Why is a boring, unwatchable sport like soccer the most watched sport in the world?

[d0ublestr0ker0ll]

Yeah but soccer takes much more athleticism. I mean unless you're playing 3rd base or center field. Wayyy more endurance and the best soccer players go tat for tat with baseball players skills.

Baseball is a mental game. There are mind games going on all the time. It looks like defensive players are just standing there in between pitches, thinking about what to have for dinner tomorrow, but they are going through every situation they can possibly conjure up. It's fun as hell in the playoffs when their asses are on the line and you can think along with them.

For example, before every pitch, this is just a SMALL sample of the thought process for an infielder:

Who is on base, how fast is he, if he steals and the ball is grounded to my left, I'll do this, if it's grounded to my right, I'll do this . If he steals and the ball is lined to me, I'll do this. (look at catcher pitch call). Inside curveball, batter will most likely pull the ball, so I'll cheat a little to that direction. Batter is a fast runner, charge the ball if it's hit at medium speed for any chance of an out, must risk the error.

[Elessar78]

look, the world cup is the only watchable soccer and only to see how much those crazy foreigners get excited about something so boring. In soccer, watching the crowd is more exciting than the actual game on the field.

You're hopeless and pretty stupid. That pretty much sums it up. I'm kinda ashamed to like the same football team as you.

[karmacop]

I love soccer myself. I played it growing up, and I follow it fairly closely now. Soccer players are incredibly athletic, and have sick stamina and skill.

I can see why many might think it's boring, though. You really have to know what you're watching, and appreciate the slow buildups and precision passing that lead up to goals, as well as the natural ebb and flow of momentum. Otherwise, you might lose interest in a 0-0 or a 1-0 game.

And yeah, I agree that the diving and flopping is the worst part of the game, but good referees will recognize acting when they see it. You know you've got a good ref when they give those divers the yellow card instead of calling the phantom foul.

But what I find most interesting about this whole thread is why those who don't prefer to watch soccer feel the need to attack it all the time. I swear, every few months there's another thread about how boring soccer is. Or a fan of soccer will start a thread about a US national team game, and people will jump into that thread and talk smack about the game. Why is that?

If you don't like the sport, don't watch it or post about it. I don't like NASCAR or hockey, but I don't feel the irrational need to start threads ripping on those sports.

Does anyone have a theory why soccer gets such vehement haters?

[Meskeet21]

You're hopeless and pretty stupid. That pretty much sums it up. I'm kinda ashamed to like the same football team as you.

x100

[Major Harris]

while great exciting sports like NFL and MLB aren't.

i stopped right there.

[Zhouse]

As a person that follows and plays both soccer and football I think you're being a little to ignorant there.

Why is soccer a "sissy" sport? You can say it's boring and I would have no problem with it. I think baseball is boring. To each their own. But blindly saying it's a sissy sport is where I think you're being ignorant. In that case you should watch rubgy. It's rougher than football and has similar concepts.

[Zhouse]

I love soccer myself. I played it growing up, and I follow it fairly closely now. Soccer players are incredibly athletic, and have sick stamina and skill.

I can see why many might think it's boring, though. You really have to know what you're watching, and appreciate the slow buildups and precision passing that lead up to goals, as well as the natural ebb and flow of momentum. Otherwise, you might lose interest in a 0-0 or a 1-0 game.

And yeah, I agree that the diving and flopping is the worst part of the game, but good referees will recognize acting when they see it. You know you've got a good ref when they give those divers the yellow card instead of calling the phantom foul.

But what I find most interesting about this whole thread is why those who don't prefer to watch soccer feel the need to attack it all the time. I swear, every few months there's another thread about how boring soccer is. Or a fan of soccer will start a thread about a US national team game, and people will jump into that thread and talk smack about the game. Why is that?

If you don't like the sport, don't watch it or post about it. I don't like NASCAR or hockey, but I don't feel the irrational need to start threads ripping on those sports.

