Soccer world championship. You Americans interested ?

livi · 06-13-2006, 05:45 AM

Here in Europe its just crazy. Every where you go, any radio channel, TV channel, bulletin board, newspaper - its all about the soccer championship. More people from all over Europe make a pilgrimage voyage to Germany this month than the stupid Muslims do to Mecca.

What about you guys and Americans in general ? Big deal ? I mean you are represented, although you got whooped by the Checks..

Well, honestly the Swedish team played even with Trinidad. How embarrassing..

lendaddy · 05:53 AM

No, it's a boring sport played by our B and C athletes at all but the highest levels.

1967 R50/2 · 05:56 AM

In a word: No.

Why?

1. Soccer only has a small professional/olympic presence in the US. It's biggest public success came from the US women's olympic soccer team.

2. Basketball finals are currently underway. It is a much bigger sport here in the US.

3. NHL is also wrapping up....much smaller sport, but still bigger than soccer.

4. Time difference means that even if you are interested in Soccer, you have to watch it when you are supposed to be at work or sleeping....or record it, which means you can already find out who won by looking on Yahoo.

5. Oh, yeah...almost forgot about Baseball.

6. The US team never had any real chance of winning anyway

Overpaid Slacker · 06-13-2006, 05:56 AM

I'll watch matches, but frankly I'm more familiar with Premier League players than American players.

I'm not a big fan of hockey (since Roy's retirement) or African tree hockey (since Jordan's), so I'm not all wrapped up with other sports here right now... so it's probably more R50's 4th point that is tempering my interest.

I'll watch the Semis and the Championship... probably.

JP

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by lendaddy
No, it's a boring sport payed by our B and C athletes at all but the highest levels.

From the standpoint of athleticism, soccer players would stomp all over the juiced-up overweight man-trucks the Americans call 'athletes'. One of the reasons I can't stand football and baseball is that there's no more than 15s of contiguous action at any given time.

lendaddy · 06-13-2006, 06:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by widebody911
From the standpoint of athleticism, soccer players would stomp all over the juiced-up overweight man-trucks the Americans call 'athletes'. One of the reasons I can't stand football and baseball is that there's no more than 15s of contiguous action at any given time.

Never said it wasn't a demanding sport. Just boring.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

Widebuddy, you are plain wrong. An elite athlete is an elite athlete. If you are referring to NFL lineman, yeah, they are not running non-stop for an hour. I guarantee you that if Steve Nash wanted to play soccer, or if Hakeem Olajuwon had wanted to be a professional goalie, he would have been. For that matter, I have no doubt that Tiger Woods would be a heckuva baseball player. I don't care for soccer, to watch anyway. I have no doubt that if I had been interested in it as a youth, I would have lived in Europe for my 20's and have a lot nicer Porsche now.

Average American does not care about soccer.

Highlander179 · 06-13-2006, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
1. Soccer only has a small professional/olympic presence in the US. It's biggest public success came from the US women's olympic soccer team.

Actually, if you paid attention to what kids are playing, more kids in the US are playing soccer than any other sport other than skateboarding. The problem is our feeder system is a 'pay to play' system and if you want to advance you are only competing against upperclass kids. Basketball and Football are taking all the lower and middleclass kids and thats a greater talent pool.

Quote:

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
2. Basketball finals are currently underway. It is a much bigger sport here in the US.

Basketball is dying on the vine.

Quote:

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
3. NHL is also wrapping up....much smaller sport, but still bigger than soccer.

Have they played hockey this year? I didn't notice. They should probably put their games on TV.

Quote:

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
4. Time difference means that even if you are interested in Soccer, you have to watch it when you are supposed to be at work or sleeping....or record it, which means you can already find out who won by looking on Yahoo.

True, this is a downside. Same problem as F1 and MotoGP.

Quote:

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
5. Oh, yeah...almost forgot about Baseball.

Can't compete with America's pasttime, even if it ranks #2 today.

Quote:

Originally posted by 1967 R50/2
6. The US team never had any real chance of winning anyway

against the Czechs, NO, but they have a real good chance of beating both Ghana and Italy and move out of the Group round... to bad they'll have to play Brazil when they move out though. NOT a real chance to win the Cup, but a good chance to win for the FIRST TIME EVER on European soil in a Cup match.

livi · 06-13-2006, 06:55 AM

I kind of figured that would be the case.

I have to admit I stand out in the general crowd here. I am one of the few that think its boring to watch. Nothing much happens. And to be brutally honest - a bunch of grown men kicking around a ball, trying to shoot it into a net - and then hugging each other... I don´t know.

Highlander179 · 06-13-2006, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by livi
I kind of figured that would be the case.

