Why soccer will never be big in the USA....... (1 Viewer)

[Stinkin Ref]

lol...title of thread is why it won't be big....I know soccer guys really want it to be, partly because they feel like they always have to defend it all the time....there are reasons you always have to defend it....they think the USA has gotten over some soccer hump and now really love it and think it's big...but its just not true.....to be fair, it may have grown a little in popularity...probably mostly because of the USA Womens team and BC ripping off her shirt....that was probably soccer at its peak and it maybe has increased a little in popularity since....the other factor that may help a little is less guys playing football because of concussions, etc....(although I thought I heard that there are almost as many, if not more concussions in in soccer)... but IMO (your poll of 1,000 aside)...in reality, soccer doesn't touch the other 6 sports mentioned above in the USA....if it's not WC time, you get a pinch of soccer highlights on ESPN or whatever....and a spattering of "soccer only" shows (I think I have skipped over some when surfing channels, I could be wrong, never stopped to actually watch)...and usually zero coverage on your local TV news/ sports station...in many ways soccer was and still is the stepping stone/gateway sport to get kids involved in an activity at a VERY young age...everybody can run around tiny soccer fields, learn to be part of a team, etc...but then many, not all, move on to other sports....and to be fair and honest, I didn't read the whole article. I just looked at the graph and stopped reading once I found out it was 1,000 people in a phone interview...now I see it's broken down into liberals and conservatives, lol...I'm sorry...I have a really hard time watching the sport in person or on TV...you are right...I don't like it.....although I admit I tuned into the ladies run a few years back...and the thread title caught my eye so I came in and threw out some ideas to maybe make it more enjoyable to watch for someone who doesn't like to watch (I was actually trying to help you, lol), talk a little smack, and ruffle a few feathers cause it actually kind of fun to see soccer people get all fired up and try to force upon us how great it is ....I'll patiently wait for the next bicycle kick highlight...

 

[Jobber]

I don’t care who does or does not like soccer. I would rather scrub toilets than have to sit through an NFL game. And I used to be in 2 to 3 money fantasy leagues a season. With youth leagues drying up, I give the NFL maybe 5 to 10 years before it starts a slow but steady ride to go hang out with NASCAR.

 

[roadkill1292]

lol...title of thread is why it won't be big....I know soccer guys really want it to be, partly because they feel like they always have to defend it all the time....there are reasons you always have to defend it....they think the USA has gotten over some soccer hump and now really love it and think it's big...but its just not true.....to be fair, it may have grown a little in popularity...probably mostly because of the USA Womens team and BC ripping off her shirt....that was probably soccer at its peak and it maybe has increased a little in popularity since....the other factor that may help a little is less guys playing football because of concussions, etc....(although I thought I heard that there are almost as many, if not more concussions in in soccer)... but IMO (your poll of 1,000 aside)...in reality, soccer doesn't touch the other 6 sports mentioned above in the USA....if it's not WC time, you get a pinch of soccer highlights on ESPN or whatever....and a spattering of "soccer only" shows (I think I have skipped over some when surfing channels, I could be wrong, never stopped to actually watch)...and usually zero coverage on your local TV news/ sports station...in many ways soccer was and still is the stepping stone/gateway sport to get kids involved in an activity at a VERY young age...everybody can run around tiny soccer fields, learn to be part of a team, etc...but then many, not all, move on to other sports....and to be fair and honest, I didn't read the whole article. I just looked at the graph and stopped reading once I found out it was 1,000 people in a phone interview...now I see it's broken down into liberals and conservatives, lol...I'm sorry...I have a really hard time watching the sport in person or on TV...you are right...I don't like it.....although I admit I tuned into the ladies run a few years back...and the thread title caught my eye so I came in and threw out some ideas to maybe make it more enjoyable to watch for someone who doesn't like to watch (I was actually trying to help you, lol), talk a little smack, and ruffle a few feathers cause it actually kind of fun to see soccer people get all fired up and try to force upon us how great it is ....I'll patiently wait for the next bicycle kick highlight...

