USA only country in the world where life does not come to a halt when it's soccer team plays in WC

[Anonymous]

Soccer is very boring to watch but so is baseball. The only reason people watch is to root for their teams. If it weren't for that it wouldn't be so popular. Because very few american have a team to root for in soccer there is not much interest. If the usa does well tomorrow I could see that changing a bit as it does for the women's team when they play. We like to root for winners. But almost no one is that interested in the professional soccer teams in the US.

[Anonymous]

I really enjoy watching soccer - I just have mixed feelings about QATAR hosting - apart from obscene amounts of money spent buying votes, thousands of temporary workers died while working on building the facilities needed. One female referee who was raped by a colleague reported the assault and was charged with adultery and ordered to get 100 lashes before she escaped back to her home country. Insane amounts of energy wasted to allow the games to go ahead in the arid ecosystem. Fans are being housed in plastic tents for hundreds of dollars a day. Guests are not allowed to drink beer, wine if other alcohol.

And while QATAR is blaming legitimate concerns around their hosting on racism, the reality is that many human lives have been lost and many recourses squandered to allow the World Cup to be hosted on Doha in order to put their tiny Uber wealthy country on the world’s front stage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pretty sure it’s not the only country. I doubt things stop in Benin or New Guinea.

Benin is not in the world cup but I assure you , there's definitely a soccer-induced fervor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is very boring to watch but so is baseball. The only reason people watch is to root for their teams. If it weren't for that it wouldn't be so popular. Because very few american have a team to root for in soccer there is not much interest. If the usa does well tomorrow I could see that changing a bit as it does for the women's team when they play. We like to root for winners. But almost no one is that interested in the professional soccer teams in the US.

Everything you wrote is so American ( this isn't a compliment ). I mean the self satisfied ignorance (either you're aware of it or not ), the matter-of-factly peddling of demonstrably false facts—largely, or in part due to the fact that you haven't bothered to do any research. Here are some facts for the so-called not popular football, yes its called football not soccer because you actually play with your foot for the duration of the game.

- The MLS ( Major league soccer) is quickly approaching $2B in annual revenues, which was unthinkable 20 yrs ago.
- Speaking of, two decades ago it was rare to see a football game in a stadium specifically built for the game . Most football games were played in 'American football stadiums.Almost every MLS team today has their own stadium. Nobody undertakes the costly project of building a pro sports team stadium unless there's a demand high enough to offset the cost in the medium and long term .
- The idea that few Americans have a team to root for would be laughable if it wasn't so symtpmatic of your ignorance . If Americans don't have teams to root for , then explain to me why the just concluded MLS season saw record breaking attendance? *sigh*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Right! We

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don't think this is sad at all. I don't know anyone who watches soccer as an adult.

America does come to a halt on Superbowl Sunday. And have you heard of March Madness?

America population = 330 million

World population = BILLIONS

It's no use, PP. I am French, so of course ***football*** is important in my country. But the average American barely acknowledges the existence of terrain and peoples outside of their national border, except as convenient targets during political campaigns against immigrants. Obviously they will all fail to grasp that hardly anyone outside the US cares at all about their little American version of football, their baseball, their basketball (we do have a French basketball prodigy, but not a lot of people have heard about him). Typical chauvinism.

So, just to be clear, the French people aren't interested in American sports because of course French sports are superior, and when the Americans are interested in American sports it's a sign that Americans are inferior.

Yes, that is typical French chauvinism.

Right! We do not need to love your sports, Ms. French + we do not expect you to love ours. Anyone can kick a soccerball BTW.

Football (yes, the real football) isn't a French sport .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Nice work if you can get it!

https://www.football-espana.net/2022/11/27/cristiano-ronaldo-offered-225-million-deal-by-saudi-arabian-club/amp

Ronaldo offered $225M to play for a Saudi club Over three years. So worth it to mouth off to Piers!

m
And Messi will have the biggest deal ever to come to the States to play for Miami.

PSG is offering him a one year extension. Messi won’t be offered what Ronaldo is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s like watching paint dry.

That would be baseball…

Soccer is baseball except with more cry babies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s like watching paint dry.

That would be baseball…

Soccer is baseball except with more cry babies.

Huh? Struggling to find similarities apart from the fact they both use balls (one hard, dense and small and hit with bats while the other that is much larger and filled with air is kicked about the field. Soccer is done in a short time while Many people have to leave baseball games before the conclusion of all the innings.

As a parent I was so glad our son played soccer and not baseball because the latter goes on forever … the cry babies at elite levels of soccer play are trying to score penalty points. It is often very amusing when they are playing hard and fine after acting like they were permanently maimed a few minutes before. That said, soccer has very high injury rates among youth while
Baseball much less so.

Baseball is a very American game while soccer is much more universal.

They are both great sports but hardly the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really enjoy watching soccer - I just have mixed feelings about QATAR hosting - apart from obscene amounts of money spent buying votes, thousands of temporary workers died while working on building the facilities needed. One female referee who was raped by a colleague reported the assault and was charged with adultery and ordered to get 100 lashes before she escaped back to her home country. Insane amounts of energy wasted to allow the games to go ahead in the arid ecosystem. Fans are being housed in plastic tents for hundreds of dollars a day. Guests are not allowed to drink beer, wine if other alcohol.

And while QATAR is blaming legitimate concerns around their hosting on racism, the reality is that many human lives have been lost and many recourses squandered to allow the World Cup to be hosted on Doha in order to put their tiny Uber wealthy country on the world’s front stage.