Does anyone have a theory why soccer gets such vehement haters?

Well said!

I'm surprised you don't like Hockey. I had a chance to go to a few games recently and it's actually similar to soccer (maybe indoor soccer). Those "slow buildups and precision passing that lead up to goals, as well as the natural ebb and flow of momentum" also exist in hockey I noticed.

Not trying to force the game on you at all but just sharing something I saw in hockey recently. By no means am I a big hockey fan, but I would like to see more games.

[PleaseBlitz]

Does anyone have a theory why soccer gets such vehement haters?

Because soccer tries to claim it's a real sport every few years and soccer fans have to be put down. Every time that happens soccer "bashers" feel the need to up the ante since we obviously werent confincing enough last time for soccer fans to permanently get that soccer is stupid.

[rdsknbill]

The ORIGINAL American Sport

[jnhay]

Hate to stereotype, but most people that aren't fans of baseball around here are purposely ignorant. They start chastising the game because they think it's cool. Honestly, it doesn't matter if the season goes all year-round. Just don't watch it. I don't hate NASCAR because it doesn't interest me. I can see why a person would like it, I'm not a stupid mother****er. It just doesn't interest me. It's beyond me why people can't leave it at that.

I enjoy going to baseball games every once in a while, but to me, the baseball season doesn't exist to me. The first time I even heard of Mark Teixeira is just recently because of his ridiculous contract.

A preference to one sport or another is largely due to culture but doesn't explain everything.

For example I am English, grew up loving football (soccer) from the age of 5 onwards, season ticket holder for my club 'Wigan Athletic' and have followed them from one end of the country to another. I am also a lifelong Skins fan, from the age of 9 (when it first came to our shores with any degree of regularity on Channel 4). I can say that if I was able to I would also probably be a season ticket holder (or on the list at least) for the Skins. My support for both teams is equal.

I don't understand why Americans like to call it futbol or some other goofy spelling when in English it's spelled and pronounced exactly like American football. I know that's a random thought, but your post made me think of it.

[Kilmer17]

The simple answer is that the majority of the world doesnt think it's boring or unwatchable.

The complex answer is well over the head of people who dont understand why it is that way.

Soccer is the rare sport in which players play for not only a team, but also for a country. So if you look at the passion shown (by people on a Washington Redskins message board 365 days a year) for clubs, and then add to that the passion for national pride, it becomes magnified.

I you think soccer is boring, or unwatchable specific to the action on the field, well you simply just dont understand everything that's going on. The baseball example fits here as well. While some (not me) think baseball is boring, they dont understand the small nuances happening. Same goes for soccer. It's impossible to get excited about 9-10 consecutive passes if half of them are backwards and you dont understand what the REST of the players are doing while you are focused on the ball.

Finally. US Mens National team opened training camp yesterday. They have a friendly on Jan 24 in LA vs Sweden leading up to the first game of the Hexagonal round of World Cup qualifying vs MEXICO on Feb 11 in Columbus Ohio. I hope it snows.

6 teams left. Top 3 automatically advance to WC 2010 in South Africa. 4th place qualifies for a 2 game playoff versus the 5th place team from South America.

[rincewind]

I seriously think hockey and soccer would do better in America if they awarded more points per goal. People always ***** about the lack of scoring, but there really isn't much more scoring in an NFL game - they just arbitrarily award more points. If each goal in soccer was worth 4 points (6 if outside of the box), the final scores would more closely resemble an NFL score. Likewise if TDs were worth 2 points and FGs worth 1 point - the NFL would see many 4-2 games. Either of these things happens and the whole 'not enough scoring argument' (which is silly anyways) goes right out the window.

[karmacop]

Well said!

I'm surprised you don't like Hockey. I had a chance to go to a few games recently and it's actually similar to soccer (maybe indoor soccer). Those "slow buildups and precision passing that lead up to goals, as well as the natural ebb and flow of momentum" also exist in hockey I noticed.