Maybe taking up soccer could help you with your rambling stream-of-consciousness problem.

 

[NewlyRetired]

I’m beginning to think we’ve been successfully trolled - or this is a Stealthycat alias.

yeah I agree.  no one is that proud to be that ignorant.  He might be breaking the record of most factually wrong posts ever.*

* I should note I don't read the political forum.

 

[Stinkin Ref]

Maybe taking up soccer could help you with your rambling stream-of-consciousness problem.

my problem...or your problem with it...?...didn't mean to ramble on a message board...my bad...

soccer guys.... ...just like the sport always on defensive....just kidding boys...lighten up, the whole point of the thread was stuff like this

 

[DJackson10]

When I started coaching hoops in the states (96) we would have we would be cutting about a dozen kids every year and give the list of cuts to the soccer coach.  The last few years (06-08) the opposite was happening.  We would have 10-12 kids come out and we were a pretty successful program making deep state runs and one of the few publics in the  region to compete with the parochials.

As far as baseball, growing up our city had 3 separate LL's that sustained 20 Major League teams.  The three have combined some years ago to from a single league with 6 Major League teams.

I live in a large suburban community in a county where Soccer is highly popular amongst the youth. Basketball seems more so played for fun at a recreation level and playground. We have numerous baseball leagues and the HS a town over from me just won the PA State championship. Our football leagues we have to cut almost 20 players per team we have. We also have a fairly big hockey community. Our soccer youth teams they made the rosters bigger to accommodate more players at least lower level. My former HS's Soccer coach is from Argentina 

 

[DJackson10]

Don’t look at scoring, look at scoring chances. A 1-0 game with the losing team constantly pressing can be incredibly tense. 

I remember watching matches of my favorite club play where the end result was a draw but it felt more like a loss just because they were up and the better team and one mistake cost them the match. Or getting a draw that felt like a win because we really weren't given a shot to win especially going into an away match. 

 

[DJackson10]

Johnny Manziel didn't have a short career?

I'm more shocked he's not dead yet. And yes he's still getting a chance in Canada. THat's like someone in soccer playing at a lower level who has issues but still playing. His career also would've been a lot shorter. 

 

[shader]

How many people in the USA care about the sport is so irrelevant to me.  I don't watch ESPN anymore, so I don't care if they show more highlights.

The only thing I really care about is that it is popular enough here for broadcasters to bid on the PL and CL and allow us to have access to watching all of those games.  As long as it remains popular enough for that to happen, I'm totally fine being in the minority.  It's like being in a secret club of awesomeness.

 

[The Z Machine]

How many people in the USA care about the sport is so irrelevant to me.  I don't watch ESPN anymore, so I don't care if they show more highlights.

The only thing I really care about is that it is popular enough here for broadcasters to bid on the PL and CL and allow us to have access to watching all of those games.  As long as it remains popular enough for that to happen, I'm totally fine being in the minority.  It's like being in a secret club of awesomeness.

Dude, with streaming over the internet, even this isn't an issue any more.

 

[shader]

Dude, with streaming over the internet, even this isn't an issue any more.

I prefer not to watch games where I have to close the tiny X so that 34 popups don't infect my machine with viruses.

 

[DJackson10]

soccer will never be big here because there just aren't enough "wow" plays...its all about not making mistakes and intentionally kicking the ball out of bounds 100 times a game....there are not enough "wow" plays to fill up a 90 minute game.....watching defense and positioning and "strategy" can only entertain you for so long....they need to shorten the game to help put more emphasis on taking chances to score.....there has to be more incentive to be aggressive...make the field smaller, something....it is painful to watch on TV, and without more frequent "wow" plays there will be no big time TV contracts and commercial sponsorship....don't get me wrong, I have seen some incredible bicycle kicks or whatever, but they are just too few and far between.....when the most exciting thing is hoping the game ends in a tie and there HAS to be a shootout, that is not a great recipe for viewership...

