What bothers me most about being an American right now is the stupid yuck-yuck story told over and over again by countless journalists who can't come up with a better World Cup piece other than the tried and true, "Oh I'm supposed to like soccer now" or "why America doesn't like soccer". Fishwrap crappity-crap-crap, all of it. Take for instance these lines pulled from the introduction of a how-to watch soccer piece written as snarky as possible:
Here let me clue you in: WE DON'T CARE.
Let me say that again for those who scanned right past that last line: WE REALLY DON'T CARE. SERIOUSLY! NOBODY CARES THAT YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT SOCCER OR HOW YOU FEEL THE NEED TO WATCH AND LIKE IT BECAUSE THE REST OF THE WORLD HAS A TENDENCY TO ENJOY SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN YOU.
This journalism reflects the attitude of my countrymen who get retarded about world class sporting events that are not related to football, basketball, or baseball. But I expect more from journalists as they are often the opinion leaders that most of my country chooses to outsource their thinking to.
We are a different tribe with our own system of measurement, sports, life expectancy rate, etc., some of our forefathers got the brilliant idea that we needed to be different or the opposite of the tyranny they "fled" and that mindset has continued and flourished. We're supposed to be the ones that embrace diversity but instead really we just make a bigger deal about it all by giving our differences names, titles, programs, grants and news stories.
Citizens of the United States (especially the primarily English speaking ones) you need to get over yourselves about your indifference to this sport or anything else that people outside our country like that you don't.
For the next month please, please good people shut your word hole, go back to your rib-racked dinner at Chili's and watch the "Finals" or try something new like finger-painting-by-numbers, something! Forcibly resist the desire to pull words from your behind and let those of us who relish the World Cup have the sanctity to enjoy it.
SIDENOTE: I have noticed a big difference in camera/image quality between Univision's broadcast to that of the fuzzy American stations.
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
Unfortunately America, as a whole, is geared harshly towards anything the media recommends. For the most part, we're mice running after a piece of cheese. So as long as the media portray Americans as dimwitted, but cutesy and follow-the-leader'ish, when it comes to soccer, we'll always embrace that very attitude. Then again, for all of our talk (even right here and now) the world really doesn't care about our differing attitudes towards their football.
Personally I grew up playing soccer. First at the YMCA, then in high school some, but in never took past age 16. So soccer holds a special place in my heart. However, I also learned long ago to stop trying to encourage other people to have the same excitement over World Cup. They always just looked at me funny.
Hear hear!
And now: Sweden vs. Trinidad/Tobago
Several years ago, you'd find almost identical articles in the sports pages around July, when the Tour de France started each year. Then Lance started winning and Americans suddenly felt invested in cycling, a sport that many people I know find just as baffling as soccer.
I really think a lot of Americans can't get interested in a competition unless there's a really good chance that their team or guy/girl will win. As such, the idea of following a genuinely worldwide event that spans so much time when it's hard to know if the US team even stands a chance seems weird.
Good post David, totally the bandwagon mentality...
Beautifully written - however the day that the USA becomes a dominant power in the World Cup is the day the rest of the world crawls up under a rock and weeps.
Joshua, what are you saying?
Kester, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I think it's good enough that we have a team that qualifies but there isn't enough public support and money to get a team to the top.
I must admit, though, that I find it funny when a team falls all over itself for tying another team 0-0... as happened this morning.
Break out the toboggans!
It isn't fuzz on american channels *because* soccer is on, it's just that in many places ABC just sucks. The NBA finals even comes in fuzzy at my place. But, if you want a clearer picture watch it on the ESPN or ABC HD channels, they are as clear as it gets.
Trinidad/Tobago kicked Sweden's butt this afternoon even though it ended in a 0-0 tie. For a team that has never played a World cup game before, they do have reason to celebrate even getting a single point for tying a game. I like underdogs, so seeing Trinidad keep the game tied even after playing the whole second half a man down due to that horrible red card call.
Sorry, I feel indifference towards every sport. But disliking a thing is not news, and it's stupid that it's covered as such.
