Americans and soccer

davyjose

I doubt too many care, but my time is split between here and the states, and well... throughout my childhood, i always thought the yanks were off their rocker not being fans of our beloved sport.

Now... I can see their point. First of all, every American Soccer fan on earth is wondering why they had a goal disallowed against slovenia -- in their world, refereeing has a degree of accuracy, and culpability.

More importantly, they've just had a super bowl with records broken, with some of the greatest to ever play the game in it, and some of the greatest ever not even getting that far -- Like Cruyff Pele and Maradona trying to squeeze into two final spots. The sport is ever-increasingly improving (unlike ours). In the NBA finals, we saw a true great (the only guy in the WC Nike ad with any success) drag his team through a final where through 7 games they spent the last 56 minutes behind, until they won in the last 4 (again in an era where their version of Maradona isn't even in the finals).

What do we get, for the once every four year masterpiece of our sport ... we get this slop tonight!!

Don't expect too many to agree with me, but at least now we can stop giving a fcuk why America doesn't like Soccer.

QED

Paul Tergat

football >>> any american sport.

JPA

So they don't like it because they like other stuff? OK.

pickarooney

LeBron James is doing as much to tarnish the NBA as anyone in the World Cup, according to my American sports-fan mates.

Oat23

pickarooney wrote: »

LeBron James is doing as much to tarnish the NBA as anyone in the World Cup, according to my American sports-fan mates.

Cleveland natives are they?

Pauleta

The USA had the biggest number of supporters at the World Cup in the 1st round and sold more jerseys per head for population than any other country in the lead up to the World Cup. I think the OP opinion on football fans in America is about 15 years out of date.

davyjose

I could have written one line as well, lads. That would have been easy. Less easy would be to describe the merits of this sport vs any other.

I've Walter Mittyed my life as a Soccer star since I was seven years old. I've cried like a baby when United and Ireland have lost, I've obsessed as much as anyone on this thread ... but to be honest, the sport is a mess, as shown by the slop we viewed tonight. Soccer IS better than any AMerican sport, but it's being ferociously caught up. Disagree all you want, but until FIFA learn to oversee the game the way the NFL and the NBA do theirs, it'll suffer.

Mac Masters

Meh, international football is muc, watch the CL or EPL, that's where the proper football is IMO.

OPENROAD

davyjose wrote: »

I could have written one line as well, lads. That would have been easy. Less easy would be to describe the merits of this sport vs any other.

I've Walter Mittyed my life as a Soccer star since I was seven years old. I've cried like a baby when United and Ireland have lost, I've obsessed as much as anyone on this thread ... but to be honest, the sport is a mess, as shown by the slop we viewed tonight. Soccer IS better than any AMerican sport, but it's being ferociously caught up. Disagree all you want, but until FIFA learn to oversee the game the way the NFL and the NBA do theirs, it'll suffer.

In what way, is this going back to technology?

rubensni

Soccer is already the most popular sport in the US in participation terms. Much easier to play soccer after work on a Thursday than set up a baseball diamond.

As for the TV issue, with the proliferation of digital multi channel more and more people are getting dedicated sports channels as opposed to the old three channels (ABC, CBS & NBC) who would never show soccer as 45 minutes without an ad break is an eternity on terrestrial American TV.

OPENROAD

Mac Masters wrote: »

Meh, international football is muc, watch the CL or EPL, that's where the proper football is IMO.

Spot on Roll on Arsenal V Barnet nxt saturday, happy days

davyjose

Pauleta wrote: »

The USA had the biggest number of supporters at the World Cup in the 1st round and sold more jerseys per head for population than any other country in the lead up to the World Cup. I think the OP opinion on football fans in America is about 15 years out of date.

Ah, but i agree Americans are embracing this sport. The complete non-decision against slovenia dominated US media coverage of the tournament though -- explain that one to them.

It's us making these statements:

p_larkin99 football >>> any american sport.

So maybe we're 15 years behind?
Also 6 posts in, you can address me, not the crowd!

eagle eye

davyjose wrote: »

I could have written one line as well, lads. That would have been easy. Less easy would be to describe the merits of this sport vs any other.

I've Walter Mittyed my life as a Soccer star since I was seven years old. I've cried like a baby when United and Ireland have lost, I've obsessed as much as anyone on this thread ... but to be honest, the sport is a mess, as shown by the slop we viewed tonight. Soccer IS better than any AMerican sport, but it's being ferociously caught up. Disagree all you want, but until FIFA learn to oversee the game the way the NFL and the NBA do theirs, it'll suffer.