There's very rarely what I call the sexy highlight reel play that gets on Sports center or these other highlight shows. American's are all about individual success for the most part where in Europe about the team. For example in European Basketball you play with in a team and any guy trying to play hero ball will get eaten out by the fans and possible benched. You wouldn't be having The Russel Westbrooks who care about their TD or the JR smith guys trying to go 1 on 1. If JR smith pulled the dumbness In Game 1 overseas he'd have been benched for the next game maybe rest of the series. It's one reason why I've come to enjoy the International Basketball over the NBA. It's more about team then individuals. too many athletes in all sports here being a bunch of hotdogs thinking they are cool. You got injury prone NBA players who've barely played a full season talking trash before they've done a thing, baseball players flipping bats and acting like they won a WS hitting a HR in the 3rd inn of a mid June game but the next AB ground into a double play and have a slow jog to 1B, You have QB's and other guys trying to make the highlight reel play rather then the simple play that might be far more successful. It drives me crazy. I'm not one of those old school fans who don't think Players can't celebrate or have fun but a lot of it today goes back to pure me me me me mentalitiy. Fan wise the US sports leagues have made rules to get more scoring to keep fans entertained. Some of these "Safety rules" in the NFL are a joke and nothing more then to help get more scoring and keep people who play fantasy involved in watching games. Basketball has gotten rid of hand checking and calls fouls on defensive players for the offensive player diving. All because Americans have the attention span of a 5 year old. A lot of American's are also ignorant to try new things as well. Hopefully like what was said a few pages back with the amount of info gather kids can do today soccer can get more popular with them here in the states. Whenever I have kids I will teach them the game but I won't be the parent who forces stuff on them. Pushing them too much makes them distance themselves from you and that interest you have. 

 

[shader]

https://writingexplained.org/grammar-dictionary/paragraph

 

[DJackson10]

Changing the world's most popular sport to suit your short attention span and mindset.

And I'm not sure soccer has any more or less "wow" moments than football, baseball or basketball. If you need for a play to lead to a score to be a "wow" moment than you are right but you can also look at it that each score is that much more important and meaningful unlike say basketball where each score means little. Also football scores are inflated by the fact that TDs are worth 7 points and FG 3 points. I love football of course but there may only be 3-4 "wow" plays in most games as well. And baseball is 90% watching guys stand around while two guys throw it back and forth.

You most inaccurate line is probably this one though:
 

Maybe check out how much FOX paid for the World Cup or how many different professional leagues have TV contracts?

I think what he means by wow moments is highlight reel plays that American's like. They want the HR robbing type play or fancy basketball one on one dunk or some sort of globetrotters type play, or the Vick type run around like a chicken with it's head cut off QB play where he scrambles and runs in for a 60 yard TD despite the fact most of that play was more about guys not properly tackling and not be disciplined enough to stay in their lane and contain him. American's need constant Brain stimulation 

 

[roadkill1292]

I'm totally fine being in the minority.  It's like being in a secret club of awesomeness.

What an endearing thing to say. How dare you.

 

[DJackson10]

A full soccer game including halftime is about 2 hours long - which makes it far shorter than all these other major sports.

I think this part of their argument of soccer being boring is the biggest hole to their argument in general. Basketball take 2 1/2 hrs already but the final 2 mins could take a half hour. College football you are spending 3-4 hrs do to clock stoppage on 1st downs and some of these big score games. One of the reason I don't watch a lot of late night college football is most of these games if the game starts at 10-10:30 sometimes 11PM east coast time aren't over till well after 1:30. If I'm watching say an MLS west coast match that starts at 11 I know it's ending at 1AM unless there is some short of delay weather wise or what have you. Baseball finally cut down on the mound visits. Watching the Phillies/Yankess WS in 09 I think Jorge Posada would go to the mound like 3-4 times per batter every single inning. I think a friend of mine after the 3rd game started timing how much time was being wasted and in total for the rest of that series it was well over an hr of time wasted and that didn't even include the first two games of the series. We need more smoothness in the NFL. I don't need a commercial every time a change of possession especially when it's the same commercials every dam time. I love how Olympic Hockey is paced. No commercials during the period only intermissions and you have a certain amount of time per line changes before a face-off home team gets last change. NHL has started with some of these rules but here in the US given the ad revenue these leagues get we'll never get the no commercial interruptions during the game. 