...And so our nation's mainstream media continues its swirling voyage around the bowl towards the sewer.
The World Cup on ABC HD and the assorted ESPN HD channels is, next to Discovery HD, the best argument I've seen yet for the insane amount of money I spent on my new TV a couple months ago :)
Like many Americans, I enjoyed a healthy soccer career between the ages of 6 and 16, but David I disagree that Americans are apathetic towards sports that we stand a chance in. The women's team already *won* a world cup, and the general interest in the sport nationwide has remained tepid. Moreover, I think it's that our sports in this country rely on individual pursuits of statistical goals, which often can be achieved regardless of team success. We like to count things: home runs, touchdowns, batting average, qb rating, etc. Sports where team play is rewarded and numbers under-emphasized might be just a bit too (ech) artistic for Americans. A shame, yes, but not totally surprising from the country with a Big Mac scoreboard in every suburb.
I've considered myself a "sports" fan for my entire life - hell, the first words my mom said to me when I was born were "You're going to be a Tigers fan" (I grew up in Detroit). And I, as well, played soccer for about 14 years growing up, but it amazed me a couple years ago how little I actually knew of the most popular sport in the world. I vowed to learn more, watch whenever I can and get back into soccer.
Proudly I can say I have. It's not easy doing so here in the States though. Soccer coverage is basically non-existent and I think Raafi's analysis is probably correct. The media has a problem watching 90 minutes and walking away with a 0-0 tie. Americans need a winner. We need bone-crushing hits. We need "long balls". We need 50 point games. Our "video game society" wants to blow things up and hurt people so badly they can't move. And we need all of that, NOW. We don't need gracefulness. We don't have time for ties.
The best example of this, the NHL. In an effort to bring the fans back, they eliminated the ties and now have the ultra exciting shootout. We need excitement constantly from our sports. We have no patience for soccer, which is a shame, because the 0-0 game this morning was probably the most exciting of the tournament so far.
I am not a big soccer fan and as a Canadian, I should be watching the Stanley Cup playoffs but for some reason, I have become a big fan of Team USA soccer over the years. It's too bad that more people don't watch them because Team USA plays a fun style of soccer to watch (then again, they are playing Canada a lot when I watch them and that doesn't seem to test them a lot).
I don't follow much football (I'm British, so I mean soccer, but I'm not going to say that, we had footie first). But every time it comes around I follow our team through. 1-0 today against Paraguay. I admit it's boring sometimes, we scored in the first 3 minutes then just ran around for another 89, but I can't stand rugby/american football. You get the ball, move a metre, smack, start again. I think ultimately that people follow the sports that interest them, I sometimes watch baseball when it's on over here (usually 3 in the morning), but each country has a major sport and it just happens that most countries choose football (soccer again) as the main one.
"why America doesn't like soccer"
America likes soccer. And by America I mean, of course, the continent. A major porcentage of countries in the American continent likes soccer. Maybe someday, the United States of America culture, should stop the arrogance and stupidity of calling their own country by the name of a complete continent.
France, Germany, England, etc. doesn't call themselves Europe.
But you see Greg, we don't care that you don't care. That's what makes us American.
What I don't get is that some people are indifferent to or against ALL sports. I always assume those people are pretty fat, or hated highschool at least.
Americans, and Canadians, don't like things that they aren't the best at. I get that feeling from individuals very often.
As I'm watching on ABC I'm wondering if it's the first time the announcers have seen a soccer match - pathetic. The English guy and Irish guy (their names escape me at the moment) that did the Poland-Ecuador game were much more entertaining. My favorite quote from them so-far : The Poles "got pole-axed". Silence. The last paragraph in Dave Eggers essay about the USA (in the Thinking Fans Guide to the World Cup) sums up why I actively root against the USA even though I'm American.
A sport where the French are better then us is totally unacceptable.
Seriously, can't we have gotten Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane to emigrate already?
