Posted on 08/19/2012 10:47:26 AM PDT by Jakarta ex-pat
I have just finished watching an absolute scorcher of a game between Manchester City and Southampton (the current league champions won 3-2) and would like to state my case why America needs to embrace this game ASAP.
1) Football (soccer) is THE premier spectator sport in the world.
This doesn't mean baseball, basketball, Ice Hockey, cricket, American football, rugby, Australian rules etc don't have a place at the table. But week in and week out, the thought that David can and does beat Goliath makes it genuine.
2) It can be played anywhere.
Unlike most team sports, no equipment is required to play except a ball. And I don't necessarily mean a football. The kids at my school use "paper" balls, and when I was a kid, we used sweaters for goal posts.
3) It is an international language.
With the chances of our children traveling internationally becoming far more frequent, to be able to communicate with others is a huge asset. Yes learning languages is important, but that's no good if you have nothing to talk about. The EPL is represented by almost half the world. Moreover it is the most watched league in the world. Having some knowledge of its stars and traditions does no harm.
Once again, I'm NOT saying other spectator sports are boring ( well ok basketball and baseball). But in this shrinking world, if you don't know Rooney from Drogba, Pele form Maradonna, or Juventus from AC Milan...you are left with talking about ....
socker isn’t football, it’s 3rd world crap!
In the 70s, I would sometimes play soccer...but with 4 man teams. Designated goalie had to be ready to outrun the ball before it arrived at the goal. It was entirely possible to score from mid-field. And of course, we had to cover the entire field...no standing around, waiting for the ball to get closer.
Because you could score from midfield (or further if you had a strong leg), a typical score might be 20-17. THAT was fun!
Standing around, watching others, waiting for the ball to get closer, scoreless games....yawn. Zzzzzz.....
The same is true of American football, which i played with my friends on any old field or playground when I was kid.
I can see it now, a Friday night in a rural Texas town the air is cool on this Homecoming night. The stadium is full as the two prairie powerhouse teams take the field. The skinny players of the home team hope to avenge the nil-nil tie of last year as they stand in silence for the playing of the US and Mexican National Anthems.
If there is no football what will the fat kids play?
thanks for such kind words!
Soccer is excruciatingly boring, and the players are a bunch of drama queens.
"Your boyfriend left you for me!"
"NOOOOOOOO!"
Strange, a person who decides to leave his country and live in another telling a third country what their sports should be.
Bingo!! Soccer was fun to play as a kid because we never just stood around. It is brutally painful to watch, and even more so at the Professional level because of the “acting” that happens. There is no flow to the game.
Geez..has this forum really become about who can make the snidest remark
Soon thereafter, a soccer pitch was put up in the outfield. I don't think a baseball game was ever played there.
I have long been convinced that this is the primary reason it's popular. Most of the rest of the world is too poor to avoid sports equipment.
The reason it's not popular here is that one wonders why anyone would find constant motion (and low scores) interesting.
Ahh, that would be “afford” not “avoid.” Don’t know what I was thinking.
I do not have a dog in this hunt, as I like sports, but watching NFL fans say that soccer is gay never fails to crack me up. So go ahead NFL fans, continue watching your sport: skin-tight, manhood-enhancing uniforms; players “presenting” their rumps to the cameras; all interspersed with ads for erectile dysfunction. LOL
I prefer flicking slugs with a sharpened stick, much more entertaining than soccer.
Sorry, didn’t mean to touch a nerve soccer boy. Where was I incorrect in my post? I just think it is strange and said so.
And the fact that most the world plays it is reason enough to ignore it!
Many of us want nothing to do with the international mainstream, sports included.
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