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I'm already sick of the World Cup being shoved down our throats...

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  • ConnecticoinConnecticoin Posts: 12,920 ✭✭✭✭✭
    What the hell is all the buzzing at EVERY soccer game? It's like someone let loose 20 hives of bees.

    Oh, and that Buckner-Like goal against England was RIVETing. image

    There needs to be more scoring -- get rid of off-sides and double the size of the goal! image
  • ctsoxfanctsoxfan Posts: 6,246 ✭✭
    I tried to watch a few minutes of this snoozefest yesterday afternoon, and all the buzzing helps put you right to sleep. It's some sort of horn that soccer fans apparently need to have, so they'll have something to do in order to keep the never-ending boredom of the game at bay.

    The concept of hitting the ball with your head just seems ridiculous. Before I fell blissfully asleep, they showed a closeup of one of the England players "heading" the ball, and it looked like it was going to knock him unconscious. It was actually the most amusing part of the game.
    image


  • << <i>I'm not at all a soccer fan, but I always watch at least a few games during the World Cup. >>



    Thats like being straight but still taking it up the >>>, doesn't work !
    Am I speaking Chinese?



    image
  • BarndogBarndog Posts: 20,501 ✭✭✭✭✭
    the vuvuzela is a trumpet that makes the annoying buzz.
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,067 ✭✭✭
    Soccer was made for 5 - 8 year olds. It shouldn't be a grown mans sport - and if it were - it should never be at this level. The only way I could watch it is with a hang-over - because I know I wouldn't miss anything while I'm asleep; recovering. Hey, we have another 0-0 final score!!!!!!!!!! Exactly what did you do for those 90 or so minutes?????

    With comments like that it's not hard to wonder why so many around the world hate America. You just sound like an idiot.
  • sagardsagard Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The younger generation is really into soccer, that is why we have seen the US team improve so much during the last two decades. Team USA is now a World Cup regular and always a threat to get into the second round.

    There is a growing number of kids involved in soccer and as they get older, they try for the national team. This is why soccer will only get better here in the USA. I wonder what will happen to the popularity of soccer cards in the coming decade.....now they are next to nothing, but as more people become interested, it may be a sleeper. >>



    The US is SOOOO far behind in advanced soccer training methods, we are not going to be a consistent threat to the Euros for at least another generation. So of the stuff the Euros do is pretty sick, but our US college system for our best players is pathetic for players who could truly be world class.

    Keep in mind these guys are so drugged up, they make guys like Pujols and Bonds look clean.
  • CrimsonTiderCrimsonTider Posts: 1,381 ✭✭✭
    3 hours of kicking grass with no scoring, this is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Now if we could just come up with some sort of a constant chant that lasts for the same exact three hours this would be the greatest sport EVER!!!!!


    BTW, the good lord would have not given us hands if he intended for us NOT to use them.
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  • dantheman984dantheman984 Posts: 866 ✭✭✭


    << <i>3 hours of kicking grass with no scoring, this is AWESOME!!!!!!!! Now if we could just come up with some sort of a constant chant that lasts for the same exact three hours this would be the greatest sport EVER!!!!!


    BTW, the good lord would have not given us hands if he intended for us NOT to use them. >>

    That`s Funny!image
  • stownstown Posts: 11,321 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>

    In many cases, the flopping is done to try and draw a penalty, much like a punter flopping after the lightest brush on a kick or a basketball player trying to draw the foul.

    . >>



    True, but you won't see punters lying on the field like little babies after trying to draw the penalty.
    Soccer players lie on the ground for minutes, and then get up and start sprinting like Jesus just healed them. >>




    If by minutes you mean 25 seconds, you're on the money >>



    One of my favorite features of this board is that the youngest guy here- who I'm nearly sure is Goot- is also the most mature and level headed. I don't think I've ever seen a board where a 19-20 year old set the standard for decency. >>



    I've said this since day 1.

    As for soccer, they are great athletes. If you don't want to watch the World Cup, no one is holding a gun to your head. Change the channel.

    It really is that easy.

    PS - BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
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  • If you want to stick to the main point of this thread, in the USA a significant portion of the kids that play are kids that aren't good athletes and are pushed into it by their parents. Plus, a large portion of the kids that are good athletes that play soccer eventually lose interest in the sport or stick with a different more high profile sport (football, baseball, basketball and even hockey).

