<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/r_SQ29UCl7o&hl=zh_CN&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/r_SQ29UCl7o&hl=zh_CN&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/richard-greener/why-americans-dont-like-s_b_632880.html
At this point, I don't care about convincing people anymore if they don't learn the rules of the game and resort to calling it "boring" because they don't understand what's happening. I wouldn't call cricket boring, but I don't understand what they're doing so it doesn't interest me. The complaint about scoring comes from a completely different mindset. In soccer a goal is the ultimate release. Everything has lead up to that point and there's no better sense of euphoria or crushing blow if it's against you. Compare that to a first quarter touchdown; they're almost routine and the only time you really get that sense of drama in football is toward the end of a close game. Scoring in our traditional sports is a constant and therefore, never unexpected. I'd liken a goal in soccer to chipping away at a dam. It takes a ton of work, but the rush that hits you afterward is stronger than anything you could have prepared for.
People like they games they are socialized to like by their parents and peer groups. It's the shared passion, a shared sense of purpose and achievement that is the attraction, not the mechanics of the game. So,whether soccer sucks or not depends on if you are emotionally invested in it. If your identity evolved with your local soccer team or nation's soccer team I'm sure it's a great spectator sport.
Blah blah blah. The guy is regurgitating the same tired points against soccer everyone else has. First and foremost, the goals scored issue. Do you realize how little a person actually scores in American Football. If we made goals in soccer 7 points, and near goals a point Americans would be entertained? Not likely. This point is flat and stupid. Soccer is beyond most Americans mainly because it isn't something that is really played as a kid. Sports fans are kids who grew up playing sports. We watch and are in awe mainly because we wish we could do it. When you don't play soccer you don't appreciate it. In the end, the real villain against soccer is the advertising industry. If I'm an ad company and I wanna place an ad, my ad wouldn't even show up on soccer. When it comes to football, basketball, baseball, even golf there are breaks, time outs and such. This gives advertisers the ability to broadcast a full length commercial, rather than some banner ad like web site. Hell, half the reason people watch the superbowl is the ads! In the end, if soccer could somehow accrue the same funding all other sports in this country get, this wouldn't even be a conversation.
Ties are boring, sorry they just are. Also, Europe sucks and is gay. We need to stay less like Europe as possible. In real football the players gather pray if a player is injured. In gay euro "football" they get up immediately after their fake injury. Americans wont put up with that crap and rightly so. <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/w5tt_D4PFYk&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/w5tt_D4PFYk&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object> <object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/6GZH3z0Ah3E&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/6GZH3z0Ah3E&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
I don't know if they're boring, but I would say disappointing. However, they are at least fair. As opposed to football's unfair joke of a tie-breaking system (which has at least gotten a little better). I think this is the #1 reason soccer wont' catch on. Good ole American elitism. Agree with this completely as well as a lot of soccer-supporting Americans. As I recall even the coach of the USA said something needs to be done to clean up all the flopping that goes on.
Why are so many Americans like this? Yeah you can give me the "cause we're better" response, but really? ARE WE BETTER? I'm almost positive we're not, at least not at everything. And there's a chance their sport you called "gay euro football" might be pretty damn fun if people gave it a chance.
Besides the flopping that is so prevalent (but just as prevalent in basketball), the only beef I have with soccer is that it can end in a tie. No sport should EVER end in a tie. What's the point of playing if no one wins?
I'm a huge soccer fan (I am from overseas, duh!), but I definitely agree that watching soccer is boring and frustrating as hell. This game is plagued by time wasting, diving, pointless passing, and just plain ridiculous lack of action. Scoring is too hard to do, and most of the time it's just a direct result of a lucky bounce. Diving/flopping absolutely kill this sport. And it's so instilled in the current players that it's basically impossible to get rid of. My favorite team is the Netherlands, been a fan for 10 years, but in general European teams are so strategic and defensively oriented that it's just plain boring. The most entertaining team to watch is brazil, they're wizards with the ball and they truly put on a show from the beginning to the end of every game. However, they've been consistently coming up short against boring ass defensive teams because they'd rather play fun beautiful soccer as opposed to defending like crazy then scoring on counter attacks. All in all, this game is not what it used to be. Excessive planning and strategy combined with ridiculous flopping are suffocating what used to be an awesome game. On a lighter note, I'd like to leave you with this slightly inappropriate but hilarious video: <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yBkbj_S3etY&hl=en_US&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yBkbj_S3etY&hl=en_US&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
Well, penalty kicks don’t determine who is the better soccer team, only who is luckier. Might as well flip a coin. So, yeah, let the 90 minutes determine if there’s a winner, or no winner.
It's funny that AMERICAN FOOTBALL uses a "foot" only during "special" teams. There's flopping EVERYWHERE. Tom Brady cries if he doesn't get a call about getting pushed even though it's supposed to be a contact sport. Also, quit complaining about flopping until NFL teams stop wearing pads. Because you're playing for points, sir, in a tournament... Soccer has the one and only true WORLD CHAMPION in a true WORLD competition. No other sport can call the ending champion that when there are real elimination rounds and qualifiers. I bet you the Shanghai Sharks could beat the Los Angeles Clippers.
I would watch it if those fellas would just pick up the ball and run with it... or something. I know absolutely nothing about lacrosse, but I'll watch it because it's a damn cool game with lots of action. I know even less about team handball, but I'll watch it because it's exciting with lots of action. I am utterly clueless about water polo, but I'll still watch it if nothing else is on because it's kind of cool with lots of (though slower) action. Those three sports are as close as I'll get to watching soccer, which is an absurd sport... lots of little guys running around a ginormous field, all trying not to use their hands. Seriously, what sport doesn't allow the use of hands? It's downright unAmerican to play a game without hands when hard-working American hands built this great country. Furthermore, soccer is a Communist invention designed to brainwash our boys and prevent them from exercising their God-given right to hit somebody on the real Football field. (I'll file this post for a repeat in 4 years when there's another thread about why Americans don't give a damn about the World Cup.) And as far as the biggest thread nonsense... First, that thread went on forever. Second, the top ten posters in that thread accounted for well over 1/3 of the total posts and the top 20 posters in that thread accounted for over half of the total posts. Third, I bet there were a bunch of photos of soccer babes in there and babes pad the stats of any thread. So, don't pretend that thread was some societal watershed where soccer became king... it was mostly a handful of soccer geeks talking shop for two+ months.