If you want to be totally hooked on soccer for life, then I recommend buying a airplane ticket to Madrid, get a cab to take you to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu and buy a fourth row ticket at the center line from a scalper for $75 and watch Real Madrid field athletic artists like Zidane, Figo, Beckham, Ronaldo, Raul, Owen and Roberto Carlos. It was the best sporting event I have ever seen and even though I loved soccer before, seeing world class players play live at that level, that close was amazing.
I played soccer for nearly a decade, and like Blake, it holds a place in my heart. But I'm not watching the Cup right now, either.
What really irks me the American coverage of the Olympics. NBC used their own Olympic logo half the time and not the official one. We still have this 70's TV reality where we can do what we want and if it looks right on the screen, it is right.
Perhaps if the television coverage of such events better expressed the artform we are watching, more Americans would care about the game rather than "how many Americans got a gold medal."
Or maybe we're just idiots. Prolly some of both (I try not to be too naive). Hey, some people juggle geese.
"Joshua, what are you saying?"
I was agreeing with David when he mentioned that a lot of Americans can't get interested in a competition unless there's a really good chance that the American team will win.
I think for a lot of Americans, the attitude is, "for the love of winning," not "for the love of the game."
And of course the rotten few make the good ones look bad.
Soccer is gay.
Didn't this same thing happen in 1994?
Its a question of priorities. The Bernabeu is in the center of Madrid. Can't imagine that in any American city.
Plus who cares what the media thinks or says. Enjoy the event. The ones who are missing out on the competitive and cultural aspects of the World Cup, its their loss.
For a start you could stop calling it soccer. It's football. The rest of the world calls it football, and rather magnanimously refers to your game as American Football - we don't go around renaming it. Besides, does FIFA have an 's' in it? No.
Can't stand the game myself, but, dammit, it's the principle of the thing!
The fever of football must be experienced in either Europe of South America. I was going home from work, here in Belgrade, on the start of opening match and any place that has a TV set is packed with people looking upwards, where the TVs are. It wasn't even our home team match, but the city was largely empty. I can only imagine what will happened in 3.5h when Serbia gets to play.
A stand-still, probably.
As Addam said, a 0-0 match can be much more interesting than 3-0 or something, as Milan-Barcelona game (Champions League semi-final this year) showed in full force.
And for anyone who have not seen the Champions League final last year (Milan-Liverpool) - make yourself a huge favor, track down the match recording and watch it. If ever was a game in recent history that shows what football is all about, that's the one.
Soccer is Football. Think about it...
The US usually shows indifference to World sporting events, when, you know, there are teams from elsewhere in the world playing...
;)
Isn't American Football, or Gridiron, or whatever the rest of us call it, an offshoot of Rugby union anyway? Except with pathetic, poncy armour?
:P
Aegir,
I used to think, as you seem to that only Americans call this sport soccer while the rest of the world unanimously calls it football. Then I moved for the US to South Africa and discovered to my surprise that people here generally use the term soccer! In fact the local professional league is called the PSL, Premier Soccer League. They also use the term football, and as you mentioned when they want to talk about the NFL they say "American Football." I don't know, maybe South Africa and the US are the only countries in the world to use the name soccer, but I doubt it.
Mariano -
Actually there is no continent called "America." There are two continents that use the word America in their names, they are North America and South America. I used to think like yourself that it is arrogant of citizens of the United States to call ourselves Americans or to refer to our country as America. Then I did some traveling in various parts of the world. I found that citizens of other countries use the term just as commonly as US citizens. People would ask where I was from "the United States" I would say. "Oh, you mean America" they would say. The name American is simply a shortened version of "United States of American" adn I think people who are offended by it are really pre-offended by other aspects of our country and are just looking for reasons to criticise.
American is used because United Statesian just sounds dumb. But it was in use before but has thankfully died.
Personally, my dad was a sports nut and I grew up watching all sports and can watch any sport -- from spelling bees to boxing -- as long as I have someone to root for. The claim that soccer is "boring" seems astounding to me, especially in a country where golf and NASCAR (the latter being one sport I do not watch) are so beloved.
