higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I can certainly understand why futbol fans (sorry, > I can’t call it football and don’t want to offend > anyone by calling it soccer) become defensive when > Americans criticize the sport, but if you want the > sport to grow it’s important to listen to the > opinions of potential new fans. Every sport > evolves if it wants to survive and often that > evolution is the result of fresh perspectives. > While we can be ignorant, obnoxious boobs at > times, Americans do occasionally have good ideas > so you might want to actually consider them > instead of automatically dismissing them because > of the source. I mean honestly, does anyone > really enjoy seeing grown men rolling on the > ground like someone shot them when they were only > bumped? You see skateboarders faceplant on > concrete and get up with less dramatics. We don’t need it to grow. The whole world loves it as it is. You’ll notice that no country works while their team plays (except perhaps the US - and i’m certainly not bashing the US here). It is not called the beautiful game for nothing. It is loved the world over. However, if it pleases you, send your suggestions to Mr S Blatter at Fifa.com. He might actually take up your idea. He encouraged women’s teams to wear tight fitting tops and short shorts after all.
Sparty & Muddahudda, Why would you not want the sport you love to grow in the world’s largest, richest TV market (for now at least)? Come on guys, you know that all sports are about money and money now comes from TV. There’s certainly no shortage of money in the EU market, but why ignore a market that could double the amount of money in the sport and provide that many more opportunities to players? I was reading an article about the US’s bid for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups the other day and they noted that the US bid includes more existing stadiums and infrastructure than all the other bids combined and the 1994 World Cup in the US remains the most attended World Cup in history. Was reading another article discussing the economic impact on the host cities if the US had been eliminated because the US has the largest contingent of all foreign fans attending the matches. If you want us to bugger off though, that’s certainly up to you.
higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I was reading an article about the US’s bid for > the 2018 and 2022 World Cups the other day and > they noted that the US bid includes more existing > stadiums and infrastructure than all the other > bids combined and the 1994 World Cup in the US > remains the most attended World Cup in history. > Was reading another article discussing the > economic impact on the host cities if the US had > been eliminated because the US has the largest > contingent of all foreign fans attending the > matches. Problem: US is the largest, richest market that can bend markets over in its favor (US-London and US-Ghana playing in prime time on Saturday by chance???) Solution: FIFA officials disallow crucial US goals and blindly allow the opposition to elbow US players in the face.
higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Sparty & Muddahudda, > > Why would you not want the sport you love to grow > in the world’s largest, richest TV market (for now > at least)? Come on guys, you know that all sports > are about money and money now comes from TV. > There’s certainly no shortage of money in the EU > market, but why ignore a market that could double > the amount of money in the sport and provide that > many more opportunities to players? > > I was reading an article about the US’s bid for > the 2018 and 2022 World Cups the other day and > they noted that the US bid includes more existing > stadiums and infrastructure than all the other > bids combined and the 1994 World Cup in the US > remains the most attended World Cup in history. > Was reading another article discussing the > economic impact on the host cities if the US had > been eliminated because the US has the largest > contingent of all foreign fans attending the > matches. > > If you want us to bugger off though, that’s > certainly up to you. I don’t want anyone to bugger off, but the game doesn’t needs changing. I have never heard the expression ‘lead changing’ in all my years. And it has never been a problem. If you know your football, you will know why this isn’t an issue. If you don’t, google ‘AC Milan - Liverpool - Istanbul - 2005’ or ‘Bayern Munich - Man Utd - Barcelona - 1999’. Watch those games and you will see why ‘lead change changes’ aren’t necessary. You want drama, there it is, encapsulated in 90 minutes. I could add a bunch more (Portugal - Korea 5-3 in the 1956 (?) world cup) but I cant be ars*d. References to Vuvuzelas are nonsense. They have only been around for the past 42 games and none of the 1000s before that. A purely South African thing and hihgly unlikely to see them afterwards. And lastly the market is healthy. Clubs are rich, proliferate the world over and attract millions of fans worldwide. Most South Koreans are Man Utd fans for example (& rightly so). It’s big on every continent and it’s only a matter of time before you guys ‘get it’ too. Like a fever, you can’t avoid it.
So you’re telling me that all else equal, you would rather see a nil-nil draw than a competitive back and forth game with several lead changes? How can you possibly think that a game with no goals is more compelling than a game with several lead changes?
The bottom line is that soccer will always be the most popular sport in the world no matter how infruiating it may be for americans who want more lead changes, drama, rule changes etc. The rest of the world loves the game the way it is. The beauty of soccer is that the sport does not need the USA to survive as the most popular sport. Sure, it helps to have the USA involved and watching the sport and providing $, but soccer has never relied on the USA to fund or market the sport. There are 5 billion+ people on this earth that think soccer is the most amazing, enthralling sport. If 275 million americans don’t like the game, the rest of the world does not really care to be honest.
