Soccer may be the most popular sport in the world

Welcome to our community

Be a part of something great, join today!

Register Log in
dpc said:
Honestly I was having this problem the other night. All summer all I did was watch and play soccer. Now that NBA has started back up, I honestly feel a bit bored. I hate that every single time a player is touched their is a foul. Its ridiculous when a player is in the air and you lightly touch his back with one finger and it's a foul. Their was a foul the other night when Baron was just driving and whoever was guarding him was just driving next to him, with their bodies touching. I understand that in basketball that is a foul, but its crazy that their is so many fouls called for just touching, not even effecting the play. That, and I absolutely hate timeouts, and all other types of game stoppers.
Click to expand...

lmao I kinda had the same problem too.. at the home opener the other night I think Wes broke for a layup and Roy passed it to him. And I almost yelled "NO HE IS IN AN OFFSIDE POSITION!!!" But then I realized what the heck I was thinking lol.
 
Maybe if defenders had to hop on one leg all the time, or make the goal the entire width of the field?

It still couldn't challenge more exicting spectator sports such as bowling or curling...
 
andalusian said:
The brits play rugby. I doubt, very much, that they say that as rugby is something that can be pretty popular in some areas in the UK.
Click to expand...

Not really a great comparison. Rugby is much more fluid than football, but even if that is true, replace England with Spain, Italy, Holland, France, Germany (sans army bases), Portugal....and my point is still valid. People outside of the US, Canada and possibly England/Australia (Ausie rules football), don't understand our love of football.
 
I agree its boring. I've given it plenty of time to try and excite me, I've been to tons of Timbers games...

The sport doesn't intrigue me and the diehard fans are very annoying.

Hey guys, "lets throw smoke bombs on the field"....
 
MickZagger said:
I agree its boring. I've given it plenty of time to try and excite me, I've been to tons of Timbers games...

The sport doesn't intrigue me and the diehard fans are very annoying.

Hey guys, "lets throw smoke bombs on the field"....
Click to expand...

Timbers army does not approve of throwing Sh*t on the pitch.
 
MARIS61 said:
Maybe if defenders had to hop on one leg all the time, or make the goal the entire width of the field?

It still couldn't challenge more exicting spectator sports such as bowling or curling...
Click to expand...

as usual... very insightful.
 
MARIS61 said:
Maybe if defenders had to hop on one leg all the time, or make the goal the entire width of the field?

It still couldn't challenge more exicting spectator sports such as bowling or curling...
Click to expand...

You think baseball is a sport, therefore your opinion doesn't count.
 
Most MLS teams are playing in soccer specific stadiums currently. Consider the numbers:

BMO Field (Toronto FC) - 22,100
Columbus Crew Stadium - 20,455
Community America Ballpark (Kansas City) - 10,385
Gillette Stadium (New England) - 68,756 (no soccer capacity listed, roughly 2/3rds of the stadium is closed)
Red Bull Arena - 25,198
RFK Stadium (DC United) - 45,596
PPL Park (Philadelphia) - 18,500
Toyota Park (Chicago) - 20,000
Buck Shaw Stadium (San Jose) - 10,300
Dick's Sporting Goods Park (Colorado) - 18,086
Home Depot Center (LA Galaxy/Chivas USA) - 27,000
Pizza Hut Park (FC Dallas) - 21,193
Qwest Field (Seattle) - 35,000
Rio Tinto Stadium (Salt Lake) - 20,008
Robertson Stadium (Houston) - 32,000

I realize that still leaves a number of empty seats, but its no where near the number you're referencing. Also, consider that Seattle sells out the 35k and DC United, Houston, and the LA clubs shut off parts of the stadium so their capacities aren't as far as away from the MLS average as it appears. I don't know the degree to which they do shut off sections as I do with New England as I haven't been there for home matches.
 
also I shouldnt listen to Timbers people in the morning... Beckham was in 07 nto 09 lol
 
dpc said:
You think baseball is a sport, therefore your opinion doesn't count.
Click to expand...

While I'm not much of a baseball fan, attendance, tv ratings and merchandising would say you're wrong.

But you already knew that.
 
Wheels said:
also I shouldnt listen to Timbers people in the morning... Beckham was in 07 nto 09 lol
Click to expand...

The Beckham effect was also very minimal in terms of attendance. Galaxy attendance sky-rocketed for a couple of seasons, but has leveled off since to around 20k and the 15 road matches aren't really enough to skew attendance numbers that greatly. Also, the final attendance numbers are below the 17k referenced earlier, but still represent a 4% overall increase from last season according to this SoccerAmerica article.

There are a few teams that have dipped in attendance, but those are fairly explainable as several of those clubs blew this season (New England, DC United, Toronto, Chivas USA) or had a capacity change (Kansas City) . FC Dallas is a bit harder to explain as they had a 19 match unbeaten streak and are loaded with young talent. Their location, however, is terrrrrrrrrrible for attendance as it is so far outside of Dallas and was just poorly planned for the target market.
 