    That is the main reason soccer will never be a main stream professional team sport in the USA.
  • nightcrawlernightcrawler Posts: 5,110 ✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I'm not at all a soccer fan, but I always watch at least a few games during the World Cup. >>



    Thats like being straight but still taking it up the >>>, doesn't work ! >>





    Well I wouldn't know about that, so I'll just take your word for it. image
  • frankhardyfrankhardy Posts: 8,129 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I'm not at all a soccer fan, but I always watch at least a few games during the World Cup. >>



    Thats like being straight but still taking it up the >>>, doesn't work ! >>




    That right there is pretty funny stuff!!!! image




    << <i>If you want to stick to the main point of this thread, in the USA a significant portion of the kids that play are kids that aren't good athletes and are pushed into it by their parents. Plus, a large portion of the kids that are good athletes that play soccer eventually lose interest in the sport or stick with a different more high profile sport (football, baseball, basketball and even hockey).

    That is the main reason soccer will never be a main stream professional team sport in the USA. >>




    Yep!


    Shane

  • WeekendHackerWeekendHacker Posts: 1,445 ✭✭
    If I had to watch the world cup, it wouldn't take long before I impersonated lsutigers1973 icon.
  • MeteoriteGuyMeteoriteGuy Posts: 7,140 ✭✭
    I thought the opening concert was pretty cool. Mind you, some of the performances kinda sucked, but I imagine that might have been part due to the weather....it's winter in SA and you could see the audiance in coats.

    One has to understand how big the World Cup is outside of the US and make note of the pretty much all American musical lineup.
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  • PowderedH2OPowderedH2O Posts: 2,443 ✭✭
    I don't watch soccer, but I can understand why some do. I don't watch golf either. I really don't see the comparison with hockey and soccer. While there is a goaltender and each team is trying to score against the other team's goaltender, otherwise they are totally different. Hockey is a violent contact sport. Hockey goaltenders routinely make 25-35 saves per game of a frozen puck that they can barely see. It is not terribly uncommon to see 40-50 shots on a goaltender in a game. So, in a typical hockey game there might be 60-80 shots on goal and 5-8 goals actually scored. Americans like hitting. Americans like scoring. This is why hockey is popular in markets that have hockey teams. This is why football is popular as well. Most people don't enjoy a 6-3 football game. Fans would prefer a 31-28 game in which there were some great hits along the way. NFL rules have been tweaked to help teams score. Most baseball fans don't like pitching duels. Baseball purists enjoy them, but the casual fan would rather see a 7-6 game than a 1-0 game. The slowness of the game is part of the reason why so many people prefer football over baseball.
    The reason I don't watch soccer is that I don't get the feel that at any moment a team could score a goal. Perhaps I am wrong. But, when I watch I see a lot of play near midfield and when the ball gets anywhere near the goal there is a flood of defenders and if there is a shot on goal it is rarely successful. Now, this doesn't make it a bad game. It is just a game in which I don't understand/appreciate what is going on in the center of the field to set up that 1 or 2 goals that occurs. I think it is probably like watching chess. I am sure I would like soccer a lot more if someone sat down with me and pointed out all of those little nuances that are going on and I attended some games in person. But since that isn't happening anytime soon, I guess I will just enjoy my football and hockey and just be satisfied. Plus, I don't have any money left for soccer cards.
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  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,067 ✭✭✭
    I really don't see the comparison with hockey and soccer.

    I made the comparison because there are both sports I don't care about (nor do most people in the US). I don't know the players, I don't know all the rules, other than the obvious (like a goal) I don't know when it's a good play, I don't know a lot about the games. However, I found both the Stanley Cup playoffs and the World Cup games to have similar, unexpected, excitment at times. I was discussing this with a friend, just this morning, and I told him hockey was more exciting due to the number of shots on goal (a big downside to soccer). In any event, my comparison is only due to the unexpected enjoyment I got out of each. I am not sure if others made more deep comparisons than that. I prefer to watch a hockey game to a soccer game, all else being equal, but the fact that an entire country's pride and reputation (for 4 years) rides on soccer makes it more compelling to ME. Having traveled to many countries in the world (including soccer crazy Brazil) I have seen first hand how important soccer is. Even in Canada though hockey is important it pales to the importance of soccer in so many other countries around the world.
  • MorgothMorgoth Posts: 3,950 ✭✭✭
    Ok Boo, I take issue with your calling out of Babe Ruth as morbidly obese.

    Take the time to look at photos of Ruth up until his late 30's. He was a big guy for the time but not obese or even fat until the end of his career.

    In fact he looked alot like Willie Stargell did through most of career.

    When he played in Boston and mostly pitched he could almost be conisdered skinny. He filled out when he went to the Yankees.

    I think people get confused by that crappy John Goodman movie about Ruth. The guy was in very good shape for most of his early to mid career. The late 20's to early 30's he started to drink and eat too much and became the Ruth most people think of but it wasn't for a majority of his career did he look like that.

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  • 2ndCharter2ndCharter Posts: 1,670 ✭✭✭✭✭
    the vuvuzela is a trumpet that makes the annoying buzz.