Initialy I was looking for some design info, but as I see the discussion, I can't remain on the sideline.
I'm from Belgium (Europe, small country) and I just love soccer, as you call it. I am also a huge cycling fan.
From my trips to the US, I grew appreciation for American Football, however I can not stand the endless breaks and tv commercials.
Ofcourse we will like different sports. That's part of our culture. For instance, the English, the Aussies and many more love the game of Cricket, I just don't understand it. Only a very small group plays it in Belgium.
My only problem is that Americans seem to not like sports where the chance that they'll win is very small. ( As mentioned above) But what strikes me more is that for example in Baseball Americans have the haughty attitude of refering to their competitions as if the whole world participates.
Every year the winner of the NBA play offs thinks that they are the world champion, but as we have seen in the 2004 Olympics, USA was beaten by Argentina. So can you then blame people if they laugh with the American attitude?
These days there is really a universal compition going on. If I am not mistaking 192 countries tried to get to the world cup, only 32 succeeded. Of course you don't have to watch if you don't like soccer. But you also don't have to suggest that soccer is inferior to any of the American national sports.
P.S.: Sorry if I misspelled or made any mistakes in my sentences, English is not my maternal language.
Stijn,
The U.S. doesn't send their NBA players to the olympics anymore. If they did, we all know what would happen...
I do agree though, Americans like to win, and they don't want to watch something if they aren't the best. Most americans are obnoxious that way.
I personally can't stand watching soccer, but it has nothing to do with the origins of the sport or the fact that the U.S. team sucks. I also can't stand watching baseball. They are both just sports that bore me to death. I can't tell you why, but they just do.
jared,
I'm not sure where you got the idea that the US doesn't send NBA players to the Olympics. The reason that the USA Basketball doesn't dominate like the original Dream Team did is that the world has largely caught up with the lead that we had twenty years ago. Many of the biggest stars in the NBA are non-Americans. Last year's champions, the San Antonio Spurs, started one French player, one Argentine, and one from the Caribbean. The favorites to win it this year are led by a German.
Yes, it is a bit crazy to call them the world champions, but since most of the best players in the world play in the NBA there is some justification in it.
And by the way, don't insult the great country of Canada with any comments about the NBA being exclusively a US league.
beerzie,
In my opinion NASCAR is the most BORING sport in the world to watch...on TV. I attended the Brickyard 5 years ago and it was the biggest adrenaline rush I've ever had (aside from a damn good cup of Hazelnut coffee from Panera Bread)...
To think Soccer/futbol/Football is boring astounds me...then again, watching sports on TV compared to watching them in real life are two TOTALLY different experiences.
Well said. I'm from Denmark and not a huge soccer fan but I like the sport and am going to watch many of the matches. What ticks me off are people asking me what's so interesting about watching 22 men running after a ball - as they put it. I really don't care that you're not interested in it. Shut up, do something else and let me watch my game.
"There are two continents that use the word America in their names, they are North America and South America".
Excuse me. Maybe didn't you forget Central America?. That is another continent by the way??? :). Please....
America is the whole continent. Saying that are two, or three continents is (if you don't care) a little bit ignorant. It's like saying there is no continent called Africa (by South and North Africa) or there's no continent called Europe (Western and Occidental Europe).
I think it's arrogant anyway, but it's part of your culture and obviously there's no bad intention in a great part of US citizens that use the term. It's just ignorance. They just learned that way.
The excuse of resume it, just make things worse.
And yes, as you spreed your "culture" all over the world, people in europe, for example, call you Americans and the United States of America, just America. But, it's obviously incorrect. Even if in the school you learned that "North America" it's a continent, Mexico and Canada, are also countries in that "continent".
It's all related. Football (or soccer in England) it's a game where United States has no abillity and presence (you prefer dumber, more violent and with no tactic and abbility sports), so for you doesn't exist and don't care. Just because you're not there.
Sorry if I misspelled or made any mistakes in my sentences, English is not my maternal language.
That's okay. English is my maternal language (or so my parents claim) and I butcher it all the time.
I think it's arrogant anyway, but it's part of your culture and obviously there's no bad intention in a great part of US citizens that use the term. It's just ignorance. They just learned that way.
Mariano, you are correct, it is a part of our lexicon and we don't use it intentionally to exclude others who live on the same set of tectonic plates as we do despite borders. That said we're not the only ones who use the word American's to refer to a single country in North America. That usage is older that myself and commonly used to the East and West of our hemisphere.
About image quality, first, let me second what has already been said about HD; second, let me point out that there is only one feed for the world cup. Every station on earth (or at least, in canada, the US, england, and germany, where I've spoken to friends watching the games live) has exactly the same angles, crowd shots, etc., etc. So any 'extra fuzziness' you're seeing is happening between you and your ABC station, not the result of some deep animosity of ABC towards football. (Really, I liked the essay right up until that point, where you just pulled stuff out of thin air to prove a point that stood fine on its own.)
Luis, I don't recall saying the American stations had any deep animosity but there is a difference in broadcast quality between the ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 stations and Univision.
@Greg - come over to my place...I've been watching on a 42" Plasma HD.
The U.S. doesn't send their NBA players to the olympics anymore. If they did, we all know what would happen... (jared)
Well, If you looked at the USA's last selection in the olympics...
To give an idea: Tim Duncan, Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson, Lebron James, Richard Jefferson, Amare Stoudemire, Shawn Marion, Dwayne Wade, Lamar Odom, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, Emeka Okafor
I do not follow the competition intensely, but I do know half of the players.
It's the same way I feel about cycling in the states.
Mariano,
The continents are North America and South America. There is NOT one continent called America. They are the Americas. There is no such thing as Central America in terms of continents.
The continents of the world are:
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia*
Europe
North America
South America
;)
* Also counted as an Island and the only Island Continent (using the arbitrary measures we use the classify Islands and Continents).
The difference in quality may in part be due to the differences between PAL and NTSC TV broadcasts. But i can't be sure on that, there is probably a quality difference in the res of the video/film being used as well.
I'm just guessing though.
;)
I thought it was Australia/Oceania, Fred? Or maybe you're supposed to pick and choose, haha. Today it's Australia, tomorrow is Oceania? Beats me.
I have noticed a big difference in camera/image quality between Univision's broadcast to that of the fuzzy American stations.
It's an identical feed, I think, in terms of camera angles, but there are noticeable differences in colour balance. My guess is that ABC and ESPN may be downsampling the HD feed for its SD output while Univision takes a direct SD feed. (ESPN and ABC have HD broadcasts for the matches; Univision doesn't.) Hence the fuzziness.
What's also happening, I think, is that Univision has a different green point. Most of the grounds have overhanging roofs, creating shadows for afternoon matches. The ESPN feed sets the balance so that the unshadowed pitch is a muted green and the shadows much darker. The 'shadow' for Univision is closer to the colour of the unshadowed pitch on ESPN; meaning that the unshadowed pitch on Univision is a much brighter (and to my eye, unnatural) green. [does that make any sense?]
More here on ESPN's fuzziness:
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=366030
Apparently, the graphics in HD don't extend to the edges of the screen. That's a bit crap.
"There is NOT one continent called America. They are the Americas. There is no such thing as Central America in terms of continents."
Fred, there's different models. You're talking about the 7 continent model.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continent#Models
"The 7-continent model is usually taught in Western Europe, China, and most native English-speaking countries"
In any model, U.S.A. it's not the only country in the continent, and that was the point ;)
No other people in any country in the world calls their own country like a continent :). That's all I wanted to say, enough for me.
What else would you call them? It's certainly the easiest of possible names, their perceived arrogance and ignorance aside. Another topic, and not as black & white as we all like to make out when illustrating their nations failings.
;)
The American public enjoys sports not so much for the sport itself, but more for the excuse to share an experience with other people.
