7 Reasons Americans Will Never Embrace Soccer

O my this is probably the worst post I have ever seen on here. All generalizations and extreme stretches of facts.

You know, hockey is very similar to soccer in the way its played (continuous play, goal in net, etc). Why do Americans care more about hockey then soccer?

^Agreed. Gay sport. Period.

This could have done without the fatkid youtube linkup. Rather random and not exactly clever in its own execution. Distracting and added nothing. /shrug

To the poster at #10

Stop proving this article right about short attention spans. I specifically mentioned that I was referring only to professional sports teams fans.

I, for one would know about college fandom, being a Mizzou student and a college sports reporter. It’s not just football either. See Cameron Crazies.

What an arrogant and ignorant post. Your lack of understanding is obviously displayed.

Besides, I think that our so-called fascination with scoring works well with soccer. Getting chances and scoring goals are usually extremely dramatic and unpredictable. They don’t come cheap, that’s for sure. So when a goal IS scored, it is that much more exhilirating.

As for the much maligned 0-0 draw, I just saw Chicago Fire and Real Salt Lake play to a 0-0 draw in front of a rowdy packed house. Guess what? It was fun as hell. There were many great chances to score and we were all on our feet for just about the whole game; it was that intense. While some goals would have been nice, it was a much better feeling that we didn’t lose with no goals, than if we had lost with five goals scored.

You really need to have a vested interest in a certain team to get into watching soccer on TV. It’s really like any other sport. As a Sox, Bears, Blackhawks, and Bulls fan, I really can’t sit through many entire regular season games that my teams aren’t playing in. I just have little to no interest. Same with soccer.

At post 3

It is absolute nonsense to say that soccer is sedentary. Sure, when it’s palyed by amateurs in the park it is but if you watch a proper game, say in the English Premier League – not MLS – you will notice that players never stop moving. They are constantly re-adjusting positions, reacting to the other teams movement on the pitch.

Nike put a chip in a player’s boots to measure his work-rate. Over the course of the 90 minutes he ran over 10 miles and was at rest for less than 30.” And he was a striker- the guy paid to hang around up front waiting for the ball. Midfield players cover even greater distances.

And to say that one sport is better than enough is foolish. Football, basketball and soccer all have their finer points.

This is the gayest article I have ever read in my entire life. 1st of all they dont let fat people play in pro soccer so that doesnt matter. And yes we know that soccer doesnt have individuals because its a team sport. Duh. Scores dont matter and neither do attention spans. There are many rivalries between america and other countries. If u would pull ur head out of ur ass maybe u would see that.
Ur article sucks. ty :)

i am an american. this country is fat and ignorant.
baseball players and football players are just a bunch of overpaid fatasses.
americans cant handle putting time and money into a sport where they cant be the best in the world.
it disgusts me that the national baseball tournament is called the “world series”. guess what. its not. noone else plays the dumbass sport of baseball any where else in the world because it doesnt take any athletic ability to play. so if u win? its like being the tallest midget. NOONE FUCKING CARES.
superbowl winners shouldnt call themselves world champions. they should call themselves pathetic losers.
i cant wait to move to europe.

Great post ! I want to know when you update your blog, where can i subscribe to your blog? :) :) :)

You, my friend, are a Class-A RETARD.

Soccer is boring, gay, and a pathetic excuse for a sport. It’s the most dull thing I’ve EVER seen in my entire life.

All soccer “fans” think that it’s the best sport because you run around more. Do you REALLY think that running around makes something a sport?

Like you stupid Europeans always say about America and soccer, you only don’t like our sports because you suck at them.

SOCCER SUCKS

[...] And Americans, consciously or not, know that all too well……and they can’t stand it. 7 Reasons Americans Will Never Embrace Soccer | The Best Article Every day YouTube – American Soccer Skills 3 close thread __________________ I’m not the shooter, I’m [...]

I think America has two classes of people.Great, open minded, and clearly educated thinkers, and then a majority of lowly close-minded people who wouldn’t even locate Mexico on the world map…. One of my greatest world cup moments come with watching USA getting beat.

This article is gay.

That Soccer Hooligans Photo is mine. Please give me credit and link to the original or remove it from your blog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sandrino/209714180/

Do any of you understand how much skill it takes to do what footballers do.

