That last attempted post got all fucked up. But, they say stuff like “You just don’t understand the intricacies and strategy of the sport.” News flash: Soccer is basically hockey without the ice. Manuever a ball (or puck) through your opponents’ defense and try to put it in the goal. There are major differences, but that is the basic jist. So why do are Americans more interested in hockey than soccer? Simple, because its been a popular sport in the US for about 50 years now. The only reason that soccer is not popular in America is because no one was playing much of it before so who cares? It has nothing to do with attention spans or not understanding. We have four major sports that we like better and plenty of other fringe sports that are competing with soccer for our time and money. We don’t bitch when other people don’t like baseball or football. We don’t care if you don’t like it. Why the hell should we have to like your sport? Quit moaning because soccer is popular everywhere but here. For example, soccer and baseball are both pretty boring but in America most people would prefer to spend an evening watching baseball. The reasons are simple. There are over 100 years of baseball being the national pastime. There is history and just about ever little kid in the country played baseball when they were growing up. Its just different in other countries. All these countries bitch about the US saying the world is becoming “Americanized.” America is stealing their culture or replacing their culture. But they just want us to love soccer like they do. It doesn’t make sense. I guarantee that if soccer became a major sport here and America won a few World Cups, all these people would be complaining about how the US stole “their” game and they’d want to go back to the good old days when we got wiped out in the first round of the Cup. Soccer is not very popular here and I don’t think it ever will be. We may never win the World Cup and we may never care. And you’ll never here us complaining that some goofy-toothed bastard in England just doesn’t understand the intricacies and strategy of baseball.
Soccer is okay once in a while, but the game is played at too poor of a pace.
Some of the teams push the ball at the net, but about 85% of the play is layed back position jockeying. That shit will never fly in North America. We are getting sick and tired of baseball’s old ass too.
The NHL is another example of a game (although it does have more inate physical intensity) that is just not played as well as it could be. Compared to the Oly hocky that we all saw this year, the NHL is dull and goonish. I like the hitting that can happen, but the whole game is a mess, too much foul play. It would be more popular if it was played a little more crisply, and it has been around for over 75 years.
Soccer could catch on, but not when 2-1 is a shootout. Especially in such a girly no contact game.
All right guys I don’t blame you for making little snide comments about soccer and Americans. Hey if that was the only sport we Americans were good at, I would probably do the same. It’s good to be patriotic. But please no bullshit about how Americans don’t have long attention spans or can’t understand this or that. That implies that we are lazy and ignorant. Remember that you owe just about every modern convenience that you use to our creativity, inguenuity, and knowledge. We dominate every sport we care remotely about. Soccer would be no exception. If we cared, you could compete for 2nd or 3rd place. On a personal note, I played soccer for several years and enjoyed it. I like watching you guys have your inter-Europe rivalaries. It looks like fun. So a suggestion to you, have fun, enjoy what you do, and don’t try to irritate us. If you do, then all you’ll have is Cricket.
Soccer will never make big here in the USA because it is a very boring sport. It certainly doesn’t take much intelligence to try and kick a ball in a net. Baseball, Football(the real one from the USA), Hockey and Basketball are sports that do take intelligence to play which is the reason they are so popular in the States.
Jochen, a country’s sport preferences reflect its strenghts and values. We whipped your country twice in two world wars. Shouldn’t you be the one to reasses your country’s sport preferences, rather than entertaining your revanchist fantasies?
Just to say hello from Germany to pfndog (Germany 8-0 Saudi) suck on it, were gonna win this world cup.
Enough of that anyway, I think this debate is a non-starter and to my German brothers to respect our American hosts. Soccer is clearly not going to be big over there and the word from the street confirms this with the hatred shown towords soccer. Since 94 all I have heard is soccer is growing fast in the States but it’s all bullshit and reasontly the MLS is starting to fall on it’s ass. Anyway I think it’s cool that were different beacuse America is another world compared to Europe and who wants every nation to be the same anyway?? American culture, sports, way of life, it’s all good and it certainly compliments life in Germany and I hope to visit one day and sample the American dream.
Baseball and Football has a rich history in America just like soccer does in Europe so if it’s what your old man played chances are it’s what your gonna play/watch to.
Ok this thread represents some of the most ignorant conversation ive seen on this board in a while.
