Posted on 06/02/2015 12:18:49 PM PDT by the scotsman
'True, football, or soccer as it is known here, is not as central to American as it is to European, African or South and Central American life. Nowhere near.
Up until recently, the game has been unloved by the major US television networks, which have long bemoaned the lack of breaks in play, the paucity of goals and the glut of draws.
Absent from the US game are big-name male stars and big-name clubs. The New York Red Bulls will never rival the New York Yankees. Real Salt Lake pales, rather risibly, alongside Real Madrid.
However, football is no longer met with American indifference. Nor any more does it offer proof of America's sporting isolationism.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Are you saying that there aren’t Christian wussies?
It meets the definition of a sport; if you don’t play it, you can drink beer while you watch it. I watched Sporting KC score 4 goals the other night, an amazing high scoring event. That evening they scored more than the Royals did the day before!
Indoor arena soccer is an exciting sport. Regular soccer is about as exciting as watching Bruce Jenner show off his breast implants.
A cricket ball is bowled just as fast as a baseball, and I wouldn’t want to have to dodge a well-hit cricket ball that’s heading towards me for a six. Cricket balls hurt. I know, I have been hit hard by one. Yet cricket dosent claim some macho nonsense for it.
Huge American?. Aye, fat, not muscle like the NFL. Soccer’s king is Pele. NFL is Jim Brown. Basketball (invented by a Canadian)is Jordan. Hockey is The Great One.
Baseball is fatboy Babe Ruth. Says it all.
Fat players or steroid junkies.
You aren’t giving me a convincing argument you know.
Ha ha! POST OF THE DAY!
(Too bad it’s tomorrow now...)
>> The game will be growing here long after you and I are gone.
Yeah, the wetbacks we’re importing by the bazillion will see to that.
>> the USA/Portugal World Cup game drew 21 million viewers. That’s more than watched the deciding game of the World Series (19.2 million viewers) and the deciding game of the NBA Finals (18 million viewers)
WOO HOO! Two (Bronx) cheers for soccer!
Say, Colonel, I wonder why you compared world cup views with baseball and basketball, but left out REAL AMERICAN football. But now I know:
“NBC announced on Monday that the Patriots 28-24 last second victory over the Seattle Seahawks drew an average audience of 114.4 million viewers. This makes Super Bowl XLIX the most watched broadcast in U.S. TV history.”
source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/02/02/media/super-bowl-ratings/
One hundred fourteen million viewers of REAL FOOTBALL!
Nearly two times the viewers of the world cup game, world series and NBA Final... COMBINED.
In America, real American football is still king! And will remain so.
Fat players? Perhaps some but better that than tiny little emasculated Europeans running around in shorts. And steroids have been out of the game for a while now - although those souped up players really were amazing. I’m not trying to convince you to like baseball although its a wonderful game. I’m trying to convince Europe and their running dogs to not let that silly game you all like so much to get a foothold in this country.
You’ve been hit by a cricket ball? Aw, what a shame...
How awful not to be able at your advanced years to no longer be able to slither out of your mushroom farm. How do you stand the Florida sunshine?
What strikes a British observer about the typical U.S. view of Association Football (or soccer for short) is that it’s seen as a game for women: when until very recently (I’d say the last 15 years or so) the opposite has been true here. It’s traditionally been seen as almost exclusively a man’s game. Girls weren’t allowed to play it at school (far too rough - they played the more ‘ladylike’ hockey instead), the crowds at matches were overwhelmingly male, there was no organised women’s game, and the very few women’s teams were generally viewed as freaks. The fact that this attitude has recently changed has been the result, ironically enough, of American influence.
Perhaps you could state where I ever claimed it was as popular as the NFL for a start. Don’t misrepresent me.
Look, I know the NFL is more popular in America than MLS. It will probably always be that way. It’s clearly the number one spectator sport we have — professional and college.
But I happen to be a sports fan. This means I appreciate sports in general.
‘Real football’ is played with the feet, it’s the most popular sport on the planet, and it’s growing here by leaps and bounds here in the United States. It’s cheap to play, it’s great exercise and your chances of serious head injury are much less. And scoring is difficult. That’s not always a bad thing.
In terms of average stadium attendance, it’s already third behind the NFL and MLB. But I never claimed it was as popular as the NFL and you shouldn’t build such a shameless strawman.
An excellent point, actually. I have seen field hockey games that more resemble the Battle of Hastings than a genteel athletic event.
Tiny? The average soccer player is around 5ft9 or 5ft 10, average weight around 175. Not huge but not tiny either. And the NFL has small players, look at Darren Sproles.
Yeah, anyone is great on steroids, Ben Johnson anyone?.
No, baseball isn’t a wonderful game, its slow and tedious. I can admire the individual, but the game is slow and boring. At least the equally long NFL can be genuinely exciting, as can basketball and ice hockey is great.
Gay rugby is still king, hurray!.
No one is asking you to appreciate baseball. No one.
>> Perhaps you could state where I ever claimed it was as popular as the NFL for a start.
Perhaps you could show me where I claimed that you claimed that. Talk about a strawman! All I did was to wonder aloud why you cherry-picked your data — and then research it and point out the obvious.
>> Don’t misrepresent me.
I didn’t misrepresent you in any way. It’s a FACT that pro football American style dwarfs the viewership of the sports for which you provided data. And it’s a FACT that you left out that statistic when you compared sports.
Facts are facts. You don’t get your own version of them; sorry.
Thank you Gentlemen.
If it helps end the scourge of soccer, I say you are free to use it and claim it as your own.
No one is asking you to appreciate soccer. No one.
If you cant take it, don’t dish it out. If you and most here are going to make snide comments about my sport, then some of us are going to have a dig at yours. Fair’s fair, no?.
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