Why do a lot of Americans not like Soccer?

[ForeverHeat]

I've realised that if you like sport in general (the competitiveness, the respective skill in the sport, the different players, different scenarios, etc.) then more likely then not you will like most sports. Until I was about 15 or so I only watched Football (soccer). I decided to watch NFL and subsequently the NBA, and enjoyed both sports. At first I didn't understand what was going on (mostly NFL problem), but I actually learnt the rules, spent time on many forums learning more about the players and immersing myself in these sports. Soon after I began watching baseball. While most people I know say baseball is extremely slow and uninteresting, once you actually understand what the players are doing, the amount of skill it takes, the story lines around the game, etc. It becomes a lot more interesting. Watching a clip of a home run and your like eh... But watch a game, see the players struggle to hit the ball until this guys hits it out the park and you appreciate the skill and you see the moment in the right context.

I think that the reason Americans won't take to soccer is because its always difficult getting into something new. If your a woman who has been watching one daytime soap for 20 years, its hard to suddenly get into another with 30 years of story lines gone by before you. The British are like this too. Very rarely do you see them watching sports other than the most popular ones. So, how do those advertising soccer get Americans to actually try and get into the sport and not feel like an outsider? Just something I was thinking about...

[-p.tiddy-]

IMO there are two main reasons Americans don't watch soccer:

1. The good teams/players are not in our home towns...they are in different countries

2. Compared to NFL/NBA it is very boring...it is the NHL WITHOUT fighting/checks...you watch a ball go back a forth and 2-3 times a game a goal is scored...yawn.

[BMOGEFan]

our league sucks.

lack of broadcasts

[ForeverHeat]

IMO there are two main reasons Americans don't watch soccer:

1. The good teams/players are not in our home towns...they are in different countries

2. Compared to NFL/NBA it is very boring...it is the NHL WITHOUT fighting/checks...you watch a ball go back a forth and 2-3 times a game a goal is scored...yawn.


Like I said, one of the reasons I think this is is because you don't understand the story-lines since most don't give it enough attention. I can't really explain it but when you are invested in it every opportunity excites you.

[-p.tiddy-]

Like I said, one of the reasons I think this is is because you don't understand the story-lines since most don't give it enough attention. I can't really explain it but when you are invested in it every opportunity excites you.
That goes back to my first reason #1

If the teams were in our home towns we would be invested in the athletes and stories and drama etc...but they are people in different countries that we can't relate to very well.

[DuMa]

flopping and low scoring.

[knickballer]

our league sucks.

lack of broadcasts

There are broadcasts for the MLS in the US/CAN but you just don't focus on it.

And the league isn't that bad and is entertaining to watch but idiots like you give the league a bad name due to sheer ignorance.

[franchise#3]

'cause it's gay y'all

[ForeverHeat]

But they do manage to keep Brek Shea, one of the best young US players, around though.

He was training at Arsenal(my team) a year back.

[kentatm]

I like soccer.

Too bad FCD sucks ass this year. :mad:

[Stuckey]

i like soccer because it probably has the fewest commercials

but low scoring, i cant watch a match that ends up 1-0

[BlackWhiteGreen]

That goes back to my first reason #1

If the teams were in our home towns we would be invested in the athletes and stories and drama etc...but they are people in different countries that we can't relate to very well.

This, unfortunately, is the truth. When I try to explain to people I know about why I watch basketball, they just cannot understand it. I'll post something on facebook or twitter and get abuse for the emotional investment I put into it, even though if I changed it around for a status about football (soccer) no one would even bat an eyelid.

It takes a certain commitment to watch sports from other countries, and its very difficult to do. I love both football and basketball but can't watch anything aside from English or International football and only watch NBA or GB basketball games.

[johndeeregreen]

Always liked this. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK-gUXl7usc)

[LJJ]

Soccer used to be the most popular sport in the USA in the early days. Which isn't surprising because the USA populace at the time (well, other than the slaves) were essentially Europeans. But then they started getting their ass handed to them too many times by other countries.

Americans didn't have enough heart to keep at a sport they were clearly not the best in the world at, so they proceeded to invent a couple of sports themselves to eliminate global competition.



Over the years it has been curious to see the directions the US developed "sports" have taken. NFL is barely a sport, it's 50% commercials, 25% meatheads bashing each others heads in and 25% "entertainment sports".

MLB has basically become a synonym for "nap time".

[bluechox2]

dont see the excitement in the play, compared to, lets say basketball.

one guy pass to another, is like lebron dunking in the nba,

one guy scoring a goal, is like game over

[knickballer]

dont see the excitement in the play, compared to, lets say basketball.

one guy pass to another, is like lebron dunking in the nba,

one guy scoring a goal, is like game over

Are you that much of an idiot that the only way for you to be entertained is by watching dunk after dunk? Teams average around 100 points a game, how exactly is that entertaining? And yes flopping is bad in soccer but it's worst in Basketball. How many soft fouls are there in the NBA? How many times does a player who charges the rim(Lebron or Wade) go to the free throw line over soft calls?

Is that what it has come to where people need to see 100 baskets being scored in order to get entertained?

[Jameerthefear]

Most people in Alabama but the people who play describe soccer as gay. I grew up actually thinking that but now that ive matured I actually wanna play soccer lol.

[Bano114]

dont see the excitement in the play, compared to, lets say basketball.

one guy pass to another, is like lebron dunking in the nba,

one guy scoring a goal, is like game over

The excitement in the play is a different feel with soccer because with soccer...one small mistake and you could be down 1-0. Which is huge.

Basketball is a game of runs. You could be down 15 in the first and be up 5 in the third. The major time a regular NBA game feels like the players are giving it there all, and trying to play perfectly and avoid mistakes is the last 5 minutes because then is when a mistake can really lose you a game.

Soccer is more intense because any mistake at any time can be devastating. I think its fun to watch because of that reason...

[-p.tiddy-]

Soccer used to be the most popular sport in the USA in the early days. Which isn't surprising because the USA populace at the time (well, other than the slaves) were essentially Europeans. But then they started getting their ass handed to them too many times by other countries.

Americans didn't have enough heart to keep at a sport they were clearly not the best in the world at, so they proceeded to invent a couple of sports themselves to eliminate global competition.



Over the years it has been curious to see the directions the US developed "sports" have taken. NFL is barely a sport, it's 50% commercials, 25% meatheads bashing each others heads in and 25% "entertainment sports".

MLB has basically become a synonym for "nap time".
So we invented other inferior sports because we sucked at soccer?

Interesting...I always wondered how every other sport came to be, now I know.

[LBJMVP]

its very simple.

all our best athletes choose to play other sports.... if the best athletes in america played soccer then we would watch.

americans don't want to order european league channels and watch that all the time because it isn't fun to follow a team that you know you can never watch live and have no emotional attachment to.

thats why we like the world cup. we finnally have an emotional attachement to a team, plus it is being played when no other sports are except baseball... who watches that boring shit.

[YAWN]

The quality of the sport that is readily available for viewing/seeing live here isn't great. When team USA is playing, people hop on board and enjoy it because there's good soccer matches and a rooting interest.

There's also the fact that a large amount of the people in this country have short attention spans. They want to cheer for scores at a higher rate.

[B-Easy8]

IMO there are two main reasons Americans don't watch soccer:

1. The good teams/players are not in our home towns...they are in different countries

2. Compared to NFL/NBA it is very boring...it is the NHL WITHOUT fighting/checks...you watch a ball go back a forth and 2-3 times a game a goal is scored...yawn.

Fair enough that you don't like it but you can't be serious about that?

NFL stops literally every 5 seconds, the game itself goes for only 25 minutes of real playing. NBA stops all the time also. Between fouls and timeouts the game has close to an hour of nothing. Soccer on the other hand doesn't stop at all aside from half time for 20 minutes.

[qrich]

There are broadcasts for the MLS in the US/CAN but you just don't focus on it.

And the league isn't that bad and is entertaining to watch but idiots like you give the league a bad name due to sheer ignorance.

Bingo. Over the past five years, the MLS has exponentially improved.



dont see the excitement in the play, compared to, lets say basketball.

one guy pass to another, is like lebron dunking in the nba,

one guy scoring a goal, is like game over

Don't see the excitement in the play.

One LeBron dunk is like a botched corner kick.

Winning the NBA finals is like scoring a hattrick.





2. Compared to NFL/NBA it is very boring...it is the NHL WITHOUT fighting/checks...you watch a ball go back a forth and 2-3 times a game a goal is scored...yawn.

NFL is boring compared to the EPL/Serie A/etc.. You watch guys run for 5 seconds, then huddle up for 40 seconds to catch their breath, run for another 5 seconds and so on.

[Rameek]

When i was a kid and Pele came on the scene America couldnt get enough. I am suprised Brazilian Futbol isnt popular here they are quite entertaining.

I find it suprising how so many kids play futbol at a young age but once middle school starts it gets cast away.

I really dont like watching futbol on TV but live its pretty awesome. While I lived in Japan I would go see FC Tokyo (to hear the Japanese sing their chants is entertaining!) and enjoyed it although the quality of play wasnt the best but the crowd interaction was great.

I went to a couple of Red Bull games and not for nothing they were quite exciting.

by the way Liverpool b!tches! "You'll Never Walk Alone!"

[Lakers Legend#32]

0-0

Horray! Nobody Wins!

[RidonKs]

Fair enough that you don't like it but you can't be serious about that?

NFL stops literally every 5 seconds, the game itself goes for only 25 minutes of real playing. NBA stops all the time also. Between fouls and timeouts the game has close to an hour of nothing. Soccer on the other hand doesn't stop at all aside from half time for 20 minutes.
but the stops come in between vicious all out anything can happen at any second type of action. soccer is obviously more fluid, but particularly for the casual fan, it lacks the suspense of 'the big play' in basketball and football, and even the ultra fast pace of hockey

i still like it in its own right and if i'm watching it with real fans, i can hype myself into really caring about what's going on. but there's no doubt reaching that level excitement requires more of an investment that a casual fan typically doesn't want to make, scoring opportunities tend to be steadily built (most of the time anyway) instead of coming from nowhere

[kentatm]

Soccer used to be the most popular sport in the USA in the early days. Which isn't surprising because the USA populace at the time (well, other than the slaves) were essentially Europeans. But then they started getting their ass handed to them too many times by other countries.

Americans didn't have enough heart to keep at a sport they were clearly not the best in the world at, so they proceeded to invent a couple of sports themselves to eliminate global competition.

Over the years it has been curious to see the directions the US developed "sports" have taken. NFL is barely a sport, it's 50% commercials, 25% meatheads bashing each others heads in and 25% "entertainment sports".

MLB has basically become a synonym for "nap time".



http://rhymeswithright.mu.nu/archives/images/bullshit.gif

[SourPatchKids]

I don't see the argument about soccer being low scoring making it boring. Do basketball fans go crazy every single time the ball goes into the hoop?

[Lamar Doom]

I love world cup and olympic soccer, I consider myself a poser-level fan of EPL too (I'd been calling City my favorite team since way before they became evil empire) but there are a few things that keep me from being a fan the way I am a fan of the NBA. Mind you soccer is arguably my second favorite sport, but here's some problems I have:

1. Games too early. I live on the west coast. I work absurd hours. My desire to get up at 6 AM (or earlier) on a saturday or sunday is not really there- I don't like watching sports that aren't live so rule out your "dvr it" argument. Often we have to go to bars to catch the game we really want to see too and having boddingtons at 6AM at the C0ck N Bull with a bunch of overly passionate euros isn't my scene. Blood pudding is f*cking gross.

2. Not enough americans. I know it's simpleton/xenophobic to care but I just like seeing yanks out there. I LOVE international players in the NBA but it's because they're the charming minority. I can't pronounce so many soccer players names or keep track of where they're from, and we have no college system or media hype to really let us know who any of these guys are (besides the beckhams, ronhaldino, messi, etc). It's just not as relatable.

3. The "low scoring" argument that you hear from a lot of westerners is legit. I have die hard fan friends who swear "the best game I ever saw was 0-0", I call bull shit. It doesn't need to be 10-9 but the lack of scoring CAN be dull. There is definitely exciting non-scoring plays but there's also a lot of possession-turnover-possession soccer that just doesn't do it for me. I can't be entertained just on shape or touch or skill or whatever. Over passing is epidemic, I'm looking forward to the Mike D'antoni/Don Nelson of soccer to come along and have a team that subscribes to the school of bombardment.

