Why Most Americans Consider Soccer Girly

[warpus]

Actually, it's a girl.

You can all blame her for the upcoming anti World Series riots. (psst)

 

[Hitti-Litti]

wait what happened to the Corinthians, Cruzeiro, Porto Alegre, Flamengo, Sau Paulo, Fluminese, and Portoguesa? I think they could take on European teams. (not talking about Arsenal or AC Milan, i'm talking about Portsmouth, Celtic, Tottenham, Roma, etc.)

Actually Internacional beat Barcelona 2006 in the Club World Championships, and Sao Paulo beat Liverpool a year before that. Last year AC Milan beat Boca Juniors 4-2.

Best South American clubs would challenge for the title in every big European league.

 

[BCLG100]

Actually Internacional beat Barcelona 2006 in the Club World Championships, and Sao Paulo beat Liverpool a year before that. Last year AC Milan beat Boca Juniors 4-2.

Best South American clubs would challenge for the title in every big European league.

No they wouldn't, best South American clubs whilst good would not be challenging for the title, those victories are largely because the European teams don't particularly care about winning the club world championships, same with the super cup. To them its just more games in an increasingly busy fixture list.

 

[TheLastOne36]

No they wouldn't, best South American clubs whilst good would not be challenging for the title, those victories are largely because the European teams don't particularly care about winning the club world championships, same with the super cup. To them its just more games in an increasingly busy fixture list.

The top Mexican and South American clubs could challenge the French or the Dutch league title easily. When it comes to Italy, England, Germany, Spain i think they'd get a spot somewhere around 12th in the season. But they wouldn't be relegated.

 

[Hitti-Litti]

BCLG@ Well, OK, they would compete for places for continental competitions. In Holland, they would challenge for the title. In France Olympique Lyonnais would most likely still win, but teams such as Corinthians and Boca Juniors would compete for the next places.

 

[BCLG100]

Oh yeah i agree with that, for instance i reckon they'd be running the Blackburns/Fiorantinas etc relatively close.

 

[TheLastOne36]

Oh yeah i agree with that, for instance i reckon they'd be running the Blackburns/Fiorantinas etc relatively close.

imo i think there 1 level higher then Blackburn and Fiorantena

 

[Hitti-Litti]

Not sure about Fiorentina, but higher than Blackburn for sure. Blackburn isn't that good. We played two good games against them last year in Intertoto Cup.

 

[Winner]

The goals are not the only things that happen during a game. There is far more that goes on.

It's like saying that you're not going to have sex just for 1 orgasm. A lot more goes on!

I see your point, but I can't find an analogy to my counter-argument which would not break the forum rules. Never mind.

Anyway, I am goal oriented. I appreciate the way players score. I don't much care about what's going on in the middle of the field. Plus I really hate the Oscar nomination worth performances by some players. One second he is lying on the ground, looking like he just suffered a fatal injury and death is imminent, the next he's up and running again. And the rules are archaic

 

[warpus]

Anyway, I am goal oriented. I appreciate the way players score. I don't much care about what's going on in the middle of the field.

Yeah, soccer isn't really for you then.

Soccer is all about the strategy, the passing, the setting up of plays, the strategic vision of the players, etc. I view what happens in between goals as the foreplay; it's very soothing to watch.. it's like an art

The scoring is important, yeah, but those who aren't able to appreciate the other aspects of the game aren't likely to embrace soccer in any sort of way.

 

[Zarn]

I don't think soccer is sissy. I just don't find it exciting to watch.

Why do others (Europeans in particular) think American football is a non-thinking, short attention span sport? You do realize what you do in 1st down, affects 2nd down (or the next 1st down). They aren't playing a brand new game every play. Everything has to be planned carefully and executed extremely well.

 

[Lambert Simnel]

I used to be a bit fan of American football back in the 80's. I remember sitting up listening to the radio until 5 in the morning each Monday/Tuesday, hearing the Redskins overcome Theismann's leg-break with the help of two onside kicks, and Marino destroying the Bears in the only blemish on what would have been a perfect season for Mike Ditka & Chicago. Great games.

But I fell out of love with it. Maybe it's the length of the games (onthe other hand I love test cricket). But I think it's just how predictable the pro game seems to be. I mean, could anyone watching the Patriots against the Bills last year think there was any chance at all of anything other than a New England victory ? And 3 hours is along time to spend watching a foregone conclusion.

Now, I realise that that is a bit unfair, and the Super Bowl this year sounded like a brilliant, tense game. But too many of the games have been uncompetitive for me to keep an interest in the sport, and I just stop putting any of my very limited freetime towards it at all.

 

[warpus]

I don't think soccer is sissy. I just don't find it exciting to watch.

Why do others (Europeans in particular) think American football is a non-thinking, short attention span sport? You do realize what you do in 1st down, affects 2nd down (or the next 1st down). They aren't playing a brand new game every play. Everything has to be planned carefully and executed extremely well.

Well, I compare it to the closest sport I know - rugby. In rugby there is non-stop action.. the plays do not get stopped, usually. The action just keeps on coming.

In American Football, there are far too many breaks. You take the game in as increments; it requires less attention span.

Of course this is my analysis, as an outsider to both sports. But yeah, I've tried watching both sports on TV, and I find american football fairly boring. I'd rather watch rugby or aussie rules.

 

[Zarn]

You aren't suppose to stop paying attention between plays. That's when you predict what you think will happen next and often times be way off.

 

[warpus]

You aren't suppose to stop paying attention between plays. That's when you predict what you think will happen next and often times be way off.

Yah, but that takes less of an attention span than say.. doing both of those things at once.

 

[Zarn]

No, we really think these things through.

The knowledgeable fans, anyway

 

[Lambert Simnel]

Everything has to be planned carefully and executed extremely well.

Hey Zarn. This kicked off a thought. How do you feel about the relative lack of "sporting spontaneity" (for the want of a better phrase) that this implies ? Soccer, for example, is endlessly about spontaneity, and it's best moments are when one individual does something brilliantly unexpected.

To my taste, American football's best moments also involve spontaneity - some of the broken plays can be really exciting, and some of the old video clips of OJ or Payton open field running are just wonderful to watch. But the nature of the sport is that coaches want to emphasise the correct execution of planned moves, and that's clearly the way to win games. So the end result is that those moments of individual game-breaking brilliance are far fewer.

Do you agree ? And if so, does it bother you at all, or is it more than compensated (for you) by seeing the qualities of organisation and execution taken to an extremely high level ?

 

[Zarn]

Let's put it this way. Those moments are nice and they often effect the outcome of the game, but I like the chess match.

The biggest thing I like about gridiron is the variety of plays. Soccer's biggest problem with me is that I watch gridiron, hockey, and rarely baseball.

 

[ulsterman88]

Personally i despise players who dive and if somebody divied in my local amateur league or in the Irish league their career wouldnt last too long. the sport has degenerated since the 70s for physical contact; back then you could barge into the goalie and get away with it, nowadays its a joke. One of the most "underrated" divers in the EPL is steven gerrard, everytime he does it the commentators move on quickly or make excuses for him.

 

[azzaman333]

Those who dive are a scourge on the sport. Play for the ball, not the free.

IMO, after every match, a video ref should go through the footage of the match and determine if anyone took a dive. If they did, instant 1 match suspension. Would stop the diving pretty quickly I assume.