The Soccer Gap: What conservatives are missing.

National Review Online ^ | May 31, 2002 | Robert Ziegler

[Hotspur]

If you can't understand it, your "thick". Americans have but one sport, basketball. And we don't even "have" that, as Naismith was a Canadian.

[KC_Conspirator]

I got up this morning and watched the game. I seriously think that there are cultural differences that make the game harder for Americans to appreciate. (Namely the scoring, in which we have constantly rigged pro sports with crappy rules to discourage/hamper defense and juiced balls, etc.) Quite frankly, I hear the same complaints about watching the game that I do about baseball.

I have the solution to get more Americans involved: Hooligans, we need more soccer hooligans.

[Phantom Lord]

Hillarious. Someone who enjoys watching people drive around in a circle 500 times calls another sport gay....

I am no fan of NASCAR or most autosports. But I understand their appeal. And if during the course of a soccer game there was a chance of one of the players bursting into flames and taking out half the players on the field I can assure you, far more Americans would watch.

[tictoc]

KEEP AT IT, GUYS.

Heh heh heh....

[Hotspur]

for the EUROFAGS who like watching men in short shorts! Your sophomoric drivel is bad enough; shouting it in all caps makes you sound even more inane.

[Nate505]

Soccer is the perfect "socialist" activity. There's a ton of action but almost no scoring. Since most games end up 0-0, you're essentially engaging in a "non-competitive" competition, which is what leftists love.

20-1 says that less than 20%, if not more, of the games in this World Cup finish with a 0-0 score...

[Frank Grimes]

It because Liberals tend to be "Europhiles" in philosophy, politics, literature, etc. Soccer is what is popular with their cultural idols across the pond.

You read my mind. Mostly a bunch of "wanna-be Europeans".

[Nonstatist]

20-1 says that less than 20%, if not more, of the games in this World Cup finish with a 0-0 score...

Okay. Then 1-0.. Yawn... Hey! Pass me the TV Guide!

[Alberta's Child]

Excellent point about soccer being "solved," which might explain why hockey is still exciting to watch. No matter how well you play it, you'll always have to deal with all the strange twists and tricky bounces of the puck, etc. that wreak havoc on the game.

[Hotspur]

Yet we still DOMINATE all sports outside of soccer. And dont dominate that because Americans dont like it.

We dominate the ones we invent and no one else likes, which is nothing to be proud of. In the North American game with the most foreign appeal--basketball--the rest of the world has all but caught up. Had the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia not been broken up, their teams would be just barely, if at all, behind the US.

The one game the whole world plays--soccer--we stink in.

[Nate505]

I am no fan of NASCAR or most autosports. But I understand their appeal. And if during the course of a soccer game there was a chance of one of the players bursting into flames and taking out half the players on the field I can assure you, far more Americans would watch.

So in other words, most of the fans don't watch the sport for it's sporting value (and despite my snide comments, I realize that auto racing than people driving around in a circle 500 times), but for explosions?

[Phantom Lord]

As with most sports, can you bet the Over/Under on soccer? If so, what is the avg. Over/Under set at... 1? 2? I would be surprised if it exceeded that.

[Nonstatist]

That doesn't diminish any of the athletic spirit or skill exhibited by the players

It takes skill to sweep the lint off an expensive wool suit, too, but I wouldnt want to sit and watch someone do it.

[Alberta's Child]

I say make them play till they drop.

I agree, but with a twist. After every 15 minutes of sudden-death overtime, each team must remove one player from the field. How long do you think a game would last under those circumstances?

[Nate505]

Do baseball and golf fans write editorials criticizing people who are not fans of the sport? No. Do they criticize and belittle people who dont like the sport? No. Do they question the mental capacity and "culture" of those that don't like the sports? No.

Probably because their sports don't get attacked constantly. I'd bet you anything they would if people kept saying 'baseball sucks,' 'what a boring game it is,' etc.

[Alberta's Child]

. . . if during the course of a soccer game there was a chance of one of the players bursting into flames and taking out half the players on the field I can assure you, far more Americans would watch.

Congratulations -- this is the sports quote of the year in my book. LOL!

[Phantom Lord]

I live in NC. I am surrounded by NASCAR freaks, and not a single one of them would say they dont hope for accidents. And most of them will readily announce prior to the start of a race that they hope a driver they dont like is taken out by an accident.

[Hotspur]

My main problem with soccer is all the soccer proselytizers. The author of the above article is an example, although he is rare, because usually the SP's are leftists. You see, for far too many soccer fans it's simply not enough that they watch it, enjoy it, follow it. You must watch it too! All sorts of reasons are advance: it's "the Peoples' Game". It's the Most Popular Game In The World. Lots and lots of reasons.

Actually, if the level of insight is akin to what they show on this thread, I hope beyond hope that the anti-soccer contingent stay away so as not to infect soccer with their inanity.

[Clemenza]

It's easy to talk smack on the Internet. I dare you to go to a pub in London or Glasgow on a November Saturday afternoon and say that.

I don't know about Glasgow, but I would fear doing it in London for fear of being "Rogered" by an English soccer poof.