Just because we didn't grow up watching Soccer doesn't mean that the game blows.

[devilgrrl]

Just thought I'd throw that out to the haters.

I don't watch a lot of Soccer (Fußball) but I do enjoy watching the World Cup. It's fun whether the score is 0-0 1-0 1-1 2-1 4-1, etc. Sit back and enjoy. :shrug:

[Bluebear]

1. The vuvuzelas blow though

It's like watching a sporting match in a beehive!

[devilgrrl]

2. Yeah that is a bit much...

I suppose there are worse things the fans can be doing.

[the other one]

3. It blows regardless of how we were raised.

[devilgrrl]

4. Why?

It's cheap to field a team. What will we tell the children?

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. Americans who complain about soccer during the World Cup are bores

It's the equivalent of asking for a side of pasta with your risotto, a la Big Night.

They are not worth reasoning with, any more than you would reason with the blowhard American loudly asking for some Americanized version of food in a Paris cafe. You apologize to the rest of the people there on their behalf, and explain that not all of us are assholes, and be done with it.

[tridim]

6. I have three complaints

1. Dives. They're obvious, and they happen 20 times per game. Lame.

2. Lack of pass accuracy, especially on long passes. Hockey players do it, why not soccer players?

3. The fucking horns.

I do watch the World Cup, but mostly because it's a big cultural event.

[devilgrrl]

9. Aren't the Referee's Yellow Carding Dives?

I've heard that they're not being shy about it either.

[tridim]

12. I've seen a few, but there are minor and major dives IMO

I consider holding your shin and writhing in pain after a typical tackle as a type of dive. Sure it hurts, but that's not the point, the players are just trying to draw fouls by embellishment.

[KamaAina]

26. Hockey players are passing a puck with a flat surface using sticks

not kicking a round ball.

Also, passes in hockey aren't nearly as long: the entire rink is only 200' x 80', compared to the pitch which is usualy somewhere around 105m x 68m (345' x 222').

[tkmorris]

32. Answers to complaints

1) You're right, diving sucks. It happens in soccer in particular because fouls in soccer are more important, particularly those in or around the box. One foul call often changes the outcome of a game. This isn't the case in say, basketball, because a single foul results in possession or a couple of free throws in a game where even the losing team scores 50 times as many points as a single foul potentially costs them. Diving still sucks though, and I'd like to see more cards given for obvious ones. FWIW a German forward yesterday was given a yellow for diving early in their game against Australia.

2) A long pass in hockey is what, 40-60 feet? In soccer a similar pass is 50 yards or so, the ball takes longer to get there thus allowing defenders to close it down better, and the pass takes place in 3 dimensions usually. It's harder to do, trust me.

3) I could not agree more. The damned things should be banned. No, they should be gathered all into a big pile and set on fire, and whoever first thought up the idea of selling them at soccer games should be made to sit on top of the burning heap. Hearing 60,000 fans sing in unison to spur their team on is a thing that can bring tears to your eyes, the atmosphere is just tremendous. Those horns? I despise them.

[blueamy66]

7. You can't tell that to my fiance.

He refuses to watch soccer and states that baseball players are the true athletes. WTF?

But I have to agree with him on the horns and the fake injuries.....both get old very early in the match.

[monmouth]

8. Oh it blows alright and those friggin horns make it blow all the more...n/t

[Blue-Jay]

10. There are lots of things that I don't watch. Soccer is one of those things.

[Bozita]

11. Mike Thompson's World Cup toon in Saturday's Detroit Free Press - Enjoy!

http://www.freep.com/article/20100613/BLOG24/100613003/The-World-Cup

[tridim]

13. That's pretty good, but I don't consider NASCAR fandom the opposite of Soccer fandom

Both fan bases are nutty.

[devilgrrl]

14. Good one!

:thumbsup:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. I think the main problem that americans have with the sport...

is that their aren't enough awesome car crashes.

[flvegan]

16. Much of America doesn't like it because (IMO) there's very little "violence"

We love American football, with the hard hits and tackles. Hockey is well liked, what with the checking and the fights. Pro wrestling is simulated violence, but we love that. Boxing needs no explanation. Then there's the newfound lust for that ultimate fighting garbage. It seems that if it's a team sport, it has to be visually brutal. If it's singular, 50% have to be the top in brutality. I don't know, maybe I'm way off. I love football (soccer). Watching some of the best players *cough* Messi *cough* is like watching absolute brilliance.

