bucketybuck: I’m always a little saddened whenever someone is sucked in by nationalism. Do you really believe in lines on a map?
Pitiful.
I’m not offended. And I don’t mean to offend soccer fans. My explanation is why I, personally, do not like soccer. I can’t speak for the rest of the country.
My knowledge of the skills required for actually playing soccer are limited to the handful of intramural games I played in college, watching a grand total of about a half dozen live games at the high school and college levels and watching bits and pieces of the World Cup every 4 years. So, do I have a deep understanding of the sport? Certainly not. But, that’s all the experience I have to base my observations on.
Also, comparing dribbling a soccer ball through defenders to throwing a baseball 100 feet is hardly fair.
You should try watching basketball some time. The last 30 seconds of a close game can take 10 minutes to play out…
I very much enjoy Premier League soccer, but just can’t get into most other leagues. To me the style of play in Premier League is much more ‘interesting’. It seems that they spend much more time somewhere in the vicinity of the goals, compared to most leagues where it seems 90% of the game takes place within 30 yards of midfield.
True, but it’s allowed because it’s the “American pastime” 
One of the guys I work with is from Nigeria. He is a huge soccer fan; I am a huge baseball fan. We have a good time going back and forth with each other about how ‘my sport’ is fascinating, full of strategy and subtleties, and how ‘your sport’ is a total yawn-fest.
Of course. The difference is easy to see. When you hit a ball with a beisball bat, a tennis racket or a golf stick you need lot of skills, but you hit only ONCE.
However, when you conduct a soccer ball running for half a soccer field, escaping the opponents, and not lossing direction or speed… There you need talent, superhuman skills. Try to do it, and you’ll figure it out.
My input on why soccer hasn’t caught on as a major spectator sport in the US and Canada is that there are already too many established team sports competing for the attention of the typical American and Canadian fan. We also like to divvy up the year so that a different team sport is dominant (e.g., baseball in summer, football in fall, etc.). In the UK, Europe, Latin America, and other parts of the globe where soccer is big, it pretty much dominates to the exclusion of nearly every other team sport. Granted, in the UK there still is cricket but I don’t think it’s as popular as it was 100 years ago. It certainly can’t compete with soccer in terms of popularity. While it’s true other team sports are played, there mostly novelties with niche appeal. (For example, I once saw a clip of a UK hockey game and was a bit surprised there was enough interest in the sport for there to be a league there.)
This is exactly what I said and what is the right answer.
Dude, that’s not fair. There is a good portion(me included) that are American and just answered the question about why it never caught on without pissing on it.
Soccer is a nice sport, but it just didn’t catch on in our culture. I actually prefer it a lot to baseball or “American” football.
Besides, all sports are lame compared to tennis. 
Definitely not this. American football and baseball require a high degree of teamwork.
Nobody does this in soccer. Nobody goes more than 20 feet without passing the ball and when they pass it’s backwards or offsides. After a team scores a goal, usually off a penalty or corner kick, then the remainder of the game is just keep-a-way.
Nobody does it regularly… But it happens. And when it happens, people get euforical! Maradona and other stars made memorable goals from the center of the field, passing and passing opponents without losing the ball.
Only someone who has watched none of these three sports could say this.
Someone else who never watches, apparently.
Or, more correctly, who probably only watches during the World Cup.
Interesting theory, but look what games Americans like.
Hockey, was invented in Canada.
Basketball, was invented by a Canadian.
Now, with respect to baseball, it is true that was invented in the U.S., but I could bet it is a variation of British cricket, or better, from a game called rounders, althought not sure.
With respect to American Football, that certainly is a derivation of Rugby, another British game, and a cousin of Soccer.
You say this because you’ve only seen humans play soccer.
I agree. All over the world, soccer dominates. In Chile, for example, the only sport that reaches a bit to the popularity of soccer is our local Rodeo.
Easier to master? Pardon me?
Have you ever seen Brazilians stars in theirs good day? Do you know what is a “chilena”? A play where the player jumps in the hair, leave the body flat in the middle of the air and hit the ball in the opposite direction?
Just try it. And watch it.
That’s weird. Rodeos are big in the U.S. too but not so much in Europe, Asia, or Africa. Why do you think the U.S. and Chile value the drama and beauty of a live rodeo while the others just don’t seem to understand it? Do they not get the subtext of man against nature? I think you you start a thread on that question as well.
Honestly, all I see is a bunch of skinny guys moving around on a pawn shop quality TV screen wearing early 80’s clothes. Don’t think I am trolling. The images are just so foreign to me that they don’t mean anything and I am sure that it strikes most Americans the same way. Americans don’t like most foreign TV in general because the production values just seem way off and jarring. That is especially the case in soccer.
Soccer is an easy game to play, but the hardest of all to master.
Sorry but throwing a ball 100ft doeswn’t impress me half as much as say this:
(Wayne Rooney’s bicycle kick earlier this season).
or this:
(David Beckham’s goal from ~60 yds)
I don’t buy that. I don’t know shit about, say, gymnastics, but I recognize an amazing feat of athletics when I see it. And if you can’t see the skill and athleticism in those videos, quality of which notwithstanding, then you’re not really watching them.