[Colonel_Flagg]

Naysayers can whistle past the graveyard if they want. The fact of the matter remains 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) — and baseball and basketball were aired by Big Four networks.

There are three million youth soccer players in the United States. Deride it if you will. The next generation sure doesn’t.

(I just wish we had played better against Motherwell!) WATP

[Billthedrill]

I love football, myself. Apparently the rest of the world has a different interpretation of the sport, and as usual, the rest of the world is wrong. I mean, look, we're an apex predator. What makes us an apex predator is an opposable thumb, which enables a grip, around a stone axe, a spear, a rifle, or the opponent's throat. And what typifies soccer? You can't use that! You are forbidden by The Rules from employing the single attribute that has turned man from a fur-lingerie-wearing prey into a fire-breathing conqueror tearing the beating hearts out of his enemies and thrusting them, howling, toward the exultant war gods of the sky. And that's what I like about football, real football, not the dainty mincing across the pitch by lace-panty eunuchs but the screaming ecstasy of of tearing the reeking vitals out of an opponent and burning them on a fiery altar of pure, machismo lust!!!

Now, about baseball...

[rrrod]

Of course this is a myth.....I love watch my little grandkids play soccer, Keeps them in shape for a real sport later in life.

[sitetest]

“Doesn’t like football”?? What are they talking about?>> Ah..., they mean soccer. They’re right.

[Starstruck]

Maybe it would be more exciting if they gave 7 points every time they score. That way a 3-2 game would be 21-14.

[x]

Misleading title much?

Soccer is okay as a screensaver when you want to watch TV and there's nothing on. It's also good practice when the games aren't in English and you're learning a foreign language. Also, if it's a really big game and the whole world is watching.

Otherwise, it's not that easy to get into.

[Sicon]

You know why I don't like soccer, and why I think a lot of Americans don't like soccer? Because it's played by a bunch of effete wusses (yes, there's another word I'd prefer to use, but I try to keep it clean here on FR :-) Exaggerating contact or pretending to be fouled is flat out unsportsmanlike, but not in international soccer.

And tell me, what team of Americans would stand by and do NOTHING when an opposing player BITES one of their teammates? I am talking here about Luis Suarez, who has bitten opposing players no less than three different times. And in every instance, neither the bitten player, or his teammates, did anything about it. If Suarez tried that crap on an American, I would like to think he wouldn't have any of his horse-sized teeth left in his mouth as a result of the pummeling he'd receive.

The game itself isn't the problem, it's the worthelss preening peacock wusses that play it.

[Sergio]

I have a friend who says that, “Soccer is for the homosexuals that don't have the hand-eye-coordination to play badminton.”

Personally, I don't like soccer because it reminds me too much of my high school dating years. A lot of running around, heaving breathing, profuse sweating, very, very little scoring.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

I can go to a soccer game and enjoy it. I can go to a baseball game and enjoy it. Football would be interesting if they would play the game rather then stand around talking about it. Basketball is unwatchable. Cricket.... I am sorry but I have never been able to figure out cricket.

But hockey, now there is a real sport!

[Pete from Shawnee Mission]

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!

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

Indoor arena soccer is an exciting sport. Regular soccer is about as exciting as watching Bruce Jenner show off his breast implants.

[Winniesboy]

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.

[safeasthebanks]

The 1994 World Cup, played in the US, STILL holds the record for highest attendance - total and per match. And that tournament only had 52 games. All tournaments since have had 64 games.

Any further questions???