Which reminds me...why has rugby never caught on here? Makes the NFL look like a bunch of wimps.

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. Funny, no mention of that other highly brutal game, baseball.

I think there are a few Americans who follow baseball...what do you think of that?

[flvegan]

18. I love baseball.

Can't explain that one away, and would never try. So yes, you have one example. Thank you.

[geardaddy]

19. Or golf.

[flvegan]

23. "If it's singular, 50% have to be the top in brutality"

50% is half. Half isn't all. I don't consider golf a team sport. I didn't mention bowling or billiards, either.

[geardaddy]

25. Yeah, never mind.

[Mudoria]

29. Or basketball

[flvegan]

40. You must not watch much basketball.

There seems to be more and more violent activity every season.

[Mojambo]

28. Yeah, I wish those lusty Ultimate Fighting fans were as civilized and peace loving as Futball fans

[alcibiades_mystery]

38. Nonsense

Americans don't like it because once every four years they have to be reminded that they're not the center of the universe and that there's some activity that they're not particularly good at. All the other nonsense stems from these two crucial points.

[Mojambo]

20. It's the ties, man. They blow.

I'm just not going to invest two hours of my life when there's a large probability of the game ending in a tie. It irks me to no end.

I got the same problem with hockey, but at least there you can keep score by the number of black eyes and bloodied lips.

[Toasterlad]

21. And Just Becase We Didn't Grow Up Watching It Doesn't Mean It DOESN'T Blow.

[jazzelle]

22. 2 words

vuvuzelas suck

[Recovered Repug]

37. Actually, I believe the vuvuzelas blow.

It's soccer that sucks.

[Journeyman]

24. I prefer American football, basketball and baseball over soccer because. . .

the opportunity is always present for an immediate score on offense, no matter where on the field the ball is put into play. Soccer is very defense-oriented and that just doesn't appeal to me. Has nothing to do with "hate" or any silliness such as that; I simply prefer a different type of play.

[HockeyMom]

27. Youth Soccer

is played all over the country and has been for decades. My older daughter is 31 now and started playing on a boys team when she was 10. It got so popular back then, they started all girls teams a couple of years later.

No violence? Ummn, that depends. My younger daughter switched from playing soccer to ice hockey (boys teams at first). She held her own even with the checking.

[Mudoria]

31. The problem is..

that over the last 30 years we've been told that all the youth in America are playing soccer at an early stage in their life and that the next generation will make soccer a top American sport. Still waiting. I can watch WC even though I really dislike soccer overall but I'd never watch it otherwise.

[customerserviceguy]

33. We baby boomers

were all taught the metric system, along with the idea that it was inevitable, and look where that ended up. We didn't get any further than the 2 liter soda bottle and the 100 mm cigarette.

[rabs]

30. About the vuvuzelas

They are a tradition in South Africa. Like drums.

There has been talk about FIFA banning them. Good luck with that at this stage, because the vuvuzelas were very present at the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year (which team USA almost won after taking a 2-0 lead against Brazil, but let it slip away.)

So it was not like FIFA was unaware the vuvuzelas would be at the World Cup.

To ban them would be "Europeanization" of part of South African culture.

It would be the equal if a European sports body banned swilling beer by Oakland Raider fans at N(H)FL games.

Or to ban fans from falling asleep at Major League baseball games.

N(H)FL = National Hand and Football League.

[AngryAmish]

34. Wrong. The game blows.

It is an scientific, irrefutable and objective fact.

[Patriot 76]

35. You realize how stupid you sound, right?

Go watch your beer commercials occasionally interrupted by an actual game.

[Ron Green]

36. As a sports non-fan, I've got to say that every sport has its beauty.

Golf is a beautiful game. Don't say it's not if you haven't played a championship course.

American football is a beautiful game. Remember the 1970's Dallas Cowboys, when two touchdowns behind and 3 minutes to go just meant the fun was about to begin? (Unless it was against the Steelers.)

Baseball is a beautiful game. Nothing else to say here.

Cycling is a beautiful game. You can now watch a stage from inside the peloton with modern camera and media systems.

Basketball is a beautiful game. Whoomp! There it is.

And world football is beautiful, too. You just got to pay attention to what's special about it.

[LWolf]

39. Soccer is certainly a valid sport for anyone who wants to play or watch.

I'm not one of them, but then, I don't even watch sports I liked to play.

Not wanting to watch soccer doesn't make one a "hater."