Not trying to force the game on you at all but just sharing something I saw in hockey recently. By no means am I a big hockey fan, but I would like to see more games.

I used to like hockey, actually. I grew up just south of Hartford and was a fan of the Whalers. Went to 10-15 home games per season. But the the heartless owner moved the club to Carolina, and I guess I never got over the trauma.

But your point probably does have merit - hockey and soccer are similar in some ways. I did used to like watching...

[herrmag]

Seeing that Baseball is the "American Pasttime", I don't think we really have a leg to stand on when it comes to boring sports. Hell, look at American football. We probably end up watching more commercials than we do actual field play. Try explaining that to Europeans: "Hey, we have a kick ass sport called football. You watch them run a play for 5 seconds, huddle up for forty seconds, run another play for 3 seconds, then huddle up again...After that, you get to watch 5 minutes of commercials. It's great!"

[PleaseBlitz]

Calling baseball "America's Pasttime" is like calling the Cowboys "America's Team." It's not true, it's just a catch phrase.

America's game is undoubtedly (American) football. The NFL is king and college football is a multi-billion dollar a year industry.

[rdsknbill]

Seeing that Baseball is the "American Pasttime", I don't think we really have a leg to stand on when it comes to boring sports. Hell, look at American football. We probably end up watching more commercials than we do actual field play. Try explaining that to Europeans: "Hey, we have a kick ass sport called football. You watch them run a play for 5 seconds, huddle up for forty seconds, run another play for 3 seconds, then huddle up again...After that, you get to watch 5 minutes of commercials. It's great!"

That reminds me of the busl oad of Canadians that were next to us at our bus trip this year. The one guy I talked to at the end of the game said " It took three hours to do that?"

[PleaseBlitz]

Seeing that Baseball is the "American Pasttime", I don't think we really have a leg to stand on when it comes to boring sports. Hell, look at American football. We probably end up watching more commercials than we do actual field play. Try explaining that to Europeans: "Hey, we have a kick ass sport called football. You watch them run a play for 5 seconds, huddle up for forty seconds, run another play for 3 seconds, then huddle up again...After that, you get to watch 5 minutes of commercials. It's great!"

But every 40 seconds, something happens.

[TheLongshot]

My only comment is that I think Soccer is more fun to play than it is to watch. While there is occasional excitement in Soccer games, most of the time it is one team moves it up the field, loses control and it comes back. Repeat.

I do have a lot of respect for Soccer. It is a tough job running up and down the field all day with few breaks. But, I can't say it is exciting to watch.

The guy above who posted Lacrosse above has it right. Good sport. I played some in a club team in college and I thought it was a blast.

[bconngemini]

It's hard being a Football fan in Britain as you almost have to justify watching the NFL and supporting a team, and I don't mean jumping on the Pats/Colts/Dullass bandwagons, but properly supporting your team. Soccers appeal is that it is relatively simple to play but like most sports can be very complex indeed. Another reason is soccer is not confined to a single country and as a result it travels well. Real Baseball/Football are not the same (yeah I know they are played 'abroad' but it always looks fake?!). This is why it has such mass appeal around the world, the NFL is an American sport and should not be exported outside (franchise-wise) there are rumblings of a London based NFL team in a few years... RIDICULOUS!

What do you have to justify? Just off the first look, NFL looks so much more cooler even from a foreigners perspective, who would you rather want to be: a 250lb musclehead quarterback that gets all the chicks when he wins the state championship or some 170lb soccer weakling immigrant who doesn't get any chicks because no one cares about girly soccer? Look at football players with their wide shoulders pads and how intimidating they look with the war paint and helmets, they are essentially warriors...and then look at soccer players mostly skinny guys with names like Arriaga who prance around and kick a ball. The most unathletic, unskilled and uncool position in football is the kicker, and kickers are basically star soccer players who graduated onto the better sport.

In my opinion, the only reason the NFL isn't the number 1 sport in Britain and Europe is because you guys can't afford the equipment or because you don't have enough big guys to play football, rugby players are small not 300lb.