The quintessential american sport to me is American Football. You basically go and hang out in the stadium, every minute or so, you look at the field and watch the players smash into each other. If it's a particularly good hit you go 'ooph' and they show the replay a couple times for those that weren't looking. If it's a close game, you get a nice buildup of tension and you get to cheer when your team scores a touchdown and then go back to chatting. Baseball is similar, Basketball is less so. I believe Basketball is popular because it's the only sport playable in an urban environment. Hockey is the most similar to Soccer and is also the least popular of the big 4 sports and I think it's less popular because it's harder to insert ads and requires more attention.
I believe the US will become a fairly strong force in the World Cup in upcoming years. A large fraction of people currently in their 20s grew up playing soccer (I did) and are at least sympathetic to the sport and the "soccer mom" is synonymous with suburban life. If the networks would cover it, I believe the market will eventually be at least as big as hockey.
My favorite thing that soccer haters give as a reason to hate soccer is that it has all these ununderstandable rules like offsides.
Apparently they haven't checked out the rule book for the NFL lately.
You (North) Americans don't get soccer, that's fine - we don't get what's up with that game of yours where a bunch of helmeted studs pile up upon each other either. Let's call it a draw.
Maybe the attitude of the US public will be different once they see the USA v Czech Republic result.
Oh.
I can remeber a little guy running his legs off playing soccer but it was me not you who didn't care about soccer. Don't be like the old man. It may only be one point to Scoooooooooooooooooor, but it still feels good. I too can't imagine that soccer is that well liked in the "World", but it sure takes up good space on Sat. mornings when all the dumb cartoons are on. I know one thing, in my youth I still couldn't have run that much to kick a ball across a field. Its running game more than a kicking game. Give me college football anytime, any day. GOOOOOO Buckeyes!!
Well said Greg. I hate to say it, but it's most likely a blessing to the rest of the world that America doesn't or "understand" or "like" soccer.
By the way, who else enjoyed the USA vs Czech Republic match?
Steve,
The continent is Australia. The 7 continents system is the "real" one. The onther systems pointed out by Mariano are attempts to rationalise those continents with the rest of the surrounding islands and/or regionalise them based on land mass... e.g. Oceania contains the Continent of Australia and the Islands of New Zealand and New Guinea amoung others, or Eurasia a regional merging of the continent of Europe and the continent of Asia.
And to prove anyone can be biased to their own nation, Oceania is called Australasia down under, though they might be technically different I'm not entirely sure.
:P
Joshua said: "I think for a lot of Americans, the attitude is, "for the love of winning," not "for the love of the game.""
I think he's spot on. I'm Argentinian. Down here "fútbol" is not only an sports, but a feeling -- when watching a game there is much, much more to it than just the scores.
I wish I could talk more about it, but I'm a woman, and as they say, "women don't know nothing about fútbol". But I know enough to live this World Cup to the edge of the chair and suffer as I see my team struggle through the championship.
(PS: Sorry about my crappy english, but I'm not a native speaker :-)
Oh, can we collect candidates for the most clichéd yuck-yuck story over the course of the tournament? This is my early entry: it's got the lot.
By the way, who else enjoyed the USA vs Czech Republic match?
I really enjoyed the post-game commentary where commentators looked pissed and in disbelief at the lack of effort from their friends on the field.
I use the geography of the board game Risk for my understanding. They love soccer, I mean football in Yakutsk and Kamchatka.
American Weekend To-Do List:
1. Watch paint dry.
2. Watch grass grow.
3. Watch soccer.
Where's my paintbrush?
"Duuuuuuuuuuullllllll!!!!!!" (said like one of those soccer announcers)
Funny how Football (soccer) is percieved to be dull, as I remember reading a report on BBC news about how it's scientifically the most interesting sport. American Football was the most boring, funnily enough.
It came down to the likelyhood of the 'stronger' team winning, e.g. the chance that the underdog would lose. In 'American' sports like Baseball and American Football those chances were highest, in Football (soccer) the lowest. (and thus the most interesting)
Case in point: Korea vs. Togo.