[GOBB_Junior]

Lots of professional sports in the US. Basketball and Soccer are the only two most popular team sports in our country.

[Crystallas]

Do I have to like something, because it's popular elsewhere?

[Myth]

I find that it is hard for me to even begin to get into because it doesn't have enough variety to the untrained eye, and it takes too much focus, which is difficult if you care very little about it in the first place. I imagine basketball would be boring to me too if there were about 50-100 passes before every shot taken. Since I get bored during all the passes, my focus won't always be on the screen, and next thing I know, a team scored but I probably wasn't watching when it happened. Kind of frustrating to get into that.

[Timmy D for MVP]

It's all about exposure.

How often do you get into a totally new sport? Not very often once you're established as far as sports go. I mean we all get excited every now and again for like track and field or curling because it's tied to a big event, but for the most part people have their 3-4 sports and their teams. Once you're an adult it's harder to get into new games.

So the generation before my own (I'm 22) had some exposure, but not much really. This was because with fewer stations there was more competition and no one was going to pick soccer over the other mega leagues to broadcast. Now I sit down with my folks and try to explain everything but they just don't get it. For those of you saying that the low scoring or no scoring sometimes is boring, part of the reason is because you don't understand the intricacies of the game. It's just like a baseball fan loving a 1-0 win, because of the beauty of the pitching.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't think there are some cultural reasons too. But for the most part I believe it to be exposure. The sport is getting more and more popular here. Not just in spectating, but in participating too. And I'm not sure what came first the chicken (more people interested in it) or the egg (increased exposure do to MLS expansion/expanded broadcasting). But there is a clear difference when ESPN is buying exclusive rights to air the European Championship, or when the EPL is getting real estate in the lineups.

Now will it ever surpass the big 4 in the U.S.? It would take a miracle to leap up there (like the USMNT winning the World Cup). But it can creep up, and is creeping up there.

[B-Easy8]

but the stops come in between vicious all out anything can happen at any second type of action. soccer is obviously more fluid, but particularly for the casual fan, it lacks the suspense of 'the big play' in basketball and football, and even the ultra fast pace of hockey

i still like it in its own right and if i'm watching it with real fans, i can hype myself into really caring about what's going on. but there's no doubt reaching that level excitement requires more of an investment that a casual fan typically doesn't want to make, scoring opportunities tend to be steadily built (most of the time anyway) instead of coming from nowhere

I agree, you have to get into it and know what it's about to really enjoy it. Im a fan of NBA, NFL and soccer but I think at each of there respective peaks, basketball is probably the most exciting of the 3 followed by soccer. I like NFL but I can't watch it unless it is condensed games on NFL game time. Three quarters of the game is spent doing nothing and when something does happen it doesn't last for more than 5 to 10 seconds.

[bdreason]

Because it's not promoted here as much as other sports. And we aren't very good at it, because as soon as kids hit High School, they are funneled into more popular sports like Baseball, Basketball, and American Football.



Soccer is actually incredibly popular at the K-8 level. It's a great game for kids to play because it's easy to pick up (the basics anyway).

[flipogb]

too many different leagues, all supposedly as big as the others.

the NBA for example is the best of the best from all over the world, and they play in american cities. while fiba and Olympics are no doubt important, the NBA for the most part is seen as the ultimate stage

[rufuspaul]

I for one really enjoy all the endless non-scoring action.

[pauk]

Lots of non-Americans dont like soccer either...

I am European and i think Soccer is the most overrated sport in human history............ in Europe soccer is a RELIGION..... people get forced to like the sport by group/friend/family pressure, the exposure is ridicilous, its in your ***ing face all the time and i hate it.... if you dont like Soccer you become an outcast... lucky for me im in a country/place (croatia) where basketball is more popular than probably anywhere else in Europe...

But when you ignore it all and sit back and watch carefully..... this sport is the most boring thing ever... its basically 22 guys in a forest chilling and passing the ball to eachother, 1000 turnovers per game, 1000 flops per game... and occasionally 1 or 2 goals (which most often was by PURE LUCK!) and often not a single goal.... in 90 or so minutes.... and there is like 1000 leagues....

The only time i might bother/care about only the outcome of a soccer game is when its World Championships...

Indoor Soccer is MUCH BETTER tho... smaller ground, less people, lots of activity/speed/possessions, many goals, very entertaining, lots of technique & skill showcasing, it becomes a foot version of basketball.........



THIS IS THE THING I LOVE ABOUT AMERICANS..... THEY HAVE TASTE..... LONG LIVE USA, I HOPE YOU NEVER FALL FOR SOCCER

[alenleomessi]

I love world cup and olympic soccer, I consider myself a poser-level fan of EPL too (I'd been calling City my favorite team since way before they became evil empire) but there are a few things that keep me from being a fan the way I am a fan of the NBA. Mind you soccer is arguably my second favorite sport, but here's some problems I have:

1. Games too early. I live on the west coast. I work absurd hours. My desire to get up at 6 AM (or earlier) on a saturday or sunday is not really there- I don't like watching sports that aren't live so rule out your "dvr it" argument. Often we have to go to bars to catch the game we really want to see too and having boddingtons at 6AM at the C0ck N Bull with a bunch of overly passionate euros isn't my scene. Blood pudding is f*cking gross.

2. Not enough americans. I know it's simpleton/xenophobic to care but I just like seeing yanks out there. I LOVE international players in the NBA but it's because they're the charming minority. I can't pronounce so many soccer players names or keep track of where they're from, and we have no college system or media hype to really let us know who any of these guys are (besides the beckhams, ronhaldino, messi, etc). It's just not as relatable.

3. The "low scoring" argument that you hear from a lot of westerners is legit. I have die hard fan friends who swear "the best game I ever saw was 0-0", I call bull shit. It doesn't need to be 10-9 but the lack of scoring CAN be dull. There is definitely exciting non-scoring plays but there's also a lot of possession-turnover-possession soccer that just doesn't do it for me. I can't be entertained just on shape or touch or skill or whatever. Over passing is epidemic, I'm looking forward to the Mike D'antoni/Don Nelson of soccer to come along and have a team that subscribes to the school of bombardment.
not really an excuse, most europeans watch nba games from 2am-6am and go to work or school few hours after that
and not many europeans in nba either

[alenleomessi]

Lots of non-Americans dont like soccer either...

I am European and i think Soccer is the most overrated sport in human history............ in Europe soccer is a RELIGION..... people get forced to like the sport by group/friend/family pressure, the exposure is ridicilous, its in your ***ing face all the time and i hate it.... if you dont like Soccer you become an outcast... lucky for me im in a country/place (croatia) where basketball is more popular than probably anywhere else in Europe...

But when you ignore it all and sit back and watch carefully..... this sport is the most boring thing ever... its basically 22 guys in a forest chilling and passing the ball to eachother, 1000 turnovers per game, 1000 flops per game... and occasionally 1 or 2 goals (which most often was by PURE LUCK!) and often not a single goal.... in 90 or so minutes.... and there is like 1000 leagues....

The only time i might bother/care about only the outcome of a soccer game is when its World Championships...

Indoor Soccer is MUCH BETTER tho... smaller ground, less people, lots of activity/speed/possessions, many goals, very entertaining, lots of technique & skill showcasing, it becomes a foot version of basketball.........



THIS IS THE THING I LOVE ABOUT AMERICANS..... THEY HAVE TASTE..... LONG LIVE USA, I HOPE YOU NEVER FALL FOR SOCCER
i feel bad for you son
you are missing out

[franchise#3]

Real football is 100 times better than soccer.

[pauk]

i feel bad for you son
you are missing out

it's fun to play (especially indoor soccer, i love goalkeeping aswell) but by far the most overrated sport to watch and follow

in an average soccer game between 2 quality teams, there are about 2 or 3 goals scored (sometimes 0-0). this means that nothing important happens for 95%+ of the game.

seriously, if a play doesn't result in a goal, a card, or an injury, it has essentially zero impact on the game.

sure, you can say the same about many other sports, but in most other sports, scoring actually happens frequently enough so that you're not wasting most of your time watching nothing.

in soccer, making a great run has essentially no impact on a game unless it ends in a score, which it almost never does.

i find it funny how soccer fans criticize other sports for having commercials or little actual playing time, yet the significant highlights of any soccer game could be shown after the game in under under 30 seconds

it's silly that great plays almost never increase a team's chance of winning.

if an offensive player makes a brilliant play, his team still almost certainly will not score.

if a defensive player makes a great play, the other team almost certainly would not have scored without that play.

so yes, you can appreciate good plays throughout the game, but they usually don't impact the outcome of the game, which i find unappealing

A GREAT PLAYER CANT TAKE CONTROL OF A GAME LIKE IN BASKETBALL FOR EXAMPLE... AND MOST OFTEN IF HE DOESNT SCORE, HIS IMPACT WAS THEN JUST AS GREAT AS THE WORST GUY ON THE FLOOR OR THE GUY SITTING IN THE STANDS...

Most of us Europeans are brainwashed by the European Soccer Exposure (especially in Balkans the soccer exposure is ridicilous)... trust me... its not your fault tho... i dont care if you like Soccer, but to think Soccer > NBA Basketball? Then you are brainwashed...

[Bucket_Nakedz]

idk, but i don't particularly care for the sport. i did catch a couple of games during the world cup in 06. watching zidane was beautiful, made me root for france to win it all. then, we all know what happened after.

if there are players similar to zidane than i wouldn't mind checking them out. the way the man controlled the ball with pin point passing was incredible.

[knickballer]

BRB, don't have to watch a basketball game until the middle of the fourth quarter as a team can just go on a run to even up the game making the whole game a waste of time..

[DCL]

cuz it's boring as hell

[Skywalker]

in an average soccer game between 2 quality teams, there are about 2 or 3 goals scored (sometimes 0-0). this means that nothing important happens for 95%+ of the game.


RETARD

[ALBballer]

It's not promoted by Corporate America. The game consists of over 90+ minutes of almost non-stop play and there are no commercials in the game aside from the end of the first half. Compare this to American Football ,where there is more commercials than game play and it is easy to see why the big corporate channels would rather have the mass watching American Football over soccer.

Also Americans have short attention spans and need constant scoring.

[qrich]

It's not promoted by Corporate America. The game consists of over 90+ minutes and commercials are almost non-existent. Compare this to American Football ,where there is more commercials than game play and it is easy to see why the big corporate channels would rather have the mass watching American Football over soccer.

Also Americans have short attention spans and need constant scoring.

http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/2634771/2/stock-photo-2634771-hitting-a-nail-on-the-head.jpg

I remember watching MLS broadcasts on ESPN at about 03-05 or so and they would literally put picture in picture with the game being on about 10% of the screen to play a commercial every 20 minutes or so, it was so annoying.

[iamgine]

its basically 22 guys in a forest chilling and passing the ball to eachother, 1000 turnovers per game, 1000 flops per game... and occasionally 1 or 2 goals (which most often was by PURE LUCK!) and often not a single goal.... in 90 or so minutes.... and there is like 1000 leagues
LOL this is like saying boxing is just 2 guys hitting each other with padding.

It goes much deeper than that.

[pauk]

LOL this is like saying boxing is just 2 guys hitting each other with padding.

It goes much deeper than that.

Its 2 guys fighting... its very entertaining (not even close as entertaining as MMA/UFC but to each his own)... compared to 22 guys passing the ball to eachother...

[iamgine]

Its 2 guys fighting... its very entertaining (not even close as entertaining as MMA/UFC but to each his own)... compared to 22 guys passing the ball to eachother...
It's like saying chess is just 2 people moving inanimate object.

It goes much deeper than that.

[blablabla]

there are no commercials

[Lamar Doom]

not really an excuse, most europeans watch nba games from 2am-6am and go to work or school few hours after that
and not many europeans in nba either

2 AM would be better. staying up for games is better than waking up after a few hours.

Not sure how "not many europeans" in the NBA is relevant either. I didn't think this was a US-interest-in-soccer vs. european-interest-in-nba comparison. You get in F in debate for today.

[GOBB]

I dont understand the sport (dispite playing a few years of organized soccer) and I'm not patient enough to. Same with hockey.

[G-Funk]

We suck if we were top 5 favorites to win a word championship every 4 yrs we would be good.

[nightprowler10]

Because it's a British invention.

[falc39]

I'm an American who went from being a hardcore basketball fan to almost completely soccer now. I never was into baseball or football. The big difference is I picked up on and now play a lot of soccer, so I find it very interesting watching games and learning from the pros.

