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Soccer: Why is it hated?

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.


TOPICS: Sports
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To: Doohickey

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.


261 posted on 08/09/2005 6:58:52 AM PDT by Asphalt (Join my NFL ping list! FReepmail me| The best things in life aren't things)
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To: onja
It's not so much hate as indifference. What's hated is the idea that because soccer is popular in the rest of the world, Americans should be into it too.

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

262 posted on 08/09/2005 8:15:32 AM PDT by E Rocc (If we're all God's Children, what does that say about marriage?)
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To: Michael81Dus
The ref throws the flag on the ground because the TV thinks it´s time for ads.

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

263 posted on 08/09/2005 8:19:55 AM PDT by SoothingDave
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To: SoothingDave

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.


264 posted on 08/09/2005 8:31:42 AM PDT by Michael81Dus
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To: onja
Soccer Violence
265 posted on 08/09/2005 12:39:25 PM PDT by MarkeyD (I really, really loathe liberals.)
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To: onja
Soccer is hated:
1) It has been pushed as "the next big thing" for 20 years.
2) It's mostly played by foreigners so American's don't like it - until we start winning.
3) It doesn't have the generational culture of Baseball, Football, or Hockey.
4) Like Hockey it is difficult to watch on TV (no time outs, can't see all the action, the strategy is not apparent)
5) Americans like statistics and soccer doesn't have many.

That being said soccer is gaining on the NHL & NBA. Here are the attendance figure for the last year:

League Year Games Attendance Average
NFL 2004 256 17,270,486 67,463
MLB 2004 2,400 72,968,953 30,404
NBA 2004-05 1,230 21,302,835 17,319
NHL 2003-04 1,230 20,336,163 16,533
MLS 2004 150 2,333,797 15,559

BTW The people that said baseball is loosing people are wrong, it was slightly down in 02 & 03, but overall it is gaining popularity.
266 posted on 08/09/2005 3:46:21 PM PDT by Purple GOPer (The government is a group of people who are usually ungoverned.)
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To: onja
I think what does turn off casual soccer fans is that true international level competitions such as the World Cup tend to overemphasize defense, which results in games that make you want to

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.

267 posted on 08/10/2005 6:24:20 AM PDT by RayChuang88
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To: onja

Soccor is boring....Add some body checking and may be you got a sport worth watching.


268 posted on 08/10/2005 6:42:25 AM PDT by FlatLandBeer
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To: jjbrouwer

ping


269 posted on 08/10/2005 9:06:33 AM PDT by EveningStar
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To: onja
For a start, it's FOOTBALL, not soccer.

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.

270 posted on 08/10/2005 10:13:07 AM PDT by jjbrouwer (I even used the American spelling of "humour" to humour you)
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To: Purple GOPer
no time outs, can't see all the action, the strategy is not apparent

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.

271 posted on 08/10/2005 10:15:33 AM PDT by jjbrouwer (I even used the American spelling of "humour" to humour you)
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To: jjbrouwer

272 posted on 08/10/2005 10:30:24 AM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: onja
School kids used to only play hockey, baseball, basketball & football - and never soccer, which is not even an American sport.

Soccer is just another attempt to de-Americanize, America.


273 posted on 08/13/2005 7:03:59 PM PDT by M. Espinola ( Freedom is never free)
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To: jjbrouwer
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.

And those Irish will tell you that if you want a real game, it's hurling.

274 posted on 08/23/2005 7:24:06 PM PDT by Bosco (Remember how you felt on September 11?)
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To: Bosco

True. But they'd rather watch football than the effeminate American sports.


275 posted on 08/24/2005 7:14:57 AM PDT by jjbrouwer
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To: jjbrouwer

I agree with your statement about watching football, but not with American sports being effeminate. Which ones are effeminite?


276 posted on 08/24/2005 8:44:39 AM PDT by Bosco (Remember how you felt on September 11?)
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To: Bosco

Baseball, American football, golf etc.


277 posted on 08/24/2005 9:42:07 AM PDT by jjbrouwer
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To: jjbrouwer

I don't agree with you, but you're welcome to your opinions.


278 posted on 08/24/2005 11:17:47 AM PDT by Bosco (Remember how you felt on September 11?)
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To: FlatLandBeer

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.


279 posted on 08/29/2005 4:53:44 PM PDT by philisthemaster
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To: brivette

soccer is still gay


280 posted on 06/13/2006 8:46:55 PM PDT by Lunatic Fringe (Man Law: You Poke It, You Own It)
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