Posted on 06/25/2006 2:30:42 PM PDT by RepublicanPatriot
My theory is that Americans have neither the belief system nor the temperment for such a sisyphean sport as soccer. We are a society of doers, achievers, and builders. Our country is dynamic, constantly growing, and becoming ever bigger, richer, and stronger. We do not subscribe to a “zero sum” mentality. We do not labor for the sake of laboring. And we like our sports teams to score.
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"...The original non-sequitur is "soccer is gay." That's the comment that spawns the others. You do see that, don't you?..."
The soccer-bashers (especially JRios1968) can't seem to grasp a simple concept that calling any popular sport played and watched by BILLIONS of people is idiotic. I don't like watching NBA basketball too much, and I certainly don't think the fans and participants are gay.
~ Blue Jays ~
It was pretty awful. I also think it was one of the reasons that the players started taking matters into their own hands. That blonde forward on the Dutch side was a priss.
Anytime medical personnel are summoned to the field should result with the "injured" team needing to play a man short for five minutes. The player could subsequently rejoin the game during a throw-in, cornerkick, or goalkick by their team.
Penalize those committing genuine fouls and at the same time control those players attempting to waste playing time to allow teammates to catch their breath.
~ Blue Jays ~
I know the NHL had a problem with players taking dives (hello, Theoren Fleury) a while back. I don't recall how they dealt with it, but I doubt many people called the sport gay for that reason.
You instead call it a sport watched "by 300-pound, girly-men, and living in their parents' basement" in your post# 125 earlier. Stop making inaccurate blanket statements and you'll enjoy your time on FreeRepublic much more and will have more interesting exchanges of ideas.
~ Blue Jays ~
Excellent point and your are correct once again.
One of the critical factors of who will win any match whether it be soccer, hockey, football, or whatever is overall team fitness. The team with greater aerobic conditioning shouldn't be penalized because the opponent wants to artificially slow the pace of the game.
~ Blue Jays ~
You're right -- I don't know where my brain was at. In the old days, ties in NFL games were fairly common (no sudden death at all)...I do like the shootouts better than sudden death though....and as I say, I really *hate* trying to follow anyone's explanation of the playoff tiebreakers. I suppose ending games at the end of regulation would reduce the necessity of only a few of them. What would really reduce the necessity would be going back to only 8 teams making the playoffs.
Which is why so many people watch hockey, right?
Heh.
Like I said, where does it call anyone gay? Try as you might, it ain't there...
...and neither are you.
LOL...soccer's "athletic" ability!
The original non-sequitur is in post# 5. Do you really believe people can't read between the lines of your posts?
~ Blue Jays ~
Removing or changing the offsides penalty would open up the scoring. There'd be more of a man to man defense than a zone one.
I also like the idea about widening the goals, but I don't think you need to do both.
HOw about my ideas in post #79?
The offsides rule has been in soccer virtually forever and many teams perform an excellent "offsides trap" to lure opposing players. In the old NASL they moved it from midfield to a "blueline" closer to the goals to encourage greater scoring oppportunities. College soccer uses the F.I.F.A. rules and calls offsides from the centerline.
Soccer is a very conservative and traditional sport that seeks to remain with the initial rules. This adherence to the original ideas is very much how we as political conservatives view the U.S. Constitution. We typically seek to remain true to the ideals of our Founding Fathers and their brilliant vision.
Modifications may happen occasionally (e.g. number of steps goalkeeper may take with ball) but wholesale changes aren't likely. Frequent use of yellow/red cards is something that has been bothersome to Franz Beckenbauer during this tournament.
~ Blue Jays ~
I don't equate sports and politics in the least. I advocate changes in sports rules all the time. I love football, but probably wouldn't like it if we went back to the days of no forward pass or even of not allowing the advancement of fumble recoveries by Team B.
As far as college soccer, don't at least the women use NCAA rules? There are NCAA rules for soccer and I'd be surprised if no one uses them. Of course, they could mirror FIFA very closely. Men's college soccer is such small time, I have no idea.
I loved playing soccer as a kid, but the lack of offense is appealing neither to the fan nor the kid who has other choices when he hits Jr. Hi. Basketball, baseball, and football were more to my liking by then, but I still think soccer is an excellent sport.
Rules must change if it's going to be at all popular in the US. One big change would be to just get rid of the goalie. That would help.
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