AMERICA'S FAVORITE NATIONAL PASTIME: HATING SOCCER (ANN COULTER)

Ann Coulter Webpage ^ | June 25, 2014 | Ann Coulter

[1rudeboy]

I was wondering just this morning—does the explosion of interest in the NFL coincide with the explosion of illegal immigration? Something to ponder.

[Hegewisch Dupa]

you mean besides Aaron Hernandez? Wait, that’s a different level of ‘illegal’ ;)

[1rudeboy]

I will grant you there are breaks in the action. Injury, ball going out-of-bounds, etc. But the action, if not "continuous," is so much more continuous that anyone failing to see it is blind. Next time you don't know where to begin confronting the observation, ask yourself, how many Cialis commercials did I see while watching the Ravens vs. the Steelers?

[Ransomed]

“If the ref didn’t see it, it didn’t happen and it seems that the number of ref’s is purposely limited to prevent flagrant violations of the rules from being noticed by the officials. The fans however see all of this and it seems to encourage the players to compete for a shadow game of revenge that plays out behind the officials backs.”

I guess I would rather have the shadow game of retaliation than a million stoppages on foul calls. The ball goes out of bounds often enough as it is, but even with those stoppages it seems like you are getting big meaty chunks of product with no commercials. And the only jerky celebrations I have seen were for goals, which I find grating but at least it doesn’t happen all the time.

The problem with football and basketball in the modern era is that with modern officiating penalty trends and a million camera angles the players can’t self police themselves. So if you want to be a near seven footer who chest pounds after you dunk with no defender within 20 feet of you, no one can stop you from being a tremendous jerk. Same with a 300lb + lineman who falls on a loose ball, you can get up and break out the gyrating self-congratulatory prancing all you want.

Freegards

[upcountryhorseman]

I too hate soccer: It should be banned from American schools!

[GunRunner]

I don’t understand people who call soccer boring, but think baseball is exciting.

[gura]

Soccer is SO GAY. Oh wait...

[BlackElk]

We could always withdraw from soccer permanently as a nation.

Someone reported on a radio talk show in Chicago this morning the following incident. The late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was informed that Great Britain had lost an important soccer match to the Germans. She replied: "That's all right. We beat THEM twice this century in their national sport!"

[Goldsborough]

I will grant you there are breaks in the action. Injury, ball going out-of-bounds, etc. But the action, if not "continuous," is so much more continuous that anyone failing to see it is blind. Next time you don't know where to begin confronting the observation, ask yourself, how many Cialis commercials did I see while watching the Ravens vs. the Steelers?

Lol. Players passing to one another maintaining "possession" is "action" the same way Dean Smith's four corners offense in college basketball was "action." It was and is sleep inducing to watch teams in any sport play keep away with itself. I am also certainly not blind to soccer's almost unrelieved litany of passing and shooting failures that its fans call "action."

Another key indicator of how boring soccer is is apparent in what are considered highlights. Never in the history of televised sport has so much hi-def super slow motion camera work been devoted to things that DIDN'T HAPPEN! Show a goal or a save from sixty angles, great. Repeatedly showing a free kick that missed everything by twelve feet? Showing the theatrics of a non-contact dive? Slow mo facial reactions of the coach? Ridiculous.

You need a last anecdote? I forgot that USA-Germany was an 8:30Am start here in the Pacific time zone. Tuned in at minute 44 on the work tv, and guess what? I had missed exactly nothing. I can't think of any other sport where that is more likely to happen than not.

I think I'd rather endure some ED commercials than regularly subject myself to "soccer action."

[Goldsborough]

To really judge the "out" NFL, we have to wait until Sam does this on the field:



And do I really have to post all of the on field kissing in men's soccer? It would make the old Isaiah Thomas+Magic Johnson smooches seem chaste.

[gura]

That picture is hilarious, wish I knew the backstory.

[snowstorm12]

I agree with Ann. Soccer is subpar. Why watch and inferior product? why regress and go backward to the stone age of sports? In fact, new sports should be created that may be superior to what we already have or improve upon what we already have.

We already have a superior version of soccer, it’s hockey. We have a league and everything. If someone likes soccer, they should like hockey. It’s keep away, but faster and much better!

so many countries like soccer because they don’t have much else.

[1rudeboy]

I think I'd rather endure some ED commercials than regularly subject myself to "soccer action."

There you have it . . . the sponsors of the NFL/NBA/MLB appreciate your support. Now go watch some more commercials.

[1rudeboy]

I like soccer, and I like hockey. I watch both. What’s the controversy?

[GOYAKLA]

There is a supreme game out of England far better than Soccer, Football, Baseball Basketball and Hockey, called “Eton Wall Game”! /sarc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_wall_game

[ex-snook]

Get the flopping out of the game and there will be something to talk about.

[Don Corleone]

A nice witty column from Coulter.

Who,like Beckel,knows zero about the sport and like so many other topics feels free to pontificate on it. Sounds like Annie may have made "friends" with a pro football player. I hope that he makes enough money to buy her a decent meal or two.

[Goldsborough]

Get the flopping out of the game and there will be something to talk about.

FIFA could eliminate diving the same way they are trying to contain biting—through post match video reviews, suspensions and fines. That they can't/won't/don't suggests strongly that diving is integral to the game because it creates artificial scoring chances in a sport where scoring enough to be interesting is already a massive problem.

[Goldsborough]

I will gladly watch some commercials in exchange for vastly superior on field products as compared to the “beautiful nap” that is soccer.

[1rudeboy]

So you like napping while watching your preferred sports. That’s cool.