And if we are talking boring I find GOLF especially with no Tiger Woods anymore and NASCAR the most boring things in the world. I do like F1 racing because its not left turn the whole race on most tracks. 

 

[DJackson10]

Dude, with streaming over the internet, even this isn't an issue any more.

I couldn't tell you how many illegal streams I've had to watch to just watch the match I wanted sometimes. Now I can just go into the city and watch the match 

 

[KarmaPolice]

There's very rarely what I call the sexy highlight reel play that gets on Sports center or these other highlight shows. American's are all about individual success for the most part where in Europe about the team. For example in European Basketball you play with in a team and any guy trying to play hero ball will get eaten out by the fans and possible benched. You wouldn't be having The Russel Westbrooks who care about their TD or the JR smith guys trying to go 1 on 1. If JR smith pulled the dumbness In Game 1 overseas he'd have been benched for the next game maybe rest of the series. It's one reason why I've come to enjoy the International Basketball over the NBA. It's more about team then individuals. too many athletes in all sports here being a bunch of hotdogs thinking they are cool. You got injury prone NBA players who've barely played a full season talking trash before they've done a thing, baseball players flipping bats and acting like they won a WS hitting a HR in the 3rd inn of a mid June game but the next AB ground into a double play and have a slow jog to 1B, You have QB's and other guys trying to make the highlight reel play rather then the simple play that might be far more successful. It drives me crazy. I'm not one of those old school fans who don't think Players can't celebrate or have fun but a lot of it today goes back to pure me me me me mentalitiy. Fan wise the US sports leagues have made rules to get more scoring to keep fans entertained. Some of these "Safety rules" in the NFL are a joke and nothing more then to help get more scoring and keep people who play fantasy involved in watching games. Basketball has gotten rid of hand checking and calls fouls on defensive players for the offensive player diving. All because Americans have the attention span of a 5 year old. A lot of American's are also ignorant to try new things as well. Hopefully like what was said a few pages back with the amount of info gather kids can do today soccer can get more popular with them here in the states. Whenever I have kids I will teach them the game but I won't be the parent who forces stuff on them. Pushing them too much makes them distance themselves from you and that interest you have. 

This x1000.  Small sample size and all, but I have noticed a lot of this just in the various sports that my son has played.   He plays a lot of basketball, but the kids are taking dumb 3s, strutting around with their hand up after they make one shot, and it's fairly easy for them to pass back and forth to the 1-2 kids that are better athletes and still have success.  (we are talking 11-12 year olds by the way).  Football was similar.  More of a team sport, but it still seemed easier to get the ball in the hands of the 1-2 athletes and leave everybody else behind and there was a bit of the going for the big play mentality.    Like you said - a lot of the boys acted like they are just going for the Sportcenter highlight or Facebook likes.  

Maybe it's just our group of boys and just around here, but the soccer team had success when they stopped all that #### and started working as a team.  The 1-2 fast guys tried to get around everybody but it didn't work for long and they quickly tired out, or the other team just surrounded them.  The coaches also seemed to have more of a focus on fundamentals and team mentality as well.    Like you said, I am not going to force anything, but I will probably try to steer my daughter towards soccer as well because of these things I saw.  If she doesn't like it, so be it.  

 

[Leroy Hoard]

The best way to be more interested in the sport is to start betting on it.

