# Why Americans don't like soccer? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 29, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111 "2011-04-29T02:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Asympotically\_fat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Asympotically\_fat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asympotically_fat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/121 "2011-04-30T00:26:12Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > Another amazing goal > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAzG-7MUHc&NR=1&feature=fvwp](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAzG-7MUHc&NR=1&feature=fvwp) Don’t want to pour cold water on everything Roberto Carlos did, because without doubt he was one of the best wingbacks ever and he could hit the ball harder than anyone I’ve ever seen, but I’m not sure whether he meant that or not. As we’re talking American’s here’s two great pieces of skill by American Clint Demspey from last season: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iuqwoMQbBeg/maxresdefault.jpg "Clint Dempsey goal 09/10") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuqwoMQbBeg) (what’s not obvious from the video is that the conditions were poor as it was actually snowing heavily during the match, making that kind of precision skill all the more difficult) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/VeL1DXp-PuU/maxresdefault.jpg "Clint Dempsey Wonder Goal on Juventus 18/3/2010") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeL1DXp-PuU) (this goal is all the more amazing as it came close to the end of the game and due to the away goals rule was the difference between Fulham getting and not getting to the next round of the UEFA cup in what was arguably, up to that point, the most important game in their 115-year history against one of the most succesful club teams in the World). ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/122 "2011-04-30T00:30:18Z")
Great goals! ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/123 "2011-04-30T00:33:29Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > You can make all the arguments you like about soccer being somehow inherently boring Well, I haven’t made any claims about soccer being tested on the Boring-o-meter or what have you. So obviously some people could find it to be quite interesting, but for my money (and lots of Americans’) it’s freaking boring. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/124 "2011-04-30T00:36:00Z")
Is this the let’s piss on people who like soccer because it’s not red, white and fucking blue? > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Well, I haven’t made any claims about soccer being tested on the Boring-o-meter or what have you. So obviously some people could find it to be quite interesting, but for my money (and lots of Americans’) it’s freaking boring. It is, it is! ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/125 "2011-04-30T00:52:15Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > This thread is depressing. I have no idea why a simple question(which we’ve already discussed in a zillion other threads) lead to such negativity and sweeping generalizations about other cultures and sports. > > For a site dedicated to fighting ignorance, this thread has had a lot of it. > > ☹ Don’t be depressed. We are all just one people mostly just the same and separated only by small differences. Unfortunately, people are really good about picking up on those small differnces. Real wars have started over matters smaller than this one. We just use message boards now. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/126 "2011-04-30T01:04:08Z")
By the way, I am not a great soccer fan at all, I preffer tennis… However I have watch all the games in discussion and this is what I think about them: (1) Hockey: a fast game that requires a lot of skating skills. A sort of “Hollyday on ice” a little bit rought. It is a very exciting game, but players are a bit brutal in the contract with the oponents. My favorite: The Oilers. (2) Baseball: A very interesting game, that requires lot of concentration to follow, and a teacher to explain the rules. It has some amazing moves. Interesting. My favorite: Toronto Blue Jays. (3) American football: An interesting game, but where the action is cut quite often. Although it is a game were force and roughness is common, there are also players that display speed and skills by catching the ball on the air and escaping opponents! Although it has a lot of contact, fair play predominate. My favorite team? Saskatchewan Roughrides! (I only saw Canadian football!) (4) Soccer: A continuosly played game of teamwork, where players play “chess” with the feet. Soccer is a game of strategy and skills. Not very rough, but very interesting… if you are a fan of a given team. My favorite: Colo Colo! ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/127 "2011-04-30T01:09:31Z")
Baseball is absolutely a real team game. It may involve a lot of one-on-one duels but every sport does this. Just because the role of the offense and defense of the two teams in baseball is extremely different doesn’t mean that there isn’t teamwork involved. Every man on the field has a specific position without which the team could not function. You can play a one-on-one game of basketball or soccer. You cannot play a one-on-one baseball game. It’s totally impossible. (You also can’t play a one-on-one game of football.) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/128 "2011-04-30T01:13:35Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Don’t be depressed. We are all just one people mostly just the same and separated only by small differences. Unfortunately, people are really good about picking up on those small differnces. Real wars have started over matters smaller than this one. We just use message boards now. I just expect better from the Dope. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/129 "2011-04-30T02:38:39Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Is this the let’s piss on people who like soccer because it’s not red, white and fucking blue? Only if you’re engaged in creative reading to back up a feeling of persecution, I guess. Stating that most Americans find the game to be boring does not, in any case, “piss on people who like soccer”, let alone “because it’s not red, white and fucking blue”. It’s actually fairly interesting that someone might go from “some people could find it to be quite interesting, but for my money (and lots of Americans’) it’s freaking boring” to " let’s piss on people who like soccer because it’s not red, white and fucking blue". Soccer seems to be some sort of shibboleth to you. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2011, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/130 "2011-04-30T03:04:50Z")
And yet, it was you who came right out with: ‘Is this the “let’s piss on those horrible Americans” thread?’ My shibboleth, huh? ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/131 "2011-04-30T03:07:54Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > And yet, it was you who came right out with: ‘Is this the “let’s piss on those horrible Americans” thread?’ Yes, it’s almost like instead of someone else saying, as I did, that it’s subjective and people will simply have their preferences, things like “This doesnt work well for such a sedentary culture, one that uses the handy excuse of advertising to mask the fact that they cant run for more then twenty seconds without taking a breather.” Rather obviously you’re not unaware of that fact, as you were aping the post where I pointed that out. ---
**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:** [April 30, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/132 "2011-04-30T03:15:50Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Yes, it’s almost like instead of someone else saying, as I did, that it’s subjective and people will simply have their preferences … Aren’t you just the voice of reason … > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Is this the “let’s piss on those horrible Americans” thread? > > Anyways, I’d wager it’s because soccer is fucking horribly boring to watch. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > … a good reason would be justification for the absurd “gee, let’s piss on America!” nonsense. > [@FinnAgain](#): > > Well, I haven’t made any claims about soccer being tested on the Boring-o-meter or what have you … Pardon me for sensing your snark. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/133 "2011-04-30T03:56:13Z")
> [@pinguin](#): > > American football: An interesting game, but where the action is cut quite often. Although it is a game were force and roughness is common, **there are also players that display speed and skills by catching the ball on the air and escaping opponents!** Although it has a lot of contact, fair play predominate. My favorite team? Saskatchewan Roughrides! (I only saw Canadian football!) [**Boldeness** added.] Speaking of which, here’s a good example: [the Seattle Seahawk’s Marshawn Lynch’s run against the New Orleans Saints in this last season’s play-offs.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKVEttPqvmE&feature=related) Just count the missed tackles. American Dopers have seen this play many times (and maybe you have too) but I’m posting this for people outside of the US and Canada as an example of American football at its best. ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/134 "2011-04-30T04:14:15Z")
I like American football and Soccer. Curiously enough, I found similarities between them: Here, the some of the best receptions www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jeV1Chr0xo Compare that with the best goalkeeper stops, for example. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TThVoTuMsao](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TThVoTuMsao) ---
**Author:** ![pinguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@pinguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinguin)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/135 "2011-04-30T04:22:22Z")
And something unbelievable. You really MUST see to believe it. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lQd0H5vgg8&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lQd0H5vgg8&feature=related) ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/136 "2011-04-30T08:10:34Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Aren’t you just the voice of reason Well, yes, which is why I pointed out subjective preferences which you took as a jingoistic attack on all people who aren’t Americans. I see you’re now also trying to change the subject from the fact that there was actual “let’s piss on Americans” nonsense, that I cited and quoted, in a post that you responded to… to the fact that I was “snarky”. In one case, amusingly enough, you’re upset that I pointed out that there is no objective standard for boring and I was of course discussing subjective preference. But nevermind. Someone stated the fact that many Americans don’t like soccer, and that’s just obviously an insult and an affront to non-Americans. In your interpretation, at least. Like I said, soccer is a shibboleth for you. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/137 "2011-04-30T08:25:31Z")
> [@Dave\_Hartwick](#): > > Not only horse racing, but (of course) polo and fox hunting (or even jackals if foxes were unavailable), and less-remembered sports like pig-sticking and that thing where they used to lance pegs. Equestrian sports are definitely posh now, but were once utilitarian when your soldiers and elites spent a lot of time in the saddle and needed to keep in practice in case the natives got tired of you. > > I appreciate your reply, Ximenean, I didn’t know that about AC Milan, great bit of trivia. What other clubs had English founders? A precursor of Real Madrid was largely founded by ex-pat British students and professors in the city. Barcelona’s first president and some of its players were British. Hamburger SV took up soccer when a number of Brits joined the sporting club in 1891. I’m sure there are other examples. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/138 "2011-04-30T08:59:50Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > Well, yes, which is why I pointed out subjective preferences which you took as a jingoistic attack on all people who aren’t Americans. I’m sure it makes you feel better to think that threads like this are nothing but America-bashing, with a few poor Americans simply describing their subjective dislike for soccer, but that’s simply delusional. > [@Shagnasty](#): > > 1 - 10) Soccer is boring - that explains most of it. > > 1. It is a game for primitives. People all over the world play it because kicking a ball, a rock, or a severed human head towards or away from something is about the most primitive sport you can play. Americans already have our own sports that are a bit more sophisticated. > [@Arrendajo](#): > > That, and it’s just boring as fuck. > [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Watching paint dry is more interesting because you know for a fact that either the paint will dry or something will ruin the finish and it will take less than 90 minutes. > [@Starving\_Artist](#): > > Really, compared to most popular American sports, soccer just isn’t that masculine or exciting. You have all that dancing-on-the-head-of-a-pin ball-handling footwork, guys jumping up in the air with their arms at their sides trying to bounce the ball off their heads (and looking like demented sea lions in the process), and generally just running around a large field kicking a ball and occasionally colliding shins with somebody else. It’s about as exciting as golf, but at least in golf the players dress well and the scenery is pretty. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > You could take a game of baseball or (American) football and write a long, substantial narrative, full of drama and suspense, describing what happened over the course of the game. For a soccer game, it would just be “A bunch of guys ran around a lot, and some of them kicked the ball one direction and some of them kicked it the other direction. The end.” Those comments, while occasionally couched as merely personal, subjective preferences, are actually more like definitive pronouncements about the objective nature of the game. There have been quite a few people in this thread honest enough to say that, even though they don’t like soccer, they recognize that it is not inherently less skillful or less interesting than other sports. But there have also been, as usual, quite a few who are clearly seeking to do nothing but dismiss both the sport and the people who follow it as boring and stupid. As someone who loves soccer and rugby and cricket and hockey and baseball and American football, and who has strongly defended baseball and American football on these Boards against non-Americans who ridicule those sports while knowing almost nothing about them, i think it’s just as sad when Americans get all sneering and superior about soccer. And it happens plenty on this board, your apologetics notwithstanding. As **Mahaloth** says, the whole thing is pretty fucking ignorant and depressing. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/139 "2011-04-30T09:04:02Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > This thread is depressing. I have no idea why a simple question(which we’ve already discussed in a zillion other threads) lead to such negativity and sweeping generalizations about other cultures and sports. > > For a site dedicated to fighting ignorance, this thread has had a lot of it. > > ☹ Hear, hear. To be fair, some people have doggedly repeated the one correct answer – that other sports got there first – but this topic always seems to be a showcase for poor reasoning on both sides. Many of the arguments don’t stand up to a moment’s thought. Soccer is apparently inherently boring, despite somehow being one of the world’s most popular spectator sports. We hear that it doesn’t work on TV and is not suitable for advertising (someone should tell the networks across the world who spend billions on TV rights). ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111/140 "2011-04-30T09:20:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I’m sure it makes you feel better to think that threads like this are nothing but America-bashing, with a few poor Americans simply describing their subjective dislike for soccer, but that’s simply delusional. I’m sure it makes you feel better to put words in my mouth and act as if I said them, but that’s simply delusional. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-americans-dont-like-soccer/580111.md?page=8)