[egarvue]

I agree; I used to not like soccer until I got forced into assistant coaching the soccer team for the little parochial high school I used to teach at. Now I understand the strategies and tactics of the game, and enjoy the game much more. I am really sick of the inter-sport bashing that goes on - all sports are so different from each other and require mastery of different skill sets that no one could honestly say one sport is "better" than another.

[Steve_Seattle]

"I am really sick of the inter-sport bashing that goes on"

I agree. People aren't content to say "I like _________"; they've got to add a put-down of whatever it is they don't like.

[safeasthebanks]

Great point about the foolishness of arguing about which sport is "better". It's all just opinion.

For what its worth (and to all you "soccer is not an American sport" types), with a full compliment of players, our National Team would be favored to beat the Iraqi Nationals, especially at home or on a neutral field.