I have to admit I stand out in the general crowd here. I am one of the few that think its boring to watch. Nothing much happens. And to be brutally honest - a bunch of grown men kicking around a ball, trying to shoot it into a net - and then hugging each other... I don´t know.

Lots of people think nothing much happens in F1 either. I say it all depends on if you "know" what you are watching.

lendaddy · 06-13-2006, 07:14 AM

This is soccertruth about soccer

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

Yes, it's fun to play.

Yes, it requires a level of overall conditioning and athleticism that surpasses most "popular" U.S. sports.

Yes, it's utterly boring as hell to watch as a spectator.

Even understanding what's going on and the strategies that reveal themselves on the playing field it's still very boring to watch. Perhaps part of the problem is it's SO difficult to have any kind of meaningful commentary going on while the game is on. You might as well turn the sound off of your television.

In the land of the shot-clock and where if there are less than 8 touchdowns in a game people get bored it'll never catch on. It might get a following in certain ethnic circles, but in so doing it'll only represent another way that people of those ethnic groups isolate themselves within our society and end up being resented for it. Just what we need. . .

Overpaid Slacker · 06-13-2006, 07:30 AM

Agreed with P-o-P. I played cricket for years, and it's very much the same story ... except test matches can go on all day -- or FIVE days -- and still wind up a draw.

Now that will tax the patience of typical American sports fans beyond limit.

Though you can have meaningful, even insightful commentary going on during a cricket match.

JP

Flatbutt1 · 06-13-2006, 07:39 AM

I like soccer very much. I watch the cup and try to catch local matches when I can. I played as a youth even garnering a 2 year scholarship to UConn(that I couldn't take advantage of since there was no money for the last 2 years). But I also played ice hockey and rugby, which are my two favorite sports BTW.

Highlander179 · 06-13-2006, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Porsche-O-Phile
Even understanding what's going on and the strategies that reveal themselves on the playing field it's still very boring to watch.

Its the same difference as chess and checkers. You either understand the strategy... or you like basketball.

Simple games for simple minds.

Rich76_911s · Rich76_911s's Garage

I am not a big fan of watching sports (love to play them), but the one I can't stand is basketball. I'd wrather go to the dentist than have to sit through a game of you score, we score, you score, we score, ohhh someone sneezed FOUL! Don't even get me started on the walk back to play defense that seems to dominate the NBA. Wait there are 2 minutes who is going to score last.

Simplified any sports sounds stupid.

The thing I can't stand about watching soccer is the faining of injuries and the diving. Why do they bother? I've never seen it work to change a refs mind. I'd start carding every a-hole that felt it was appropriate to fake an injury.

artplumber · 06-13-2006, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by livi
I kind of figured that would be the case.

I have to admit I stand out in the general crowd here. I am one of the few that think its boring to watch. Nothing much happens. And to be brutally honest - a bunch of grown men kicking around a ball, trying to shoot it into a net - and then hugging each other... I don´t know.

I watch it and like it - of course I used to play. I also watch F1 and ALMS so maybe that means little.

The athletes that the US produces for soccer are slowly getting better, but the general level of play clearly remains below the top tier. Even my wife can tell if it's a US league game vs one of the european games. On the other hand, I think the game is catching on in this country because more and more teens are playing and understanding the game. Although it may never grow to NBA/NFL/MLB levels it soon will surpass hockey.

ZOA NOM · ZOA NOM's Garage

Soccer is for girls, and "guys" who couldn't hack it on a football field. There is no comparison athletically between the sports. Aerobically, maybe, but athletically, there is simply nothing close to the demands of the human body on a football field. Widebody, if you had ever played high-level football, you would understand. It is the ONLY sport that places you in direct, life-threatening, physical conflict with another human, AT FULL SPEED, and expects you to collide. Boxing and cagefighting only come close.

Highlander179 · 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ZOANAS
It is the ONLY sport that places you in direct, life-threatening, physical conflict with another human, AT FULL SPEED, and expects you to collide.

That makes it more athletic???

Quote:

athlete
One entry found for athlete.

Main Entry: ath·lete
Pronunciation: 'ath-"lEt, ÷'a-th&-"lEt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin athleta, from Greek athlEtEs, from athlein to contend for a prize, from athlon prize, contest
: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina

where's it say "collision" in there?

Rich76_911s · Rich76_911s's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by ZOANAS
It is the ONLY sport that places you in direct, life-threatening, physical conflict with another human, AT FULL SPEED, and expects you to collide. Boxing and cagefighting only come close.

The only person that collides at full speed in a football game are recievers, and kick returners (RARELY, as I wave my hand not to get hit) and it doesn't happen at full speed all that often. QB's can get hit pretty good too, but the number of full speed collisions in football is actually quite low. I would guess that the on average hockey players get hit harder and more often than the typical football player.