    I actually tried to watch some of the World Cup today but, with that constant buzz, I said forget this. Maybe the hardcore fan can put up with it but, if they're trying to reach out to the casual observer and create new fans, they have blown it big time.

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  • stownstown Posts: 11,321 ✭✭✭
    BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!
    So basically my kid won't be able to go to college, but at least I'll have a set where the three most expensive cards are of a player I despise ~ CDsNuts
  • BoopottsBoopotts Posts: 6,784 ✭✭
    Fair enough, Jason-- Babe Ruth was not morbidly obese. My mistake.
  • GDM67GDM67 Posts: 2,526 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>One of my favorite features of this board is that the youngest guy here- who I'm nearly sure is Goot- is also the most mature and level headed. I don't think I've ever seen a board where a 19-20 year old set the standard for decency. >>

    I've noticed that, too.
  • bxbbxb Posts: 805 ✭✭
    I find soccer boring to watch. Need more goals or something to spice it up.
    Capecards


  • << <i>I find soccer boring to watch. Need more goals or something to spice it up. >>



    1-1 games are not going to get too many people excited in this country. a big reason i think soccer will never be popular. and we have too many other sports to choose from.
  • swartz1swartz1 Posts: 4,911 ✭✭✭
    way too much strategy and skill involved...

    Americans as a whole are not patient enough...

    we want action and a lot of it...



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  • For evidence of how boring soccer is, ESPN gives updates on the crawl at the bottom of the screen. 90% of the updates are missed shots. Does anyone really expect soccer to catch on in the USA if the most exciting parts of the game are missed shots?

  • sagardsagard Posts: 1,900 ✭✭✭


    << <i>we want action and a lot of it... >>



    It's weird. I find football to be the most boring. The ball is in play for like ten minutes of a sixty minute game. The only redeeming feature is that it can be almost time perfectly with a 30 second skip on your DVR. It seems like NFL and college games are fifteen minutes of action and 2:45 of guys standing around, which is of course what many hate about soccer.

    I love baseball, but it is even worse as a time waster.
  • Mickey71Mickey71 Posts: 4,260 ✭✭✭✭
    I hate it. It's worse than a Mariners game---alot worse and the Mariners are just terrible.
  • MorgothMorgoth Posts: 3,950 ✭✭✭
    Sorry Guy just a pet peeve of mine is for people to say look how out of shape baseball players are and use Ruth as an example.

    Now if you used either of the two Fielders or David Wells than you would have some good ammo. Also I forget the dude for the Mets that was a fat toad as well.
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  • I wonder...if Ryan Howard were placed on the best soccer team in the world, and they won a World Cup title for him...would he also be hyped as the best soccer player in the world too?? LOL
    Are you sure about that five minutes!?
  • billwaltonsbeardbillwaltonsbeard Posts: 3,748 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    we want action and a lot of it... >>



    here you go
  • WeekendHackerWeekendHacker Posts: 1,445 ✭✭


    << <i>Also I forget the dude for the Mets that was a fat toad as well. >>


    Is that a Sid Fernandez reference? Hideki Irabu was the fat toad with the yankees.
  • The US should be out of the WC after this half. already losing2-0image
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  • billwaltonsbeardbillwaltonsbeard Posts: 3,748 ✭✭✭✭
    the U.S. got hosed. What a BS call
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,067 ✭✭✭
    Exciting game. Too bad the ref blew it... but it's part of the game and part of life. Hopefully they win the next one. Great comeback though!
  • 72skywalker72skywalker Posts: 1,544 ✭✭✭
    I watched an entire soccer game the other day and I almost saw a goal- Homer Simpson
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  • bxbbxb Posts: 805 ✭✭
    Nothing beats the excitement of a 0-0 tie.

    Except maybe watching the grass grow.
    Capecards
  • billwaltonsbeardbillwaltonsbeard Posts: 3,748 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Nothing beats the excitement of a 0-0 tie.

    Except maybe watching the grass grow. >>



    Or a Major League Baseball game
  • DoubleEagle59DoubleEagle59 Posts: 8,336 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Soccer stinks!

    It's a game that openly rewards cheaters.
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  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,067 ✭✭✭
    There are almost as many haters here as a typical Pujols thread!