Heres some of whats been said
- soccer doesnt take intelligence
- Soccer players are inferior athletes
- soccer players arent as coordinated as other athletes
- soccer is a “poor mans” sport
- soccer is basically hockey
All of these comments are completely ignorant and entirely unintelligent. For one, soccer has as much strategy or more that most american sports. How much intelligence does it take to play most football positions? They have a whole set of plays and get to huddle after about 8 seconds of play. Your comments make me sick. Good soccer play takes a lot of thinking and making smart plays. If basketball players could think about making great plays they wouldnt need a timeout every 20 seconds in the final minutes of the game.
Also, soccer players go for 45 minutes strait with only 2 subs per game, no timeouts, and no huddles. They have a lot of endurance. And i think purplehosh won the battle for supreme ignorance when he said that by not using your hands it took away from the athletic ability. Soccer players have some of the best foot/leg coordination and abilities of any athletes.
Ok- and soccer is basically hockey? Well hockey players sub their entire team about every 2 minutes. So i guess hockey players are inferior athletes? No- if I said that I would be just as ignorant as all of you dumb american bitches who are ragging on soccer. I know hockey is a little more intense, and that is just how hockey is played, with subs.
Anyway this entire thread is making me sick. I didnt think people on this board were so dumb. If you dont understand or like the sport, just shut the fuck up and stop being so ignorant to the fact that it is just as legit of an athletic competition as any other. This kind of stuff makes me ashamed to live in The US.
-Jason
Listen this guy came on this board with the typical soccer rant. I personally find it boring and uninteresting. I have no attention problems nor do I lack intelligence.
I’ve found that any sport at the high levels requires strategy and thought. Be it NASCAR, the Ironman, powerlifting, the X games, whatever the sport. Americans don’t like it and don’t care about it. Who cares if we don’t find it as popular?
I’ve heard the soccer arguementsfor over 25 years now. It’s the next biggest thing!, it’s safer, People have to run more blah blah. If you like it play it! My big concern is that you have the ability to pay when you come to my office. Why do the soccer fans have this need for us to like the game. Sounds like a little insecurity.
The biggest sporting event in the world and still Americans try to tell us otherwise. the world cup is on right now, its the biggest and greatest sporting event in the world, if any of you want to argue just go turn on the tv’s that you cant take your eyes off and take it all in. the rest of the world doesnt care that america doesnt even have a clue, in case you havent worked that out since say, the begining of the game. and oh yes we arent good at anything except soccer, especilly the Germans, they only finished first at the winter olympics in your own country, if only soccer was a winter sport… what a stoopid mentallity, you are part of somthing that is great and you only look at every little negative, you ruin it for yourselfs. come to think of it, for the siz eof your population you really arent that good at anything outside America.
Well Jason obviously you know very little about Football and Hockey! How much intelligence does it take to play most football positions how about alot of intelligence. Have you ever played organized Football? I think not because you would know that it takes a lot of study to learn the hundreds of plays that you need to know. Do you know how to read a defense when you are at the line of scrimmage, probably not! How about when your quarterback calls an audible at the line of scrimmage, do you know the play, well you’d better or the play won’t work. But I guess that doesn’t take intelligence. As for hockey, they change shifts after 30seconds or a little more. Why? Because it is physically demanding. Have you ever played a shift I’d bet you didn’t. BTW hockey has many many plays that need to be learned. So before you get up on your soap box why don’t you go out and play these sports instead of the only sissy sport you can play!
My gosh, such hostility. Methinks the soccer zanies are frustrated and have to “kick” us soccer haters. The bottom line: soccer is B-O-R-I-N-G!!!I agree with the poster (from Europe) who said you like what you’ve played growing up and basketball is king for me.
I truly do try to watch the world cup every few years to see if my tastes have changed but its still boring. Plus, the dives these pussies take to try to get fouled. Puhleeze!
One other thing: why, during free kicks do the defenders place their hands where their balls are supposed to be? I could understand if they had cajones to protect, but really!!
Nobody’s telling you that it’s not the biggest sporting event in the world, Scheisskopf, only that Americans by and large don’t give a hoot. There are a variety of reasons for this, but the most poignant is simply that most Amercians don’t play soccer, so they don’t appreciate it, and they don’t give a shit about it.
I really don’t think that it is an accomplishment to “beat the Americans” in the Olympics. Your Ministry of the Interior actively supports and pays German athletes as part of its regular duties. (from www.bund.de: “The Federal Minister of the Interior promotes sports. The success of Germany’s top athletes would not be possible without financial support.”) We do not – our government has nothing to do with our Olympic teams. If we ever decided to make the Olympic sports a federalized national priority, as they are in Australia or Germany, the Olympics would become suddenly un-fun for the rest of the world. As it is the vast majority of our athletes pay their own way and work regular jobs on top of their training to even make it to the Olympics. A select few are able to solicit corporate private sponsorships to facilitate their training, but this almost never happens in winter sports. Why? Most winter sports enjoy little fame and almost no exposure here.
