You make some fair points, and let me clarify something that got lost in all the nuance of the rules, etc. I was not slamming soccer per se. I played it in little league in NC when that area of NC was one of the first areas in the entire nation to know what the sport was. The high school I attended was a pioneer in the sport in the Raleigh Durham area.
I do not dislike soccer per se. What I was making fun of is the soccer elite attitude. The fact that some folks took this ‘attack on soccer’ so personally proves my point that there is an elitism among soccer folks that is akin to the elitism among Prius drivers or folks with pink ribbons for breast cancer.
It is THAT and THAT ALONE that I am tweaking. I use some of the nuances of soccer and the bogus claim that it is the world’s most popular sport as a jumping off point - but the commentary was really a tweak on the similarities between the liberal mindset and the soccer elite mindset.
Yes, some folks prefer defensive oriented games in all sports, but not the majority of fans.
I think fans of any fringe sport, be it Soccer, or NASCAR or UFC, take that kind of attitude...as if they feel like they have to defend their choice of which sport they follow.