 

[Gustavo Fring]

I'd watch it over the MLB any day of the week.  

 

[FreeBaGeL]

I'm more shocked he's not dead yet. And yes he's still getting a chance in Canada. THat's like someone in soccer playing at a lower level who has issues but still playing. His career also would've been a lot shorter. 

Yeah but that still falls well within your bounds of saying that soccer players that act like that "probably have short careers or are journey club guys".

Anyway we're on the same side here (yay soccer!) so not really meaning to argue.  Manziel was just a poor example because he got run out of town pretty darn quickly for his actions.  Quicker than most in the NFL.

 

[DJackson10]

This x1000.  Small sample size and all, but I have noticed a lot of this just in the various sports that my son has played.   He plays a lot of basketball, but the kids are taking dumb 3s, strutting around with their hand up after they make one shot, and it's fairly easy for them to pass back and forth to the 1-2 kids that are better athletes and still have success.  (we are talking 11-12 year olds by the way).  Football was similar.  More of a team sport, but it still seemed easier to get the ball in the hands of the 1-2 athletes and leave everybody else behind and there was a bit of the going for the big play mentality.    Like you said - a lot of the boys acted like they are just going for the Sportcenter highlight or Facebook likes.  

Maybe it's just our group of boys and just around here, but the soccer team had success when they stopped all that #### and started working as a team.  The 1-2 fast guys tried to get around everybody but it didn't work for long and they quickly tired out, or the other team just surrounded them.  The coaches also seemed to have more of a focus on fundamentals and team mentality as well.    Like you said, I am not going to force anything, but I will probably try to steer my daughter towards soccer as well because of these things I saw.  If she doesn't like it, so be it.  

The soccer part of the 1 or 2 kids is how I'd teach a coaching lesson on this mentality of playing with in a team. Not sure if you've seen the movie goal? Has a few guest appearances from big names including David Beckham and they take this kid from some hispanic neighborhood I want to say in the US close to LA. He's signed to Newcastle United and he's trying to do everything himself. The manager of the team takes the ball in training from him and tells him to run after the ball he kicks and he does this about 5-10 times. He asks him what he thought. The kid says the ball traveled further faster then I did. The Manager tells him yes and thats why you pass the ball because now look at ya being all tired. It's easier to ask for help and pass the ball then try to do it yourself. Soccer is a team sport try to play with in the team. Try to do too much you will wear down physically and mentally and make mistakes easier. also when I'm coaching any sport if one or two kids try to be the hotshots of the team they'll be riding the bench most of the time till they can act like they've been there before. Yesterday I watched a Phillies player notorious for being a hotdog when hitting a Homerun or doing something well who failed to hustle on a ground out Double play. You run and try to beat the ball to 1B because the SS or 2B could have an errant throw or the runner could take them out and you can be safe. This guy was half ****** it to first on a light jog. If it was me that was the last I saw of him playing last night and he'd be riding the pine. 

 

[Tom Servo]

It’s official - pretentious soccer guy is worse than anti-soccer Guy. 

 

[KarmaPolice]

The soccer part of the 1 or 2 kids is how I'd teach a coaching lesson on this mentality of playing with in a team. Not sure if you've seen the movie goal? Has a few guest appearances from big names including David Beckham and they take this kid from some hispanic neighborhood I want to say in the US close to LA. He's signed to Newcastle United and he's trying to do everything himself. The manager of the team takes the ball in training from him and tells him to run after the ball he kicks and he does this about 5-10 times. He asks him what he thought. The kid says the ball traveled further faster then I did. The Manager tells him yes and thats why you pass the ball because now look at ya being all tired. It's easier to ask for help and pass the ball then try to do it yourself. Soccer is a team sport try to play with in the team. Try to do too much you will wear down physically and mentally and make mistakes easier. also when I'm coaching any sport if one or two kids try to be the hotshots of the team they'll be riding the bench most of the time till they can act like they've been there before. Yesterday I watched a Phillies player notorious for being a hotdog when hitting a Homerun or doing something well who failed to hustle on a ground out Double play. You run and try to beat the ball to 1B because the SS or 2B could have an errant throw or the runner could take them out and you can be safe. This guy was half ****** it to first on a light jog. If it was me that was the last I saw of him playing last night and he'd be riding the pine. 

