Soccer: Will It Ever Be Big In The U.S.?

[Hood]

So, I just saw some buddies over the holidays who are huge soccers guys and firmly believe that soccer will one day be a major sport in the U.S. Personally, I think that's crazy talk. But admittedly, my opinion is based on the fact that I personally would rather go clothes shopping at a mall for two straight days than sit through an entire soccer game sans alcohol (and if getting bombed at the mall is on the table, it wins out there too). Other than the friends that were in town, I can only also think of a handful of cats I actually know who care all about the game and I know a boatload of cats who finding it brutally boring.

To be clear, I'm not knocking soccer players or their athletic abilities -- to be honest, I quit the sport at like the age of 11 'cause I was too damn lazy for all that running; all that running and rarely, if ever, any payoff like getting to lay on a big hit or scoring a goal? Not my cup 'o tea. And I also think highlights are dope, but I'm just saying that an entire game has zero appeal to me. And with the way the game is currently played, no amount of anything is ever going to change that. Perhaps soccer will be able to pick up some cats from generations to come, but I honestly don't see it happening in any significant way. From where I sit, all that skill, artistry and whatever else stuff, and even the mega-star they'll try to make out of Freddy Adu, is simply not enough to keep most Americans interested in a game where goals are rarely scored and hits with legitimate bad intentions are not allowed. So, of course, I voted no.

[pigpen81]

I'd rather watch an EPL soccer game any day of the week over any other sport sans playoff baseball.

Let's see, I have watched 3 soccer games this morning from England...in less then 6 hours.

In the same six hours I would be through maybe 1 and a half football games.

American football... = a 60 minute game that takes 4 hours to watch.

Soccer.... = a 90 minute game played in 1 hour 45 minutes with commercials only at halftime.

You watch soccer the wrong way expecting goals to be the action.

The real action is the build up to the goals.

Soccer is like sex. You sometimes have long foreplay with the climax being the goal. The foreplay is brilliant though.

Other times, the climax comes real quick for one and the rest of the game is watching the other team trying to reach their climax.

Exhilirating once you get the concept.

[davet010]

Soccer is like sex. You sometimes have long foreplay with the climax being the goal. The foreplay is brilliant though.

Other times, the climax comes real quick for one and the rest of the game is watching the other team trying to reach their climax.

Exhilirating once you get the concept.

Or if you follow City, it's like finally knocking off that bird at work after 6 months of effort - the good bits are far too short and not worth the effort you put into it, your natural pessimism turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy and it was expensive.

But you'll be back next week for another try, just on the off-chance that the next time will be a cracker.

[Rodster]

I don't think it will ever be a Major sport. First off our cultures are different. As was mentioned before Football has a tremendous build up to a goal being score. The drama, the anticipation, the frenzy then all of a sudden a goal is scored.

Here in the US every Major Sport has moved away from defense and put the emphasis on offense. Football I can remember as a kid watching the Steelers vs. Raiders 9-6 games a they were awesome. Baseball games use to be low scoring as well. Now scores avg 10-9 etc. Hockey fans got bored with low scores and the NHL caved. The same with the NBA.

The way we view sports in the US is much different than the Europeans do. Maybe one of you guys can correct me if i'm wrong because my knowledge of soccer is limited. I heard that we influenced European Football by introducing the Silver, Golden Goal and shootouts which we now see in European Football.

Is that correct or am I mistaken?

[davet010]

I don't know whether the silver/golden goal rules evolved in the old MLS, but they were dreamt up by FIFA to deal with the prevention of replays of drawn matches in the knockout stages of major international competitions, primarily the World Cup but also used in the European Championships from 1996 onward.

Fairly unpopular, but then so is the penalty shootout (particularly with fans of England, Italy and Holland, who seem never to succeed in them) - no one has yet come up with a good way of settling these things.

Anything is better than UEFA's bright spark ideas of the 1960s, where certainly some UEFA Cup club games were settled on the toss of a coin !

