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Soccer Critics Are Right, But it’s Time to Zip it and Cheer
Townhall.com ^ | June 27, 2014 | Mark Davis

Posted on 06/27/2014 8:16:11 AM PDT by Kaslin

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To: roofgoat

Let me ask you this question: those Third Worlders . . . they become USA soccer fans the moment they cross the border? I suppose it’s possible, the way a Venezuelan, Dominican, or Cuban becomes a baseball fan . . . but please elaborate. Spanish-speakers watch Univision, anyway. Why the interest in ESPN?


141 posted on 06/27/2014 12:24:59 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: roofgoat

I notice you didn’t mention the NBA Finals, which happens every year. Which is as an American sport as you can get.

3rd world ? Baseball is 50% Latin American. And it is a dying sport.

Enjoy your Bud ads every 5 minutes as you watch 350 lb fat asses sit on each other in ‘football’.


142 posted on 06/27/2014 12:26:32 PM PDT by sunrise_sunset
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To: 21twelve

The idea of Little League and hockey camps is basically ludicrous. Willie Mays grew up playing stickball and Gretzky on frozen ponds.

The entire concept of adults running expensive children’s sports leagues demonstrates a lot of what is wrong in the country.


143 posted on 06/27/2014 12:29:06 PM PDT by sunrise_sunset
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To: 21twelve
NFL football will die (if it does, and I doubt it) if it can't convince American parents to get their kids to play football. Right now, the NFL is losing that PR battle (and the owners don't care, they will retire to their respective islands when it's all over).

So the NFL will have to import players. Think about that for a minute.

144 posted on 06/27/2014 12:29:38 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: sunrise_sunset
The ratings are higher than the NBA Finals or World Series.

The ratings for an average English Premier League game exceed those for the Super Bowl. Viewership for the World Cup final in 2010 approached a billion people.

The only people who watch American sports are Americans. The only people who watch soccer are everyone else.

145 posted on 06/27/2014 12:31:17 PM PDT by IronJack
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To: sunrise_sunset

Olympics are every 4 years too and its a big deal. I’ll watch gymnastics, swimming and even curling because its the Olympics.

Other than the Olympics (4 year event) I could never imagine myself or a buddy saying ‘Hey, girls swimming is on Ch. 5 now, or gymnastics is on ESPN, or curling is on”. A guy would get scoffed at if he did.

Only way soccer does well in the US is the World Cup and amongst the mass forced immigration populace.


146 posted on 06/27/2014 12:31:28 PM PDT by roofgoat
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To: lodi90

It’s nice to watch a sport without a bunch of thugs (Luis Suarez, notwithstanding).


147 posted on 06/27/2014 12:31:55 PM PDT by dfwgator
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To: roofgoat
I think you should start looking at the numbers (yes, that means looking at $). There are sports that are trending downward, and sports that are trending upward. That's life.

But to suggest that soccer (in the U.S.) will "only" succeed because of the World Cup (and that it will fade afterward) requires no small amount of denial.

Please note, I'm not talking about the "bump" I'm talking about the trend.

148 posted on 06/27/2014 12:36:59 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy

If the NFL dies, it will be from be sued out of existence by its own players. I never understood people blaming some made up strawman that they think is out to get football. When we all see with our own eyes football’s ex-players being they ones dragging the NFL into court. It will be football players who destroy football, nobody else.


149 posted on 06/27/2014 12:37:23 PM PDT by gusty
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To: FamiliarFace
the ref is the one who is keeping the official tim

Would it be too much to ask to have his stopwatch synched to the stadium clock?

150 posted on 06/27/2014 12:38:03 PM PDT by AU72
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To: sunrise_sunset

Now that post I think is 100 % spot on.


151 posted on 06/27/2014 12:38:15 PM PDT by roofgoat
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To: gusty
That whole pink gloves thing? Purely marketing. That gay thing? Lib sports reporters. The CTE thing? Existential crisis for the sport.

And the owners don't recognize it, yet. Because they are rolling in dough generated by their taxpayer-funded stadiums.

152 posted on 06/27/2014 12:42:35 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy

This is how I see the trends in my lifetime. When I was young I would rank in popularity these sports in order, Baseball, Football, Basketball, Hockey, and Soccer. Now I would make the ranking Football, Basketball, Baseball, Soccer, and Hockey. With Soccer being within striking distance of baseball, due to baseball’s nursing home demographic. Hockey had a brief moment in the early 90’s, but it did not capitalize and now it is teetering on irrelevance. Football is king right now, with Basketball and Soccer being sports that are trending up. While Baseball is about to enter a death spiral after its fans pass to the great beyond in the next two decades, and hockey was never there to began with.


153 posted on 06/27/2014 12:42:43 PM PDT by gusty
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To: AU72

Ha, that debate has been going on forever. There are others who keep time too, just to keep the ref honest, but good luck getting that changed. It has grown on me over the years. I look forward to seeing how much time is left for the stoppages. It’s a reminder that the game isn’t over till the fat lady sings (or the ref blows his whistle).


154 posted on 06/27/2014 12:43:47 PM PDT by FamiliarFace
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To: cripplecreek

I don’t see what’s so hard about this “best records advance” concept. If the Tigers lose game #162, they’re not supposed to still be happy if they’ve made the playoffs?


155 posted on 06/27/2014 12:46:14 PM PDT by kevkrom (I'm not an unreasonable man... well, actually, I am. But hear me out anyway.)
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To: gusty
I've already seen some sports economics blogs writing that the MLS (a pox be upon them, btw) has surpassed the NHL. Which is a shame, because I grew up as a hockey fan. I hate to watch a sport suffer a slow death.

I'm off to watch some thoroughbred racing . . . oh, wait.

156 posted on 06/27/2014 12:47:18 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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To: Kaslin
Metric it a lot easier then the American system because it goes by ten, hundred and thousand, which is much easier to remember.

There are 36 inches in a yard but I'll be damned if I can remember how many centimeters there are in that same yard........

157 posted on 06/27/2014 12:50:12 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (By now, everyone should know that you shoot a zombie in the head. Don't try to reason with them...)
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To: 1rudeboy

NHL just posted record revenue. If the MLS has passed them it’s not because they’re falling, it’s just MLS growing, which given the much larger stadium size isn’t terribly unexpected.


158 posted on 06/27/2014 12:53:34 PM PDT by discostu (Ladies and gentlemen watch Ruth!)
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To: 1rudeboy

you are right, because the US is now awash with illegals.

For most young white American males, soccer is a sport you play because you are smaller and suck at baseball/football/basketball. I’d add hockey, but in the US, if you want to play hockey you need some money and parents willing to sell their lives to the sport.

Guess what else is “trending down” here in the old US. The concept of a republic. What is “trending up”. Crime, the acceptance of criminal govt, and barrios. Yeah US trends.


159 posted on 06/27/2014 12:54:39 PM PDT by roofgoat
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To: discostu

Didn’t know that, thanks. The one article I read did reference average crowd turnout . . . but those specialized MLS stadiums aren’t that big to begin with. I thought NHL stadiums are larger.


160 posted on 06/27/2014 12:55:53 PM PDT by 1rudeboy
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