I have stopped watching "football" as well as baseball. I'll always watch soccer. its a beautiful game played by super fit athletes. Two of the best games I have seen so far was the Italy/Ghana game adn the Brazil vs Croatia... this latter was a beaut! and what excitement! what skill! I ended up rooting for both sides!
lots more to see...(usa vs italy on sat will be watched in a sports bar with plenty of supporters from both sides ... i can't wait!)
Amazes me the ignorance and bashing going on here. It's the same thing every four years during the WC. And of course, the WC, just like the Mc Donalds and everything else is used as a way to ventilate the typical anti-american bash.
For Starters:
The Continents: Some schools teach 5 Continents (America, Asia, Africa, Australia/Oceania, Europe).
Some others teach 6, same as above, plus Antartica
Some others teach 7, where America is divided into North and South, and Central America is technically part of the North.
United States was the first colony (actually 13) that gained independence in the New World (or the Continent named America after Italian Carthogrpher Americo Vespuci). For being the first nation in the new world was given the name "United States of (the new world: AMerica). It was not intended to "steal", "or grab" or whatever the continent's name. Was simply named that way for historical circunstances. Later 2 more countries adopted the same name: United States of Brazil (short name Brazil, peoples name Brazilians) and United States of Mexico (short name Mexico, people name Mexican), so United States of America (short name....get the idea?).
People around the world go crazy about this issue. Put it to rest!
The Soccer thing: So Americans call it soccer. So what? We dont mind people called an insect name (Cricket) to a game?
And then the same stuff: "Why you call it world series? (baseball)" People we call world series because we want to. That's it.
Funny, the Rest of The World is always pronto to say that they dont care what US thinks about Soccer... but dwell incensantly on it, year after year, wc after wc.
Most americans find Soccer boring. But hardly I hear any american calling someone who likes Soccer: ignorant, or stupid, etc. Instead, we are constantly called ignorant and other personal attacks. It's like if they were hurt or angry or somthing because we dont care for the sport. I dont get angry when someone from Europe tells me he dislike or gets bored with Baseball. It's a matter of taste.
Why cant you just stop this nonsense?
For all the fans in the US that do not get the sport, here is a good article: http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/5675888
James (AkaXakA)
The thing about American Football is that the game is 3.5 - 4 hours long. 1 hour of actual play time and 2.5 - 3 hours of ads, TV time outs, more time outs and play calling. I always chuckle at that.
For those of you that don't know about the good things in life...Football doesn't like to be called 'soccer' and it is not gay. Just ask the rest of the world.
I played European Football (American Soccer) for years as a kid/high-schooler, and it's a great game, great exercise, and a great test of athleticism. It's simple and elegant, which is something you certainly can't say about American Football or Basketball (with all their complicated time-outs, etc). The thrill of World Cup soccer is at least half about the fans and the nationalism — and it's great to see countries that are not world powers elsewhere occupy center stage (Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Italy — Go Azzurri!). European Football simply is not well-designed for TV, and hence Americans have difficulty. Our country's primary means of experiencing just about everything from sex to music to news to sports is sitting on our asses in front of a screen, sadly.
All that said, there are two things that drive me nuts about European Football at the highest level: 1) The whining and the falling, clutching, grabbing shin, sobbing. It's frankly poor sportsmanship and it's sad that it's become de rigeur to fall to the ground and writhe in agony whenever an opponent commits the smallest foul. If that happened in say, the National Hockey League (where losing teeth and getting stiches between periods is commonplace), you'd be laughed off the ice. I'd like to see the rules against 'diving' called, just for once, especially at the international level. And 2) playing a clogged midfield slogfest (once the specialty of Ireland and England, but now all to common) is a bore. There have been too many games so far in this year's tournament where the ratio of noteworthy moments to minutes played is 1:10+ ... and I've seen a lot of games thusfar having been in Italy and Spain for the last two weeks. It seems there are far too few finishers to go around, and there's few teams that even try to play on the rush. Where are the Golden Lions with their 10-man up when you need 'em?