Harper is one of my son's favorite players.  We've watched a couple Nats games this year and 2-3 I've seen him pulling this #### and he would have been safe at first if he had actually ran to first.  Pretty frustrating.  

I've heard of Goal, but haven't watched it, so I will check that one out.  We need a soccer movie in the rotation besides Kicking and Screaming. 

 

[DJackson10]

Harper is one of my son's favorite players.  We've watched a couple Nats games this year and 2-3 I've seen him pulling this #### and he would have been safe at first if he had actually ran to first.  Pretty frustrating.  

I've heard of Goal, but haven't watched it, so I will check that one out.  We need a soccer movie in the rotation besides Kicking and Screaming. 

There's 3 of them I won't ruin the it but the way the 3rd GOAL ends there should've been a 4th to finish the story at the very least. Left a lot of questions. David Beckham and a few other stars make appearances in the films as well as Zidane. It's more of a movie for kids but it gives the basics of finding a player and some of the struggles they go through

 

[Leroy Hoard]

It still blows my mind that with all these kids filling soccer fields around me for the last 20 years that the USA could not even get in the running to get into the final 32 countries.

 

[roadkill1292]

It still blows my mind that with all these kids filling soccer fields around me for the last 20 years that the USA could not even get in the running to get into the final 32 countries.

You can find a thousand different opinions on why this is so, which sorta tells me that we just don't know the answer. I'm in the camp that we're still 100 years behind the best countries' development and 3,000 miles away from what the Soccernomics guys call the "great soccer information networks of western Europe." Whatever the reason, there's little argument that almost everybody handles the ball better than we do.

And then there's this looming problem (maybe).

 

[eoMMan]

Is soccer really that expensive for today's youth?

Hope Solo thinks so....

https://triblive.com/sports/nationworldsports/13812452-74/hope-solo-says-problem-with-soccer-in-us-is-that-its-a

Along with Landon Donovan...

"Another U.S. soccer figure, Landon Donovan, shared similar sentiments telling USA Today that "soccer has become a sport that only wealthy people can play. If you're a parent who makes $30,000, $40,000 a year, how can you possibly afford to pay $3,000-$4,000 to play soccer?"

 

[Moe.]

It’s official - pretentious soccer guy is worse than anti-soccer Guy. 

Outkick the Coverage is probably the worst thing ever

 

[roadkill1292]

Is soccer really that expensive for today's youth?

Hope Solo thinks so....

https://triblive.com/sports/nationworldsports/13812452-74/hope-solo-says-problem-with-soccer-in-us-is-that-its-a

Along with Landon Donovan...

"Another U.S. soccer figure, Landon Donovan, shared similar sentiments telling USA Today that "soccer has become a sport that only wealthy people can play. If you're a parent who makes $30,000, $40,000 a year, how can you possibly afford to pay $3,000-$4,000 to play soccer?"

Yeah, it's true and I think it's another part of the problem with our development. I think it also goes hand in hand with soccer never having had a sandlot period in this country and now that it's here, sandlot (or pickup games) in general doesn't seem to be very prevalent these days either. When does a six-year-old American kid get his first look at soccer? On tv or in a rec league? By that age a South American kid has been playing street ball for four years and he already understands the game.

 

[The Gator]

Is soccer really that expensive for today's youth?

Hope Solo thinks so....

https://triblive.com/sports/nationworldsports/13812452-74/hope-solo-says-problem-with-soccer-in-us-is-that-its-a

Along with Landon Donovan...

