Posted on 07/02/2014 7:49:10 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Soccer doesn’t express the American ethos as powerfully as our other popular sports: We are a country of pioneers, and we like to see extraordinary effort rewarded... with points.
Has the time finally come to slap a Do Not Resuscitate bracelet on soccer’s prospects for popularity in America?
If it were up to me, the answer would be no, because soccer players are among the strongest, fittest, most strategic athletes in the world. But, for various reasons, the sport itself does not seem destined for the popularity that supporters have been predicting for the last decade. I’m reminded of the end of Man of La Mancha, when Don Quixote lies dying, but is suddenly inspired to rise once more and proclaim, “Onward to glory I go!” And then he drops dead. Soccer has been proclaiming this impending U.S. glory for years, and while there are signs of life in the body, the prognosis is not good.
This dire diagnosis probably seems crazy in the face of the current World Cup TV ratings success. Between Univision and ESPN, 25 million viewers tuned in to watch the U.S. play Portugal last Sunday. Compare that to 15.5 million viewers that the NBA finals averaged this year, or the 14.9 million averaged in last year’s baseball World Series. Worse, the NHL playoffs averaged only 5 million viewers. Only NFL football consistently beats soccer’s best rating.
The problem with those statistics is that it’s like using the ratings of bobsledding during the Winter Olympics to declare a new renaissance for bobsledding in America. The World Cup, like the Olympics, happens every four years, so the rarity factor alone will account for inflated ratings.
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
That was true 20 years ago, but today most MLS teams play in there own stadiums, built with less taxpayer dollars than the other sports.
Interesting. When my son was growing up in Kansas all boys either played tackle football beginning at age 9 or were labeled as “butterfly collectors”. His father was a coach and neither he nor any of his asst coaches would ever try to play. Much has apparently changed over the years.
The coaches “KIDS” not the coaches. I reread my post and I specifically says coaches kids, not the coaches.
Strangely enough divorce is a big driver of soccer's popularity. Kids without a dad at home play soccer as a fall sport instead of football.
Excellent point.
Since your son’s father was coach, I would bet anything he played every down no matter how bad he played. And the faster better athletic kid who threatened his playing time was buried on the bench.
Never go full retard man, never.
Just one man’s observation but I’ve coached kids sports for a long time. The middle class white kids with single mom’s don’t play football and baseball.
So let me get this straight. White kids with single moms don’t play football. But on the other hand, the NFL is populated by black kids with single moms and they dominate the sport. So it is not the single mom issue that is the determining factor here. Under your reasoning, black kids with single moms must be playing soccer. As a soccer fan, I hope your right, and so does Klinnsman.
I know many Hispanic immigrants and first generation Americans from Mexico, Guatemala, Equator, Columbia, and other Latin countries. Almost universally, they have gravitated away from soccer to American football, baseball, and to a lesser extent, basketball. Sure they still play soccer for recreation, but they are passionate about football and baseball and watch every game they can on TV. I've noticed the same trend with Irish immigrants.
As I said it’s my observation. My area is white and middle class so I probably should have qualified it that way from the beginning. I stand by my observation, though, that a lot of kids (friends of my sons included) play soccer because Mom doesn’t want them to play football. With the recent NFL concussion issues I think this is going to increase.
Lots of Dad’s at the football games though. YMMV
I used to think soccer was boring, and sometimes it is. But I find baseball to be quite boring too and I used to be a big fan. With a rooting interest for the US team, the game can be exciting, at least at times. But undeniable are the skill and athleticism of the players.
Good points in your post #46.
And since it takes extraordinary effort to score in soccer, what's the problem?
In fact, once the NBA banned hand-checking 2004, players from foreign countries who learned basketball from sports academies started to become a lot more effective. Properly coached, these players’ ability to move and distribute the ball is literally driving American players who learned basketball through the AAU and one year of college crazy. Indeed, new players like Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins will likely have to learn the ball distribution aspects of FIBA rules basketball within the next 4-5 years as teams all over the NBA start to seriously recruit the best European players.
Pretty much now though any USMNT home game, even the friendlies are guaranteed sellouts, that certainly wasn’t the case only a few years ago.
A lot of so-called “Soccer”-mad countries can’t even make that claim.
Why not say that a 120-118 NBA game suits the 'gibsmedat' crowd who wants something for nothing and a 55-52 NFL overtime game suits people who have to have a winner or loser regardless of the effort expended by two equally matched teams? It would make as much sense.
Since your son’s father was coach, I would bet anything he played every down no matter how bad he played.”
Well, you’re 100 per cent wrong about that. We didn’t play in a “show up and you play” league. Kids had to try out for and make a team and all the coaches in our league played to win. Kids had two-a-days before season started, lifted weights and ran every evening, lots and lots of conditioning, watched films of their game with each play critiqued by the coach - what was right, what was wrong - it was mandatory that every college and pro game that was on TV was watched in our household and all the plays and players were discussed. Any kid on the team who didn’t play well at their position sat on the bench, including all the coach’s sons. There was no partiality shown.
My son certainly wasn’t the biggest or fastest but he ended up receiving an award for the being the best outside linebacker in our league for six years in a row and went on to play that position for two years in college - primarily because he was smart, physically strong, quick off the ball and knew how to read and play against all kinds of different offenses.
Sorry I misread your post. Had eye surgery recently which sometimes prevents things I read from going from my eyes through my brain.
Our coaches kids, including my own, did not play if there was someone on the team who was better at their position. We played to win, not to give the coaches and the kids something to do in their spare time.
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