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Forums - General - Why is soccer so unpopular in the US?

crumas2 on 09 March 2008
SeriousWB said:
I used to think like you crumas, especially when I played cricket and football through highschool, I couldn' t stand watching them.

But for some reason now there is almost sport I get bored watching. I used to REALLY hate watching cricket matches, but it just changed for no reason what so ever =/

I can't watch basketball for very long stretches for some reason, even though I do enjoy what I watch.

Well, then perhaps there's hope that my dormant "sports-watching" gene will suddenly kick in.  



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billsalias on 09 March 2008

This is a pretty sad debate. Most arguments seems to come down to "USA is to ignorant to appreciate football(soccer)" that results in the lame rebuttal of "soccer is not a real sport, see popular US sport X". This just demonstrates the ignorance and prejudice on both side of the argument.

There have been a couple of people that hit it pretty squarely on the head but were ignored. Soccer is popular in the US. It is one of the few team sports adults continue to play after leaving school and it is on equal footing with American football, baseball, and basketball in most US schools and communities.

What is true is soccer does not get major national media attention because there are already many entrenched sports it must compete with for limited viewing time. It would need to be a far superior sport to watch to make ground quickly in this environment. Between basketball, baseball and American football (each the top sport in their season) there is at least one major sport dominating the media at any given time of year.

Now a sport that is really not getting the attention it deserves is lacrosse. That is the only real sport and all others should be abandoned :)



GhaudePhaede010 on 09 March 2008

Answer to topic question:

Soccer Moms. Beatuiful, but when they rampage...



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billsalias on 09 March 2008
crumas2 said:
SeriousWB said:
I used to think like you crumas, especially when I played cricket and football through highschool, I couldn' t stand watching them.

But for some reason now there is almost sport I get bored watching. I used to REALLY hate watching cricket matches, but it just changed for no reason what so ever =/

I can't watch basketball for very long stretches for some reason, even though I do enjoy what I watch.

Well, then perhaps there's hope that my dormant "sports-watching" gene will suddenly kick in.


I think you are better off not activating that gene if you have it. I personally think watching professional sports is a waste of time and really do not understand the fervor with witch so many people around the world watch. Think of what could be accomplished if all the energy that goes into pro sports was directed at something productive.

 

Funny but sad example, my brother in law cannot remember his aniversary or wifes birthday but can tell you the birthday of all the red sox(baseball team) players.



dsoverpsp on 09 March 2008

is it really that unpopular??

idon't think so....


maybe b.c they liek football (american) better



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Kasz216 on 09 March 2008
StarcraftManiac said:

Why is The 'real' football so unpopular in America?

Well, i think that's because it isn't part of their culture. Americans grow up watching and playing baseball, basketball and American football. Europeans grow up playing football. So, Europeans play it since their youth and Americans more or less don't. That could be the main reason because it takes REALLY long to get really good at in comparison with other sports. As such, Americans don't like to practice it when they are older because they suck ars in it the first few years they try it. And when you suck at stuff, it tends to get boring!


Actually soccer is the first sports most kids play in the US... because though it can be complicated it can also be simple enough where you can have a bunch of kintegarderners play.

Baseball is too complicated with rules, Basketball is too hard and physcally demanding with a regulation hoop and football is too dangerous.

Once you teach a kid how to dribble in soccer, your golden. 

 

 



Kasz216 on 09 March 2008
ion-storm said:
Kasz216 said:
ion-storm said:
dgm6780 said:
comparing the lack of scoring in soccer to scoring in baseball shows a real lack of understanding of baseball.

averages for 2007

Red Sox 5.3 - 4.0 opponent (lowest in runs allowed)
Yanks 5.97 - 4.79 opponent
Pirates 4.46 - 5.22 opponent
Arizona 4.69 - 4.51 opponent (this was lowest in MLB, 9.2 runs per game)

a 5-4 game isnt in the same realm as a 1-0 or 2-1 game. With a 5-4 game, that means on average, 1 run was scored EVERY inning. and you are comparing that to a game were you wait 45 minutes just to see a scoring opportunity.

