# Request to all international soccer fans: STOP THAT FUCKING BUZZING! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942 "2010-06-12T18:49:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/261 "2010-06-15T17:27:53Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > So draws effect the overall standings in a similar way that wins effect the standings in American sports like Baseball or Football. I will admit that I forgot about the American football rule that has allowed for ties, roughly 14 in the last 35 years and none since 2008, but imagine if you were able to score gameday tickets to your favorite teams’ match, got time off work and someone to watch the kids (if you have em) get all excited, buy a beer and a sausage and a foam something or other and perhaps a vuvuzela to root and cheer for your team, and it ends up being a draw. > > Perhaps it’s too American of me, but the idea that nothing actually equals something makes me dislike soccer that much more. I’ve posted about this over in [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=566919), but some of the most exciting matches I have witnessed have ended up in draws that feel like wins. When you’re the underdog and you’re desperately holding on at 1-0 down and you smash in a last minute equaliser that gives you a vital point (and deprives them of two) - it’s just magic. And I think the rest of your post says a lot about the different attitudes on either side of the Atlantic towards going to a match. For many, many people it’s not a case of “scoring” a ticket - die hard supporters have season tickets, and many, many teams don’t dream of selling out their stadium (unless the big guys come a-calling). It’s usually not a case of needing time off work, because football should be played at 3pm on a Saturday. And the match only lasts 90 minutes, because it doesn’t stop and start every few seconds, and it’s not padded out by advertising. And it’s not beer and a sausage - it’s a pie and a bovril, but that’s another story. ---
**Author:** ![buttonjockey308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@buttonjockey308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buttonjockey308)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/262 "2010-06-15T17:28:59Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It’s a bizarre attitude even if you’re American. There is nothing inherently unsatisfying about a draw; sometimes teams are just evenly matched. The idea that they must continue to play until one of them (often almost arbitrarily) wins is weird, but worse still is the potential that they’ll have to decide the match by playing a mini-game which essentially eliminates most aspects of the sport - such as in US college football, or the penalty shootout that decides post-group-stage World Cup matches. > > I think the basis for it is the American system of playoffs, which is itself truly Byzantine. You play _some_ of the other teams - not even all of them! - just to get to the _actual_ contest, and then you start all over again with a knockout tournament. Weird. > > In a David versus Goliath scenario like last weekend’s USA-England match, a draw has even more significance - by not losing, the US “won”. That result would not have been possible had the teams been forced to play extra time, since it was clear as the match went on that England was going to score sooner or later. But you see, if the US ‘lost’ like everyone expected them to, then the end result would have been that much clearer, at least to me. The fact that you get a point for doing just as well as your opponents seems to inspire mediocrity. I don’t have to do BETTER, I just have to do equally as well, in order to get somewhere. Seems to run counter to the inherent nature of sport. In US football, the best from each division play to be the best in their division, then the best of the divisions become the best in their conference, the conference champions play to represent their conference at the super bowl. By this point, two seemingly equal teams face off against one another to become the best of the best, or, the team with most wins. Same, really, with basketball, hockey or baseball. As physically demanding as US football is, each team playing every other team would do even more serious damage to the players than the current schedule already does, not to mention extending the season into hockey finals AND baseball seasons. Aptly, I think there’s a place for all of it, but because of the black and white view of Americans in general, I truly don’t believe that Soccer will ever be as popular as our current major league sports are. Now, 20 years from this point, when the kids of the soccer moms grow up into adults, perhaps the need to be the best at something will be ground out of them, but until then, I suspect that we’ll never give up winning for the draw. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/263 "2010-06-15T17:52:53Z")
Who cares about hockey or baseball? This thread is for watchable sports. :dubious: I’m also not sanguine about the odds of footsoccer even becoming truly popular in the US. People have been trying to make it happen for decades, and it just doesn’t. > [@](#): > > And the match only lasts 90 minutes, because it doesn’t stop and start every few seconds, and it’s not padded out by advertising. Nitpick: 105 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/264 "2010-06-15T17:54:06Z")
Mr. Not Bright, What house? I didn’t go to Rugby myself but would be interesting to know. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/265 "2010-06-15T17:57:17Z")
School Field. I was only there for a year though. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/266 "2010-06-15T18:15:13Z")
> [@buttonjockey308](#): > > But you see, if the US ‘lost’ like everyone expected them to, then the end result would have been that much clearer, at least to me. The fact that you get a point for doing just as well as your opponents seems to inspire mediocrity. I don’t have to do BETTER, I just have to do equally as well, in order to get somewhere. Seems to run counter to the inherent nature of sport. Forest for the trees again. Inspiring mediocrity? Please. The goal of the group stage is to advance. Granted if you win all your games, you’re advancing, but earning a point … and as **Scougs** pointed out … depriving your opponent of two points is very important. In this case, the ends does justify the means. You’re not trying to show the world the size of your balls, you’re trying to advance to the knock-out rounds … where all Americans will, of course, roundly embrace soccer because ties aren’t allowed past the group stage. But if all you want is clear victories and nothing else, how do you put up with the Series system of playoffs in baseball, hockey, basketball? Why, a baseball team can lose 8 times during the playoffs and still take home the big enchilada. Totally un-American if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/267 "2010-06-15T18:20:18Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Well, I meant they can still end up tied at the end of how every many minutes they play in a regulation game … and they get there by dribs and drabs. At least when there’s a goal in soccer you know it means something. I’m not going to get into a soccer vs. other sports argument - I just don’t care enough. I did want to point out that there are no ties in basketball. You can have ties at the end of regulation, but they’re resolved by overtime, which is how it works in most sports. > [@](#): > > Also … I’ll see your “kids swarming the ball soccer game” and raise you one “which way do I run coach” t-ball game. Of course little kids suck at soccer. They suck at all sports until they old enough to figure them out … at least the good ones. My point is that I think that’s how Americans think of the sport. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/268 "2010-06-15T18:24:45Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not going to get into a soccer vs. other sports argument - I just don’t care enough. I did want to point out that there are no ties in basketball. You can have ties at the end of regulation, but they’re resolved by overtime, which is how it works in most sports. Most _American_ sports. There is no additional time added on (except in knockout tournaments) in most other sports. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/269 "2010-06-15T18:25:38Z")
Yeah, well, Americans eat reconstituted BBQ pork rinds and shop for jewelry at Wal-Mart too. I don’t see what that has to do with the nature of the sport. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/270 "2010-06-15T18:37:21Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Most _American_ sports. There is no additional time added on (except in knockout tournaments) in most other sports. Maybe so - I don’t know how it works in rugby or cricket. In golf, they resolve ties with extra play. And I think basketball and baseball are played in enough countries that they can be considered international sports and avoid the provincial tag that gets applied to football. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/271 "2010-06-15T18:42:16Z")
The Japanese professional baseball league allows tied games. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/272 "2010-06-15T18:48:40Z")
You learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/273 "2010-06-15T19:00:26Z")
Some of which you’ll forget almost instantly! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/274 "2010-06-15T19:25:30Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Maybe so - I don’t know how it works in rugby or cricket. In golf, they resolve ties with extra play. And I think basketball and baseball are played in enough countries that they can be considered international sports and avoid the provincial tag that gets applied to football. In cricket a tie is the rare result where everyone’s out and the scores are level (simplified). A draw is when time’s up and no-one has won - typically the side batting last hasn’t overtaken the other side’s score but isn’t all out either. In many one-day competitions you have only a limited time at bat and if scores are level when both sides have had their turn then there is a tie-break (typically, the side with fewer men out wins). In Rugby, if it’s a knock-out competition then extra time will be played, and sometimes if scores are still level then the side scoring more _tries_ will be counted the winner. But league competitions, such as the Six Nations, do allow for draws. There was once the possibility of the World Cup final going to a drop-kicking shoot-out, but to date all finals have been resolved without such desperate measures. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/275 "2010-06-15T19:34:12Z")
A perfect example of why I am completely baffled by America’s hatred of soccer – and it’s the haters I have issues with … the ones who couldn’t care less, well, waddayagonnado? Cricket. I do not understand Cricket one whit. I know there are bowlers and batsmen and wickets, but beyond that I have virtually no knowledge of the game. But because of that I’m more fascinated by it than filled with hatred for it. I wouldn’t in a million years tell someone that Cricket is a stupid sport just because I don’t get it. Even if I watched a match (or whatever they call it) and I decided it wasn’t something I ever wanted to watch again, I wouldn’t go off on endless screeds about “where’s the double-play? Why don’t they get to slide? How come there isn’t 9 innings?” or whatever the case may be. I do love to hear Cricket jargon. It’s like another language even though I recognize all the words being used. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/276 "2010-06-15T19:43:36Z")
Even after living in England for three years and sort of trying to play it, I never really got cricket. I got some of the form (the basic idea of the bowling and batting rules and some of the scoring), but never really comprehended all of it. Talk about complicated rules. It’s like three dimensional chess with a flat bat ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/277 "2010-06-15T20:01:13Z")
The game itself is less complicated than baseball. ---
**Author:** ![Caveat\_lector\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@Caveat\_lector\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caveat_lector_1)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/278 "2010-06-15T20:38:02Z")
This is supposed to help you get rid of the noise. Don’t know if it works though. > **[How to Silence Vuvuzela Horns in World Cup Broadcasts](https://lifehacker.com/how-to-silence-vuvuzela-horns-in-world-cup-broadcasts-5564085)** > > If you're watching the World Cup, you've no doubt learned about the vuvuzela, a buzzing horn capable of drowning out TV announcers. Here's how to filter the vuvuzela buzz from your World Cup broadcasts. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/279 "2010-06-15T20:47:45Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Even after living in England for three years and sort of trying to play it, I never really got cricket. I got some of the form (the basic idea of the bowling and batting rules and some of the scoring), but never really comprehended all of it. Talk about complicated rules. It’s like three dimensional chess with a flat bat You want to talk complicated? There is no sport more comlicated than North American football. Just to coach a team requires a team of coaches. But to me , there is no more exciting game to watch and second guess the coaching. But I get enthralled by the European and world cup soccer tournaments. Its my Dutch heritage and the Dutch are always serious contenders. Most Americans and Canadians will never feel that connection with a soccer contender unless they have a recent ethnic connection.If you happen to get to that point, you can open your mind to the finer points of the game and appreciate what most of the rest of the world appreciates, even if you have to put up with that god awful South African noise. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/280 "2010-06-15T21:34:10Z")
> [@The Flying Dutchman](#): > > Just to coach a team requires a team of coaches. This is true for soccer, rugby, cricket, in fact, virtually every team sport that’s played at a competitive level. American football isn’t special in this respect. See all the guys sat down (apart from the substitutes) in the dugouts in the World Cup? They’re all assistant coaches, goalkeeping coaches, offence coaches etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942.md?page=15)