Sorry Davy but I have to jump in here as regards the NBA and officiating. Its so bad it reminds me of professional wrestling.

Mac Masters

OPENROAD wrote: »

Spot on Roll on Arsenal V Barnet nxt saturday, happy days

Can't wait to see Arsenal back in action! It feels like I've been watching crappy international football for an eternity!

#15

davyjose wrote: »

I could have written one line as well, lads. That would have been easy. Less easy would be to describe the merits of this sport vs any other.

I've Walter Mittyed my life as a Soccer star since I was seven years old. I've cried like a baby when United and Ireland have lost, I've obsessed as much as anyone on this thread ... but to be honest, the sport is a mess, as shown by the slop we viewed tonight. Soccer IS better than any AMerican sport, but it's being ferociously caught up. Disagree all you want, but until FIFA learn to oversee the game the way the NFL and the NBA do theirs, it'll suffer.

Great posts davyjose, you are spot on.

The showpiece of the sport was tarnished by one team of thugs, and another team of whining cheaters.

As soccer fans, we have become somewhat blind to the extent that cheating is tolerated.

An outsider is not blinded to it though, and I can understand when I see people criticising the sport.

People like Van Bommel and Busquets are ruining the sport. It's an unusual mix of hatchetmen and crybabies.

Even the very best players in our sport are cheats - Ronaldo, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Gerrard, Rooney, Henry, etc etc etc.

It's a mess.

#15

eagle eye wrote: »

Sorry Davy but I have to jump in here as regards the NBA and officiating. Its so bad it reminds me of professional wrestling.

It could be worse, it could be as bad as the officiating we've seen in the world cup.

namloc1980

davyjose wrote: »

I doubt too many care, but my time is split between here and the states, and well... throughout my childhood, i always thought the yanks were off their rocker not being fans of our beloved sport.

Now... I can see their point. First of all, every American Soccer fan on earth is wondering why they had a goal disallowed against slovenia -- in their world, refereeing has a degree of accuracy, and culpability.

There is crap officiating in US sports as well. A few weeks ago in a baseball game a pitcher was denied a perfect game because of a horrendous call by an umpire. Or remember the hugely controversial refereeing in the superbowl between Pittsburgh and Seattle a few years ago. They have some dodgy reffing as well in fairness.

Mr.Nice Guy

#15 wrote:

People like Van Bommel and Busquets are ruining the sport. It's an unusual mix of hatchetmen and crybabies.

Even the very best players in our sport are cheats - Ronaldo, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, Gerrard, Rooney, Henry, etc etc etc.

It's a mess.

Hasn't baseball been riddled with steroid-taking cheats for years now? Not familiar with NFL or basketball on that front by I know several of their star players have not been great role models either.

As flawed as this sport is, and I agree it could be greatly improved, I'd take a flawed version of this sport over American sports like baseball, basketball and NFL any day of the week. They bore me to tears.

titan18

I prefer watching the NFL to soccer tbh.It's entertaining if you can stick through it, and not get fed up like most people who watch it.All sports have bad refereeing though, with or without video technology, but I think that soccer is one of the worst tbh.

davyjose

eagle eye wrote: »

Sorry Davy but I have to jump in here as regards the NBA and officiating. Its so bad it reminds me of professional wrestling.

I think you're being slightly disingeuous eagle eye, because you've picked one single aspect of american sports where I might be wrong.

You know that for those of us that watch American Sports, we're in a Golden age -- you spend enough time in those forums to know that. But in terms of the mess FIFA are making of soccer, we're in the doldrums.

This isn't a "Us V Them" thread, it's more a thread borne from the ****e we've seen the last few years. And American sports (or more pertinently American sports fans) are a good reference point. Because for the most part, they run their sports well.

Thomas Mueller misses a semi final because he gets two yellows four games apart, that's the kind of gee-eyed, catch-all discipline this world cup had. No mediation, no intelligance involved, just bullsh!t, know-nothing rules.

Chucky the tree

At least American sports have the excuse of TV ads for the reason they are "boring". What excuse has football?

davyjose

namloc1980 wrote: »

There is crap officiating in US sports as well. A few weeks ago in a baseball game a pitcher was denied a perfect game because of a horrendous call by an umpire. Or remember the hugely controversial refereeing in the superbowl between Pittsburgh and Seattle a few years ago. They have some dodgy reffing as well in fairness.

