What’s worse….a soccer match ending 0-0 or a twelve round boxing match going to decision? (1 Viewer)

[KarmaPolice]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

 

[General Malaise]

The opinion that number of points somehow equals excitement or quality of play is objectively wrong.

This is illuminating.

I think it's more reasonable to accept some people value things differently than other people.

I know lots of people who tie points scored to how much they enjoy a game or the experience. I may not agree with them. But I'm willing to accept they have a different opinion.

I agree. I am more fascinated as to why soccer is always brought up in these type of threads. Who cares who likes what? Enjoy what ever sport you like. The weird jealously that some people have that they don't enjoy soccer and can't understand why anyone else could is so odd to me.

I could not even imagine starting a thread, that would likely go on forever, entitled "Tell me all the things that suck in baseball". I don't like the sport, so I don't bother. It feels like the ever dwindling numbers of people who don't like soccer are almost threatened by its continual growth in the US.

I haven’t watched a second, doubt I will. It does seem like it’s “forced” on us, kind of like the Olympics. I see both sides of it, I just leave it be.

What does "forced" mean? The US TV rights are in the Billions of dollars. The US tv audiences are in the multi millions.

In what way is a TV station who is drawing in a ton of viewers to the game to help pay for the massive TV contract forcing anyone to watch?

Does the NBA force you to watch because they televise games? Does the NFL?

I don't watch a minute of the Olympics and have never felt forced to.

This makes absolutely no sense to me. There are literally endless choices on American tv. I can't in anyway see how any one could ever be forced to watch something they don't want with the amount of choices we have.

Anecdotal but I went to Buffalo Wildwings at 130pm on Monday after US/Whales and the bartender and young manager were shell shocked when they arrived to open the place at 10am and there was a line waiting to get in. This is a suburb town 15 miles from city center Portland. They said there wasn't an empty chair in the bar and the dining room was packed. They weren't prepared for this at all. Had to beg staff to come in.

The appetite for soccer is booming here. I think it's only going to increase as the USMNT gels ahead of '26.

 

[General Malaise]

I can think of nothing that is worse than watching a 90 plus minute sporting event where neither team scores a point.

Such an odd take that I will never understand. A 0-0 game is a tie game that can more often than not be incredibly tense and exciting to watch. For every goal, there could be an equal amount of incredible saves or defensive plays. It’s the 3-0 games that I tend to lose interest in. A 0-0 soccer game is not the equivalent of the Jets playing the Texans on a Thursday night.

Also, the number of commercial timeouts in American sports is ridiculous now. A team scores, commercial timeout. Then they kickoff, another timeout. On and on. It’s terrible. Give me a 0-0 soccer game every time.

So much this, especially in soccer as the defense clamps down and pace slows. Some of the best games I've seen are 0-0 games.

Dead on about the commercials. I can't stand watching football anymore. 10sec play (if you are lucky), long wait, 10csec play, commercials break, come back- still in review, go to commercials. Yes I am being hyperbolic, but after it became more and more obvious how little action there is in a football game, it was less enjoyable to watch.

It's no fun being a fan in the stands for televised college football games either. Instead of watching Dr. Pepper and Progressive Insurance infomercials we have to mill around like dolts watching a giant red clock count down the time before the commercial break is over. Awful.

 

[General Malaise]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

It's more than small....we are a front running country. It'll be "our" team in '26. Hopefully kit makers start work on XXXL sizes now...

 

[Dickies]

I love how 0-0 soccer matches are “boring” yet 0-0 pitching duels are always considered great games.

In before “baseball sucks too”

I like them both

 

[NewlyRetired]

The opinion that number of points somehow equals excitement or quality of play is objectively wrong.

This is illuminating.

I think it's more reasonable to accept some people value things differently than other people.

I know lots of people who tie points scored to how much they enjoy a game or the experience. I may not agree with them. But I'm willing to accept they have a different opinion.