[Hood]

You watch soccer the wrong way expecting goals to be the action.

From the poll, it looks like a lot of us are "watch(ing) soccer the wrong way."

Soccer is like sex. You sometimes have long foreplay with the climax being the goal. The foreplay is brilliant though.

Other times, the climax comes real quick for one and the rest of the game is watching the other team trying to reach their climax.

Exhilirating once you get the concept.

I guess this is where I'm supposed to start laughing, right?

I mean really, here's a couple of other "exhilarting concepts." One, pulling some ho into a closet and sticking in her bunghole for a quickie and moving on. Or, two, pulling a U of Miami 7th Floor where like 10 dudes score at the same time in like five minutes and move on with it.

And even if we are talking conventional and I bust early, my goal at this point is to bust again or go to bed, it's certainly not to wait around for hours to see if my opponent/partner can get off too.

That actually sounds more like the work of a dude with a boring sex life, so I can very slightly see where one coud see soccer as attractive if you use that mess as the a workable framework through which to view the game.

[K_Mosley]

Well, it's a heckuva lot bigger than it was just a decade ago. I wonder if anyone ever thought NASCAR would get as big as it is, for example?

Hockey - another foreign sport - had made some pretty good inroads into U.S. culture at one point (maybe the 4th most popular U.S. sport). I don't think it's impossible for a "foreign" sport to do well in the states. Once the U.S. becomes a "world power" - legitimately - in soccer, I think the fans will come. It may never eclipse American football, but I do believe it will continue to grow.

Just because you can't appreciate the game doesn't mean that a significant portion of the population won't ever appreciate it. Different strokes for different folks. Some of us still like a 1-0 pitcher's duel, so to speak.

Kevin

[Hood]

Just because you can't appreciate the game doesn't mean that a significant portion of the population won't ever appreciate it. Different strokes for different folks. Some of us still like a 1-0 pitcher's duel, so to speak.

Kevin, I don't recall ever having said that other folks (or a significant portion of the population) can't appreciate soccer, because I do not. I just said that I didn't. If my position was that since I don't like it, then no one else can, then the thread would be pointless would it not? My interest in other's points of view stems from my ability to realize they may have a different view of (and appreciation of) things than I do.

[TheMightyPuck]

From the poll, it looks like a lot of us are "watch(ing) soccer the wrong way."

Not thinking soccer will become popular here doesn't neccessarily mean you don't enjoy it. I love soccer but I don't except it to gain football or baseball like traction here (it could maybe gain hockey status with proper care and feeding). Sports popularity is not based on measurable qualities like "hitting" and "scoring". It is far more like religion where if your daddy is Catholic, you are Catholic etc. It wouldn't matter how much better soccer is than us football or the other way around. NFL will never make it in Europe and soccer will never compete with NFL in the US.

[Hood]

From the poll, it looks like a lot of us are "watch(ing) soccer the wrong way."

Not thinking soccer will become popular here doesn't neccessarily mean you don't enjoy it.

Fair point.

[10spro]

Since the old days when Pele was a factor in the US, soccer has come a long, long way to a point where I consider them to be in the top 12 International teams. The thing with any sport is that a kid needs to put those soccer boots at a young tender age as his favourite sport, and that's not going to happen in America, especially when you have baseball, football and basketball ahead of any other sport. Someone mentioned a culture thing, true too, but with the creation of MLS, the US has come a long way to the most popular sport in the world.

[wco81]

I think a couple of the less popular spectator sports would have to become defunct for soccer to have a chance to catch on. Say hockey and one or two other sports, because the idea would be that there would be less competition for TV dollars.

Wouldn't happen but I wouldn't mind seeing soccer games instead of golf tournaments.

[rubba19]

Personally, ever is too vague.