Most of my points will come from being a player though so keep that in mind. I'm the kind of person that enjoys playing a sport 10x more than watching.

It's very frustrating playing with people in basketball. So many times I played in pickup games when there is someone trying to Kobe the team to a win and jack up shots while hording the dribble. The problem is in basketball this is actually acceptable if you're pretty good, it's even encouraged at times. It will completely wreck the experience if the person is bad. This can't occur in soccer. Even if you are really good you still need to rely on your teammates a lot. The amount of selfish players I run into playing soccer is far less than in basketball. I build stronger bonds with all the players and make a lot more friends in the process. A lot more comradery has been my experience.

Even though soccer isn't popular here at the pro level, it is immensely popular at the recreational level. You can even join coed teams. I've met a lot of girls that way. So you get to play a sport you love and meet girls who are in shape. Win-win!! :D

I can't pinpoint exactly why, but I just find soccer much more enjoyable to play and a lot more challenging. You can't use your physical advantages as easily compared to other sports like basketball and football. How many times in basketball did I run in to a guy who was like 6'8" and barely had any skills but was still able to be the most important player on the team :facepalm I think other americans like that. When you just overpower someone instead of finessing and using skill. It makes for better highlights

And I'm sorry... living in a nation that likes to make fun of soccer but has baseball as its national pastime just makes me laugh. baseball is the worst of them all. Never have I played a sport and did so much standing and sitting waiting for something to happen. you stand and wait on defense and you sit and wait on offense. ugh. watching is even worse. 160+ games a season and games are like 3 hours long with breaks in play between every pitch, out, and inning. shoot me plz. who even has the time to be a diehard fan?

[Eat Like A Bosh]

Because Americans already have better entertainment. Football is supposed to be 300 pound men tackling each other in 8 second plays, not a bunch of 5-6 fairies jogging the court.
Watching people chasing the ball for 4 hours to end 0-0 is no fun, unless the bleachers collapse and half of Europe dies.

[JustinJDW]

Soccer is fun as hell to play, but boring as hell to watch.

I use to think football was boring when I was about twelve years old. Then I actually started watching and learning about the sport, and now I love it just as much as basketball. I use to think baseball and hockey were incredibly boring as well. Then I decided to invest time in learning about the sports and both the physicality and psychology of those sports. If you weren't brought up and raised in a home that already loves a sport, like me and basketball, then its pretty difficult to invest that time and patience to develop interest in any particular sport. I now thoroughly enjoy baseball, and hockey is growing on me little by little.

Soccer seems to be a little different though. Its ridiculously fun to play, at basically any level, almost regardless of the score. To actually be on the field running out there, in constant pursuit of that ball, looking for that critical moment, challenging the stamina and endurance of your body, its fun. Time flies by when you're playing any sport and having fun. Its hard to watch however. Not very exciting from a spectator's point of view. Its hard to sit on your couch and watch 90+ minutes of game-time from a camera 200 feet, only to see nothing happen and end in a tie. You're not in the game playing the game within the game, and when you're not in the game and forced to watch, there isn't much excitement there at face value. Its extremely difficult for a casual watcher to to enjoy an entire soccer game as a spectator.

Football and basketball are very fun games to both play and watch.

[TMT]

Soccer is too slow, too much flopping and faking injuries, no where near as entertaining as basketball and football.

[Timmy D for MVP]

Reading through these I can tell that my point is valid. Not enough exposure. I doubt some of you have seen a match. (Guys chasing the ball around for 4 hours! :wtf: Where are you watching soccer?).

And this is very interesting to me that on this board in particular we see this. I think it's the easiest transition for a basketball fan to fall into soccer. In fact I came to the conclusion the other day that I think soccer has surpassed football for me in terms of spectating because it's the only other sport besides basketball where I'll watch any game on even if my team isn't involved, or it's a particularly interesting match.

I see a lot of basketball in the game of soccer. Fluidity, creativity, the whole "jazz" idea translates into the beautiful game.

[JtotheIzzo]

I've realised that if you like sport in general (the competitiveness, the respective skill in the sport, the different players, different scenarios, etc.) then more likely then not you will like most sports. Until I was about 15 or so I only watched Football (soccer). I decided to watch NFL and subsequently the NBA, and enjoyed both sports. At first I didn't understand what was going on (mostly NFL problem), but I actually learnt the rules, spent time on many forums learning more about the players and immersing myself in these sports. Soon after I began watching baseball. While most people I know say baseball is extremely slow and uninteresting, once you actually understand what the players are doing, the amount of skill it takes, the story lines around the game, etc. It becomes a lot more interesting. Watching a clip of a home run and your like eh... But watch a game, see the players struggle to hit the ball until this guys hits it out the park and you appreciate the skill and you see the moment in the right context.

I think that the reason Americans won't take to soccer is because its always difficult getting into something new. If your a woman who has been watching one daytime soap for 20 years, its hard to suddenly get into another with 30 years of story lines gone by before you. The British are like this too. Very rarely do you see them watching sports other than the most popular ones. So, how do those advertising soccer get Americans to actually try and get into the sport and not feel like an outsider? Just something I was thinking about...


Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US are all first world developed nations with local favorite sports that are more complex and interesting than soccer. These countries are not bound to old world traditions, and so they really see no massive amount of interest in soccer when there are better sports out there. It has its popularity during the World Cup, European Championship, and big club games, but in general, there are other, better sports for people to follow without the burden of tradition, so they do.

[B-Easy8]

Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US are all first world developed nations with local favorite sports that are more complex and interesting than soccer. These countries are not bound to old world traditions, and so they really see no massive amount of interest in soccer when there are better sports out there. It has its popularity during the World Cup, European Championship, and big club games, but in general, there are other, better sports for people to follow without the burden of tradition, so they do.

Soccer is massive in Australia. Our league is garbage so it doesn't get much recognition but European soccer is big over here. Granted not nearly as big as our football but nothing is. Soccer is the most popular international dominated sport followed by basketball and then nothing else gets any exposure apart from Australian sports.

[G-Funk]

Soccer is fun as hell to play, but boring as hell to watch.



Not if u have a dog in the fight

[macmac]

Not if u have a dog in the fight


That's exactly what Michael Vick said when he defended his sport.

[lakers_forever]

They would if their top athletes chose to play soccer. Imagine Kevin Durant as a striker and LeBron James as a goalkeeper.

:lol You clearly don't know anything about the game.

[lakers_forever]

Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US are all first world developed nations with local favorite sports that are more complex and interesting than soccer. These countries are not bound to old world traditions, and so they really see no massive amount of interest in soccer when there are better sports out there. It has its popularity during the World Cup, European Championship, and big club games, but in general, there are other, better sports for people to follow without the burden of tradition, so they do.

More complex, better sports out there... Your opinion is not a fact. Just like others who are saying football (soccer) is boring. A football fan would easily say the same things about sports americans love, like baseball, hockey and american football.

[nightprowler10]

Soccer is massive in Australia. Our league is garbage so it doesn't get much recognition but European soccer is big over here. Granted not nearly as big as our football but nothing is. Soccer is the most popular international dominated sport followed by basketball and then nothing else gets any exposure apart from Australian sports.
I thought cricket was #1 for some time now.

[B-Easy8]

I thought cricket was #1 for some time now.

Na cricket would be fourth behind Australian football, rugby and then soccer. Cricket has been losing popularity. Aside from the boxing day test, nothing else gets much recognition.

[Swaggin916]

Soccer is fun as hell to play, but boring as hell to watch.

I use to think football was boring when I was about twelve years old. Then I actually started watching and learning about the sport, and now I love it just as much as basketball. I use to think baseball and hockey were incredibly boring as well. Then I decided to invest time in learning about the sports and both the physicality and psychology of those sports. If you weren't brought up and raised in a home that already loves a sport, like me and basketball, then its pretty difficult to invest that time and patience to develop interest in any particular sport. I now thoroughly enjoy baseball, and hockey is growing on me little by little.

Soccer seems to be a little different though. Its ridiculously fun to play, at basically any level, almost regardless of the score. To actually be on the field running out there, in constant pursuit of that ball, looking for that critical moment, challenging the stamina and endurance of your body, its fun. Time flies by when you're playing any sport and having fun. Its hard to watch however. Not very exciting from a spectator's point of view. Its hard to sit on your couch and watch 90+ minutes of game-time from a camera 200 feet, only to see nothing happen and end in a tie. You're not in the game playing the game within the game, and when you're not in the game and forced to watch, there isn't much excitement there at face value. Its extremely difficult for a casual watcher to to enjoy an entire soccer game as a spectator.

Football and basketball are very fun games to both play and watch.

It's hard to sit through any game. Sitting through an entire soccer game unless it's wildly entertaining just about all the way through (which is very rare) is very difficult... but it's the same with anything else. I will not sit through any game (unless it's my team) that not much is happening in or it's just sloppy I got better things to do.

todays game ended in a tie though and it was an entertaining game. It was more entertaining in the first half though and if the 2nd had of been like the first all the way through I could watched all 90 but I fast forwarded a lil bit cus I was a bit behind. But as long as teams are creating chances it's exciting... I love watching teams like England and Germany and Portugal that get out on the break and run... Teams like Italy and Spain are harder to watch cus they just don't really play that way... but Italy has Balotelli so they are always worth a watch.

[johndeeregreen]

Also Americans have short attention spans and need constant scoring.
What a crock of shit. You ever heard of baseball?

[Kobe 4 The Win]

In America soccer is only for 5 year old kids that aren't old enough to play a real sport. Anyone can run back and forth and kick a stupid ball. My f**king cat could probably play soccer.

[Dasher]

Soccer is fun to play, but dreadful to watch. The television presentation is terrible. When I do watch it, I have to watch it on mute because the British color analysts are incredibly annoying.

The college/draft elements of Football and Basketball provide a level of interest that soccer at the moment just can't replicate. The NBA/NFL drafts are the best nights in sports.

The World Cup is nice, but that is usually the only time I watch now. My Patriotism takes over, and I become a soccer fanatic. The World Cup ends, and I have no interest for another 4 years.

[-p.tiddy-]

It's not promoted by Corporate America. The game consists of over 90+ minutes of almost non-stop play and there are no commercials in the game aside from the end of the first half. Compare this to American Football ,where there is more commercials than game play and it is easy to see why the big corporate channels would rather have the mass watching American Football over soccer.

Also Americans have short attention spans and need constant scoring.
http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/2634771/2/stock-photo-2634771-hitting-a-nail-on-the-head.jpg

I remember watching MLS broadcasts on ESPN at about 03-05 or so and they would literally put picture in picture with the game being on about 10% of the screen to play a commercial every 20 minutes or so, it was so annoying.


no that has nothing to do with it...

ESPN shows soccer ALL THE TIME, infact it was on all day today...

soccer games get ratings here that are comparable to the NHL (very very low)

it isn't that the big stations aren't showing us games, the problem is that no one here wants to watch the games...and IMO it is because of my first post in here.

[JtotheIzzo]

Soccer is massive in Australia. Our league is garbage so it doesn't get much recognition but European soccer is big over here. Granted not nearly as big as our football but nothing is. Soccer is the most popular international dominated sport followed by basketball and then nothing else gets any exposure apart from Australian sports.

So you agree then.

I also think Cricket and rugby are more popular in Australia as well.

[StateProperty]

turned on mls game on espn today and the crowd was singing "walking in a winter wonderland" loud as hell, the ***?

[B-Easy8]

So you agree then.

I also think Cricket and rugby are more popular in Australia as well.

Yeah what I meant was soccer is the most popular sport dominated by international leagues. Australian football is far and away number one, rugby is second even though over here in Perth no one follows it. Cricket isn't as popular as it used to be, no one goes to the games aside from the boxing day test. Soccer on the other hand is very popular. Our league (A-League) isn't well advertised but the top leagues (Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga) have a lot of coverage over here.

[Swaggin916]

Soccer is fun to play, but dreadful to watch. The television presentation is terrible. When I do watch it, I have to watch it on mute because the British color analysts are incredibly annoying.

The college/draft elements of Football and Basketball provide a level of interest that soccer at the moment just can't replicate. The NBA/NFL drafts are the best nights in sports.

The World Cup is nice, but that is usually the only time I watch now. My Patriotism takes over, and I become a soccer fanatic. The World Cup ends, and I have no interest for another 4 years.

