Is soccer un-American?

04/14/2008 | WesternCulture

[WesternCulture]

Soccer is a beautiful sport.

I'm not saying American football is not, but it ought to be remembered more often that soccer is performed without wearing tons of protection.

This is what the reality of soccer looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBanEscH7aU

Another example featuring the same player:

http://www.gordoneverett.com/LarssonHeaderComp.wmv

Henrik Larsson - more league goals than any other active soccerer of today and IMO a true ambassador of a true sport.

Larsson makes me proud of Sweden, the country in which we both grew up.

[Gator101]

...underestimate the efforts of the ref a lot.

Yes, but I think the complaint isn't so much the officiating of the games -- it's that the practice seems so tolerated by soccer players and fans with seemingly no shame. Don't get me wrong, players in sports Americans love will sometimes embellish to get a call but not to the same degree. To roll around on the ground like your knee has been shattered acting like you have minutes to live only to then jump up and run off like nothing happened 3 minutes later just offends most American's sense of sportsmanship. We like the guys who don't show pain...not ones who fake it. For me, other than that aspect I think I could enjoy watching soccer.

[Alberta's Child]

One of hockey’s biggest flaws (from a casual spectator’s standpoint) is that it simply doesn’t translate to television very well.

[aristotleman]

Yeah it’s unamerican.
It’s not loud, in your face, or manly enough.