If ever=5 years, then no. If ever=25 years, then yes, it could. Growing a sport will take at least a generation or maybe even too. Plus, for Americans, they need an American to rally around. Even when Pele was around in the 70s, who was the best American of the time? My guess is that it was Kyle Rote, but the only reason I know about him is that he was on the Battle of the Network Stars back then....

If Tiger Woods was British or German, do you think that golf would have had such a run here?

Like a typical American, I don't watch much. But I do enjoy watching World Cup games because of the relevance of it all.

I don't quite understand how a soccer match can absolutely devastate a person/country, but I appreciate the passion for the sport.

[Hood]

If Tiger Woods was British or German, do you think that golf would have had such a run here?

All due respect rubba, but Tiger Woods isn't a great example. How many adults do you know in the U.S. who play soccer recreationally? One of the allures of Tiger is that he does what so many people try to do and he does it so damn well.

[pigpen81]

Adults??????? I know 5.

Baseball......1 (me)

Basketball.....1

Football....None

Golf......4

Hmmmmmmm...soccer wins on that one.

[AJColossal]

One of the MLS soccer guys was on ESPN's Hot Seat, and they asked him to rank the popularity (from one to ten) of football, baseball, and soccer in the US.

He gave football a 10, soccer a 5, and baseball a 2(!!!!) When asked why he ranked baseball so low, even below soccer, he claimed that fans are getting fed up with steroids in baseball, so they're looking for alternatives like soccer.

I nearly pissed myself I laughed so hard.

[Danimal]

Has anyone watched the HBO documentary Dare to Dream, about the US Womens Soccer team?

I'm not a soccer fan, but have watched it twice. Really makes me appreciate what they tried to do for the young girls in America, by giving them options in the field of team sports.

While I will probably never enjoy soccer, thanks to being the trainer for the womens team in college, it is good to know that my daughters will have an avenue to pursue if they shoud so choose.

[mobiggins]

I know lots of adults who play soccer recreationally, moreso than any other sport. You seem to be a pretty new guy around here, Hood, so here's a tip: discussing soccer's popularity (especially from an "explain-it-to-me-guys-cuz-I-don't-get-it" point of view) is pretty much a non-starter in this forum. Inane polls usually are as well.
You can pretend to have an intelligent discussion on this topic, especially if you're the one who started it, but the truth is that footie appreciation is a bit like religion: you can go to church and hang out with converts all day, but it takes personal effort on your own private time to really understand.

[fsquid]

Americans don't like to follow a sport that we are not the best in. FACT

[pk500]

A sport never has been described so beautifully in so few words when Pele called soccer "the beautiful game."

Soccer is beautiful for so many reasons.

First, it's the only worldwide game in which the rules are standard, for the most part. Yeah, there are some vagaries between when offsides is called in England as opposed to the Continent, but the rules of the game are the same in Fiji as they are in Norway.

Second, there are just so many ways to play the game. Possession. Long ball. Wide. Hammer up the middle. Offsides trap. 4-4-2. 5-3-2. 4-1-3-2. 3-5-1. Play with Ronaldinho finesse. Play with Duncan Ferguson power and thuggery. You see goals scored in so many different ways that they're almost like fingerprints -- hardly any outside of a PK are the same.

I love American football, too, but there are so few intriguing strategic matchups compared to soccer. In the NFL, every team's base defense is a 4-3 or 3-4. Nearly every team is running a single-back or I offense. Soccer has way more variety in its styles of play compared to baseball, basketball, football or hockey.

Third, the passion. Take the passion of the average NFL game, and it pales compared to a big derby match like Rangers-Celtic, Boca-River, Liverpool-Everton, City-ManUre. Absolutely pales.

Fourth, the meaning. Goals mean something. They're the result of build-up, not just an 18-foot heaved off the back foot or another field goal from inside the 30.

I like sports in which scoring means something. That's why basketball never will thrill me that much -- so many baskets mean absolutely nothing.