"Another U.S. soccer figure, Landon Donovan, shared similar sentiments telling USA Today that "soccer has become a sport that only wealthy people can play. If you're a parent who makes $30,000, $40,000 a year, how can you possibly afford to pay $3,000-$4,000 to play soccer?"

Yup, it's a huge problem for developing youth and discovering players. Cuts out a large part of the population. 

 

[Tyranny]

As far as normal league soccer, not so much. Competitive soccer is very expensive. Travel expenses, sometimes the coach is paid and other times his travel is also part of the tab. Equipment is not as bad as hockey. I have had two kids play on competitive travel teams and the cost was a killer. We caught a break when the grandparents fell in love with Hockey and decided they were going to travel to every tournament the boy played in and wanted to pay for almost everything. I offered several times to cover our expenses but they declined every time, My girl played soccer and traveled all over the country to play. The only break we caught there was the team would volunteer to cover bingo halls and everyone parent that showed got a cut of the profits to offset team cost. Both of us would show up and help out once a month or so. The rest was out of pocket, unless grandma wanted to go to the city they were playing in. Most expensive year we had was in the neighborhood of 10-15k. Son was 10 and his team won Nationals and daughter's(14) team won 5 out of 7 tournaments, Closest they played was 2 hours away everything else was out of state. 

 

[DJackson10]

Yup, it's a huge problem for developing youth and discovering players. Cuts out a large part of the population. 

Meanwhile in Europe they have soccer for free. In America it's all about the greed and Pay to play. The cost of Soccer is far less then Hockey. My Uncle played but ended up quitting in HS. No one knew why until 5 yrs ago (My mom was 18 when my Uncle was born and it's her baby brother) He's not 39 and admit he was assaulted by a coach in the car in the driveway at the house where the coach would get him drunk. Anyway my dad's best friend son also played and cost was through the roof. A friend of mine played travel soccer and compared to what it cost my dad's friend and his son it was pretty cheap but still expensive. Soccer has become the rich white man sport unfortunately in America. 

 

[Eephus]

If someone mentioned Wayne Rooney as the reason in the past 22 pages, they're about to be proven wrong.

 

[Stinkin Ref]

 Did I just see that a soccer game got decided by who had more penalties during the game?

eta: oh ####...it was actually who advances or not....great sport

 

[Moe.]

No, you did not see that 

 

[Stinkin Ref]

No, you did not see that 

You are right...its worse than I thought....it made a difference on who advances or not...great sport...

 

[Moe.]

I think it's the fifth or sixth tiebreaker, not really a big deal. Would you prefer a coin flip?

 

[Stinkin Ref]

I think it's the fifth or sixth tiebreaker, not really a big deal. Would you prefer a coin flip?

I could give a ####...but I actually heard them say on sports center that that might be more fair....just funny as ####

 

[Stinkin Ref]

I think it's the fifth or sixth tiebreaker, not really a big deal. Would you prefer a coin flip?

Lol....just heard that was next if the penalty thing was tied....

 

[Moe.]

It stinks but it's 4 team pool play. What're you gonna do? Not really an indictment of the actual sport. I think a coin flip would be way cooler. You could do it a few hours after the match, televise it and really beat everyone over the head with it 

 

[RokNRole]

Let’s put this to bed right now..

Soccer will never be big in the US. It goes against all American values.

Ties? Sorry

The US doesn’t believe in ties. We would rather lose than think about a tie.

Low scoring? That isn’t going to speak to this country. Sports are a modern replacement for war. Points equal deaths.

1-2 or 0-2 just isn’t going to cut it.

America doesn’t believe in soccer and never will.

 

[RokNRole]

It took decades for the US to tolerate flopping in basketball (LeBron)

We are never going to give a crap about soccer.

 

[Stinkin Ref]

It stinks but it's 4 team pool play. What're you gonna do? Not really an indictment of the actual sport. I think a coin flip would be way cooler. You could do it a few hours after the match, televise it and really beat everyone over the head with it 

Well if it had a little more incentive to take chances and score, even when ahead, and not being so defensive, instead of just kicking it around and settling/being happy with ties and ####, etc.....you might not run into these situations....