Based on yesterday's game between Italy and US, I finally could taste first hand why the game is so dislike in the US. It seems that italians were falling ALL THE TIME; some were just barely touched, and there they were...winning, screaming, crying, snobbing; they would never survive an American Football game. I think for the next World Cup we should send our Women's team, so that the other players dont get hurt so easily.
Most of the fuzziness comes from the PAL v NTSC differences.
PAL > NTSC
scH, if you Americans are stupid enough to vote for George Bush and support the war in Iraq you are stupid enough to not understand offsides. And also, as Aegir said, stop calling the beautiful game 'soccer', its football for god's sake.
By the way nottofan, I disagree with you totally, football players can survive one of your American football games, you obviously don't understand the rules of football; in footbal you do not go and tackle someone and break their arm, that's what you do in rugby; in football you do not just tackle someone for no reason, that's what you do in American football; in football you only tackle when you have to, this sport is not about trying to pin someone else to the ground, it is about the game.
And Larry Mondello, football is not gay, if it was, why is it by far the most popular sport in the world, whilst American football and basketball is only mainly centered in the USA?
Football is the single sport that unites the whole world together, look at the World Cup, all the people from different countries cheering together, singing together, celebrating together, football is the sport of the world (excluding North America).
David, Quite frankly I'll have to agree and disagree with you. Yes I agree that MOST Americans follow soccer (football) only when the World Cup is being broadcasted. But tell try telling that to the loyal fans of the MLS who number about 200,000 and are at every game watching mediocre soccer players kick the ball around. They don't do it because they want to bare witness to a quality game...No my friend, they are there because they love the game...trust me, there is no other reason to go to an MLS game. Or better yet tell that to the millions of Barca and Madrid fans here in the US that don't miss one game broadcasted from overseas, and yes I do know that you mentioned these people would be from other nationalities, but some aren't. Soccer has yet to make an impact with the American public as a whole, but to the few of us loyal fanatics of the art, it is life. Please don't insult us.
Tom D, I am sorry to say this, but you are a typical American. I too am Amercian, but a lover of the game of soccer (here), football everywhere else in the world. For you to say that there are hardly any noteworthy minutes in an entire game simply proves that you have no true passion for the game and are stuck in your "I wanna see more goals" mentality which Americans have.
VC, you are a turd for saying that Americans are stupid enough to vote for George Bush. The only reason that imbecile was brought into office was because of his stand on religion, and abortion. It difficult to understand unless of course you lived in NY but travelled to rural America, where all you'd find are red neck hillbillies. The farther you go to the east or west you'd find rational people such as yourself and I. With that said I agree with you on all else.
One last thing, I feel it travesty that this World Cup was set up to have Germany and Brazil in the final...but that won't happen...Brazil will fall to Spain in their Quarter final match, and Germany will fall it their Quarter Final match to Argentina (I know Daniela is happy to hear that).
One very last thing is that Colombia will win in South Africa 2010.
VC, so now you know how americans feel when we're attacked and discriminated over trivial things. I enjoy the game soccer, but that's all it is. Im glad the whole world goes ga ga about it, for many countries in this world that's the furthest they'll ever go; that's their life, because they have no other, so I will be glad to see Ghana gets far, hopefully in the semifinals. Good for them.
I'v never called the game "gay", I just found it bizarre how many times players fall and scream and whine...
As to say we dont like it because we're not good at it, it could well be the other way around: we're not good at it, because we dont like it. By we, I mean majority of Americans, though there's is pocket of fans that love and follow the game.
To VC and James Castro, the whole thing that everybody that voted for Bush is a hillbilly redneckie, bibletrumpheting, midwestener is baloney. It's that jerkish and snobbish attitude what made the dems lose time and time again. I disagree with Bush in a lot of issues, but that doesnt give the rights to call every single american that lives between NY and Los Angeles, a stupid, idiot, religious nuts, and any other insult you may think of... Time to move on.