It's not just officiating though. The salary cap, the draft, you could argue these are systems that manipulate the sports, but they are designed to promote an evenness. But in the NFL (my favourite sport, behind football), the referees have GOT to explain their decision. A simple change like that could make a huge difference - again, just one example of why the sport is geared to at least TRY to promote fairness.

It's sad I feel this way on the night of the world cup final, lads ... but I just fcuking do. And looking into the season ahead, I'm not exactly reeling with optimism.

#15

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Hasn't baseball been riddled with steroid-taking cheats for years now? Not familiar with NFL or basketball on that front by I know several of their star players have not been great role models either.

As flawed as this sport is, and I agree it could be greatly improved, I'd take a flawed version of this sport over American sports like baseball, basketball and NFL any day of the week. They bore me to tears.

If I read the OP right, it's not about which sport is better?

But can't you see why Americans, or any neutral observer, would look at it and not feel too enthused about the whole sport?

Cheats thrive and prosper in our sport.

Baseball has had steroid problems, but weren't those players banned and are now disgraced?*
Our cheats are walking around with medals, not getting banned. That's a huge problem.

NFL and basketball do not have anything like the amount of cheating that soccer has.
There are a few foreign players (from soccer playing countries) in the NBA who have brought diving into the sport. It's small-scale diving, but it drives everyone crazy, and rightly so. The US has a macho sports culture and such behaviour is as far from macho as possible.

FWIW, American sports are great sports, even if they're not to your taste;)

* I don't know a huge amount about the baseball steroid situation.

tolosenc

Agree with OP.

But American sports still have their officiating errors like Armando Galaragga's not-so-perfect game in May (in fairness to the ump, he held his hands up after the game and apologised).

The NHL has a rythm and intensity more akin to that of soccer, and FIFA could take a lot from how they do things.

Cheating, and I'm not talking about Henry here, is another big reason why non-soccer-watching Americans don't take to it. It doesn't happen in their big sports, their national team were very decent in that regard. Something serious needs to be done about that. And while play like Spain's is "great football", for someone who doesn't watch the game a lot, it is off-putting. Conservative play, both in attack and defence is ruining the game as a spectacle.

davyjose

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

Hasn't baseball been riddled with steroid-taking cheats for years now? Not familiar with NFL or basketball on that front by I know several of their star players have not been great role models either.

As flawed as this sport is, and I agree it could be greatly improved, I'd take a flawed version of this sport over American sports like baseball, basketball and NFL any day of the week. They bore me to tears.

With regard to that Super Bowl, there were changes made the very next season -- repeat the very NEXT season -- not ten years later. We're not asking for miracles.

MrStuffins

I completely agree with the OP!

If i had spent my life watching US sports and one day caught my first Soccer game and saw someone like Busquets fall down clutching his face like he has been hit with an axe, i would actually be kinda angry!

But it's the norm these days. Someone touches your neck, go down like you've been shot. Someone touches your leg, make as if you've just been shivved!

You score a legit goal but it's disallowed OR a non-legit goal is scored against you, the decision stands when it's as clear as day that there is a very simple way to stop these kinds of things, and the response from the powers that be is "Well, people love to talk about controversial decisions around the water-cooler, so we should allow these unfair decisions to stand"

The sport is a shambles!

But not ALL "American" sports are bad. The most exciting sport in the world is arguably American.

tolosenc

#15 wrote: »

Baseball has had steroid problems, but weren't those players banned and are now disgraced?
Our cheats are walking around with medals, not getting banned. That's a huge problem.

Bingo. That's exactly what the difference is.

Players were banned and disgraced. But then you get players about whom steroid use was suggested (Papi) and nothing was ever done

dor83

I honestly thin it depends on how you look at it and you are also comparing domestic sports in the US with international football, should you not compare it to domestic football in the top European leagues instead?

If you were to do that I think football would come off a lot better than comparing to what has been a bad World Cup, look at the top 5 leagues in European football, the EPL had a very exciting title race and race for 4th, Serie A had it's most competitive season in years, Bundesliga is always competitive, Ligue 1 was unbelievable this year and la Liga was not bad either. Yes there are problems in the sport but the same problems have been around for years, the main one being FIFA and how they are run, and this has been a very bad WC but I think some people are over reacting to a bad final in particular because it is built up and over hyped so much.

I think if you look at football over the past year as a whole it is still the same as it was 5 years ago, its all subjective though, I feel that this was a great season but that has a lot to do with Inter doing so well. I also can't stand watching American sports myself, too many ad breaks for me and that just wrecks my head.

titan18

tolosenc wrote: »

Bingo. That's exactly what the difference is.

Players were banned and disgraced. But then you get players about whom steroid use was suggested (Papi) and nothing was ever done

Tbf, drug policies in the NFL are pretty bad.

dor83 wrote: »

I honestly thin it depends on how you look at it and you are also comparing domestic sports in the US with international football, should you not compare it to domestic football in the top European leagues instead?

It's being compared to international football as for a lot of people, the only time they might watch football would be the world cup.If you're an American with little interest in soccer, watching your own sports all the time, and you watched some of the games in the WC, it's easy to understand why they'd never want to watch it again.

The final tonight would be watched by a load of people who'd never watch football.Imo, tonight was not a good advertisement for the sport, whereas compared to the NBA finals this year and the Superbowl this year, which were both great for the sport imo

OPENROAD

dor83 wrote: »

I honestly thin it depends on how you look at it and you are also comparing domestic sports in the US with international football, should you not compare domestic football in the top European leagues to it instead?

.

+1

Boskowski

Well I don't think you can regulate playing styles but for the other stuff I totally agree.
Something needs to be done about fairness. Having a go at the ref or trying to influence decisions must be punished harder. Only the captain actually speaks to the ref. Dives must be punished harder so must be playacting. Use TV to do it. Have FA officials review matches. Dives or rolling around clutching the ankle while slowmo shows you got a slight knock on the tigh - belated yellow card. When the ref is uncertain for critical decisions he may call for TV support like in rugby. Every team has two challenges per match that the captain can call and that must be video-reviewed by the ref on the spot. Something like that.
It can't be right that cheating becomes normal part of the game. They'll be training that next.

eagle eye

davyjose wrote: »

I think you're being slightly disingeuous eagle eye, because you've picked one single aspect of american sports where I might be wrong.

You know that for those of us that watch American Sports, we're in a Golden age -- you spend enough time in those forums to know that. But in terms of the mess FIFA are making of soccer, we're in the doldrums.

This isn't a "Us V Them" thread, it's more a thread borne from the ****e we've seen the last few years. And American sports (or more pertinently American sports fans) are a good reference point. Because for the most part, they run their sports well.

Thomas Mueller misses a semi final because he gets two yellows four games apart, that's the kind of gee-eyed, catch-all discipline this world cup had. No mediation, no intelligance involved, just bullsh!t, know-nothing rules.

I don't see where you are going with this. What is your point?

Is it the football you are complaining about or the officiating or both?

There are so many things to be discussed if its more than officiating.

As for American sports, the NFL is miles ahead of anybody as far as replay technology rules are concerned. I like the idea of replays but to be fair American football is a stop/start sport so its cannot be compared to soccer.

If you are talking about the football I will reply about that.

davyjose

dor83 wrote: »

I honestly thin it depends on how you look at it and you are also comparing domestic sports in the US with international football, should you not compare domestic football in the top European leagues to it instead?

If you were to do that I think football would come off a lot better than comparing to what has been a bad World Cup, look at the top 5 leagues in European football, the EPL had a very exciting title race and race for 4th, Serie A had it's most competitive season in years, Bundesliga is always competitive, Ligue 1 was unbelievable this year and la Liga was not bad either.

I actually held back a bit because I believe that International soccer is actually purer than club football. Truly, it is impossible to manipulate (or buy) victory in Any American sport (despite what happened this week with LeBron James - and that is being dealt with next season by the NBA anyway.)

Look at Man city though. Literally, they will buy a league. now, I'm a Man United fan and I'll be called a hypocrite, but the same - we are in a position of power, perhaps unfairly, even though we're one of the most supported teams on earth. That cannot happen in America.

At the end of the day, this isn't about which sport is better, it's about huge holes in the system, and we don't need to be baseball, or basketball fans to look at how it's being done across the pond, and maybe take a leaf out of their book.

SarahBM

Mac Masters wrote: »

Meh, international football is muc, watch the CL or EPL, that's where the proper football is IMO.

I think you should put La Liga in there before the EPL. way better standard. in my honest opinion. but if you want controversy and bbad decisions, ya then EPL will do!

I love how the USA have embraced soccer. it doesnt just belong to the English like. I said a few months ago that the USA would so well in the World Cup and every one laughed at me, and the very same people said they did well when they got to the last 16. so there.

and I remember John Duggan mocking Ian Dempsey on Today FM when he said he was going to back USA to do well.

GO USA!

davyjose

eagle eye wrote: »

I don't see where you are going with this. What is your point?

I've already made my point, and I've already gone where I'm going. I don't believe FIFA have a proper handle on how to run the sport, and a look at some of the American models would make the best sport in the world, better.

Nothing is perfect, of course, but some systems are better than others.

tolosenc

davyjose wrote: »

That cannot happen in America.

*cough* Yankees *cough* *cough*



With winning the Lombardi, the WS, Lord Stanley being the pinnacle of those sports, the WC makes for a great as a comparison.

dfx-

A fair few like it though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w

eagle eye

davyjose wrote: »

I've already made my point, and I've already gone where I'm going. I don't believe FIFA have a proper handle on how to run the sport, and a look at some of the American models would make the best sport in the world, better.

Nothing is perfect, of course, but some systems are better than others.

There is a huge difference in so many ways. Soccer is huge all around the globe at amateur and professional levels. Its a very, very old sport too. It takes a lot of change things. Fifa are the organisation that runs International football but then you have organisations in every continent and country that looks after the sport. You have the clubs then and they are businesses, they are not part of a franchise setup like a lot of American organisations including the MLS.

dor83

davyjose wrote: »

I actually held back a bit because I believe that International soccer is actually purer than club football. Truly, it is impossible to manipulate (or buy) victory in Any American sport (despite what happened this week with LeBron James - and that is being dealt with next season by the NBA anyway.)

Look at Man city though. Literally, they will buy a league. now, I'm a Man United fan and I'll be called a hypocrite, but the same - we are in a position of power, perhaps unfairly, even though we're one of the most supported teams on earth. That cannot happen in America.

At the end of the day, this isn't about which sport is better, it's about huge holes in the system, and we don't need to be baseball, or basketball fans to look at how it's being done across the pond, and maybe take a leaf out of their book.

In my opinion if you want to look for a model on how football should be run then we should be looking at two things.

Firstly, on the financial side of things every league should take a good look at how Germany run it, they are the most financially stable of the top European leagues because of the rules implemented and combining this with the new UEFA rules will sort that side out imo. I know you will probably say that it's still not fair that the big clubs are able to spend so much but I think that clubs should be able to spend money if they make it but not spend more than they make.

Secondly, on the officiating we should really take a long hard look at how it is done in Rugby as it has far lees impact on how the game progresses than NFL, by which I mean it doesn't slow the game down. They also have a lot of respect for the ref in rugby, unlike football, but I also blame refs for this as much as players in football because if refs started penalising players for harassing them they would soon stop, but they to lenient on it in football.

I also don't think it is fair to compare a domestic sport to an international sport, it is a lot easier to get your house in order when you are the sole governing body to when you have to deal with many and are trying to keep them all happy.

OPENROAD

dor83 wrote: »

In my opinion if you want to look for a model on how football should be run then we should be looking at two things.

Firstly, on the financial side of things every league should take a good look at how Germany run it, they are the most financially stable of the top European leagues because of the rules implemented and combining this with the new UEFA rules will sort that side out imo. I know you will probably say that it's still not fair that the big clubs are able to spend so much but I think that clubs should be able to spend money if they make it but not spend more than they make.

Secondly, on the officiating we should really take a long hard look at how it is done in Rugby as it has far lees impact on how the game progresses than NFL, by which I mean it doesn't slow the game down. They also have a lot of respect for the ref in rugby, unlike football, but I also blame refs for this as much as players in football because if refs started penalising players for harassing them they would soon stop, but they to lenient on it in football.

I also don't think it is fair to compare a domestic sport to an international sport, it is a lot easier to get your house in order when you are the sole governing body to when you have to deal with many and are trying to keep them all happy.

+1

tolosenc

Well, at keast it's not this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1khn0OxDLA

Chardee MacDennis

davyjose wrote: »

It's not just officiating though. The salary cap, the draft, you could argue these are systems that manipulate the sports, but they are designed to promote an evenness. But in the NFL (my favourite sport, behind football), the referees have GOT to explain their decision. A simple change like that could make a huge difference - again, just one example of why the sport is geared to at least TRY to promote fairness.

It's sad I feel this way on the night of the world cup final, lads ... but I just fcuking do. And looking into the season ahead, I'm not exactly reeling with optimism.

they do have to explain their decisions, just not to you.

and just google "nba referee bets" to see how good the nba refs are, they are just as bad as football refs in their bias towards big players too...

therecklessone

davyjose wrote: »

Don't expect too many to agree with me, but at least now we can stop giving a fcuk why America doesn't like Soccer.

QED

One would have to start giving a fúck first.

pickarooney

I find myself agreeing with a lot of the points made, but ultimately I couldn't care less if the Americans, or the Indians or the Chinese, watch soccer. For all that might or might not be good about the NFL I'm never going to start following it because the game just holds no appeal for me and the same goes for baseball, cricket and badminton.

Brendog

Well they are becoming more favourable of the sport.

Probably with the likes of David Beckham and Christiano Ronaldo they see the high-life of the game and the wealth it brings.

Basically its just another form of celebrity-ism for them.

rovingrover

Pauleta wrote: »

The USA had the biggest number of supporters at the World Cup in the 1st round and sold more jerseys per head for population than any other country in the lead up to the World Cup. I think the OP opinion on football fans in America is about 15 years out of date.

While the stat is true this does not mean that the U.S. were even close to being the best supported team in South Africa. Many of those ticket sales were to ex pats from other countries who could afford to travel. Mexico had far more fans there than the U.S. but almost all of them live in the U.S.

There was a loyal passionate band of football fans from the U.S. but they were pretty small in number.

Anthony Walsh

You know what annoys me most about football these days and one person has pointed it out is the fact that cheating is some what apart of the sport now, a player running into the box and goes down and the commentators say he was playing for the free kick, a few years ago there would have been up roar over this petty behavour, what happened to real men in the sport. Watch the hurling yesterday and John Mullane took a whack across his legs with a hurl and jumped up. The likes of drogba(who at the end of the EPL last season wasn't as bad) going down in the box or outside the box is ridiculous, look at the size of the boy. As a Man U fan I used to think Rooney was like the 'ardest man but I must have been blinded, against AC Milan I think it was he rolled around as if he got shot and jumped back up (I could be wrong about the match might have been Man City). American Sports though, I hear about very little of this petty and unwanted behavour. Ok there are other scandals but at least its left off the pitch and the fans can enjoy the game.

Xavi6

tolosenc wrote: »

Well, at keast it's not this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1khn0OxDLA

You seem to quite enjoy taking pot shots at other sports, us 'wendyballers' included.

Click Me

:rolleyes:

keane2097

eagle eye wrote: »

I like the idea of replays but to be fair American football is a stop/start sport so its cannot be compared to soccer.

This is a fallacy.

The ball spends an absolutely inordinate time out of play in every soccer match.

I've pointed out before on other threads that everytime a shot is taken, tackle made, offside called etc, you will have seen a replay of it from six different angles by the time the ball is back in play. Video reffing would have a negligible impact on the "flow" of the game if properly implemented.

irishh_bob

davyjose wrote: »

I doubt too many care, but my time is split between here and the states, and well... throughout my childhood, i always thought the yanks were off their rocker not being fans of our beloved sport.

Now... I can see their point. First of all, every American Soccer fan on earth is wondering why they had a goal disallowed against slovenia -- in their world, refereeing has a degree of accuracy, and culpability.

More importantly, they've just had a super bowl with records broken, with some of the greatest to ever play the game in it, and some of the greatest ever not even getting that far -- Like Cruyff Pele and Maradona trying to squeeze into two final spots. The sport is ever-increasingly improving (unlike ours). In the NBA finals, we saw a true great (the only guy in the WC Nike ad with any success) drag his team through a final where through 7 games they spent the last 56 minutes behind, until they won in the last 4 (again in an era where their version of Maradona isn't even in the finals).

What do we get, for the once every four year masterpiece of our sport ... we get this slop tonight!!

Don't expect too many to agree with me, but at least now we can stop giving a fcuk why America doesn't like Soccer.

QED

heard a guy from espn on off the ball recently who explained very well why he believed americans have never taken to soccer

1 . thier isnt enough constant excitement ( scoring )
2. you cant use your hands , americans dont like being restrained
3 . most important of all , america didnt invent it and they dont make the rules, FIFA is some foreign org like the U.N or the EU

irishh_bob

keane2097 wrote: »

This is a fallacy.

The ball spends an absolutely inordinate time out of play in every soccer match.

I've pointed out before on other threads that everytime a shot is taken, tackle made, offside called etc, you will have seen a replay of it from six different angles by the time the ball is back in play. Video reffing would have a negligible impact on the "flow" of the game if properly implemented.

the ball is out of play twice as much in rugby yet they have video technology