There are so many close calls for goals in soccer, even if the shot isn't taken and the build-up is defused at the last second, that when a goal arrives it's absolutely glorious. It's the ultimate sporting catharsis. It's why the fans in La Bombonera go ballistic, climbing the 20-foot safety fence behind the goal in a crush of humanity.

Finally, soccer is the people's game. It's the ultimate blue-collar, working man's sport. All you need is a ball. No pads. No hoop. No bat. No glove. No stick. No skates. Just a ball and your imagination. The sky is then the limit.

As for whether Americans like soccer or not, I could give a f*ck. If Americans don't have the taste for the game, it's their loss. I'm just glad that I'm an American who discovered the joys and beauty of soccer in 1998 at age 33 after completely discounting the game as "boring" in my younger years.

Better late than never, as soccer is anything but boring.

Take care,
PK

[10spro]

mobiggins has a good point, and again to be the best at in any sport, you got to start at a young age, get a lot of support and practice. But with Football, Baseball and Basketball being the main attractions, it's difficult to change that culture, that religion that mobiggins is talking about.

It'll never attract the poplularity of the sports I mentioned above, but it has grown a lot in the past 15 years.

[wco81]

Well the passion of the sport turns into hooliganism and then there are Fascist/racist links for some Euro. clubs.

Not that Americans can't get rowdy or aren't racist but we've tried to leave out of control crowds and racism in sports behind.

[ScoopBrady]

I love American football, too, but there are so few intriguing strategic matchups compared to soccer. In the NFL, every team's base defense is a 4-3 or 3-4. Nearly every team is running a single-back or I offense.

I agree with everything you wrote except for this. Football is way, way, way more complex than a base 4-3 or 3-4. It's way more complex than a single-back or I as well. Those might be base formations but each one can have hundreds of wrinkles to them. Every member of the offensive team needs to be aware of every kind of stint or blitz that the defense can throw at them and be able to pick it up within a fraction of a second. Every member of the defensive team needs to be aware of every kind of blocking scheme and route and need to recognize the slightest difference in the offensive attack within a fraction of a second. The coaching staff needs to recognize what's working and what's not working and adjust accordingly. Soccer is a beautiful game but football is every bit as strategic IMO, if not more.

[Hood]

I know lots of adults who play soccer recreationally, moreso than any other sport.

Really? Because I'd be willing to bet my first born that a significantly larger number of adults in this country play golf recreationally (notwithstanding the ecomonic barriers) than play soccer. Not even close.

You seem to be a pretty new guy around here, Hood,...

"Seem to be?" What's the source of your confusion?

so here's a tip: discussing soccer's popularity (especially from an "explain-it-to-me-guys-cuz-I-don't-get-it" point of view) is pretty much a non-starter in this forum.

Well golly gee, thanks for the tip, champ. But with all due respect, I'll look to the number of well thought out responses and make a note to self to look at any future tips from mobiggins with a seriously jaundiced eye.

Inane polls usually are as well.

I assume you mean as oppossed to the eminently sensible ones, right? I'll be sure to look out for some of those. But, for now, I'll again look to the number or responses and I'll underline my aforementioned note to self.

You can pretend to have an intelligent discussion on this topic, especially if you're the one who started it, but the truth is that footie appreciation is a bit like religion: you can go to church and hang out with converts all day, but it takes personal effort on your own private time to really understand.

Whatever.

Anyway, lest anyone else is reading impaired, I wasn't asking to be converted, I was just asking for people's thoughts on the topic. And for the rest of you who have attempted to engage in what mobiggins has deemed faux "intelligent discussion", thanks.

[pk500]

Scoop:

I should have been more specific. My point was that soccer teams can be successful through a lot of different base formations, while most football teams are playing a 3-4/4-3 on defense or a single-back/I on offense.

Sure, there are tons of variations from within those formations. But there also are variations from within soccer formations. I just like the fact that not every team uses the same formation in soccer.

The variation in formations and base offenses and defenses is one of the few things that appeals to me more in college football than the NFL.

Take care,
PK