Are you kidding me? The British commentators are the ONLY good ones. I mean you get into other languages holy crap it's like nails on a chalkboard but most Americans are just awful compared to the Brits. I do like Phil (American guy) who announces on GOLTV withRay Hudson tho... Ray Hudson now there is someone you either love or hate.

[tomtucker]

italy-england......120 minutes...0-0.........that

[LJJ]

[QUOTE=tomtucker]italy-england......120 minutes...0-0.........that

[tomtucker]

First 0-0 in 28 games. Epic nail biting finish to the game.

Are you kidding me?


Americans finding soccer boring is akin to an eight year old watching The Godfather. They find it boring and would rather watch a rerun of Icarly. Because their taste and cognitive ability is underdeveloped.

how many 1-0 games in euro 12 ?..........and i am sure many europeans and others also find soccer boring, and like basketball and hockey more then soccer

.
and Epic nail biting finish ?......in the extra 2x15 nothing rarely happens...........players just wait for the penalties........:rolleyes:......so they don

[Jackass18]

Because it's a bunch of dudes running around on a gigantic field chasing a ball while tripping or pretending to be tripped. Plus, it's just not manly at all. It's what guys who were too scared of real sports went to play. It lacks many things that make other sports so great. Also, the atmosphere and crowd are often more entertaining than the actual game. Oh, and LOL at the people bringing up soccer's non-stop playing. Why not just go watch 2 idiots chasing each other in circles? And LOL at the short attention span comments. Soccer just isn't captivating or interesting enough to hold many people's attention. I can watch other things that require more dedication and focus.

Timmy, I played the sport when I was younger and I've watched multiple soccer games. Outside of the grand stage it can be played on, the sport just doesn't have a lot going for it IMO. I mean, it's a decent enough sport and all, but it's just not for me.

[ImmortalNemesis]

Because it's a bunch of dudes running around on a gigantic field chasing a ball while tripping or pretending to be tripped. Plus, it's just not manly at all. It's what guys who were too scared of real sports went to play. It lacks many things that make other sports so great. Also, the atmosphere and crowd are often more entertaining than the actual game. Oh, and LOL at the people bringing up soccer's non-stop playing. Why not just go watch 2 idiots chasing each other in circles? And LOL at the short attention span comments. Soccer just isn't captivating or interesting enough to hold many people's attention. I can watch other things that require more dedication and focus.

Timmy, I played the sport when I was younger and I've watched multiple soccer games. Outside of the grand stage it can be played on, the sport just doesn't have a lot going for it IMO. I mean, it's a decent enough sport and all, but it's just not for me.

1/10. Rant has been posted before.

[LT Ice Cream]

Because none of us here in America grew up playing Soccer. And if we did play soccer, it was never taken that seriously.
A lot of times I feel like I appreciate basketball and football because I grew up playing them. I can relate to just about everything that goes on and I realize just how freakishly talented the pros are. Not saying soccer doesn't take talent, I just can't relate to it.

[Jackass18]

1/10. Rant has been posted before.

Not surprised to see another overly sensitive soccer fan.

[LJJ]

[quote=tomtucker]how many 1-0 games in euro 12 ?..........and i am sure many europeans and others also find soccer boring, and like basketball and hockey more then soccer

.
and Epic nail biting finish ?......in the extra 2x15 nothing rarely happens...........players just wait for the penalties........:rolleyes:......so they don

[JtotheIzzo]

Pirlo had multiple passes in there that required a higher level of artistry, skill and sports IQ than literally anything you see during the NFL/NBA season.

:facepalm

:oldlol:

There is more 'sports IQ' in one series of football than there is in an entire season of soccer (and I like soccer).


ANother answer to the OP's question is timing. When I was in HS in Canada, soccer season was the same as football season, and only the f@gs who didn't play football played soccer.

[lakers_forever]

I mean if those guys had proper soccer training they could be something great with those raw athletic abilities.

Tall guys usually suck at soccer. There has never been a soccer superstar as tall as Lebron. Guys like Durant and Lebron don't have the footwork to play the sport. Even Kobe, who plays since he was a kid, looks clumsy as hell playing football.

[step_back]

Because you can have games that finish 0-0. Most of the players look like Theatre performers when they get fouled and above all it's a boys game. In England everyone knows Rugby is the mans game.

P.S I'm from England and I ****ing hate the sport!

[nightprowler10]

Na cricket would be fourth behind Australian football, rugby and then soccer. Cricket has been losing popularity. Aside from the boxing day test, nothing else gets much recognition.
Man that sucks. Would you say cricket was up there when Australia was by far the #1 team for half a decade and were ridiculously dominant?

[Cangri]

I really don't mind some 0-0 final scores if the game was entertaining, with both teams having nice goal attempts and the goalkeeper saved it.

But I can't stand all the flopping that goes on, it's fking ridiculous, they flop on minimal contact as if they were shot, and begin to hold their head in agony :banghead: :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

[Bigsmoke]

that shit is boring.

[tpols]

Because it's a bunch of dudes running around on a gigantic field chasing a ball while tripping or pretending to be tripped. Plus, it's just not manly at all. It's what guys who were too scared of real sports went to play. It lacks many things that make other sports so great. Also, the atmosphere and crowd are often more entertaining than the actual game. Oh, and LOL at the people bringing up soccer's non-stop playing. Why not just go watch 2 idiots chasing each other in circles? And LOL at the short attention span comments. Soccer just isn't captivating or interesting enough to hold many people's attention. I can watch other things that require more dedication and focus.

Timmy, I played the sport when I was younger and I've watched multiple soccer games. Outside of the grand stage it can be played on, the sport just doesn't have a lot going for it IMO. I mean, it's a decent enough sport and all, but it's just not for me.
You can generalize like this about any sport.. Basketball is just a bunch of monkeys running throwing a ball through a hoop and swinging from rims. Football is a bunch of fat guys chasing and wrestling each other over a piece of leather.. its all the same.

If Americans were exposed to soccer on TV like they are all other sports they would like it too. I think the commercial thing is right too. Look at the current trend in the U.S. for most popular sports..

Football
Basketball
Baseball
Hockey

Is it a coincidence that football is the most liked/pushed on us and has by far the most opportunities for game breaks and HUGE marketing advantages with it's playoiff bracket and championship game?

Then you have basketball which has the second most game breaks that can be directly controlled through a lot of foul calls(which have gone up big time in the last 5-8 years.. wonder why). Baseball has less than those two with its innings, and Hockey is played with the less amount of timeouts/breaks than bball or football.

Soccer's the worst because there are literally no commercial breaks to make money off of.

[LJJ]

There is more 'sports IQ' in one series of football than there is in an entire season of soccer (and I like soccer).


Please. Most American football players are pawns who can do one thing and understand one thing. They constantly need to be told what to do, and that's why the game stops for a commercial break every other second. Stop being an uneducated fool, there is only one position in American football that requires the same knowledge and understanding of the sport that every soccer player needs as a basis.

Soccer players need to make adjustments during the game all by their lonesome, not through some old white guy who gets to tell them what decision to make every second of the game. American Football players are blind executors, soccer players are tacticians and executors at the same time.

[sunsfan1357]

You can generalize like this about any sport.. Basketball is just a bunch of monkeys running throwing a ball through a hoop and swinging from rims. Football is a bunch of fat guys chasing and wrestling each other over a piece of leather.. its all the same.

If Americans were exposed to soccer on TV like they are all other sports they would like it too. I think the commercial thing is right too. Look at the current trend in the U.S. for most popular sports..

Football
Basketball
Baseball
Hockey

Is it a coincidence that football is the most liked/pushed on us and has by far the most opportunities for game breaks and HUGE marketing advantages with it's playoiff bracket and championship game?

Then you have basketball which has the second most game breaks that can be directly controlled through a lot of foul calls(which have gone up big time in the last 5-8 years.. wonder why). Baseball has less than those two with its innings, and Hockey is played with the less amount of timeouts/breaks than bball or football.

Soccer's the worst because there are literally no commercial breaks to make money off of.

That is one thing that has bothered me about basketball and football. Sports now actually have 'TV timeouts' in addition to timeouts they're already given to start the game. It gets annoying and its even worse in crunch time when the last 3 minutes of an NBA game can take 20 minutes to finish it seems like. The slow pace of baseball doesn't bother me at all though for some reason.

Personally, I don't understand soccer at all but I try to watch it semi-consistently I just don't know what the **** I'm talking about when it comes down to having a discussion about it :lol

[DaHeezy]

I went to my first soccer game and I got to say the crowd is a whole new experience I've never seen before. Alot of crowd partcipation, commradery, and unique chants. I couldn't imagine what it would be like on a bigger scale.

I can see why Americans wouldn't like it. No huge rivalries on world wide scale, no world class superstar, Americans like the big play. Not a fan of the sport, but I'll go to more games.

[tpols]

Please. Most American football players are pawns who can do one thing and understand one thing. They constantly need to be told what to do, and that's why the game stops for a commercial break every other second. Stop being an uneducated fool, there is only one position in American football that requires the same knowledge and understanding of the sport that every soccer player needs as a basis.

Soccer players need to make adjustments during the game all by their lonesome, not through some old white guy who gets to tell them what decision to make every second of the game. American Football players are blind executors, soccer players are tacticians and executors at the same time.
Yea its pretty true. An offensive lineman is told on any given play to clog this gap or that gap.. wide reciever run this route myabe with an option if he sees an opening.. running back same thing, hit this hole or improvise instinctively if shit goes wrong.. the only position with legit decision making is the QB and defensive captain calling shots/audibles based on what he sees from the offensive formation.

[rufuspaul]

I've never understood the complaints about timeouts. That's when you go get a beer, piss, etc.

[-p.tiddy-]

Americans finding soccer boring is akin to an eight year old watching The Godfather. They find it boring and would rather watch a rerun of Icarly. Because their taste and cognitive ability is underdeveloped.
:oldlol:

you're an idiot

[LJJ]

Surprise surprise. The guy who has been called an idiot by literally every regular on this site more than once (other than his real life neighbor and serious-faced conspiracy theorist Doomsday and sole friend), the poster child for a person who doesn't understand word one about soccer, comes in and calls me an idiot.

[rufuspaul]

I get it that the rest of the world loves soccer because all you need to play it is a ball. The rest of the world grew up playing it and watching the best soccer players in the world play it. They developed a passion for the game and their favorite teams and players. I get it.

But Americans will never embrace the sport to that degree and that infuriates soccer fans because let's face it, it only serves to amplify their (the rest of the world) inferiority complex towards the US being the epicenter of world culture.

[LJJ]

I get it that the rest of the world loves soccer because all you need to play it is a ball. The rest of the world grew up playing it and watching the best soccer players in the world play it. They developed a passion for the game and their favorite teams and players. I get it.

But Americans will never embrace the sport to that degree and that infuriates soccer fans because let's face it, it only serves to amplify their (the rest of the world) inferiority complex towards the US being the epicenter of world culture.

You aren't very good at trolling rufus. You need to bring more fire to get a rise out of people. Just a word of advice.

[knickballer]

I get it that the rest of the world loves soccer because all you need to play it is a ball. The rest of the world grew up playing it and watching the best soccer players in the world play it. They developed a passion for the game and their favorite teams and players. I get it.

But Americans will never embrace the sport to that degree and that infuriates soccer fans because let's face it, it only serves to amplify their (the rest of the world) inferiority complex towards the US being the epicenter of world culture.

Is that why the US gets constantly smacked around in Basketball and Baseball in the international competitions?

And what world culture do we have? Rap, MTV, McDonalds, wrestling?? I'd hardly call that culture

[DetroitPiston]

Because people didn't grow up with it. I'm sure if we didn't grow up with the sports we have we'd be indifferent to it.

[-p.tiddy-]

Yea its pretty true. An offensive lineman is told on any given play to clog this gap or that gap.. wide reciever run this route myabe with an option if he sees an opening.. running back same thing, hit this hole or improvise instinctively if shit goes wrong.. the only position with legit decision making is the QB and defensive captain calling shots/audibles based on what he sees from the offensive formation.
football is nicknamed "chess on a battlefeild"

perhaps all the different things the different positions have to do is simple (not true though), but the game as a whole is very complex to the viewer...much more complex than soccer.

[falc39]

I get it that the rest of the world loves soccer because all you need to play it is a ball. The rest of the world grew up playing it and watching the best soccer players in the world play it. They developed a passion for the game and their favorite teams and players. I get it.

But Americans will never embrace the sport to that degree and that infuriates soccer fans because let's face it, it only serves to amplify their (the rest of the world) inferiority complex towards the US being the epicenter of world culture.