 

[Kafka]

Well if it had a little more incentive to take chances and score, even when ahead, and not being so defensive, instead of just kicking it around and settling/being happy with ties and ####, etc.....you might not run into these situations....

I blame the stinkin refs for ruining the game...

 

[comfortably numb]

Let’s put this to bed right now..

Soccer will never be big in the US. It goes against all American values.

Ties? Sorry

The US doesn’t believe in ties. We would rather lose than think about a tie.

Low scoring? That isn’t going to speak to this country. Sports are a modern replacement for war. Points equal deaths.

1-2 or 0-2 just isn’t going to cut it.

America doesn’t believe in soccer and never will.

You may be right but yet Americans sit in front of a TV to watch cars make a left turn for 3 hours. Not many "wow" plays in those 3 hours.

 

[RokNRole]

You may be right but yet Americans sit in front of a TV to watch cars make a left turn for 3 hours. Not many "wow" plays in those 3 hours.

We also have people that watch dancing with the stars.....some people are just beyond help.

the Daytona 500 isn’t going to break any ratings records

 

[shader]

Meanwhile in Europe they have soccer for free. In America it's all about the greed and Pay to play. The cost of Soccer is far less then Hockey. My Uncle played but ended up quitting in HS. No one knew why until 5 yrs ago (My mom was 18 when my Uncle was born and it's her baby brother) He's not 39 and admit he was assaulted by a coach in the car in the driveway at the house where the coach would get him drunk. Anyway my dad's best friend son also played and cost was through the roof. A friend of mine played travel soccer and compared to what it cost my dad's friend and his son it was pretty cheap but still expensive. Soccer has become the rich white man sport unfortunately in America. 

To be fair, in Europe every city has a club team and an academy.  Bigger cities have many club teams.  

I live around Nashville.  We have an MLS team coming.  I’m sure there will eventually be an academy.  But that’s one.  For a huge city.  A city this size would in europe have 10-20 academies and club teams up and down the pyramid of club football.

I’d love to start a “free” league for kids in the area to play and learn.  But that would cost money and time.  Things I don’t have.  I don’t know if the people starting these leagues are trying to get rich by charging 2-3k per kid or whether they are just recouping their time and money? 

Big difference in europe and USA, one without an easily definable solution.

 

[shader]

Let’s put this to bed right now..

Soccer will never be big in the US. It goes against all American values.

Ties? Sorry

The US doesn’t believe in ties. We would rather lose than think about a tie.

Low scoring? That isn’t going to speak to this country. Sports are a modern replacement for war. Points equal deaths.

1-2 or 0-2 just isn’t going to cut it.

America doesn’t believe in soccer and never will.

A 0-0 game can be thrilling if you care. If you don’t care it’s boring, sure.

I’m a massive fan of the sport, and have been on the absolute edge of my seat in a “will we score or not” game.

But are there bad games?  Certainly. Do some teams use terrible tactics just to try and win and turn the game into a boring slug fest?  Sure.

That happens in American football too. But I’d rather watch a 1-0 and spend 90 minutes of my life watching it, then spend 3.5 hours watching a 14-10 nfl game where both teams are playing ball-control offense.

What really got me about soccer and finally sold me was when I really started caring.  Once that happened, it was like no sport I’d ever seen.  The action is literally nonstop.  You sit down and literally watch for 50 straight minutes, then take 15 minutes off, then 50 straight minutes again.  No breaks in the action, commercials, dead times.  It’s incredible.

 

[gianmarco]

Well if it had a little more incentive to take chances and score, even when ahead, and not being so defensive, instead of just kicking it around and settling/being happy with ties and ####, etc.....you might not run into these situations....

Not sure why I'm even bothering, but....

When was the last full game of soccer you watched?