Posted on 08/08/2005 11:22:35 AM PDT by onja
mods-If this isn't in the right place please move or cut it.
Why do most Americans hate soccer? It's not just that they don't like it. They are actively against it.
Soccer takes more skill and endurance than the other sports. In middle and high school you take a beating.(Elbowed, tripped, kicked, tackled- All done fairly or behind the ref's back and without body armor) There are many tactics decided by the players(unlike football and baseball). It's a sport many different people can do. Not just people who are huge or work out daily at the gym. Fast people, skilled people, strong people(fullbacks), tall people(goaly), small people, smart people. Footballers don't need much skill. Mainly strength. baseball doesn't need too much skill. Mainly the basics(throwing and catching) and strength. And, seriously, why does everyone think soccer players are gay, weak, etc? They aren't. In middle school half the team played another school sport. All of the highschoolers could easily have played school football or basketball. Out of the hundreds of players I've played I've never seen one who was even acted at all gay.
Same with football. To outside people it looks like sissies in huge pads running around. To a person who understands it, it is much more interesting.
We're not because we've developed a far superior spectator sport out of soccer and rugby, with the addition of neo-military strategy.
-Eric
Again, it is all-American to include some fine capitalism into our sporting events. And people need to gather provisions or use the facilities. It's actually quite barbaric to expect people to sit for 45 minutes without getting up for a beer or two.
SD
LOL. I don´t mind going to the kitchen or so while watching a good soccer game. And if I miss the only goal in the game, so what? It´s important to the the strategy, to rate the teams, etc. Much better than staring at Baseball. The ecxcitement in football is higher - but also shorter. You have 3 or so hours for watching 4x15 minutes playing.
Fortunately, professional club-level games--especially in Europe--tend to be a lot more exciting. The English Premier League games are really fun to watch, for starters. Who could forget the UEFA Champions League final this year when FC Liverpool beat AC Milan on penalty shots after going down 3-nil at the end of the first half and then tied the game in the second half in one of the most amazing comebacks in soccer history? I'm glad that Champions League games are often available on ESPN2, because that's where you see perhaps the best soccer in the world played.
Soccor is boring....Add some body checking and may be you got a sport worth watching.
ping
And it's the greatest sport known to man.
Americans only don't like it because they aren't terribly good at it.
American football on the other hand is very gay - with all that padding they wear and the hugging that goes on.
While Americans ignore football, the rest of the world loves the game. Go into any Irish bar in America and you will find people who originate from everywhere but America watching the Premier League and the Champions League.
That's precisely why American football is hated by the rest of the world. It's stop-start all the way through the match and you are bombarded with tedious statistics and boring coaching strategies.
I will concede, the game can be boring if one doesn't understand the strategy, or the rules (offsides), etc. I could do without all the primadonna crybabies too; the whining and acting after every foul is pretty lame. In contrast American football and rugby players hit hard and jump up for the next play....no whining.
Soccer is just another attempt to de-Americanize, America.
And those Irish will tell you that if you want a real game, it's hurling.
True. But they'd rather watch football than the effeminate American sports.
I agree with your statement about watching football, but not with American sports being effeminate. Which ones are effeminite?
Baseball, American football, golf etc.
I don't agree with you, but you're welcome to your opinions.
Who says there's no contact? That's a common misconception that leads to a lot of bad feelings for the sport by many Americans. If people would play a single half of even a high school game, they would realize how much pushing and tripping and shouldering there is.
soccer is still gay
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.