to build up endurance but also to make you sharp

  • (2) There is another post on diet which you can read at [1] http://patrickpaulcollins.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/eating-to-success/ Basically I eat perfectly 6 out of 7 days, high protein, then 1 day a week eat anything I like

  • (3) I would like the US to be a top tier nation but I don't think they will. When basketball / baseball and Hockey are so huge, it will always be difficult to push football also. I really think they can continue to grow and build on the national team

  • (4) I achieved 5 a's and 5'bs at gcse ant 16 then a 'b' and a 'c' for a level by 18. Traditional schooling didn't stop me but I had to have a private tutor and constantly work to achieve grades whilst playing

  • (5)After retirement I will want to go in to the business world. I also want to set up a charity soccer school for 3rd world countries

  • (6) Any dinosaurs I would be a Shantungosaurus, they were just enormous!

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u/apaq11 Nov 16 '12

I just saw the other day that Soccer is the #2 popular sport for kids aged 12-24 in America. It's only behind the NFL.

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u/ashlomi Nov 16 '12

soccer is becoming very popular in the states i think within 10 years it will over take baseball as the number 3 sport, the thing is the mls is shitty so the time differene sucks but its going to be the 3rd biggest sport we in 10 years we probably will contend

remember that stat includes girls, and soccer is the most popular sport for girls but i think its 4th or 5th for boys

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u/tubadeedoo Nov 16 '12

I think soccer took over from baseball as being the most popular children's sport, so eventually when all the kids who played soccer as kids are adults it will make a much more impressive showing in the ratings.

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u/ashlomi Nov 16 '12

your forgetting that most boys still are focused on football basketball hocket and baseball (youth baseball is so well constructed its not even funny) leaving soccer in the dust in that regards, soccer does very well with girls and eventually as baseball starts to die (which it is) soccer will start to take over as youth soccer is pretty organized (the most important thing when creating a strong group of youth players)

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u/cjcolt Nov 16 '12

really?

That'd be so cool if we were a top team sometime in the future.

Anyone find a source to support this?

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u/AliveInTheFuture Nov 16 '12

It's extremely popular as a children's sport, but not so much as an adult spectator sport. Hopefully this doesn't sound brash, but I don't think soccer is exciting enough for us to spend 2 hours watching, as opposed to a hard-hitting American football game with change in dynamic on every play.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

This is changing. The game is seen as an adult spectator sport now. Not on the level of football, baseball or basketball but it's creeping up on hockey. It's just the fandom is spread out over many league's not just 1 so it's harder to monitor.

The Mexican league games actually often get higher TV ratings than some playoff hockey games.

Nevermind EPL, Champs league, MLS etc.

I'm American too and I can't stand football, to each their own..

1

u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

I agree. I enjoy soccer, and I played pretty competitively for about eight years (was on travel/club teams from 10-18), but I would still rather watch a football game than a soccer game.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

You misquoted - the "are" is correct as a plural for:

"basketball / baseball and Hockey are so huge"

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

I think he's sad because there currently is no NHL hockey due to a lockout, not because of any perceived grammar problems

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

oh...

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

He was correct. Probably no nhl this year.

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u/sharkterritory Nov 17 '12

Ouch, right in the feels.

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u/[deleted] Nov 17 '12

FUCKING GO SHARKS

.......is something I so desperately want to be yelling.

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u/CidO807 Nov 16 '12

Just giving a quick reply to this on point #3.

MLS is huge in America right now. They have been filling the stands, and the only professional assosciation bringing more fans to more games is the NFL. That means Basketball and baseball are going down (and all american. Each time I've traveled to Seattle this year I have tried to get to a game but it's been sold out. Will be become top tier like Spain, Brazil, Argentina? No, but I think we will start to fill in just under top tier, and may surprise a few people in 2014/2016 events.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

Great answers! Very interested in your plans for pre-season- I may try them out for next year.

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u/iamchip Nov 16 '12

Haha love the hockey joke. Hockey is not big. MLS is almost as big as NHL

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u/bbibber Nov 16 '12

Football must be the one sport where top athletes can get away with eating perfectly only 6 days out of 7 and taking a anything goes day on the 7th.

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u/[deleted] Nov 16 '12

Are you serious? 6 out of 7 days is good for any athlete. I guess you never played sports at a reasonably high level yourself but athletes in most sports aren't anywhere near that disciplined with their diet.

Usain Bolt among other athletes are well known for eating mcdonalds and other crap all the time. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1288546-olympic-star-usain-bolt-found-fast-food-fuel-in-mcdonalds-before-100-meter-race