I agree. I am more fascinated as to why soccer is always brought up in these type of threads. Who cares who likes what? Enjoy what ever sport you like. The weird jealously that some people have that they don't enjoy soccer and can't understand why anyone else could is so odd to me.

I could not even imagine starting a thread, that would likely go on forever, entitled "Tell me all the things that suck in baseball". I don't like the sport, so I don't bother. It feels like the ever dwindling numbers of people who don't like soccer are almost threatened by its continual growth in the US.

I haven’t watched a second, doubt I will. It does seem like it’s “forced” on us, kind of like the Olympics. I see both sides of it, I just leave it be.

What does "forced" mean? The US TV rights are in the Billions of dollars. The US tv audiences are in the multi millions.

In what way is a TV station who is drawing in a ton of viewers to the game to help pay for the massive TV contract forcing anyone to watch?

Does the NBA force you to watch because they televise games? Does the NFL?

I don't watch a minute of the Olympics and have never felt forced to.

This makes absolutely no sense to me. There are literally endless choices on American tv. I can't in anyway see how any one could ever be forced to watch something they don't want with the amount of choices we have.

Anecdotal but I went to Buffalo Wildwings at 130pm on Monday after US/Whales and the bartender and young manager were shell shocked when they arrived to open the place at 10am and there was a line waiting to get in. This is a suburb town 15 miles from city center Portland. They said there wasn't an empty chair in the bar and the dining room was packed. They weren't prepared for this at all. Had to beg staff to come in.

The appetite for soccer is booming here. I think it's only going to increase as the USMNT gels ahead of '26.

I can only recommend to the people who hate the sport that they may want to go on a month long vacation in 2026 because they are going to be overwhelmed.

 

[massraider]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

You know what took me a long time to wrap my head around?
The fans who were excited about a tournament they had almost zero shot of winning. That was very cool, the fans who have different expectations. Very Un-American

 

[Joe Bryant]

I agree. I am more fascinated as to why soccer is always brought up in these type of threads. Who cares who likes what? Enjoy what ever sport you like. The weird jealously that some people have that they don't enjoy soccer and can't understand why anyone else could is so odd to me.

I could not even imagine starting a thread, that would likely go on forever, entitled "Tell me all the things that suck in baseball". I don't like the sport, so I don't bother. It feels like the ever dwindling numbers of people who don't like soccer are almost threatened by its continual growth in the US.

I don't see that as much. I see more people who push back when told their opinion on what they find entertaining is "objectively wrong". I think that's where most of the push back comes from.

What I find super interesting is how different people like different things. I think the diversity there is good and also interesting.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Anecdotal but I went to Buffalo Wildwings at 130pm on Monday after US/Whales and the bartender and young manager were shell shocked when they arrived to open the place at 10am and there was a line waiting to get in. This is a suburb town 15 miles from city center Portland. They said there wasn't an empty chair in the bar and the dining room was packed. They weren't prepared for this at all. Had to beg staff to come in.

The appetite for soccer is booming here. I think it's only going to increase as the USMNT gels ahead of '26.

That just seems incredible or a bartender / manager just woefully inexperienced. I live in East Tennessee where Football rules the world but our bars are packed for World Cup games.

 

[Joe Bryant]

Back on the diversity thing on what I find interesting:

Lots of NFL fans will (and have this year) bemoaned the lack of points scored. And I don't think it's just a fantasy football thing. In the overall talk of the game, low scoring games are described as "bad football."

A 45-48 back and forth Chiefs-Bills game is seen as great.

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

Basketball seems sort of the same. A 88-86 game is seen as "better" than a 48-46 game.

Baseball is a bit more mixed. Some folks like a pitcher's duel 2-1 game but way more prefer lots of scoring.

I'm 100% cool with fans liking what they like.

I just find the differences interesting.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

The opinion that number of points somehow equals excitement or quality of play is objectively wrong.

This is illuminating.

I think it's more reasonable to accept some people value things differently than other people.

I know lots of people who tie points scored to how much they enjoy a game or the experience. I may not agree with them. But I'm willing to accept they have a different opinion.

I agree. I am more fascinated as to why soccer is always brought up in these type of threads. Who cares who likes what? Enjoy what ever sport you like. The weird jealously that some people have that they don't enjoy soccer and can't understand why anyone else could is so odd to me.

I could not even imagine starting a thread, that would likely go on forever, entitled "Tell me all the things that suck in baseball". I don't like the sport, so I don't bother. It feels like the ever dwindling numbers of people who don't like soccer are almost threatened by its continual growth in the US.

I haven’t watched a second, doubt I will. It does seem like it’s “forced” on us, kind of like the Olympics. I see both sides of it, I just leave it be.

“Forced”? I mean they do put it on my TV, but I don’t have to watch it.

 

[NewlyRetired]

Anecdotal but I went to Buffalo Wildwings at 130pm on Monday after US/Whales and the bartender and young manager were shell shocked when they arrived to open the place at 10am and there was a line waiting to get in. This is a suburb town 15 miles from city center Portland. They said there wasn't an empty chair in the bar and the dining room was packed. They weren't prepared for this at all. Had to beg staff to come in.

The appetite for soccer is booming here. I think it's only going to increase as the USMNT gels ahead of '26.

That just seems incredible or a bartender / manager just woefully inexperienced. I live in East Tennessee where Football rules the world but our bars are packed for World Cup games.

especially so considering that is the Portland area, one of the long time hot beds for soccer in the US.

 

[NewlyRetired]

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

to be extremely clear here, what soccer fans are saying is that the score line does not define the excitement level.

There are 0-0 soccer games that are awful, and there are 0-0 soccer games where you can't take a breath.

What happens in the game defines the excitement level, not just the score line.

 

[bigbottom]

I can think of nothing that is worse than watching a 90 plus minute sporting event where neither team scores a point.

Such an odd take that I will never understand. A 0-0 game is a tie game that can more often than not be incredibly tense and exciting to watch. For every goal, there could be an equal amount of incredible saves or defensive plays. It’s the 3-0 games that I tend to lose interest in. A 0-0 soccer game is not the equivalent of the Jets playing the Texans on a Thursday night.

Also, the number of commercial timeouts in American sports is ridiculous now. A team scores, commercial timeout. Then they kickoff, another timeout. On and on. It’s terrible. Give me a 0-0 soccer game every time.

So much this, especially in soccer as the defense clamps down and pace slows. Some of the best games I've seen are 0-0 games.

Dead on about the commercials. I can't stand watching football anymore. 10sec play (if you are lucky), long wait, 10csec play, commercials break, come back- still in review, go to commercials. Yes I am being hyperbolic, but after it became more and more obvious how little action there is in a football game, it was less enjoyable to watch.

I was at a watch party for the US game yesterday. There were about 20 people there total. I watch Patriot games with this same group. No one in the group moved for the entire first half. All eyes on the screen. For the Patriots game, it is like grand central station of people getting up, moving around, talking, getting food, going to the bath room, because there is so much dead time to fill.

I am not saying one is better than the other, but the contrast was stark.

I’m not sure if this is a sport thing (no down time) or a cultural thing, but I’ve been to a number of European soccer games in person and almost no one in the stands is on their phone. And if you do happen to see a phone, it’s because someone is filming the action.

 

[bigbottom]

I can think of nothing that is worse than watching a 90 plus minute sporting event where neither team scores a point.

Such an odd take that I will never understand. A 0-0 game is a tie game that can more often than not be incredibly tense and exciting to watch. For every goal, there could be an equal amount of incredible saves or defensive plays. It’s the 3-0 games that I tend to lose interest in. A 0-0 soccer game is not the equivalent of the Jets playing the Texans on a Thursday night.

Also, the number of commercial timeouts in American sports is ridiculous now. A team scores, commercial timeout. Then they kickoff, another timeout. On and on. It’s terrible. Give me a 0-0 soccer game every time.

So much this, especially in soccer as the defense clamps down and pace slows. Some of the best games I've seen are 0-0 games.

Dead on about the commercials. I can't stand watching football anymore. 10sec play (if you are lucky), long wait, 10csec play, commercials break, come back- still in review, go to commercials. Yes I am being hyperbolic, but after it became more and more obvious how little action there is in a football game, it was less enjoyable to watch.

It's no fun being a fan in the stands for televised college football games either. Instead of watching Dr. Pepper and Progressive Insurance infomercials we have to mill around like dolts watching a giant red clock count down the time before the commercial break is over. Awful.

Agree 100%. The time outs when watching college football in person are brutal.

 

[Desert_Power]

especially so considering that is the Portland area, one of the long time hot beds for soccer in the US.

It's a BWW, keep the expectations low.

 

[ghostguy123]

The main thing that I think non-soccer fans don’t “get” is that fans of soccer enjoy the performance and the art almost as much as the goals. It’s a tad unique in sports, especially when compared with football, basketball and baseball (to a lesser degree, as folks enjoy great pitching). Virtually nobody is saying - my god, did you see the footwork and balance from that offensive lineman on that play!! But similar happens in every match for soccer people.

And by “get”, I’m not saying they don’t understand the idea but rather they don’t have the same level of appreciation and enjoyment.

And here I thought fans love to go to those games so they can murder the their own team and the refs if they lose.

 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender]

Back on the diversity thing on what I find interesting:

Lots of NFL fans will (and have this year) bemoaned the lack of points scored. And I don't think it's just a fantasy football thing. In the overall talk of the game, low scoring games are described as "bad football."

A 45-48 back and forth Chiefs-Bills game is seen as great.

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

Basketball seems sort of the same. A 88-86 game is seen as "better" than a 48-46 game.

Baseball is a bit more mixed. Some folks like a pitcher's duel 2-1 game but way more prefer lots of scoring.

I'm 100% cool with fans liking what they like.

I just find the differences interesting.

I don’t agree with this premise at all. It’s far more nuanced than that.

There are high scoring football games that are well played and others that are poorly played, and there are low scoring football games that are both very well played or very poor. If you watch enough of them over time you can tell the differences.

It’s the exact same thing with soccer. I’ve seen 5-4 matches that were very poorly played, and 0-0 matches that were gripping and high quality.

But sports is viewed through the lens of entertainment by most, so offense will always be equated by most casuals to mean “better”.

To equate it to FF, I’m convinced it’s why PPR has taken off. People will try to rationalize it as “it gives more value to WRs” or whatever, but at its core it’s “more pointz = good!”

 

[Dickies]

Back on the diversity thing on what I find interesting:

Lots of NFL fans will (and have this year) bemoaned the lack of points scored. And I don't think it's just a fantasy football thing. In the overall talk of the game, low scoring games are described as "bad football."

A 45-48 back and forth Chiefs-Bills game is seen as great.

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

Basketball seems sort of the same. A 88-86 game is seen as "better" than a 48-46 game.

Baseball is a bit more mixed. Some folks like a pitcher's duel 2-1 game but way more prefer lots of scoring.

I'm 100% cool with fans liking what they like.

I just find the differences interesting.

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I also don’t buy that the scoring in soccer is as low as American football fans like to complain it is. American football inflates the point value of each score by a factor of 7 which makes a lot of games seem higher scoring than they are. The Eagles-Colts game that I watched last week with one of my neighbors had him saying what a great game it was despite there being 3 touchdowns in a 3.5 hour game. We also watched the US-Wales tie 1-1and he complained the whole time that there isn’t enough scoring despite the fact that the game was over in under two hours.

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Back on the diversity thing on what I find interesting:

Lots of NFL fans will (and have this year) bemoaned the lack of points scored. And I don't think it's just a fantasy football thing. In the overall talk of the game, low scoring games are described as "bad football."

A 45-48 back and forth Chiefs-Bills game is seen as great.

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

Basketball seems sort of the same. A 88-86 game is seen as "better" than a 48-46 game.

Baseball is a bit more mixed. Some folks like a pitcher's duel 2-1 game but way more prefer lots of scoring.

I'm 100% cool with fans liking what they like.

I just find the differences interesting.

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I also don’t buy that the scoring in soccer is as low as American football fans like to complain it is. American football inflates the point value of each score by a factor of 7 which makes a lot of games seem higher scoring than they are. The Eagles-Colts game that I watched last week with one of my neighbors had him saying what a great game it was despite there being 3 touchdowns in a 3.5 hour game. We also watched the US-Wales tie 1-1and he complained the whole time that there isn’t enough scoring despite the fact that the game was over in under two hours.

Solution: Make goals 6 points apiece, with a one point penalty kick to follow.

 

[massraider]

Back on the diversity thing on what I find interesting:

Lots of NFL fans will (and have this year) bemoaned the lack of points scored. And I don't think it's just a fantasy football thing. In the overall talk of the game, low scoring games are described as "bad football."

A 45-48 back and forth Chiefs-Bills game is seen as great.

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

Basketball seems sort of the same. A 88-86 game is seen as "better" than a 48-46 game.

Baseball is a bit more mixed. Some folks like a pitcher's duel 2-1 game but way more prefer lots of scoring.

I'm 100% cool with fans liking what they like.

I just find the differences interesting.

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I also don’t buy that the scoring in soccer is as low as American football fans like to complain it is. American football inflates the point value of each score by a factor of 7 which makes a lot of games seem higher scoring than they are. The Eagles-Colts game that I watched last week with one of my neighbors had him saying what a great game it was despite there being 3 touchdowns in a 3.5 hour game. We also watched the US-Wales tie 1-1and he complained the whole time that there isn’t enough scoring despite the fact that the game was over in under two hours.

Solution: Make goals 6 points apiece, with a one point penalty kick to follow.

And commercials. Add commercials

 

[BassNBrew]

I can think of nothing that is worse than watching a 90 plus minute sporting event where neither team scores a point.

Such an odd take that I will never understand. A 0-0 game is a tie game that can more often than not be incredibly tense and exciting to watch. For every goal, there could be an equal amount of incredible saves or defensive plays. It’s the 3-0 games that I tend to lose interest in. A 0-0 soccer game is not the equivalent of the Jets playing the Texans on a Thursday night.

Also, the number of commercial timeouts in American sports is ridiculous now. A team scores, commercial timeout. Then they kickoff, another timeout. On and on. It’s terrible. Give me a 0-0 soccer game every time.

You probably have something here. Going forward instead of showing the successful scoring plays we should replay just the plays that failed and were defended well by the cornerback or when the RB was stuffed.

Billions of people think you are wrong. Think about it. America is the only country that has such a hard on for number of points scored. Perspective is a neat thing.

I’m currently watching a 1-0 soccer game, and with the number of scoring chances happening right now, it’s extremely exciting. The opinion that number of points somehow equals excitement or quality of play is objectively wrong.

The opinion that number of points somehow equals excitement or quality of play is objectively wrong.

This is illuminating.

I think it's more reasonable to accept some people value things differently than other people.

I know lots of people who tie points scored to how much they enjoy a game or the experience. I may not agree with them. But I'm willing to accept they have a different opinion.

Normally I would agree about opinions, but this is literally the entire world vs an opinion held solely by the USA. There’s simply so much more that makes a sporting event exciting than the numbers on the scoreboard. This is especially true in soccer. Because the scores are so low, every scoring chance gets you out of your seat.

It’s like the metric system. I don’t know if we as a country have a certain amount of arrogance or what when it comes to these things, but I think the soccer opinions are way off.

Sorry man, we’re the best regardless of which donkey or elephant is at the helm. It’s a results oriented society fueled by opportunity and people with nothing coming here and protected by two huge oceans.

Losing sucks. Draws just suck less.

How much would the game change if you made the goals 50% bigger?

You want a goal 12x36 instead the current 8x24? Aim high no one can guard it

Teams would have to guard differently.

Well that is the understatement of the year

From a practical standpoint, about 20 years ago, enlarging the goals (slightly, not 50%) was considered briefly by FIFA and even tested in some lower leagues. One of the results of the study though was that it was going to be infeasible financially to replace every single goal in the world (I can't even imagine how many goals there are in the world, it has to be astronomical).

Let’s assume a change improves the game. Stinks that existing goals would be an issue.

Back in my day we didn’t have fancy goals. 4x4s and post hole diggers.

I don’t mind the low scoring, I just mind the disproportionate impact of refs calls.

 

[DA RAIDERS]

American entitlement. listening to random Americans yelling at the tv during the wales game was painful. The ignorance was glaring and painful. As mentioned above the fact that it’s “only” 1 point for a goal seems to befuddle the average american. 7-0 Spain looks better as 49-0? 2-1 or 14-7. 1-0 or 7-0. And the whole ties suck thing just shows the ignorance even more. Especially in the WC.

 

[CletiusMaximus]

Back on the diversity thing on what I find interesting:

Lots of NFL fans will (and have this year) bemoaned the lack of points scored. And I don't think it's just a fantasy football thing. In the overall talk of the game, low scoring games are described as "bad football."

A 45-48 back and forth Chiefs-Bills game is seen as great.

But Soccer fans can see a low scoring game, or even a 0-0 tie and be happy with the game.

Basketball seems sort of the same. A 88-86 game is seen as "better" than a 48-46 game.

Baseball is a bit more mixed. Some folks like a pitcher's duel 2-1 game but way more prefer lots of scoring.

I'm 100% cool with fans liking what they like.

I just find the differences interesting.

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I also don’t buy that the scoring in soccer is as low as American football fans like to complain it is. American football inflates the point value of each score by a factor of 7 which makes a lot of games seem higher scoring than they are. The Eagles-Colts game that I watched last week with one of my neighbors had him saying what a great game it was despite there being 3 touchdowns in a 3.5 hour game. We also watched the US-Wales tie 1-1and he complained the whole time that there isn’t enough scoring despite the fact that the game was over in under two hours.

Solution: Make goals 6 points apiece, with a one point penalty kick to follow.

And commercials. Add commercials

and have the players just stand around alot more while announcers replay the small piece of action that just happened and talk about it

 

[massraider]

and have the players just stand around alot more while announcers replay the small piece of action that just happened and talk about it

George Will, noted baseball fan and windbag, has a great quote about football:

"Football combines two of the worst things in American life. It is violence punctuated by committee meetings"

 

[BassNBrew]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

 

[CletiusMaximus]

But sports is viewed through the lens of entertainment by most, so offense will always be equated by most casuals to mean “better”.

I'm a normal armchair joe six-pack fan but I would say its the more casual fans who need high scoring to enjoy the game. The NFL clearly understands that as we can see how the rules have changed over the past 20 years to handcuff defenders and essentially outlaw any contact with quarterbacks or receivers - in order to increase scoring and grow the fanbase. I have to think the rise in popularity of fantasy sports and massive growth in legalized gambling is propping up football. The popularity of the Red Zone channel confirms this for me.

 

[lazyike]

I can think of nothing that is worse than watching a 90 plus minute sporting event where neither team scores a point.

Such an odd take that I will never understand. A 0-0 game is a tie game that can more often than not be incredibly tense and exciting to watch. For every goal, there could be an equal amount of incredible saves or defensive plays. It’s the 3-0 games that I tend to lose interest in. A 0-0 soccer game is not the equivalent of the Jets playing the Texans on a Thursday night.

Also, the number of commercial timeouts in American sports is ridiculous now. A team scores, commercial timeout. Then they kickoff, another timeout. On and on. It’s terrible. Give me a 0-0 soccer game every time.

You probably have something here. Going forward instead of showing the successful scoring plays we should replay just the plays that failed and were defended well by the cornerback or when the RB was stuffed.

Billions of people think you are wrong. Think about it. America is the only country that has such a hard on for number of points scored. Perspective is a neat thing.

I’m currently watching a 1-0 soccer game, and with the number of scoring chances happening right now, it’s extremely exciting. The opinion that number of points somehow equals excitement or quality of play is objectively wrong.

I can appreciate that opinion. I pitched Fastpitch softball for many years and did enjoy those 1-0, 2-0 games. You could see from the stands behind the plate that 80 MPH rise ball or drop ball getting the hitter out.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

 

[ghostguy123]

Soccer isn't nearly as popular here because there are 4 people there mainstream sports that are better to watch. I personally don't care for soccer at all. Something about not using your hands maybe, who knows.
Amazingly skilled athletes, but goals or no goals soccer to me is pretty bleh.
Is football propped up by fantasy?? Of course. It certainly lends itself to more enjoyable gambling with both fantasy and point spreads.

 

[ghostguy123]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

 

[Scoresman]

American entitlement. listening to random Americans yelling at the tv during the wales game was painful. The ignorance was glaring and painful. As mentioned above the fact that it’s “only” 1 point for a goal seems to befuddle the average american. 7-0 Spain looks better as 49-0? 2-1 or 14-7. 1-0 or 7-0. And the whole ties suck thing just shows the ignorance even more. Especially in the WC.

This describes the trigger for me. The arrogance behind suggesting rule changes are needed to a game that is beloved by billions around the world AS IS just to make it more entertaining for them is just ridiculous. The ignorance and arrogance behind it is off the chart.

 

[Scoresman]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

Ronaldo was offered something like 350 euros to play for Saudi Arabia for 2 years. I have a feeling our top athletes would make out like bandits in soccer.

 

[ghostguy123]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

Ronaldo was offered something like 350 euros to play for Saudi Arabia for 2 years. I have a feeling our top athletes would make out like bandits in soccer.

Who knows. But why would a thousand super talent guys fight for 15 spots when they can make huge bank in a thousand spots.

 

[Zigg]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

The same.

 

[Joe Bryant]

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I find that interesting too. People love that Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes can take their team down the field and score with 30 seconds on the clock. But the flip side to that is defenses allowing that to happen.

I've been interested to how many serious fans, not just the casual ones, are so into the offense.

Just an observation.

 

[ghostguy123]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

The same.

Seems silly to say, but ok

 

[ghostguy123]

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I find that interesting too. People love that Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes can take their team down the field and score with 30 seconds on the clock. But the flip side to that is defenses allowing that to happen.

I've been interested to how many serious fans, not just the casual ones, are so into the offense.

Just an observation.

This idea that fans only care about points seems incredibly overblown in this thread.

 

[Zigg]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

The same.

Seems silly to say, but ok

You can’t outrun the ball.

 

[ghostguy123]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

The same.

Seems silly to say, but ok

You can’t outrun the ball.

And?

 

[Dickies]

I’ve always found it interesting that a low scoring football game is considered “bad football” as opposed to “good defense”.

I find that interesting too. People love that Josh Allen or Patrick Mahomes can take their team down the field and score with 30 seconds on the clock. But the flip side to that is defenses allowing that to happen.

I've been interested to how many serious fans, not just the casual ones, are so into the offense.

Just an observation.

This idea that fans only care about points seems incredibly overblown in this thread.

I just had to endure 90 minutes of my brother-in-law complaining about the lack of scoring in the 2-1 France/Denmark game

 

[NewlyRetired]

Who knows. But why would a thousand super talent guys fight for 15 spots when they can make huge bank in a thousand spots.

I am confused by many of your posts in this thread but this one may be the most confusing.

The average soccer team carries 25 roster spots (up to 30 in some leagues). There are SIGNIFICANTLY more soccer teams and players in the big leagues than there is in any one US league.

 

[ghostguy123]

Who knows. But why would a thousand super talent guys fight for 15 spots when they can make huge bank in a thousand spots.

I am confused by many of your posts in this thread but this one may be the most confusing.

The average soccer team carries 25 roster spots (up to 30 in some leagues). There are SIGNIFICANTLY more soccer teams and players in the big leagues than there is in any one US league.

There's no money in a sport that nobody watches here. Hopefully that clears that up.
That seems like there aren't too many highly paid US soccer players compared to the big 4 sports.

 

[NewlyRetired]

One common item I seem to find is the people who comment the most against soccer appear to also have the least knowledge of the sport. That is probably not a coincidence I guess.

 

[Zigg]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

The same.

Seems silly to say, but ok

You can’t outrun the ball.

And?

Are you familiar with Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets? They owned the sport for 5+ years.

If you don’t know what they look like, Google them. They would have your “athletes” on a string. You simply don’t win soccer in the gym or weight room, and you never will.

 

[ghostguy123]

Who knows. But why would a thousand super talent guys fight for 15 spots when they can make huge bank in a thousand spots.

I am confused by many of your posts in this thread but this one may be the most confusing.

The average soccer team carries 25 roster spots (up to 30 in some leagues). There are SIGNIFICANTLY more soccer teams and players in the big leagues than there is in any one US league.

Also, feel free to ask me about anything that confuses you. I have no idea what I have said that would be confusing, so just ask.

 

[FairWarning]

I haven’t watched a second, doubt I will. It does seem like it’s “forced” on us, kind of like the Olympics. I see both sides of it, I just leave it be.

The Olympics and the World Cup are worldwide events. The largest sporting events in the history of this world. Seems odd to consider them being forced on you considering the worldwide interest and impact

about every other commercial for the last couple of months of fox sports is promoting it, so its ’forced’. then again, I didn’t grow up with soccer, so I’m not the target audience.

 

[Zigg]

I was just about to say that at least no one said “if our best athletes played…” Maybe in 2026.

 

[ghostguy123]

Let's be honest, I think at least a small part of the disinterest is because we can't dominate the sport or its not "ours"

Nah. The women have been dominant and the men are on the way. Disinterest is solely that it’s not as popular here as other sports.

My soccer kids and their friends love the World Cup but prefer watching football over soccer. I’ve never really understood that other than fantasy soccer really blows

Well, another thing we don't do much of is watch and support women's sports, so not sure how much of a + that is.

I am more just saying in general we historically don't have much of a shot winning on the world stage, and the best athletes in the sport aren't from here typically. This is America - we want to dominate everything, and largely don't pay attention when we don't.

Our best athletes go into the other sports where they will earn tons more money.
I wonder what it would look like if that didn't happen. Who knows.

The same.

Seems silly to say, but ok

You can’t outrun the ball.

And?

Are you familiar with Iniesta, Xavi and Busquets? They owned the sport for 5+ years.

If you don’t know what they look like, Google them. They would have your “athletes” on a string. You simply don’t win soccer in the gym or weight room, and you never will.

We keep using the words arrogance and ignorance here.
C'mon now. Do you think the top athletes here would be doing the same workouts they do now if they were playing soccer??? Jesus.

 

[ghostguy123]

I was just about to say that at least no one said “if our best athletes played…” Maybe in 2026.

If our best athletes played soccer, who knows. We'd obviously be better than we are now. How much?? Again, who knows.