It's quite the opposite. Americans always seem butt hurt that their favorite sport will never reach the international recognition and development that soccer is at.

Soccer seems to be picking up here and I welcome it. Imagine if more people in their 20's played more rec soccer. At least do it for obesity's sake. We have too many fat people in this country. Have you ever seen a fat pro soccer player? It's like winning the lottery.

[-p.tiddy-]

Surprise surprise. The guy who has been called an idiot by literally every regular on this site more than once (other than his real life neighbor and serious-faced conspiracy theorist Doomsday and sole friend), the poster child for a person who doesn't understand word one about soccer, comes in and calls me an idiot.
"nobody likes you...nah nah nah nah nah nah... I have more e-freinds than you" :oldlol:

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll30/thelarochefamily/EDU%202204/silly-kid-sticking-out-tongue.jpg



you're an idiot and pansy...

[kuniva_dAMiGhTy]

Is that why the US gets constantly smacked around in Basketball and Baseball in the international competitions?

And what world culture do we have? Rap, MTV, McDonalds, wrestling?? I'd hardly call that shit culture

Self hating moron. :oldlol:

[DuMa]

during the england/italy game, i mean i really tried to get into it but i found myself reading wiki pages about spanish and portugese conquistadors

[LJJ]

"nobody likes you...nah nah nah nah nah nah... I have more e-freinds than you" :oldlol:

you're an idiot and pansy...

See, you don't get it. Just like you don't get nearly any logical comment you come across. E-friends? People don't think you are an idiot because you have no e-friends. It's not about friends, nobody comes to ISH to find friends, nobody cares at all.


But I'm saying: It takes a lot to lose the respect of virtually everybody on the site. Even the most straight laced dependable posters on the site like Ridonks or Rufus have said plenty of pretty dumb things over those thousands of posts, let alone less stable posters like myself. But despite that, even a hellraiser like starface gets taken seriously sometimes, albeit rarely. And there is you: the guy who sits at the absolute bottom of the totem pole. It takes a special kind of idiot to be completely disregarded by every joe on this site.


It takes someone who spends his saturday evenings paying for borderline retarded female companionship, paying top dollar to get wasted on low quality liquor, and then instead of finishing the evening with a couple of buddies or some cheap hoe or even just going to bed decides the absolute best way to top off his night is logging on to Insidehoops to fulfill his most primal desire to make racist and anti-semitic tirades on some online messageboard filled with people he doesn't know. That's the type of asshole it takes to be seen as a disgrace by an entire low-entry online community. And it hasn't happened just once. And it is by no means the only shameful thing you've done.

I know you are going to post a comment next about how you "don't care" , but that doesn't mean it's not the damn truth.

[-p.tiddy-]

See, you don't get it. Just like you don't get nearly any logical comment you come across. E-friends? People don't think you are an idiot because you have no e-friends. It's not about friends, nobody comes to ISH to find friends, nobody cares at all.


But I'm saying: It takes a lot to lose the respect of virtually everybody on the site. Even the most straight laced dependable posters on the site like Ridonks or Rufus have said plenty of pretty dumb things over those thousands of posts, let alone less stable posters like myself. But despite that, even a hellraiser like starface gets taken seriously sometimes, albeit rarely. And there is you: the guy who sits at the absolute bottom of the totem pole. It takes a special kind of idiot to be completely disregarded by every joe on this site.


It takes someone who spends his saturday evenings paying for borderline retarded female companionship, paying top dollar to get wasted on low quality liquor, and then instead of finishing the evening with a couple of buddies or some cheap hoe or even just going to bed decides the best way to top off his night is logging on to Insidehoops to fulfill his most primal desire make racist and anti-semitic tirades. That's the type of asshole it takes to be seen as a disgrace by an entire low-entry online community. And it hasn't happened just once. And it is by no means the only shameful thing you've done.

I know you are going to post a comment next about how you "don't care" , but that doesn't mean it's not the damn truth.
ohhh...HELL NO

I used to drink high quality liquor buddy...:mad:

[rufuspaul]

Is that why the US gets constantly smacked around in Basketball and Baseball in the international competitions?

And what world culture do we have? Rap, MTV, McDonalds, wrestling?? I'd hardly call that culture


It doesn't matter that our culture might be less than esoteric, it's still the envy of the rest of the world. You can't deny it. To make it big here is the pinnacle of achievement.

[Rysio]

because americans cant except any sport that they know they will never ever be the best at. bunch of sore losers imo.

[rufuspaul]

because americans cant except any sport that they know they will never ever be the best at. bunch of sore losers imo.


You still love us, want to be us.

[RidonKs]

I get it that the rest of the world loves soccer because all you need to play it is a ball. The rest of the world grew up playing it and watching the best soccer players in the world play it. They developed a passion for the game and their favorite teams and players. I get it.

But Americans will never embrace the sport to that degree and that infuriates soccer fans because let's face it, it only serves to amplify their (the rest of the world) inferiority complex towards the US being the epicenter of world culture.
this is spot on

i think a little exaggerated from the canadian perspetive, we tend to feel the us pop culture shadow more than anybody else, but the point still stands across the world

soccer is like minimalist music, beautiful in its simplicity and an emphasis on strong cohesion between its parts, instead of standout individual components.

[LJJ]

It doesn't matter that our culture might be less than esoteric, it's still the envy of the rest of the world. You can't deny it. To make it big here is the pinnacle of achievement.

Okay, let's takes this trolling to the next level rufus. Culture. The arts.

Here you find a list of the major arts, and a couple of random famous European exponents of these arts. Only a couple of many thousands famous exponents. Please for every one of these provide American counterparts that prove America is the pinnacle of human culture and envy of the world. (:roll: )

Architecture (Hippodamus/Appolodorus/Cocceius)
Dance (I got nothing)
Music (Bach/Beethoven/Mozart)
Painting (Rembrandt/Picasso/Da Vinci)
Poetry (Goethe/Dante/Shakespeare)
Sculpting (Michelangelo/Rodin/Donatello)
Theatrics (Shakespeare/Sophocles/Wilde)

[-p.tiddy-]

You still love us, want to be us.
yep, you never see the thread "why don't Europeans love gridiron!!!???"

it's always them asking about us and soccer...



infact, when the NFL does decide to host games in Europe it upsets Americans...we don't want it played over there

[rufuspaul]

Okay, let's takes this trolling to the next level rufus. Culture. The arts.

Here you find a list of the major arts, and a couple of random famous European exponents of these arts. Only a couple of many thousands famous exponents. Please for every one of these provide American counterparts that prove America is the pinnacle of human culture and envy of the world. (:roll: )

Architecture (Hippodamus/Appolodorus/Cocceius)
Dance (I got nothing)
Music (Bach/Beethoven/Mozart)
Painting (Rembrandt/Picasso/Da Vinci)
Poetry (Goethe/Dante/Shakespeare)
Sculpting (Michelangelo/Rodin/Donatello)
Theatrics (Shakespeare/Sophocles/Wilde)


Oh you're mistaking my use of the term culture. I mean popular culture, the mass media appeasing, lowest denominator, Hollywood glam, Kardashian, Godzuki-loving crap that makes the world go round.

I'm talking the Marlboro man. America, fVck yeah!

[-p.tiddy-]

Okay, let's takes this trolling to the next level rufus. Culture. The arts.

Here you find a list of the major arts, and a couple of random famous European exponents of these arts. Only a couple of many thousands famous exponents. Please for every one of these provide American counterparts that prove America is the pinnacle of human culture and envy of the world. (:roll: )

Architecture (Hippodamus/Appolodorus/Cocceius)
Dance (I got nothing)
Music (Bach/Beethoven/Mozart)
Painting (Rembrandt/Picasso/Da Vinci)
Poetry (Goethe/Dante/Shakespeare)
Sculpting (Michelangelo/Rodin/Donatello)
Theatrics (Shakespeare/Sophocles/Wilde)
lol how about modern art?

just about everything you listed there was done around the same time Columbus discovered America...

[Rasheed1]

Americans dont care about Soccer because it is not American enough for most.

Americans dont look far for their entertainment.. There are 4 major sports here, and they get hyped so much that other countries watch our sports.. We dont watch sports that dont revolve around us ad our culture. Soccer is a great sport, but it doesnt have the foundation here that NFL, NBA, MLB have. Baseball was America's pasttime. It wil always have a place in the hearts of Americans because it is a part of our culture.. Football is currently the best sport in this country.. Its played just enough and has tremendous hype .. NBA is has a gang of new young stars..

There isnt any room for a people to spend time trying to like soccer as much as those other sports.


Same thing with other forms of entertainment... The rest of the world usually follows what we do, and not the other way around


I dont know how to articulate that point without it sounding arrogant... But I dont mean it in an arrogant way, just as a matter of fact.

If you ask Americans questions about what goes on in the rest of world, most of them couldnt tell you and couldnt care less that they dont know. But the rest of the world always seems to know about our teams, and players, and favorite shows.

[LJJ]

lol how about modern art?

just about everything you listed there was done around the same time Columbus discovered America...

The best culture is the pinnacle of human intellectual achievement, it only makes sense that it spans across a larger era than just the past year.



Never mind though. Turns out rufuspaul meant "pop culture", in other words Jersey Shore. In which case: yes you guys are the best at Jersey Shore. But clearly culturally you guys still rank as pretty damn insignificant and more like "laughing stock" than "envy of the world".

[-p.tiddy-]

where do you live LJJ?

[niko]

People didn't grow up playing it. That's why. The younger generation loves soccer. Little kids in my neighborhood discuss EPL and the Champions League and players in it like they are NBA stars. (Did you see what Messi did?)

When more people grow up playing it, it's popularity will grow. I don't think it's because americans feel inferior so they push it away. That strikes me as stupid when you look at all the countries who play soccer. Japan is obsessive on it, totally obsessive. They aren't good at all.

[LJJ]

Does it matter? I don't claim my living as "the envy of the world when it comes to culture", nor would I derive any personal sense of achievement from that if it were.

[-p.tiddy-]

Does it matter? I don't claim my living as "the envy of the world when it comes to culture", nor would I derive any personal sense of achievement from that if it were.
no it doesn't matter...I'm just curious where someone with this level of American envy comes from

[LJJ]

no it doesn't matter...I'm just curious where someone with this level of American envy comes from


Well, at least I'm glad I remain somewhat illusive when it comes to my background. Somewhat impartial it seems? That's a good thing, that means my opinion isn't based on some type of easy to figure out bias.

No one would have to guess twice where your bible-thumbing, stripclub visiting, antisemitical redneck stereotype ass comes from.

[-p.tiddy-]

yeah I'm not a Christian...never been to church

and lol at partying with strippers being seen as an insult...you're some pale ass ugly English square

[rufuspaul]

Well, at least I'm glad I remain somewhat illusive when it comes to my background. Somewhat impartial it seems? That's a good thing, that means my opinion isn't based on some type of easy to figure out bias.

No one would have to guess twice where your bible-thumbing, stripclub visiting, antisemitical redneck stereotype ass comes from.


:oldlol: I lived in Germany for 3 years and there were times when my inner redneck just had to come out. Great times.

[DFish]

LJJ, why are you spending so much time (12,000 posts) on a forum dedicated entirely to an American league of an American sport? If you want to talk about divegrass and players grabbing their faces and flopping their way to 0-0 finishes, I'd imagine there would be forums dedicated to soccer you could visit instead.

[Rasheed1]

People didn't grow up playing it. That's why. The younger generation loves soccer. Little kids in my neighborhood discuss EPL and the Champions League and players in it like they are NBA stars. (Did you see what Messi did?)

When more people grow up playing it, it's popularity will grow. I don't think it's because americans feel inferior so they push it away. That strikes me as stupid when you look at all the countries who play soccer. Japan is obsessive on it, totally obsessive. They aren't good at all.


Everybody already plays it... Kids play it everyday in suburbs across the country.. I played soccer on the travel team as a kid. Americans know soccer.

It just doesnt translate to a bigtime professional sport in this culture. It probably wont ever.

[Timmy D for MVP]

Because it's a bunch of dudes running around on a gigantic field chasing a ball while tripping or pretending to be tripped. Plus, it's just not manly at all. It's what guys who were too scared of real sports went to play. It lacks many things that make other sports so great. Also, the atmosphere and crowd are often more entertaining than the actual game. Oh, and LOL at the people bringing up soccer's non-stop playing. Why not just go watch 2 idiots chasing each other in circles? And LOL at the short attention span comments. Soccer just isn't captivating or interesting enough to hold many people's attention. I can watch other things that require more dedication and focus.