Rice is the most popular food in the world - does that mean it’s the best?
How can anyone say Soccer is boring when we have baseball.
ASSet_MANagement Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How can anyone say Soccer is boring when we have > baseball. Baseball can be extremely boring, but more people attend professional baseball games worldwide than any other professional sport, so go figure.
higgmond Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ASSet_MANagement Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > How can anyone say Soccer is boring when we > have > > baseball. > > > Baseball can be extremely boring, but more people > attend professional baseball games worldwide than > any other professional sport, so go figure. Probably b/c each team plays 162 games a year.
Analyze_This Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Baseball can be extremely boring, but more > people > > attend professional baseball games worldwide > than > > any other professional sport, so go figure. > > > Probably b/c each team plays 162 games a year. Certainly, but they still go. Interestingly, when the NFL is noted as having the highest average attendance people always say it’s because they only play 16 games per season.
Baseball is like fishing, boring, boring, boring then BAM! then boring boring boring.
Baseball and soccer are games for children.
Honestly, it all comes down to whether one likes the game or not. And also, the truth is that there are lots of people who trash talk about other sports because either they don’t understand it or its boring to them. And just because they think its boring or there are no 'lead changes", the game sucks. Oh, so now they have some sort of certification to say which game sucks and which game doesn’t? Like I said again, I am an Indian and I really don’t enjoy watching cricket. But try telling that to the hundreds and millions of cricket fans in India. You are literally asking for an ass-whopping. If you don’t like a sport, well, watch whatever you are currently watching and carry on with your life. Your opinion is not worth anything because the sport was already successful before you were probably born, is currently the most successful, and will remain like that. Secondly, its up to FIFA to decide if they want to penetrate the US market. How are you going to do it again three 1,000 pound gorillas? You need to compete against baseball, basketball and football. MLS is just slowly gaining inertia, but the quality is still poor. Plus, a majority of the fans are plastic fans. You can see that yourself in this WC. If the US goes far, they’ll celebrate for a few months, after that, football season starts again and everything is forgotten. You need dedicated fans for the sports. The US cannot provide that currently (in large numbers I mean). One way FIFA could enter the market could be to change the rules slightly to make it more “American”, hence the video replays incorporated into it. Maybe, and I say maybe, then it could have more respect in the US.
Some technology to determine objective calls such as out of bounds, or on the goal line would be a good idea.
Because it’s fucking called “soccer” in the US. Why do people get even mildly upset about that? That’s just what we call it. sparty419 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > ==> 1) And why shouldn’t it be football? I know > American football also has its history and > tradition, but I can’t see the link between using > the foot in American football and calling it the > same. It makes more sense to call it handball than > American football. I find this really ignorant or > jealous that the whole world embraces the game > except American sports lovers and they maybe can’t > stand it. I don’t mean to call you out, but just > generalizing here. > But since it’s been known that way, I am not going > to argue, unlike people who can’t understand why > traditional football should be just left the way > it is, maybe besides adapting some technological > changes necessary to improve the game. >
brother bilo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Because it’s fucking called “soccer” in the US. > Why do people get even mildly upset about that? > That’s just what we call it. I agree. I don’t get made when the English call it a pitch. We call it a field, they call it a pitch. No reason for anyone to get insulted.
Calm the fuck down buddy. No one’s getting upset about anything here. I understand the differences in words used in different continents. But to come out and make blatant statements like “soccer sucks” is pretty immature.
Actually soccer is just an abbreviation of Association (socca) Football. http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/21/messages/554.html But, if i’m going to get pedantic on yo asses, 95% of the game is played with the damn feet! Soccer/football sucks today. I’m off to create a new sport.
sparty419 Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Secondly, its up to FIFA to decide if they want to > penetrate the US market. How are you going to do > it again three 1,000 pound gorillas? You need to > compete against baseball, basketball and football. > MLS is just slowly gaining inertia, but the > quality is still poor. Plus, a majority of the > fans are plastic fans. You can see that yourself > in this WC. If the US goes far, they’ll celebrate > for a few months, after that, football season > starts again and everything is forgotten. You need > dedicated fans for the sports. The US cannot > provide that currently (in large numbers I mean). > > One way FIFA could enter the market could be to > change the rules slightly to make it more > “American”, hence the video replays incorporated > into it. Maybe, and I say maybe, then it could > have more respect in the US. Soccer already has the highest participation level in the US up until about age 13, so it’s a matter of the sport’s inability to keep fans, not it’s inability to get fans. Not sure why this is though.