English Premier League Makes US Debut

[Mr.GM]

Man I would not understand why Americans think "Soccer" is boring. The suspense of a 1-1 turning in a 2-1 is just too great for it to be boring

It's a cultural thing , we will never agree with Americans on this.

Baseball for ex, I think its the most boring sport ever....

Even basketball, I watch a game here and there,but I don't feel the same thrill as in a soccer match (Champions League for ex.).

NFL is great , but the excessive pauses and Tv Ads during the game are a problem for me.
The lack of international tournaments( like Copa Libertadores, Champions League, World Cup etc) is also another point where Soccer beats NFL .

anyway, we are never going to agree on this...LOL

 

[Timoteo]

Man I would not understand why Americans think "Soccer" is boring. The suspense of a 1-1 turning in a 2-1 is just too great for it to be boring

It's a cultural thing , we will never agree with Americans on this.

Baseball for ex, I think its the most boring sport ever....

Even basketball, I watch a game here and there,but I don't feel the same thrill as in a soccer match (Champions League for ex.).

NFL is great , but the excessive pauses and Tv Ads during the game are a problem for me.
The lack of international tournaments( like Copa Libertadores, Champions League, World Cup etc) is also another point where Soccer beats NFL .

anyway, we are never going to agree on this...LOL

We Americans are about SCORING. Baseball, Football and Hockey are sports that also can have little scoring, but there is continuous action. The thing with soccer is that you can go a long time between scoring ATTEMPTS, and that's partly why it struggles to take hold as a spectator sport here. The major reason is that it isn't cultural - poor kids don't roll up a sock and kick it around the streets here. That's also why I feel our homegrown players won't reach the level of cats in Brazil and other countries. Those players develop skills playing in the street, or with inferior balls and shoes (if they have them) that our kids can't develop because they start out with decent balls on grass fields. And that's if the kid chooses to play soccer at all.

 

[Hencredible Casanova]

Well-said.

 

[Mr.GM]

Man I would not understand why Americans think "Soccer" is boring. The suspense of a 1-1 turning in a 2-1 is just too great for it to be boring

It's a cultural thing , we will never agree with Americans on this.

Baseball for ex, I think its the most boring sport ever....

Even basketball, I watch a game here and there,but I don't feel the same thrill as in a soccer match (Champions League for ex.).

NFL is great , but the excessive pauses and Tv Ads during the game are a problem for me.
The lack of international tournaments( like Copa Libertadores, Champions League, World Cup etc) is also another point where Soccer beats NFL .

anyway, we are never going to agree on this...LOL

We Americans are about SCORING. Baseball, Football and Hockey are sports that also can have little scoring, but there is continuous action. The thing with soccer is that you can go a long time between scoring ATTEMPTS, and that's partly why it struggles to take hold as a spectator sport here. The major reason is that it isn't cultural - poor kids don't roll up a sock and kick it around the streets here. That's also why I feel our homegrown players won't reach the level of cats in Brazil and other countries. Those players develop skills playing in the street, or with inferior balls and shoes (if they have them) that our kids can't develop because they start out with decent balls on grass fields. And that's if the kid chooses to play soccer at all.

I agree with you with the scoring part(I said it in my 1st post above), but if only poor countries created good players, you wouldn't have huge soccer centers as England,Germany (I'm sure German kids don't play with sock balls either)France,Spain, Netherlands etc....just to name a few rich countries where soccer is super popular.
So its more cultural than anything.

 

[sine wave killer]

Timoteo, I agree with what you said on the cultural part of kids playing football in the states. It reminded me a lot of what Klinnsmann had said here during the last world cup.



we also need announcers who aren't boring.

 

[rozayINTL]

I have mixed feeling about soccer. I like the traditions, popularity, and rivalries of the sports. I also love the international aspect of the World Cups. On the other hand, any sport that could end in a 0-0 draw has a huge problem. A tie is like kissing your sister.

I would rather see Rugby here in the US than soccer to be honest. Rugby is incredibly entertaining.

But Mixx is right- all of this is about the money.

A 0-0 game in soccer can be one of the most exciting, intense, drama filled matches in sports, period. There can be countless shots on goal, incredible passing and strategy, two strong teams matched up well against each other...

These kinds of comments are typical from Americans who can't get enough of their BSC bowl games and march madness.

I grew up watching and playing football (American), I fell in love with it. Huge chargers fan from the time I was 6 years old (even though they have basically sucked my whole fucking life). It helped me to integrate into american culture and benefited me massively from a social standpoint. Still one of my greatest regrets in life is that I didn't play soccer. I judged the game too harshly, I didn't realize how beautiful the sport was until it was too late.

 

[flashbang]

Good to see football growing in the US. Whether or not it ever reaches popularity levels on basketball or American football, it's fair to say it's gonna attract better athletes and sponsorship money which may eventually lead to better results for the US in international football tournaments.

 

[Timoteo]

Man I would not understand why Americans think "Soccer" is boring. The suspense of a 1-1 turning in a 2-1 is just too great for it to be boring

It's a cultural thing , we will never agree with Americans on this.

Baseball for ex, I think its the most boring sport ever....

Even basketball, I watch a game here and there,but I don't feel the same thrill as in a soccer match (Champions League for ex.).

NFL is great , but the excessive pauses and Tv Ads during the game are a problem for me.
The lack of international tournaments( like Copa Libertadores, Champions League, World Cup etc) is also another point where Soccer beats NFL .

anyway, we are never going to agree on this...LOL

We Americans are about SCORING. Baseball, Football and Hockey are sports that also can have little scoring, but there is continuous action. The thing with soccer is that you can go a long time between scoring ATTEMPTS, and that's partly why it struggles to take hold as a spectator sport here. The major reason is that it isn't cultural - poor kids don't roll up a sock and kick it around the streets here. That's also why I feel our homegrown players won't reach the level of cats in Brazil and other countries. Those players develop skills playing in the street, or with inferior balls and shoes (if they have them) that our kids can't develop because they start out with decent balls on grass fields. And that's if the kid chooses to play soccer at all.

I agree with you with the scoring part(I said it in my 1st post above), but if only poor countries created good players, you wouldn't have huge soccer centers as England,Germany (I'm sure German kids don't play with sock balls either)France,Spain, Netherlands etc....just to name a few rich countries where soccer is super popular.
So its more cultural than anything.

I was merely highlighting an aspect of soccer culture, and development of players. It's obvious that Europe produces players without being poor. I was making a point about why Brazilian and other players from poorer countries consistently produce great players, because they develop in a way that can't be duplicated by players in the US. You will find that a lot of American players are actually descended from immigrants that came here from soccer-loving countries, but they still grew up here and developed the way native Americans did. Whether they have available equipment or not, native American kids don't play street or pick-up soccer like other kids around the world.

 

[Malcolm Tucker]

Fucking Arsenal. Hell of a season to pick Arse for a US EPL debut.

COYS!

And soccer is kind of like hockey. The action is on the field and the game can change in an instant. Also the scarcity of goals (an excellent example of the scarcity principle) makes them much more precious than in the traditional American sports IMO. That's why everyone goes apeshit when there's a score. And it's only going to get bigger in the US over the future, especially considering immigration patterns from Central America and Mexico over the past decade or two. Where I live there are always some boys at the local park playing in league games or practising.

Also, fuck Balotelli.