Timmy, I played the sport when I was younger and I've watched multiple soccer games. Outside of the grand stage it can be played on, the sport just doesn't have a lot going for it IMO. I mean, it's a decent enough sport and all, but it's just not for me.

Which is fine so long as you gave it an honest chance. The problem with most people is that they don't because of perceived dislikes that other people tell them to think.

That is why the next generation and the ones beyond will be a larger base of supporters, they are getting more and more exposed to it. I'm never gonna be a big Rugby fan. Not because I think the sport is inferior or anything, but just because I never saw it, and now I don't have the desire to learn enough about the sport to become a fan. Had I been exposed earlier in life? Maybe then I would have.

Soccer worked out for me because as I mentioned earlier I see many parallels between it and basketball. It was a natural transition imo.

[LJJ]

LJJ, why are you spending so much time (12,000 posts) on a forum dedicated entirely to an American league of an American sport? If you want to talk about divegrass and players grabbing their faces and flopping their way to 0-0 finishes, I'd imagine there would be forums dedicated to soccer you could visit instead.

Well, I love basketball for one and NBA is the best basketball out there. I love it more than soccer, even though I played soccer more and at a higher level.

I'm also a bit of a language nut, and coming here is great for developing my English. Always stay learning.

Three: what makes you think I have even a single thing against American(s)? A couple of tongue in cheek reactions in a troll thread? Please, I like many Americans things.

Four: I'm behind my PC a lot for work and studies anyways and it passes the time.

Enough reasons? And I really don't need to go online to talk about soccer with knowledgeable enthusiasts.

[niko]

Everybody already plays it... Kids play it everyday in suburbs across the country.. I played soccer on the travel team as a kid. Americans know soccer.

It just doesnt translate to a bigtime professional sport in this culture. It probably wont ever.

i didn't think the question just meant TV sport, sorry. That one is easy. the quality of play is much less than the European leagues, which are available all over TV here. However the attachment to those leagues is harder because those teams are not here. So the fanbase is way too diffuse.

MLS is very EHH...and i love soccer. I can't see how that should translate to a huge tv sport.

[-p.tiddy-]

Everybody already plays it... Kids play it everyday in suburbs across the country.. I played soccer on the travel team as a kid. Americans know soccer.

It just doesnt translate to a bigtime professional sport in this culture. It probably wont ever.
yes I played 4 years of soccer as a child, as well as most of my friends...it starts to lose it's popularity here around high school, schools still have soccer teams but they don't get nearly as much attention as football and basketball teams do.

[niko]

yes I played 4 years of soccer as a child, as well as most of my friends...it starts to lose it's popularity here around high school, schools still have soccer teams but they don't get nearly as much attention as football and basketball teams do.
Neither does baseball.

[mlh1981]

I have enough on my sports plate, probably too much, so can't take in anything else, plus I didn't grow up with soccer.

[-p.tiddy-]

Neither does baseball.
yes that's true...it gets almost no attention at the college level at all, not sure why really...maybe because of the farm systems and minor leagues watering everything down...idk

[sunsfan1357]

yes that's true...it gets almost no attention at the college level at all, not sure why really...maybe because of the farm systems and minor leagues watering everything down...idk

Maybe during the regular season, but the CWS gets plenty of coverage on ESPN. And although not really mainstream, the minors do keep baseball in the public eye. Its a really cheap form of professional baseball that families can use to enjoy a game and those teams are everywhere.

[tpols]

football is nicknamed "chess on a battlefeild"

perhaps all the different things the different positions have to do is simple (not true though), but the game as a whole is very complex to the viewer...much more complex than soccer.
You're the guy who said madden was more complex and intelligent than Chess.:roll:

[-p.tiddy-]

You're the guy who said madden was more complex and intelligent than Chess.:roll:
it's def more complex than soccer...

[-p.tiddy-]

and that is the arguement I get from my GF on why she prefers other sports to NFL..."football is too complicated"

she's learning though...lol

[tpols]

and that is the arguement I get from my GF on why she prefers other sports to NFL..."football is too complicated"

she's learning though...lol
Football is complicated because there's a million different positions/formations/rules etc. but the majority of its players dont have to be smart at all to be good at it.

I would be willing to bet a lot that soccer players in general are more intelligent than football players if you conducted league wide tests on all of their players. Calling football players smart is like calling the wooden pieces of chess on a chess board smart.

[-p.tiddy-]

Football is complicated because there's a million different positions/formations/rules etc. but the majority of its players dont have to be smart at all to be good at it.

I would be willing to bet a lot that soccer players in general are more intelligent than football players if you conducted league wide tests on all of their players. Calling football players smart is like calling the wooden pieces of chess on a chess board smart.
I am not arguing any of that...(although I am not sure I believe it, QBs have a lot to think about)

I am just saying the sport as a whole is much more complex to the VIEWER...

[hookul]

I am okay with people not liking soccer...to each their own. The thing that pisses me off though is when people who have clearly never watched a high-class soccer game or followed one of the better leagues (England, Spain, Italy or Germany) or played it themselves in a competitive league to call soccer players soft, floppers, pretenders, etc.

This is just a macho-redneck-bullshit without substance. Soccer is extremely tough and can be downright brutal. Not only on your stamina etc but just because you get kicked, pushed over, knock your NAKED heads together at full force, etc. This is true for the professional leagues but also for the small leagues where "normal" people play.

And if you ever watched the english league you would see that this is the best fairplay (aka - no floppers or pretenders) you will ever see.

And while we are on the subject - John Cleese rants about soccer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sD_8prYOxo

He is right with one thing:
NFL, NBA and MLB are less creative, more boring in many aspects because of the timeouts and the nature and influence of the coach. You do have these wonderful moments of creativity sometimes in basketball but not to the extend that you have in soccer. He is right that soccer is more like Jazz in that regard.

[west_tip]

I've spoken to many Americans about this over the years and the thing that always comes up is the low scoring nature of the games. Americans just cannot last that long between scores and the idea of an entire game being played that ends up in a scoreless draw is absolutely unfathomable to them.

In relation to that point the American big three sports are all are played in increments that a fan can grasp onto:

- The 24 second shot clock that means that every 24 seconds there will be either a fga or a turnover,
- Downs that mean that at least every 4th snap there is either a 1st down or a punt, field goal attempt or turnover,
- At bats that result either in a hit, a walk or a strikeout.


These increments allow the sports fan to track what is going on, also they convert easily to stats and box scores. They are therefore tangible. Whereas soccer might have a passage of play where nothing tangible occurs: no shots on goal, no saves, no corners or free kicks, where the ball stays in the midfield.

Soccer would be more popular in the States imo if the pitch was slightly smaller and there were less players or the goal was bigger. All these things would assure a more offensive oriented, higher scoring game which would ultimately placate score happy American sports fans.

[west_tip]

He is right with one thing:
NFL, NBA and MLB are less creative.

I have to agree about baseball, there seems to be no creativity in that sport, its just so robotic:
1. Guy throws ball at batter,
2. Batter hits ball,
3. Batter runs to first base.

Rinse, repeat.

I have no idea how anyone can find baseball even remotely entertaining, at least in Golf there are the elements of the weather, the course, the different shots that players play, the putting etc. Baseball is just the same thing x 1000.

[ForeverHeat]

Some very interesting points made here. What I've gathered though is that a lot of these guys haven't actually watching football and are basing their ideas on misconceptions and popular theories made by others.

They call it sissy-ish, and for f@gs, but it is a lot more likely to break your leg in football than it is in other sports, and the players are extremely fit. It is very difficult to run around for 90 mins. It takes a lot of stamina and mental strength to keep playing at an high level.

Plus, the pressure in football is MUCH higher than in American sports. In american leagues there are only 30(ish) teams in the league. In England, for example, there are hundreds of teams with new ones being made all the time. There is such a fine line for error, and your team can be wiped off the face of the earth in like 20 year if you play consistently badly. The rivalries between teams and countries are so fierce its not unlikely for fans to kill each other in some cases. In fact, an Colombian player who scored an own goal when his team played USA was later killed in the street.

There are also more championships available to deal with the large amount of teams in each country. In the premier league, for the top teams you have 4 title chances and they vary in methods of winning. There are knockout tourneys, like march madness and also group based and then knockout based tourneys, like the NFL. In the premier league, the team with the most points (3 for winning, 1 for drawing and 0 for losing) in the end of the season wins the title. This makes sure every game is important and can define whether you win or not.

Also, some of you guys just seem like you don't like it because its not really American. Racist....

[west_tip]

Plus, the pressure in football is MUCH higher than in American sports.

I don't know how that can be quantified though, I mean the pressure Lebron was under in game 6 of the ECF this year was probably as much as anyone has been subjected to in the history of sport. But was it anymore pressure than Pirlo was under yesterday when he pretty much had to score to give Italy a chance at winning the penalty shoot out? Or, what about the pressure kicker has to kick a field goal to win a playoff game, remember the Ravens kicker from last year?

All sports have tremendous elements of pressure to be honest.

[Jailblazers7]

I like watching World Cup soccer but not having a favorite team makes it really hard to watch club teams. I only played a year when I was a kid so I can't really appreciate the game without having a team to root for. The time difference also makes it difficult to watch games.

[johndeeregreen]

I have to agree about baseball, there seems to be no creativity in that sport, its just so robotic:
1. Guy throws ball at batter,
2. Batter hits ball,
3. Batter runs to first base.

Rinse, repeat.
If you don't understand a sport, why pass judgment on it as if you do?

[Cangri]

The notion that Americans don't watch it because it's boring is complete bullsht. America got fking baseball as one of their top sports and that sht is more boring than soccer.

It all comes down to culture, soccer ain't part of American culture so people don't watch it. In other countries they've been playing and watching it since they were born so it's obvious soccer would be much more popular in those countries.

[sunsfan1357]

If you don't understand a sport, why pass judgment on it as if you do?
Really. I see soccer fans get pissed all the time about people not knowing the sport judging it, then they go out and do the same thing.

[west_tip]

If you don't understand a sport, why pass judgment on it as if you do?

I work weekends at a baseball complex and am around the sport 20+ hours a week.

Shit is just unbelievably repetitive and lame to me, sorry if that hurts your feelings.

[sunsfan1357]

I work weekends at a baseball complex and am around the sport 20+ hours a week.

Shit is just unbelievably repetitive and lame to me, sorry if that hurts your feelings.

And that's how most of America feels about soccer

1. Guy kicks ball to guy
2. Guy kicks ball back
3. Repeat until someone decides to shoot

:confusedshrug:

I mentioned earlier in this thread that I try to watch soccer, but dumb generalizations like the above is why most of America really won't ever give soccer a chance.

[johndeeregreen]

I work weekends at a baseball complex and am around the sport 20+ hours a week.
None of which qualifies you for an actual understanding of the sport. That's something that's acquired over constant playing/watching/studying that accumulates over years and years. It is an incredibly cerebral game of constant strategy, adjustment, and execution. To imply that it's simple is just wrong.


Shit is just unbelievably repetitive and lame to me, sorry if that hurts your feelings.
I don't care if you don't like baseball and find it boring. I feel the same way about soccer. I'm just telling you, if you think the sport is simplistic, it's because you don't have a clue what's actually going on. Nobody's saying you have to like it, or that you'd like it even if you understood it, but the fact is you don't know what you're talking about when you say the game lacks 'creativity.'

[west_tip]

And that's how most of America feels about soccer.

And I'm fine with that, why are you and johndeergreen catching feelings about the fact I don't like baseball? Most of my American friends dislike baseball for pretty much the same reasons I do.

This isn't some America v rest of world thing, its personal preference.

[sunsfan1357]

And I'm fine with that, why are you and johndeergreen catching feelings about the fact I don't like baseball? Most of my American friends dislike baseball for pretty much the same reasons I do.

This isn't some America v rest of world thing, its personal preference.
I'm not catching feelings, this thread is just full of people making generalizations about one game or another that are just incorrect and are wondering why people do it to their sport of choice. Maybe you weren't doing that in the thread itself, but what I was saying was just speaking in a more general sense to everyone else that's been posting in here.