[Major Harris]

What do you have to justify? Just off the first look, NFL looks so much more cooler even from a foreigners perspective, who would you rather want to be: a 250lb musclehead quarterback that gets all the chicks when he wins the state championship or some 170lb soccer weakling immigrant who doesn't get any chicks because no one cares about girly soccer? Look at football players with their wide shoulders pads and how intimidating they look with the war paint and helmets, they are essentially warriors...and then look at soccer players mostly skinny guys with names like Arriaga who prance around and kick a ball. The most unathletic, unskilled and uncool position in football is the kicker, and kickers are basically star soccer players who graduated onto the better sport.

In my opinion, the only reason the NFL isn't the number 1 sport in Britain and Europe is because you guys can't afford the equipment or because you don't have enough big guys to play football, rugby players are small not 300lb.

this post should be stickied. no way you're serious.

you think soccer players don't get any ***** they want? you really think britain can't afford shoulder pads and helmets?

not to mention the gay innuendo about how attracted you are to guys in shoulder pads and helmets, this post is friggin' awesome.

[herrmag]

In my opinion, the only reason the NFL isn't the number 1 sport in Britain and Europe is because you guys can't afford the equipment or because you don't have enough big guys to play football, rugby players are small not 300lb.

Is anyone else shaking their head at all at this post, or is it just me? This is a joke thread, right? Seriously. Please be a joke thread? No wonder Europeans (and the rest of the world, for that matter) think Americans are a bunch of arrogant retards.

[boysetsfire]

What do you have to justify? Just off the first look, NFL looks so much more cooler even from a foreigners perspective, who would you rather want to be: a 250lb musclehead quarterback that gets all the chicks when he wins the state championship or some 170lb soccer weakling immigrant who doesn't get any chicks because no one cares about girly soccer? Look at football players with their wide shoulders pads and how intimidating they look with the war paint and helmets, they are essentially warriors...and then look at soccer players mostly skinny guys with names like Arriaga who prance around and kick a ball. The most unathletic, unskilled and uncool position in football is the kicker, and kickers are basically star soccer players who graduated onto the better sport.

In my opinion, the only reason the NFL isn't the number 1 sport in Britain and Europe is because you guys can't afford the equipment or because you don't have enough big guys to play football, rugby players are small not 300lb.

Wow, I wasn't going to post in this thread again but this just takes the cake dude. This is hilarious.

[Destino]

What do you have to justify? Just off the first look, NFL looks so much more cooler even from a foreigners perspective, who would you rather want to be: a 250lb musclehead quarterback that gets all the chicks when he wins the state championship or some 170lb soccer weakling immigrant who doesn't get any chicks because no one cares about girly soccer? Look at football players with their wide shoulders pads and how intimidating they look with the war paint and helmets, they are essentially warriors...and then look at soccer players mostly skinny guys with names like Arriaga who prance around and kick a ball. The most unathletic, unskilled and uncool position in football is the kicker, and kickers are basically star soccer players who graduated onto the better sport.

In my opinion, the only reason the NFL isn't the number 1 sport in Britain and Europe is because you guys can't afford the equipment or because you don't have enough big guys to play football, rugby players are small not 300lb.

1 - If you think soccer is "unathletic" it's clear that you don't have clue #1 as to what athletic means. If you think star soccer players would leave soccer to become NFL kickers you're out of you mind and have no idea what star soccer players make.

2 - Why don't you ask women what sport tends to be populated by more attractive males, soccer or football?

[Destino]

not to mention the gay innuendo about how attracted you are to guys in shoulder pads and helmets, this post is friggin' awesome.

I noticed that too. This is definately a joke but I appreciate the chance to slam baseball

[pjfootballer]

But nothing happens.

Soccer is the perfect example of Socialism. The field is too big. Everyone shares. No one scores. Eventually, the people riot.

LMFAO!!! :laugh: That was a good one. :applause: