I read somewhere soccer is the number 1 sport in the world, I would fully agree with the statement being a keen player and avid supporter of the game, though what confused me was the fact that I didn’t think the game was played in the U.S., as we don’t ever play American football, and Baseball is a girl’s sport called rounders, I just wondered if someone could verify that Soccer is actually played regularly in the U.S.
Southampton fan.
Yes, soccer is played in America. We started our own national league (Major League Soccer) about 3 years ago and we have many good national and international players (including Lothar Mattaeus). Soccer is played at every high school and junior high and is one of the more popular organized youth sports. Unfortunately, except for us few Americans who appreciate the beauty of the sport, most are largely indifferent to both national and international soccer. I would like to think that that is changing, but only time will tell.
TheDude
Bundesliga and US National Team fan
I’m not sure why this is in the Pit, but I guess I should respond accordingly.
SOUTHAMPTON? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!
Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.
US national team has been doing pretty well for itself lately. if memory serves me right, we downed germany and brazil, and lost a tight one to mexico.
ellis
Well, Middsey, I guess you haven’t seen * rounders * like we play it here in the States. Having played baseball myself, I can tell you it ain’t fun getting hit by a wild pitch from a 5 1/2 ounce leather ball that routinely hits 90-95 miles per hour. ** Outstanding ** success is when you can hit this ball safely 3 out of every 10 times you come to bat. Baseball may have had its origin in rounders, but it definitely isn’t a gentle children’s game.
“…send lawyers, guns, and money…”
Warren ZevonEN-GER-LAND!
EN-GER-LAND!
We’ll meet you at the gates
We’ll meet you at the gates…
Soccer being #1 means that it is a game that more people are able to play than other games. Little girls can play soccer. Uncoordinated little boys that aren’t tough enough to make the football team or talented enough to play baseball or basketball get signed up to play soccer so that they can live the illusion of being an athelete.
Soccer is for wimps and losers.
If one of my boys had ever come home and said “Dad, I want to play soccer” I would have kicked their ass on the spot. I think it’s fine if my girls want to play though although I’d have to fight the urge to slit my throat while sitting through an entire game.
Contestant #3
Well, I guess we know one thing for sure- Contestant 3’s wife isn’t one of the proverbial soccer moms that are constantly spoken of by pundits.
pat
Damm straight!
Contestant #3
oh yeah, the football wimps wear protective gear up to wazoo…Many more physical injuries in soccer than in football and baseball combined. It is really good when you are considered great player…and you miss 80% of the time
Unforgiven
More injuries occur in soccer because the players are bigger sissies and they are frail and dainty to begin with.
Contestant #3
gypsy–Football wimps? Try playing football without pads. It is a brutal game. What kind of soccer injuries are you talking about? Helmet and shoulder pads won’t protect you against twisted ankles and such or whatever injuries soccer players suffer. OK, I know there are more serious hurts than sprains and muscle pulls in soccer; I’ve played both sports. Soccer as a little kid until I went out for football as a high school freshman. After that, for me at least, I wondered why I wasted my time with soccer. Football was a much more physically and, yes, mentally demanding sport. Kick a ball back and forth or remember 50+ different plays and calls while mind fucking the guy across the line from you. And this was high school ball, imagine what the pros need to know/do.
647, no offense, but you really aren’t a good judge of how demanding a sport is if you haven’t played it since you were a kid.
The professional game is VERY demanding physically - it isn’t for no reason that teams hate to play more than one game in a seven-day period. As for mentally, tactics are crucial on virtually every level of the game and if you don’t believe me I’ll happily forward you some of the posts from one of my mailing lists, next time my team loses and the listmembers spend days analyzing what we did wrong.
I really am not bothered by Americans not liking soccer - in certain people’s cases, I’d just as soon not have those types of fans at the games - but the negative comments made out of (unacknowledged) ignorance do irritate.
Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.
Ruadh-true, I haven’t played soccer since I was a kid, but I have played both sports on an organized level. You state I’m not a good judge of soccer because I haven’t played since I was young and then mention that ignorance is irritating. So, have you played football? On any (real)level, I’m not talking about touch or flag If you haven’t, how would you know how demanding football is, as compared to soccer? I don’t think my comments were that negative. I was replying to gypsy’s post about football pussies. And, I qualified my statements by saying “for me at least”. Soccer is not a bad sport; I just prefer football.
P.S. My own wacked theory about the lack of interest in professional soccer in the U.S. is: How the hell would you bet on it? An over of 2 goals, under of 1? What the hell is a point spread in soccer? American gamblers can’t relate.
Oh, I must admit enjoying the Women’s US World Cup Champions, but I think it was more due to patriotism than a sudden love for a sport that doesn’t allow you to use your hands… Personally, I like using my hands…
Anyway, I have real issues with this “penalty kick” nonsense. It’s like deciding a baseball game with a home run derby, an NBA final with a free throw shooting contest, or a football game with a field goal kicking event.
The solution - PLAY UNTIL YOU DROP!!!
Brian O’Neill
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Just for the record, soccerphiles, I’m pretty sure that auto racing is a lot more popular than “futbol,” and that basketball is gaining fast.
Any of you idiots who think football players are wimps for wearing padding…tell you what…how about me and you suit up and have a little hamburger drill, you can take ball or not. I don’t care, you will change that opinion after one pop. Don’t foget the pads are hard on the outside, they’re alot like weapons. And to be fair, we can play some soccer too…I’ll score on you just like i did your sister. You’ll be praying for the ref to pull out the red card.
I always laugh when soccer fans call football fans uneducated and unaware of the nuances and thats why we don’t enjoy it. But, of course 90% of US kids play soccer for years until high school, and understand the game qite well. Yet very very few soccer fans have ever worn a set of pads and squared off against anyone. The ones who have, don’t critisize football, and likely don’t compare it to soccer.
647: I don’t believe I said anything about football. I wouldn’t, since my experience playing it is as limited as yours playing soccer. Point is, I wouldn’t downplay how demanding American football is, the way you did with soccer.
As for betting on soccer, the industry is absolutely thriving in Europe. You bet on the result, the first player to score, sometimes other things. I am not a gambler myself, so that’s about as much of an answer as I can give.
Omniscient: I have watched plenty of games with plenty of Americans who “played soccer for years” and it’s absolute rubbish to say they understand the game quite well. I still find myself having to explain the offside rule, for God’s sake. However, I do agree that understanding the game would not necessarily increase their enjoyment.
Never regret what seemed like a good idea at the time.
ruadh-since this the Pit, I’ll kick this sleeping dog. If you have as much experience playing football as I have playing soccer, you must have played organized football for 7 years. Did you learn anything? You say soccer is a VERY (your bold) physically demanding sport. As compared to bowling or billiards, yes. Himalayan mountain climbing is a VERY demanding physical sport. I played soccer at the same age as I played lacrosse. Granted, this was at the youth league level (as far as soccer went), but I can’t remember ever getting winded playing halfback (is this still the name for the position?) during an entire soccer game. You can’t run more than five minutes a shift playing midfield in lacrosse, depending on the pace of the game. Besides endurance, it is just as challenging to run through opponents with the ball in your stick as it is to dribble the soccer ball. And, they can legally clean your clock (picture checking in ice hockey, since lacrosse is the only native American sport played in the U.S. by schools and a lot of people may not be that familiar with it). I also wrestled in high school and I remember matches were I was on the verge of puking because I was so exhausted after they were over. As much as everybody in the world loves soccer, I still don’t think it is that complicated or VERY physically demanding as opposed to other sports that people play. I actually think the simplicity of soccer-get the ball into the opposing goal without your hands-is the beauty of the game. Any group of people with a ball can play. No need for expensive equipment, as with football. As far as the betting on soccer goes, I’m glad the rest of the world has the same vices, but I was talking about AMERICAN gamblers.
They have it. It’s called “rugby” and is like football, except you don’t get to take breathers every few seconds and you don’t get any blockers.
And Connie #3: Is there any way for you to post a message that is not intentionally patently offensive to people. There’s no need to lambaste the entire sport of soccer because you don’t like it. It doesn’t upset me that you make these ignorant staements, what bothers me is that you’re going to potetntially ruin the life of some innocent child of yours with misinformed opinions that have no basis in reality. What is truly frightening is a whole 'nuther generation of little Connie’s running around.
Jason R Remy
“No amount of legislation can solve America’s problems.”
– Jimmy Carter (1980)