[BGriffin's Dad]

Baseball is an incredibly cerebral game of constant strategy, adjustment, and execution.

http://pinkie.ponychan.net/chan/files/src/133791676101.jpg

[west_tip]

None of which qualifies you for an actual understanding of the sport. That's something that's acquired over constant playing/watching/studying that accumulates over years and years. It is an incredibly cerebral game of constant strategy, adjustment, and execution. To imply that it's simple is just wrong.

John, as long as I've posted here I've noticed you diss soccer, in fact I recall you and Hawker getting into a soccer v baseball debate once where you came out with a bunch of ignorant nonsense to justify your point of view. Then, the minute someone disses your beloved sport you get all "You just don't understand the intricacies of the game, you're not qualified to pass judgement, etc. etc." about it. You're coming across as a hypocrite who doesn't like the taste of his own medicine.

I never passed off my opinions on baseball as incontrivertible fact, neither did I portray myself as an authority on the game. I merely stated that as someone who is around the sport 20 hours a week I fail to see how anybody can find it the least bit entertaining, that there seems (keyword: seems) to be no creativity and it is incredibly repetitive.

Whether you agree with my opinion, whether you think it is uninformed surely you can respect it in the same way I respect the fact that you don't like soccer. Different strokes for different folks.

[johndeeregreen]

John, as long as I've posted here I've noticed you diss soccer, in fact I recall you and Hawker getting into a soccer v baseball debate once where you came out with a bunch of ignorant nonsense to justify your point of view. Then, the minute someone disses your beloved sport you get all "You just don't understand the intricacies of the game, you're not qualified to pass judgement, etc. etc." about it. You're coming across as a hypocrite who doesn't like the taste of his own medicine.
The point here is that you don't understand the intricacies of the game. It's evident, that's all. And IIRC, my argument with Hawker wasn't filled with "ignorant nonsense," nor was it baseball vs. soccer. It was explaining how mindblowingly difficult hitting at the major league level is. I stand by that. Guys in that thread acted like any fatass can big a big league star and completely wrote off how much skill is involved with the game, and I took issue with that because it's wrong.

BTW, I specifically remember admitting I knew nothing about soccer, and didn't pretend to, and admitted that I don't care for it and have no inclination to try to understand it. I don't recall belittling the amount of skill it takes to play either.

So I don't understand how I'm being hypocritical regarding the matter at hand here.


I never passed off my opinions on baseball as incontrivertible fact, neither did I portray myself as an authority on the game. I merely stated that as someone who is around the sport 20 hours a week I fail to see how anybody can find it the least bit entertaining, that there seems (keyword: seems) to be no creativity and it is incredibly repetitive.
Cool, and that's fine, and I didn't even mean for my first post to be incendiary, it was just a head scratcher.


Whether you agree with my opinion, whether you think it is uninformed surely you can respect it in the same way I respect the fact that you don't like soccer. Different strokes for different folks.
I absolutely respect that you don't care for baseball. Different strokes. But I wasn't trying to convince you to like it, or say you were wrong for not liking it, or anything like that. I don't care if anyone likes baseball, but it is one of the most frequently underestimated sports in terms of not just the immense amount of skill required, but the intricacies and nuances of it as well.

That's all I'm saying.:cheers:

[Timmy D for MVP]

This thread is actually kind of funny reading back through.

The pot calling the kettle black in some instances. Good stuff.

I'm curious, and this may become a tangent, but JDG, and Sunsfan I have seen baseball slip so far down my preferred sports list over the last few years. I used to support the A's harder than any of my teams, now I prefer basketball, soccer, football, and golf to it on any day of the week; various other sports depending on the situation.

I was trying to figure out what it was, and some of it was just that other sports I have begun to find more interesting as I learned more about them. Soccer and football in particular. Golf I began to play more, and basketball has always been number one. But something else that I have begun to notice is that the game drags immensely for me.

I recently went to an A's/Giants game. We left early cause we were pretty tired, but at the time we left there had been like 7 hits and one error. A handful of walks as well. Now that was the 8th and it took 3 1/2 hours! The game would go on for another hour because of a busy 9th. That's just too damn long, with too little payoff. And it wasn't like we got slow pitchers. It was Jarrod Parker v Tim Lincecum, both pitchers who work quickly. It was just all the time in between shit. Idk how that would be fixed, idk if it should be. I was there with my gf and we had a great time. But I have more fun at the A+ organization in my city than I do at the majors these days.

Do you guys feel similar? The game has just been bogged down with stuff. And it's degrading the experience. Granted we were at possibly the worst stadium in the history of forever but still...

[LBJMVP]

None of which qualifies you for an actual understanding of the sport. That's something that's acquired over constant playing/watching/studying that accumulates over years and years. It is an incredibly cerebral game of constant strategy, adjustment, and execution. To imply that it's simple is just wrong.


I don't care if you don't like baseball and find it boring. I feel the same way about soccer. I'm just telling you, if you think the sport is simplistic, it's because you don't have a clue what's actually going on. Nobody's saying you have to like it, or that you'd like it even if you understood it, but the fact is you don't know what you're talking about when you say the game lacks 'creativity.'


lets be serious.... the only person who uses stategy in baseball is a pitcher.

he has to know a batter's tendancies, besides him everyone else just stands in the field and maybe if you lucky a ball roll to you and you get to throw it

:roll: :roll:

[Timmy D for MVP]

lets be serious.... the only person who uses stategy in baseball is a pitcher.

he has to know a batter's tendancies, besides him everyone else just stands in the field and maybe if you lucky a ball roll to you and you get to throw it

:roll: :roll:

http://gifs.gifbin.com/122009/1260528522_itcrowd-facepalm.gif

[Jackass18]

You can generalize like this about any sport.. Basketball is just a bunch of monkeys running throwing a ball through a hoop and swinging from rims. Football is a bunch of fat guys chasing and wrestling each other over a piece of leather.. its all the same.

Umm, no. Football has much more variety and action, and LOL at the fat guys comment. Basketball has far more action than soccer. My generalization is based on the lack of entertaining action in soccer.


Is it a coincidence that football is the most liked/pushed on us and has by far the most opportunities for game breaks and HUGE marketing advantages with it's playoiff bracket and championship game?

The NFL gets the ratings. And, why bring up the playoffs? Football is one-and-done in the playoffs and not best-of-7 series.

[Jackass18]

Please. Most American football players are pawns who can do one thing and understand one thing. They constantly need to be told what to do, and that's why the game stops for a commercial break every other second. Stop being an uneducated fool, there is only one position in American football that requires the same knowledge and understanding of the sport that every soccer player needs as a basis.

Soccer players need to make adjustments during the game all by their lonesome, not through some old white guy who gets to tell them what decision to make every second of the game. American Football players are blind executors, soccer players are tacticians and executors at the same time.

It's nice that you say that while having a lack of understanding of football...


You aren't very good at trolling rufus. You need to bring more fire to get a rise out of people. Just a word of advice.

Pffft, like your attempts at trolling have been any good.

[sunsfan1357]

This thread is actually kind of funny reading back through.

The pot calling the kettle black in some instances. Good stuff.

I'm curious, and this may become a tangent, but JDG, and Sunsfan I have seen baseball slip so far down my preferred sports list over the last few years. I used to support the A's harder than any of my teams, now I prefer basketball, soccer, football, and golf to it on any day of the week; various other sports depending on the situation.

I was trying to figure out what it was, and some of it was just that other sports I have begun to find more interesting as I learned more about them. Soccer and football in particular. Golf I began to play more, and basketball has always been number one. But something else that I have begun to notice is that the game drags immensely for me.

I recently went to an A's/Giants game. We left early cause we were pretty tired, but at the time we left there had been like 7 hits and one error. A handful of walks as well. Now that was the 8th and it took 3 1/2 hours! The game would go on for another hour because of a busy 9th. That's just too damn long, with too little payoff. And it wasn't like we got slow pitchers. It was Jarrod Parker v Tim Lincecum, both pitchers who work quickly. It was just all the time in between shit. Idk how that would be fixed, idk if it should be. I was there with my gf and we had a great time. But I have more fun at the A+ organization in my city than I do at the majors these days.

Do you guys feel similar? The game has just been bogged down with stuff. And it's degrading the experience. Granted we were at possibly the worst stadium in the history of forever but still...

I was at that game as well and while total game time was 3.5 hours and not the 4.5 hours you're saying I can see how that can grow frustrating. I was never huge into baseball into a couple of years ago, I just think that (unless its Sox/Yanks) there is a nice pace to the game with little fluff in between which is pretty much the opposite of what you think :lol Sure batters can take their time in the box to throw off the pitcher and vice versa, but there is actually very little that gets in the way of a pitcher trying to get a batter out.

In the NBA you have the flow of the game interrupted by constant fouls, coaching timeouts, TV timeouts, turnovers, etc. For example: for having a set game time at 48 minutes, Game 5 of the Heat/Thunder series took 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete.

http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2011/5/26/2190937/game-duration-2010-I

Taking a look at that link shows that in 2010 the average game took LESS than 3 hours (its actually been that way since 2001), or in other words probably only a half of an hour more than an average NBA game with a better flow to the game (for my preferences now at least).

I don't know if I actually I addressed your question or not, I think I just went on a rant myself but I'll just end it by saying that Thursday nights at Nuts games are pretty fun (I remember you saying you're from Modesto before) :cheers:

[Jailblazers7]

Pirates games are usually pretty fast because we suck at hitting and our pitching is good and avoids long innings normally. :lol

[Godzuki]

its funny how serious American soccer has gotten since my days playing club. apparently good soccer players in America now don't play HS soccer anymore, and play for something called soccer academies where all of the college scouts watch? also theres no more regionals to nationals tourneys for the top club team anymore? where its supposedly just a regional tournament for each area or something that included a lot more teams? i'm shocked about the not playing HS soccer aspect of the changes, since HS soccer was in a lot of ways more enjoyable of an experience than club. not competitively, but in terms of pride, fans, and playing under the lights can't believe they did away with that. damn shame. guess we're trying to copy europes seriousness more...

[rufuspaul]

I guess the biggest difference between the US and the rest of the world when it comes to football is this: In this country American football (NFL and college) is king and we really don't care if the rest of the world likes it or not. In the rest of the world European football is king and it bothers them that Americans just can't get into it. It's like we're insulting them because we don't want to watch it.

[tpols]

Umm, no. Football has much more variety and action, and LOL at the fat guys comment. Basketball has far more action than soccer. My generalization is based on the lack of entertaining action in soccer.
.
And soccer isnt just a bunch of idiots chasing each other around. My point wasnt to say thats what football is, it was to highlight your ignorance.. which we could see is true since you took offense to the comments I made that were exactly like your original comment.

[-p.tiddy-]

I guess the biggest difference between the US and the rest of the world when it comes to football is this: In this country American football (NFL and college) is king and we really don't care if the rest of the world likes it or not. In the rest of the world European football is king and it bothers them that Americans just can't get into it. It's like we're insulting them because we don't want to watch it.
yep, exactly

Never in my life have I heard or cared about the rest of the world getting into gridiron...but I have seen this same soccer debate come up countless times.

we are the "cool kids in school" and they are dieing for our endorsement...and if we don't endorse what they want then the jealous "Americans are all fat idiots" comments come flying in...even though they just got done listening to our rap music, or Lady Gaga and watching a Hollywood movie...

[Derrick]

You can find that in any major North American sports now. :oldlol:
Every challenge in soccer is a flop. Its freaking pathetic how they remain on the ground too trying to sell it.

[nightprowler10]

Haha, I love it how everybody generalizes about sports they don't understand.

I guess I used to do the same thing with baseball. I was a cricket fan through and through and thought baseball was for dumbasses until I started following it. I mean, I still find it boring and haven't watched a full game since the 2005 WS, but at least I have an appreciation of the sport I wouldn't have had unless I tried following it.

I have tried following soccer too btw, but it's just so tough to do living in the states. It's hard enough to follow cricket here, and I actually like it.

[ForeverHeat]

America is like the only country in the world (almost) that doesn't like football. There must be some reason why they differ from the rest of the world.

:coleman: And american guys, please don't start being like "its cause we smarter" or "we're awesome and ur f@gs". It makes ya'll look dumb.

[rufuspaul]

America is like the only country in the world (almost) that doesn't like football. There must be some reason why they differ from the rest of the world.

:coleman: And american guys, please don't start being like "its cause we smarter" or "we're awesome and ur f@gs". It makes ya'll look dumb.


:facepalm Try actually reading the thread next time.

[Godzuki]

America is like the only country in the world (almost) that doesn't like football. There must be some reason why they differ from the rest of the world.