  • << <i>There are almost as many haters here as a typical Pujols thread! >>



    what would you expect when only 2% of the U.S. population care about it?
  • BoopottsBoopotts Posts: 6,784 ✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>There are almost as many haters here as a typical Pujols thread! >>



    what would you expect when only 2% of the U.S. population care about it? >>



    Fair enough. I'm not a huge soccer fan, and I can understand why people are indifferent towards it. For my part, however, I've become totally obsessed with the World Cup this year. There's just something about watching a sporting event for a solid hour without seeing a single insipid beer commercial that I find utterly captivating, and I'm starting to suspect that this might get my interested in watching more of our North American soccer games in the months to come.
  • GootGoot Posts: 3,496


    << <i> I'm starting to suspect that this might get my interested in watching more of our North American soccer games in the months to come. >>





    There ya go! ESPN normally has one or two MLS games on each week. And despite what many think, the MLS actually pulls in solid attendance, which will continue to get even better in the coming years with expansion in places like Portland, Vancouver, and Montreal.
  • nightcrawlernightcrawler Posts: 5,110 ✭✭


    << <i><< One of my favorite features of this board is that the youngest guy here- who I'm nearly sure is Goot- is also the most mature and level headed. I don't think I've ever seen a board where a 19-20 year old set the standard for decency. >>

    I've noticed that, too.
    >>




    Same here, goot's a quality poster. image




    But he's nuthin whitout idiots like me to compare against. image
  • nightcrawlernightcrawler Posts: 5,110 ✭✭
    I've already watched three games. One more to break my own personel World Cup games watched record.

    I picked Mexico for my girlfriend when she asked for her office soccer pool. So she's doing OK, and I get to act like I knew something. image
  • jdip9jdip9 Posts: 1,894 ✭✭✭
    <<<and I'm starting to suspect that this might get my interested in watching more of our North American soccer games in the months to come.>>>

    I wouldn't consider myself a soccer fanatic, but I do immerse myself in the World Cup every 4 years, and I frequently tune into the English Premier League and Serie A on Saturday mornings. I cannot bring myself to tune into MLS though. It's kind of like watching minor league baseball on TV - you know you're not watching the best in the world.


  • << <i>Many people consider baseball the ultimate bore where you have guys standing around doing absolutely nothing for extended stretches of time, and it's the only sport where you can still be out of shape and play. I'm not a soccer fan, per se, but the World Cup is worth watching as a sports fan, and to belittle it as the OP did just because he doesn't understand it, is rather pitiful, really, no matter if you watch soccer or not.. >>



    Well said. My son pictured, pictuerd in white below, is 5'10' 165 pounds. He runs a 4.5 forty and can do a 5K in a little over 16 minutes. He can score from 30 yards out with with either foot and has taken more hard hits (unprotecetd I might add) than most high school football players do in their career. Despite what the shallow minded may think, those who play socceer at competative level are outstanding athletes who can hold their own with competitors from other sports. I am very proud of the fact that my kid plays soccer.

    Happy Fathers Day!



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  • CrimsonTiderCrimsonTider Posts: 1,381 ✭✭✭
    Why do soocer fans act like the rest of us owe them an apology for disliking soccer?

    Get over it, soccer is not that popular in the US and never will be.

    hobart4281, if your such a soccer fanatic, then why do you collect football stuff?
    collecting Dale Murphy and OPC
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,067 ✭✭✭
    Why do soocer fans act like the rest of us owe them an apology for disliking soccer?

    I like soccer and do not think non-soccer fans owe me an apology. However, I do think the haters sound really stupid and make American's as sterotypical whole look stupid. It IS the #1 game in the world and it's not even close. To dismiss it, so simply as you do, makes you look like an idiot.
  • BoopottsBoopotts Posts: 6,784 ✭✭


    << <i>Why do soocer fans act like the rest of us owe them an apology for disliking soccer?

    Get over it, soccer is not that popular in the US and never will be.

    hobart4281, if your such a soccer fanatic, then why do you collect football stuff? >>



    That's a great point. If you like football, or collect football memorabilia, then there's a constitutional ban against liking soccer. I'd forgotten all about that.

    Most of us have a hard time seeing what Dale Murphy and Alabama have in common, but I don't recall anyone demanding you choose one or the other.
  • CrimsonTiderCrimsonTider Posts: 1,381 ✭✭✭
    For those of us who dislike soccer, we are not allowed to say that we dislike without being called stupid or shallow. How about some one starting a thread "I love soccer" and I will give you a 100% guarentee that I will not post on it.

    What we have here is a "I dislike soccer thread" and all of the soccer lovers come here to state their opinion, thats fine, but don't get your panties in such a wad when we say that your full of it and disagree.

    As for the rest of the world liking it, I could give a rat's azz. I despise soccer and think that is just a bunch of grown men kicking grass. If that is what you like then fine, but I prefer real sports.

    BTW, my seven year old daughter plays soccer and I do not feel compelled to state her 40 time to make me look better.

    "Most of us have a hard time seeing what Dale Murphy and Alabama have in common" The answer is location, WTBS' signal used to bleed over many state lines. I grew up watching both teams.
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