As for us not being good at anything outside of our country based on population, Viktor… Um… I think it is perhaps time to go back to your remedial English classes. I am willing to bet that you didn’t mean to say that. If you did, then it might be time to lay off the Wein, Bier, und Schnapps and come back to Planet Earth.
I hate to break it to you guys, but soccer’s popularity is increasing every year, (soccer fields are replacing basball fields, and there is actually a shotage of soccer fields) and it is only a mattter of time till it overtakes other sports. The better the U.S. does in the cup, the more popular it gets also here on the west coast, the influx of Latin American people has greatly elevated the sport. Another thing to consider, is the budget shortfalls affecting public schools. Soccer is a cheap sport, equipment wise, which makes it a more economical choice for schools. Love it or hate it, its not going away, and its future looks very bright.
Wow, lets all have a hissy fit!! So what if soccer is a poor mans sport, that is one of the reasons for its worldwide popularity, same as cricket in India / West Indies, all you need is basic items that can be found or made easily. Which sport is best or more skillful? Same as which is better Dave Tate or Ian King, it’s personal opinion. As for soccer players not being athletes, we all accept how tough Renegade training is, Coach Davies background is actually with a lot of … soccer teams!
at least when the thread started, it was assholes making reasonable points and arguments. now it’s just turned into assholes being assholes.
If you read my post closely you wouldve noticed I did not say that subbing made hockey inferior. As far as football, you may be right, but I doubt that being an offensive lineman takes as much intelligence as playing soccer, but I could be wrong. The point is that a lot of people said a lot of dumb things about soccer being inferior. My point is that its not inferior. If people think its boring, thats one thing, thats their own opinion, but its not an inferior athletic endeavor.
-Jason
Jason, about the offensive lineman comment, don’t talk out of your ass. I have stayed away from this thread b/c the only soccer I’ve played was in P.E. and I am not really qualified(IMO) to speak about it. You just said yourself(in so many words) that you didn’t know about playing offensive line but still felt compelled to compare its mental difficulty to soccer. The problem with almost every post in this thread is that people are not realizing that they are talking out of their ass. Not sure who is more guilty of this. Most posters here have only played one group of sports(I say group but its really been soccer against US sports) and thats the problem along with the same people being unrelenting assholes in their love of their sports. I can’t say which sport is harder in any way. I don’t really know why soccer never caught on over here. But I do know that there wouldn’t have been anywhere near as many pissed off American posters if the original poster hadn’t said:
“I have a therory that Americans hate soccer because they are no damn good at it and only watch sporting events if they can win um, please correct me if i’m wrong.”
Whether or not he meant it as a joke I don’t know, but I personally can’t stand it when people poke fun(about anything) and then say “its just a joke and don’t take it too hard” when some guys take it to heart. I consider it an asshole way of backing out. My post is getting too long so later.
If you read Ko’s comment you see what i’m talking about. All this ‘it’s getting better every year bullshit’ is starting to get boring. Have you read the comments in the forum?, soccer is hated to an intense degree with some people. So if soccer is getting so big why is the MLS stuggling for audiences?. Can I remind you that the US actually hosted a world cup in 94 and If a world cup cannot kick start soccer nothing can. The people playing on the soccer fields in America are the latin Americans just like in England the people who play cricket are the Asians. Just get your facts right in future don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining!!
Viktor, envy of the United States is as natural is it is widespread. We have so many reasons to be proud. Our form of government has transformed the planet. Monarchies are essentially dead. Communism is on the run. Most countries of the world now have some sort of representative government. Our military might is unparalled in the history of the planet. Our economy dwarfs entire REGIONS. As redman pointed out, our Olympians are grossly underfunded. We still manage to dominate the Summer Olympics nearly every time. If I am not mistaken, we were second in the total medal count in the Winter Olympics. Not to mention, that our professional sporting leagues span a large portion of the planet. We have stretched the boundaries of science to herefore unimaginable lengths. Our flag flies on the moon. Our probes have either landed on or flown by every planet but Pluto. We have championed the rights of man more consistently and effectively than any other power in the history of the world. Our culture and mores are the glory of the human race. I have never been more proud to be an American.
I can easily imagine a citizen of Rome giving a speech along the same lines a hundred years or so before the Rome republic collapsed.