:coleman: And american guys, please don't start being like "its cause we smarter" or "we're awesome and ur f@gs". It makes ya'll look dumb.


its more odd how so much of the world is so obsessed with soccer. played it my whole life and i don't even enjoy watching it much myself unless its world cup. even playing it isn't that fun, in fact i find basketball and tennis to be more fun to play. the other thing thats real annoying about soccer is you can't just go up the street and find a game any given day like basketball. oh and one last real annoying thing is skill levels have to all be high to work pretty passing games which isn't even remotely as crisp as the pros, even at college levels.

[ForeverHeat]

:facepalm Try actually reading the thread next time.

is u trying to say i created a thread, assumed what the posts would be, went to the last page and randomly posted something?

[johndeeregreen]

I believe that's what he are saying, yes.

[ForeverHeat]

I believe that's what he are saying, yes.

oh...took someone an hour and a half to point that out.

[tontoz]

People in the US aren't as hard up for entertainment. :lol

[jbot]

i don't ever drive by a park and see a group of people playing soccer. seems most that play it are girls and preppy people.

[jamal99]

America is like the only country in the world (almost) that doesn't like football. There must be some reason why they differ from the rest of the world.

:coleman: And american guys, please don't start being like "its cause we smarter" or "we're awesome and ur f@gs". It makes ya'll look dumb.
They did not start playing it first (didn't invent it).
They aren't good at it.

Those are the main reasons...

[niko]

i don't ever drive by a park and see a group of people playing soccer. seems most that play it are girls and preppy people.
I see people playing soccer all over in NYC. There are like three places i can get pick up games easy around me. And its all european and spanish. Some asian. Chinatown has some games sometime.

You see girls playing soccer in the park? Really? A bunch of girls having a soccer game?

[Godzuki]

I see people playing soccer all over in NYC. There are like three places i can get pick up games easy around me. And its all european and spanish. Some asian. Chinatown has some games sometime.

You see girls playing soccer in the park? Really? A bunch of girls having a soccer game?


yeah the only ones i see around my way are hispanics playing maybe a few days out of the week where you can roll up and play. some of them are in jeans tho :lol

[LBJMVP]

only time i've seen people playing soccer in a park is when it is pee wee league.

haha


soccer is fun to play... but i just can't watch the regular season.

when it comes to the world cup or some big tournament i love watching because the talent level is huge and there is nothing like rooting for you home country.


but seriously, baseball is the most boring sport to watch ever.
especially on tv.


also, espn always shits themselve over a diving catch.... it isn't that hard.

it literally happens every single day multiple times in the MLB and myself along with most of the planet who as atleast some kind of athleticism could make a diving catch.

not to mention these are professionals. give me a couple hours and i will make a hundred diving catches, yet there are such a big deal :lol

[ForeverHeat]

only time i've seen people playing soccer in a park is when it is pee wee league.

haha


soccer is fun to play... but i just can't watch the regular season.

when it comes to the world cup or some big tournament i love watching because the talent level is huge and there is nothing like rooting for you home country.


but seriously, baseball is the most boring sport to watch ever.
especially on tv.


also, espn always shits themselve over a diving catch.... it isn't that hard.

it literally happens every single day multiple times in the MLB and myself along with most of the planet who as atleast some kind of athleticism could make a diving catch.

not to mention these are professionals. give me a couple hours and i will make a hundred diving catches, yet there are such a big deal :lol

Wth is this

[Jackass18]

And soccer isnt just a bunch of idiots chasing each other around. My point wasnt to say thats what football is, it was to highlight your ignorance.. which we could see is true since you took offense to the comments I made that were exactly like your original comment.

I didn't say soccer was a bunch of idiots chasing each other around. How did you 'highlight my ignorance' at all? I laughed at your fat guys comment because it's clear you got all defensive about soccer.

[Balla_Status]

To the idiots generalizing soccer and saying it's just a bunch of kickball and flopping:


http://px9.funformobile.com/d/169/61/1fjdcjav7c/jsflop.gif

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/drayton-florence-flop.gif

http://www.sportsgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lebron-flop-2.gif

I guess that only covers the flopping bit. And seriously, football players are dying because of concussions received in football and having other brain issues as well (yes, this happens in soccer but girls soccer only). So if it's manly to be a zombie and have short term memory loss by 45, count me out.

For the scoring, that's fair. Even I get a bit bored sometimes watching soccer. And it's not pure luck to score either. Luck is when success meets opportunity. Great teams will create more opportunities to score than not so great teams.

And btw, desperation soccer is the best and most entertaining soccer out there. It's not always about the goals but the amount of chances, extra efforts and drama there is in some games.

To LJJ and the other foreign idiots saying US is butthurt we suck at soccer:

You're speaking english because it's required to if you want to be successful in this world. We're not the ones speaking another language. Why? Because USA's presence is the biggest in the world and is the most successful country out there. Only been around for a little over 225 years as well. Sorry brah.

Everybody has to speak english because of us. Suck it.

[johndeeregreen]

To the idiots generalizing soccer and saying it's just a bunch of kickball and flopping:

http://px9.funformobile.com/d/169/61/1fjdcjav7c/jsflop.gif

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/drayton-florence-flop.gif

http://www.sportsgeekery.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/lebron-flop-2.gif

To LJJ and the other foreign idiots saying US is butthurt we suck at soccer:

You're speaking english because it's required to if you want to be successful in this world. We're not the ones speaking another language. Why? Because USA's presence is the biggest in the world and is the most successful country out there. Only been around for a little over 225 years as well. Sorry brah.

Everybody has to speak english because of us. Suck it.
Those are awesome.:oldlol: D-Whistle obviously took Lebron aside and showed him the moves he needed to make to win championships.

[-p.tiddy-]

I love those NFL flops...:oldlol:


priceless

[rufuspaul]

Soccer finally comes out of the closet!

http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603/

[LJJ]

To LJJ and the other foreign idiots saying US is butthurt we suck at soccer:

You're speaking english because it's required to if you want to be successful in this world. We're not the ones speaking another language. Why? Because USA's presence is the biggest in the world and is the most successful country out there.


Yup, I can do a bit of English despite it not being native to me. I also have a decent tongue in German, French and Chinese in addition to my native language. Every single normal person in my country learns the basics of at least four languages in school, not only English. Many people learn more than four languages.

But yeah. "Durhurrr, I only knows the one language". Stay classy! That's definitely something to be proud of.

[nightprowler10]

Everybody has to speak english because of us. Suck it.
Yes, I'm sure the British, that occupied damn near everything in sight, had nothing to do with it.

[RidonKs]

flopping in soccer is easily above and beyond what you see in the nfl and nba. i've been watching the euros on behalf of my sister's brit bf and the frequency of even slight exaggeration is really awful. it doesn't suffer so much, imo anyway, from lacking clarity in rule interpretation the way the nba day with blocking/charging and the nfl occasionally with interference calls. but the actual flailing for dramatic effect? futball takes that in a cake walk

[-p.tiddy-]

yes flopping in the NFL is EXTREMELY rare...those are the only 2 I have ever seen even.

with the exception of the kicker after a feild goal, who flops no matter what if even slightly touched...but besides the kicker it is really really rare to see flops in the NFL.

[niko]

yeah the only ones i see around my way are hispanics playing maybe a few days out of the week where you can roll up and play. some of them are in jeans tho :lol
Because they play coming out of work often. The construction guys play as they walk home or if they can't find a job that day.

[niko]

Flopping is much worse in soccer. It's so bad that you don't mind it, it becomes normal and laughable at lot of the time. It's almost required. I remember in the Barcelona game, Drogba flopping all over and using it to control the pace, getting fouls, etc. It was part of his strategy. In the NBA and NFL (definitely not NFL) you can't do that.

[alenleomessi]

well i do agree that if you never played soccer as a kid, you will find it hard to get into it

[sunsfan1357]

yes flopping in the NFL is EXTREMELY rare...those are the only 2 I have ever seen even.

with the exception of the kicker after a feild goal, who flops no matter what if even slightly touched...but besides the kicker it is really really rare to see flops in the NFL.

Surprise, surprise. The only guy who flops is also the only guy whose job is to kick the ball with his foot.

[niko]

well i do agree that if you never played soccer as a kid, you will find it hard to get into it
Most sports are like that.

[qrich]

It still comes down to the amount of breaks along with the game not being promoted until recently, plain and simple. Less commercial time, less the corporations push it. Less breaks, less time people have to sit there and catch up to the game (be it mentally, a bathroom break, getting a soda, getting food). I mean, like I pointed out earlier, during one of the first MLS seasons that ESPN broadcasted, they would have a commercial play for 30 seconds or so and put PiP with the game being on a quarter of the screen. The 02 and 06 World Cups helped along with Beckham signing with the Galaxy (led to more MLS time, especially on the NBC Sports Network, which is actually an amazing channel along with more big names joining the league than ever before), the 2009 Confederations Cup run by the US and the dramatic 2010 World Cup (Dempsey's oops goal against England, Jozy's goal taken away for no reason, Donovan's shot heard around the world) has really helped the sport grow in the States and as a result you are seeing a numerous interest increase by the youth. A couple of kids I used to coach basketball for a few years back now play soccer full time and a couple of them are headed to Universities on full scholarships (CS Northridge, CS Fullerton, UCLA, ASU, UoA) so its getting up there.

If the MLS quality keeps improving and the US makes a solid 2014 World Cup run, I could see Soccer climbing as high as up to #3 on the US Team Sports chart behind Basketball and the NFL.


Flopping is much worse in soccer. It's so bad that you don't mind it, it becomes normal and laughable at lot of the time. It's almost required. I remember in the Barcelona game, Drogba flopping all over and using it to control the pace, getting fouls, etc. It was part of his strategy. In the NBA and NFL (definitely not NFL) you can't do that.

Meh, not disagreeing with you, but Sam Cassell sure controlled NBA games with his flopping, at least during his Clipper tenure.

[dunksby]

I love soccer but the issue of floppin has become very bad, I hope FIFA or UEFA decide to do something about it.

[nightprowler10]

It still comes down to the amount of breaks
That point falls flat when you think about how cricket's popularity faded in the early 1900s and no one in the US tried to promote until...hell even now. I don't think there's a sport that has more game breaks than cricket.

Unless you strictly meant promotion in the modern era.

[RidonKs]

Surprise, surprise. The only guy who flops is also the only guy whose job is to kick the ball with his foot.
:oldlol:

[AlonzoGOAT]

Why does it matter if someone doesn't like soccer op?

[ducktape]

soccer sucks because there is almost no scoring in such a damn long game and games in euros even had to be decided by penalty shootout

[niko]

It still comes down to the amount of breaks along with the game not being promoted until recently, plain and simple. Less commercial time, less the corporations push it. Less breaks, less time people have to sit there and catch up to the game (be it mentally, a bathroom break, getting a soda, getting food). I mean, like I pointed out earlier, during one of the first MLS seasons that ESPN broadcasted, they would have a commercial play for 30 seconds or so and put PiP with the game being on a quarter of the screen. The 02 and 06 World Cups helped along with Beckham signing with the Galaxy (led to more MLS time, especially on the NBC Sports Network, which is actually an amazing channel along with more big names joining the league than ever before), the 2009 Confederations Cup run by the US and the dramatic 2010 World Cup (Dempsey's oops goal against England, Jozy's goal taken away for no reason, Donovan's shot heard around the world) has really helped the sport grow in the States and as a result you are seeing a numerous interest increase by the youth. A couple of kids I used to coach basketball for a few years back now play soccer full time and a couple of them are headed to Universities on full scholarships (CS Northridge, CS Fullerton, UCLA, ASU, UoA) so its getting up there.

If the MLS quality keeps improving and the US makes a solid 2014 World Cup run, I could see Soccer climbing as high as up to #3 on the US Team Sports chart behind Basketball and the NFL.



Meh, not disagreeing with you, but Sam Cassell sure controlled NBA games with his flopping, at least during his Clipper tenure.

Soccer does ok in this country. It's just not MLS. If you count just MLS, it's not as good. But EPL, La Liga, World Cup, Euro 2012, Champions League, etc. all sell merchandise, get decent ratings and most importantly, draw good demographics so they can charge decent ad dollars. i bet if you added up all the soccer shown, it's not bad at all. They gave a pre superbowl spot to an EPL game.

[AllenIverson3]

bcuz theyre fat, ignorant, lazy, redneck, arrogant, eat chips,...did i mention they were fat?
who ****in cares