and lets not forget the stupidity of playing out an entire game and ending it in a tie. (but hell soccer could go on for days trying to break a tie)
lets also not forget the stupidity of allowing the head referee to decide when the game will end, he adds on time at the end of a game, and the ammount of time added is wholely up to him and it isnt announced.

but you were right about one thing, soccer is BORING. i think the main draw for some Euros is the drinking/chanting/singing/fighting/family tradtitions and nothing do with the actual game.

soccer is popular worldwide because all it takes is a ball, not much equipment and you can play. so poor families, in poor nations can play it from the time they are young. (thats not true for baseball, basketball, or football - they are expensive to play/setup organized leagues)




oh and hockey isnt a major sport here in the US anymore. but atleast they were smart enough to do away with ties. and its not out of the realm that it could become a major sport again - say if they signed a deal to get weekly games on ESPN.

You might want to check up on that little fact :)

You can have a good game without lots of goals. Fast paced end to end action with some great skill. Appreciate the skill, watch the action, don't assume a 0 - 0 game has to be boring.

 

@Rocketpig

You should really be comparing american football to rugy as the two sports have more in common than with "soccer". Rugy plays are massive as well. Also run just as fast if not faster, don't take ridiculous amounts of breaks and don't wear the same vast quantity of pads.

http://www.rugbygamers.com/home/2-articles/5-Fastest%20rugby%20player?tmpl=component&print=1&page=

That said. Everyone has their own preference of what they like to watch. I like football (soccer), rugby and ice hockey.

 

For a real hardcore game try hurling. Take a hard hard ball, get stick, hit at person height with stick at up to 90mph. Now try being the goal keeper with no pads :P

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurling


Rugby players also take much less contact. The only one getting hit at full speed is ususally the guys with ball. In Football everyone is going to be taking heavy contact on most plays. (aside the QB unless your team sucks.)

Here is a good example that explains why American Football is actually pretty brutal in comparison to Rugby despite the pads.

http://wesclark.com/rrr/pads_and_helmets.html

I'll accept that about the contact and pain part. But it also causes the main problem I have with it. Too many breaks in the action.


Oh yea, i'm not trying to argue the superiority of any sport. I'm just backing up Rocketpigs asertion that football players really aren't wusses and that the Pads they where are a neccessity... as if football players played rugby they'd likely kill the poor guys they were up against do to the two sports differences

It's not even just a size issue.  If you had Rugby players play Football they would suffer much more pain and be in a worse condition, while Football players playing Rugby if trained to be rugby players would take much less damage then they did on the football field.

Football is one of the most brutal sports in the world and way more dangerous then Rugby... on both sides of the field... offense and defense.



dgm6780 on 09 March 2008

@rocket

sorry i named the wrong guy who bought baseball scoring into the discussion, it was captain preferences that acted like baseball doesnt have any scoring like soccer.

OT - did you cry when Santana left? Hunter?



Damstr8 on 09 March 2008

Its boring to me because its just not very exciting....not much going on....and every once in a while they score a goal...and thats it...all that waiting for...very little excitement.....you must have patience to watch it



 

 

Bark on 09 March 2008

I think Americans prefer watching sports with variety. Baseball has the thrill of the homerun, double plays, 98+ mph pitches, squeeze plays, and stolen bases. It is a boring game for the most part, but it has a number of payoffs. American Football has an unbelievable amount of payoffs (sacks, long passes, field goals). Soccer only has the occasional goal.

Most sports involve teams taking turns kicking, hitting, throwing, slapping, or hurling a ball across court. Soccer, volleyball, lacrosse, hockey, and tennis are loved by people who actually play those sports. To people who do not, they are incredibly boring to watch. I play tennis and volleyball and I can't bare to watch them on tv.

Why then is basketball popular in the US? I really don't know. I can't stand the foul-a-thon at the end of every pro game. I would guess that it is popular because you don't need a lot of equipment to play it and every school seems to have a basketball team.

I'll never understand NASCAR. I live 600meters from an interstate and I can watch cars zoom around all day and see the occasional wreck.