Well, the US National soccer team came to my town today, and I decided I should probably go. I’ve never been a fan of soccer…I just can’t really concentrate when there’s so little going on. I thought perhaps you had to BE there to get it, so I went all ready to find out why this was the world’s favorite sport.
Well, I still don’t get it, but I had an Ok time. USA won 1-0, which was good, the atmosphere was nice, there was a huge American contingent (all of us military folk) and a pretty good Polish turnout as well, which was surprising. Still…the game itself? 10 minutes of absolutely nothing, followed by 15 seconds of excitement, followed by 10 more minutes of nothing. The lone goal was scored just after halftime when I was in line at the concessionaire, so I even missed that. Even had I seen it, I don’t think it would have been enough to really make me love the game. Still, when the blizzard began halfway through the second half it made it more enjoyable, as the players began sliding all over the place. It made it more like hockey, which I love.
In fact, I have determined that hockey is exactly like soccer. It’s just 45x faster, with 30 times more scoring chances (though not too many more goals) and you get to hit people. Oh wait…those things are what make hockey fun!
Anyway, yeah to the USA…it was good to see the players excited about having a home crowd in Europe, and the atmosphere was neat, but I still just can’t get into the sport.
(Just so you know, the ‘hitting people’ thing with hockey refers to checking, not fights. I really wish the NHL would institute instant game disqualifications for fighting with increasing suspensions for subsequent fights during a season. I’d much rather see clean checking and a solid game than a fight break out.)
I think that maybe you have to give it one more chance, in weather that’s more typical for a soccer match. Most outdoor games would seem a bit boring if played in a severe blizzard.
Having said that, I also observe that soccer matches worldwide are often taken as a chance to relax, celebrate, and have a party. Think of a baseball game in which the fans are cheering and singing every second of the game. Come to think of it, that’s the way baseball is played in Japan!
I find soccer exciting because most of the time a team is just about to score. Too much scoring becomes boring. IMHO, American football is more boring than soccer.
I agree. To me, soccer is nonstop action. There is none of this, “let’s go talk about this next play in a huddle for a few”, collapse in a heap on a player and call time out after time out stuff. Football is boring. Soccer is exciting. Racking up points is only way to make a game exciting. Hockey and soccer are more alike than soccer and football, IMO.
Here in Chicago, the announcements are made in English, then Spanish, then Polish. It feels very European and nice.
I love soccer as well, but I think it is a stretch to say “most fo the time a team is just about to score”. I think most of that time a team is about to “just about to score”.
The crowd can make a huge difference. You clearly got something of the feeling from having a big US contingent, but (at the risk of sounding condescending) that’s still small compared to being in a really big crowd. And then, the tension of the game is exaggerated. In any case, as you become more familiar with it, you will see that there’s few ten-minute lulls, because often they’re ten-minute periods of excellent work by defences and midfields, making any chance at an attack all the more exciting.
There are so many typos in my last post, I want to apologize.
I wish I could go to more Chicago Fire games. I wish I had gone to the World Cup when it was here.
My kids have grown up playing soccer, both girl and boys. Little League here is not fun, the adults are waaaay over the top when it comes to competition, even for T-ball. The soccer league is laid back (there is a more competitive travelling league) and the parents (most of whom, myself included, only dimly remember soccer from gym class) don’t get as nasty about the game, because the sublties* elude us.
Pro soccer is of course a whole nother ball game, but it’s fun to watch. I wish the commentary was in English on TV-I would watch, but I can’t stand to listen to Spanish (or any foreign language) when I can’t figure out what they’re saying!
*my cold medicine has made me loopy–how is that spelled?
I don’t see it like that. To me, “soccer” IS boring a lot of the time, but the non-boring bits are better than any other sport. If the US had a TV show like our Match of the Day (eight or ten matches edited down to fit into 90 minutes), maybe they’d get it too. But by the sound of it, they are mostly limited to watching entire unedited games commentated in Spanish. I think I’d hate soccer too if that was all I saw of it.
I dunno. It’s not like I look for games to watch. (I dont’ watch alot of TV). But all of the broadcasts are in Spanish (I only have basic cable, there’s probably alot more English commentary out there). I know I have seen Argentina and Brazil. (I don’t even know what league or whatever is on–these are broadcast on the Spanish channels here). I’ll try to monitor it a bit and get back to you. It’s on every week–it’s most likely Mexican leagues of some sort, I would imagine.
I did watch one game last year–England vs (can’t remember) and remember realizing that it was in English. Siemmens (sp?) was goalie, and Beckham had moved on to Spain–it was the England team (World cup game of some sort). I really loved it.
I think I am a misplaced European. American born and bred, but everything else is UK or Europe for me.
Hey, you’re in Reading. You get to see Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann play. And Reading are closing in on setting a Championship record for points before they get promoted.
Convey played a bit today for USA, and looked decent enough. The game, particularly the first half, was not that well played and Poland were a bit superior. In the second half it was well and away in USA’s favor and it was a fair result, although the conditions did get fairly sloppy about midway through. Nice enough goal by Clint Dempsey and good work by Twellman to set it up. Too bad you missed that, Jman.
Poland tend to play a fairly methodical style and did more on the counter attack then straight out attack tonight. Not the prettiest footie you’ll see, but they should go through their group along with Germany. USA will play Italy in Kaiserslautern on June 17. Let me know if you can find me a ticket. Seriously, I have tickets to the opener versus Czech Republic in Gelsenkirchen and the final group match against Ghana in Nuremberg, but nothing for Italy game. We’re hoping a decent number of US service folks will help us at least keep the crowd neutral against the Azzuri.
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Yes, even publicly cautious coach Steve Coppell must now believe that Reading are going to be in the Premiership next year. The American players have been a big part of their success. Bobby Convey apparently scored a blinding goal today.
Reading could still beat Sunderland’s all-time points record, although several caveats apply: there are 46 games in this league these days, more games than were played in the past; 3 points are awarded for win now, rather than 2 before; and Sunderland didn’t exactly set the Premiership alight after their record-breaking season, and soon returned to what some might consider their natural division ;).
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