David Beckham can place a ball on a penny from about 60 yards away, using his feet.
All your sports involve your hands. I’m not saying i can throw it like them, but comparing it with the feet it’s a lot harder to kick.

Go on Youtube and watch skill videos, with the likes of Ronaldo, Ronaldinho and Henry. They do it with their feet, then you try doing anything close to it.

Andre, your an idiot.
soccer can not compare to the physical requirements of football. Soccer is for fairies and any soccer player would be destroyed by any football player. Football is a real man’s sport. Go ahead and move to Europe, one less bitch in our country.

>I, for one would know about college fandom, being a Mizzou student and a college sports reporter. It’s not just football either. See Cameron Crazies.

You still wouldn’t know unless you’ve been to a big game down South.

>One of my greatest world cup moments come with watching USA getting beat.

But we really don’t give a shit! That is why the world gets pissed at us for not liking soccer. They want to rub it in our face that they beat us, but it’s not all that fun when we don’t care (if we even know) that we lost.

>fuck you, I am an American but everything you just said proves how ignorant you are. You are the red neck the world sees us as, saying shit like soccer is “gay” and “stupid europeans.” The only reason you don’t like soccer is because it requires skill, fitness, and endurance. I’d like to see one of your football players try to sprint non-stop for 90 minutes. Soccer owns and all Americans like you know it. I agree with Marie, I can’t wait to move to Europe.

I’ll try to refrain from getting pissed at the way you use a classist, bigoted term like redneck. I’d like to see one of your soccer players take a full speed hit from a 300 pound lineman get up and do it again. Basketball requires skill, fitness, and endurance. So does football, a different kind of endurance, the kind where you get tackled play after play and keep doing it. Americans don’t “know soccer owns”. We don’t really like it. Go move to Europe. We don’t give a shit.

Here’s the thing about soccer. You play for 90 minutes and the score ends up 0-0 quite frequently. And, they may try penalty kicks, but a lot of times they just leave it there. What the hell was the point of the game? You stay exactly where you started. To say we don’t like soccer because we are too stupid is also absurd. Soccer is pretty much the simplest team sport there is. They don’t even stop the clock, which gives basketball another dimension.

Us being doesn’t really have anything to do with it either. A lot of Americans play soccer, just very few watch it. It’s actually the most played sport by American kids, they just more often get into baseball, basketball, or football later on.

I’m not going to say soccer sucks, and I’m certainly not going to say it doesn’t require a lot of skill, because it does, though I don’t see how it requires any more skill than most other sports. I just don’t understand what makes it so great. Honestly, if I went to Britain, I’d find the fans more entertaining than the game.

I think it just comes down to the fact that every person has their own likes and dislikes. What is so complicated about that?

I like certain types of music and I don’t like others. So what? I can’t tell you exactly why I like them, I just do. They appeal to me for some reason, that’s all. I don’t really care why other people agree or disagree with my preferences. If they like baseball, that’s great – whatever makes them happy. If they hate soccer, fine, don’t watch it. Everyone is different and why try to force people to like or dislike something they already have an opinion on?

Also, it’s even sillier to try to explain why a group of MILLIONS have a certain opinion. There’s just no collective reason. They all have their own reasons. Maybe it’s just because we, as Americans, have a different sports culture than other countries, so we naturally gravitate towards the sports we are constantly exposed to while growing up. The rest of the world does the same thing.

Really, I don’t care if most Americans don’t like soccer (football). It’s not like the sport is going to suffer from it! It’s all over TV nowadays and there are a million and a half ways to watch it online. I’ll keep watching it and ignore the sports I don’t care about. I’m not going to make fun of those other sports or put down their fans or players. It’s just counterproductive.

Soccer is occasionally enjoyable to watch, when the camera pulls back far enough so I can see the flow of the game. But watch it in a stadium-never. No matter how hard I try I just cannot care about it. Boring mmmm perhaps a better term would be subtle like baseball. The winning is in the details.

Imagining a scenario in which soccer becomes a major sport in the US is next to impossible. Now it might happen in 50 years but not in 10.

why are we arguing i like both sports and they both require alot of skill i have a little analogy for people who like to argue, ” arguing over the internet is like running in the special olympics, you may win but your still retarded” not trying to offend mentally handicapped people but stop arguing and admit that both sports are hard as fuck to play and get on with your life. ty =D

I happen to love both American Football and football (soccer).
I have played soccer for 25 years, and are now in my 30s. As an adult soccer is a very fun sport to play. You are active, and have responsibilities through 90 minutes of play. I hate being on the bench/sideline, (just like Allan Iverson in basketball) and it is much fun to be involved.
Soccer is a lot about skill and endurance, and very team-oriented just like football.

I am also very much into football, so I will try to explain some simularities, and some insights into the mechanisms of soccer.
Teamwork is necessary in order to move the ball and set up your team mates, who are in a better position than you. No running back can outspeed 11 defenders for a TD, but if his teammates blocks well it might happen. The same goes for soccer, where Messi (the best individual player in the game) can be double-teamed and closed down for must of the match. However, if his teammates are also skillful and can get into a good position with the ball on their own, then the opponent is in trouble. Just like basketball/football’s “pick your poison”.
Skills with your feet and understanding of the game (soccer IQ) is required for all 11 players, otherwise you will loose the ball to the opponent way to quickly. This is a problem because, it is more enduring to play defense than offense, particalurly against teams with very gifted players. When the opponnent has many gifted players (like the Spanish national team), then your team needs to more much and cover a lot of ground in order to protect being exploited by the opposition. After 60 minutes of running around chasing the ball you will create more and more space and time for your opponents to set up a goal.
Okay, hence that controlling and passing skills are important, because it is better to keep the ball to give your defense and midfield a break. This is very simular to football, where you don’t want 3-and-outs which could eventually expose your defense that gets tired.
Turnovers are not just turnovers…
It is far better to create a takeaway close to the opponent’s goal rather than in your own zone. Doesn’t this sound familiar to football.

Soccer IQ is about understanding the dynamics of the game. When and which teammate is in a suited position, and what situation increases the chances of scoring. Every soccer player has decisions to make when possesing the ball, just like the quarterback has to scan the field.
Soccer IQ is also like basketball, where anybody can take a shot at the ring but where you would rather have Shaq take a shot near the basket, than setting him up for a 3-pointer, right. The same goes for soccer, where you want to set up your best players for a goal chance.

A succesfull 90-yard-drive for a touchdown normally requires even a few running plays, and short passes for no gain. However, your team is “on a mission”. The same goes for midfield play in soccer. When distributing the passes, and passing the ball around is like waiting for the opponent to open up. Much like running the ball in football will make the defense play “honest”.
Yes, there are not that many goals in a soccer match (typically an average of 2,5/per game), but again in football you will often have a quarter with only a field goal or even scoreless, and maybe just 2 or 3 TDs in a game.
Yet I love watching both football or soccer (on TV or at the stadium).
Soccer is more joyful to watch, if you appreciate good ball handling skills, teamwork and climax (goals!).
Football is more tactical (many in-game coaching decisions), more explosive (big collisions) and has more suspense/drama.
Both sports can be highly unpredictable with deflected shots at goal, muffed punts, turnovers, you name it.
Many believe that soccer is just about running and kicking the ball around.
But the margin of error is in fact very small, particalurly if it occurs in the wrong parts of the field, or if the opponent is able to exploit it quickly. A defensive error from one player, or a missed chance in front of the goal can end up costing the entire game. This is a little like a defensive TD’s or special team TDs can be game-breaking in football.
You have “a window of oppertunities” in soccer, and you need to capitalize from it, in order to succeed. The more dominant you play your opponent the bigger the “window” gets.

Which sport is more “manly”. Football is definitely more physical, however in order to play soccer, you need to be able to run freely, and wrecklessly like a wide receiver or cornerback. However the hits you do take in soccer match are fewer. But those you do take are flying two-feet tackles, high-speed collisions with the oppenents goalkeeper or brutal central backs, or jumping battles in heading situations, where elbows are flying high too. And this without any real protection.
After every 90-minute-match I have played in my career apart from being sore in my whole body from all the running and movements, I have always taken a few hits on my legs, head, rips etc. You need at least 2-3 days to recoup, but it is true that it takes longer in football. Basketball, hockey etc. can be played every day. This is definitely not possible in soccer. I guess that explains a lot.

Soccer is not a sissy/gay sport as you can definitely intimidate your opponnent with physical play, and end the other guy’s season with one deliberate dubious tackle.

I hope this explanation have enhanced the chances for some of you who did not understand the fascination of soccer. But I still LOOOOVE watching football too.. :-)