MickZagger said:
Baseball does not suck! Its America's past time.

Soccer on the other hand, well, I'd rather watch paint dry.
Click to expand...

I don't care if it's America's past time or not, it's just as boring as soccer to me.

I think you can safely rule me out as one of those American's that don't like soccer cause "it ain't Amurrican!". I don't care what's American and what's not.
 
VanillaGorilla said:
I don't care if it's America's past time or not, it's just as boring as soccer to me.

I think you can safely rule me out as one of those American's that don't like soccer cause "it ain't Amurrican!". I don't care what's American and what's not.
Click to expand...

Thats because you're an atheist.
 
Hey Wheels do you remember when soccer was listed under "more sports" on the ESPN homepage? Those were the days...
 
I love it when soccer fans try to convince normal people that soccer is somehow interesting. I love it.

I laugh at them the same way I would laugh at people if they tried to tell me that dog shit pizza was the best thing on earth. If you like it, fine. Just don't try and brainwash the rest of us.

Maybe the government is full of soccer fans, they are trying to turn us into a third world country. That would make it more likely that soccer would succeed here.
 
Why do people always have to bring up politics? "Maybe the government is full of football fans", "Only liberals play soccer". Shit gets old fast. Nobody gives a shit that you're a Republican. Go back to your NRA meeting.

On the note of soccer, who cares if it's dying in the States? I don't get up early on the weekends to watch some shitty MLS game, I get up to watch my Arsenal. If I didn't have an attachment to a club in soccer, I would of grown bored of the sport a long time ago.
 
bodyman5001 said:
I love it when soccer fans try to convince normal people that soccer is somehow interesting. I love it.

I laugh at them the same way I would laugh at people if they tried to tell me that dog shit pizza was the best thing on earth. If you like it, fine. Just don't try and brainwash the rest of us.

Maybe the government is full of soccer fans, they are trying to turn us into a third world country. That would make it more likely that soccer would succeed here.
Click to expand...

how is that different from those with the constant need to say how shitty soccer is?
 
bodyman5001 said:
Maybe the government is full of soccer fans, they are trying to turn us into a third world country. That would make it more likely that soccer would succeed here.
Click to expand...

Also wtf? only Poor countries are into Soccer??? lol wow.
 
Baracuda said:
Hey Wheels do you remember when soccer was listed under "more sports" on the ESPN homepage? Those were the days...
Click to expand...

whoops just saw this comment sorry... yes good ol times lol.
 
Ronan said:
On the note of soccer, who cares if it's dying in the States? I don't get up early on the weekends to watch some shitty MLS game
Click to expand...

I for one care if it dies in the states lol.
 
EL PRESIDENTE said:
Soccer in the us is a bunch of hipsters and liberals watching who think following the world cup is European.
Click to expand...

What gave you that idea?

Real Salt Lake? Seattle Sounders FC?

Ugh.

I have a lot of friends who love the Sounders, and I went to a playoff game last year... I got bored and was just thinking about how I'd pretty much wasted $50.

A couple of changes I'd implement:
-- Stop the clock after violations and out-of bounds. The "Extra time" thing is silly and always seems arbitrary.
-- Allow unlimited substitutions. Right now it's admirable that players have to run for 90 minutes, but I'd rather have hockey-like waves of fresh legs who can constantly sprint and pressure the ball than guys who (no matter how well conditioned) have to pace themselves.
-- If you leave the field--due to injury or substitution--you have to sit out for X number of game minutes (2? 3?). Because there are unlimited substitutions, guys who are legitimately fouled and flopping around on the field after can leave the pitch without leaving their team a man down, but they will have to take some time to recover... that should cut down on the amount of acting that goes on in an effort to draw a card.

It still might not be interesting enough for me to watch, but it would be a start.

Ed O.
 
I'll say it for you Ronan...


"Americans always wanting to change something" :)
 
I like watching soccer, and I like to play it, but in America, it's really just a sport for short white guys who aren't good enough or big enough to play football, basketball, or even baseball.

On a related note, a good friend of mine coached Darwin Barney through U-14 in the Westside Metro club. I remember Darwin as by far the best U-14 player on that team, and possibly in the entire city. Problem was, he was just a great athlete, so he quit soccer, stuck with baseball, and ended up playing 2B for the Chicago Cubs this year. Had baseball not been an option, Barney would have likely been a player worthy of national consideration, and according to my soccer junkie friend, one of the better mid-fielders to come out of the Portland area in the past 10 years. Instead, he was a rookie struggling to find his groove in MLB.

I just can't take American soccer seriously because all of the real athletes are playing in other sports. Imagine Mike Vick as a mid-fielder, or LeBron James as a keeper, or Steven Jackson as a fullback.
 
hell as someone who has been watching Division 2 soccer in the US for the last few years, I just cant wait to see the first through ball that connects :cheers:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)
Back
Top