Too many ethical red flags around this World Cup. Why are so few people talking about the thousands of temporary workers who have died making it possible?

[Anonymous]

^^^^

https://amp.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/feb/23/revealed-migrant-worker-deaths-qatar-fifa-world-cup-2022

Revealed: 6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since World Cup awarded
Guardian analysis indicates shocking figure over the past decade likely to be an underestimate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s like watching paint dry.

That would be baseball…

Soccer is baseball except with more cry babies.

Huh? Struggling to find similarities apart from the fact they both use balls (one hard, dense and small and hit with bats while the other that is much larger and filled with air is kicked about the field. Soccer is done in a short time while Many people have to leave baseball games before the conclusion of all the innings.

As a parent I was so glad our son played soccer and not baseball because the latter goes on forever … the cry babies at elite levels of soccer play are trying to score penalty points. It is often very amusing when they are playing hard and fine after acting like they were permanently maimed a few minutes before. That said, soccer has very high injury rates among youth while
Baseball much less so.

Baseball is a very American game while soccer is much more universal.

They are both great sports but hardly the same.

The similarity is that they are boring to a lot of people. Many of us don't find the flopping amusing. It's pathetic.

Also, kids' baseball is often timed, so I don't think your kid's sports career would have been too onerous even if he had played baseball. Games for 10 year olds don't last 9 innings/3 hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is very boring to watch but so is baseball. The only reason people watch is to root for their teams. If it weren't for that it wouldn't be so popular. Because very few american have a team to root for in soccer there is not much interest. If the usa does well tomorrow I could see that changing a bit as it does for the women's team when they play. We like to root for winners. But almost no one is that interested in the professional soccer teams in the US.

Everything you wrote is so American ( this isn't a compliment ). I mean the self satisfied ignorance (either you're aware of it or not ), the matter-of-factly peddling of demonstrably false facts—largely, or in part due to the fact that you haven't bothered to do any research. Here are some facts for the so-called not popular football, yes its called football not soccer because you actually play with your foot for the duration of the game.

- The MLS ( Major league soccer) is quickly approaching $2B in annual revenues, which was unthinkable 20 yrs ago.
- Speaking of, two decades ago it was rare to see a football game in a stadium specifically built for the game . Most football games were played in 'American football stadiums.Almost every MLS team today has their own stadium. Nobody undertakes the costly project of building a pro sports team stadium unless there's a demand high enough to offset the cost in the medium and long term .
- The idea that few Americans have a team to root for would be laughable if it wasn't so symtpmatic of your ignorance . If Americans don't have teams to root for , then explain to me why the just concluded MLS season saw record breaking attendance? *sigh*

So the MLS has learned how to grift? We should be happy that they’re learning to exploit local governments for subsidies? How about they stop being a fourth tier league where stars go to retire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is very boring to watch but so is baseball. The only reason people watch is to root for their teams. If it weren't for that it wouldn't be so popular. Because very few american have a team to root for in soccer there is not much interest. If the usa does well tomorrow I could see that changing a bit as it does for the women's team when they play. We like to root for winners. But almost no one is that interested in the professional soccer teams in the US.

Soccer and baseball are like chess matches. Slow but strategic — but moments of thrilling, explosive scoring.

Gridiron is actually fairly boring because of all the time wasted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Soccer is very boring to watch but so is baseball. The only reason people watch is to root for their teams. If it weren't for that it wouldn't be so popular. Because very few american have a team to root for in soccer there is not much interest. If the usa does well tomorrow I could see that changing a bit as it does for the women's team when they play. We like to root for winners. But almost no one is that interested in the professional soccer teams in the US.

Everything you wrote is so American ( this isn't a compliment ). I mean the self satisfied ignorance (either you're aware of it or not ), the matter-of-factly peddling of demonstrably false facts—largely, or in part due to the fact that you haven't bothered to do any research. Here are some facts for the so-called not popular football, yes its called football not soccer because you actually play with your foot for the duration of the game.

- The MLS ( Major league soccer) is quickly approaching $2B in annual revenues, which was unthinkable 20 yrs ago.
- Speaking of, two decades ago it was rare to see a football game in a stadium specifically built for the game . Most football games were played in 'American football stadiums.Almost every MLS team today has their own stadium. Nobody undertakes the costly project of building a pro sports team stadium unless there's a demand high enough to offset the cost in the medium and long term .
- The idea that few Americans have a team to root for would be laughable if it wasn't so symtpmatic of your ignorance . If Americans don't have teams to root for , then explain to me why the just concluded MLS season saw record breaking attendance? *sigh*

+1 to all this, though I’m American. You’ll never convince ignorant PPs like the one you responded to or the others on this thread, but I appreciate the factual post.

I’m so nervous about the game today I’m half-dreading it. DH is picking Teen DS up from school early today so he can watch the whole thing with us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really enjoy watching soccer - I just have mixed feelings about QATAR hosting - apart from obscene amounts of money spent buying votes, thousands of temporary workers died while working on building the facilities needed. One female referee who was raped by a colleague reported the assault and was charged with adultery and ordered to get 100 lashes before she escaped back to her home country. Insane amounts of energy wasted to allow the games to go ahead in the arid ecosystem. Fans are being housed in plastic tents for hundreds of dollars a day. Guests are not allowed to drink beer, wine if other alcohol.

And while QATAR is blaming legitimate concerns around their hosting on racism, the reality is that many human lives have been lost and many recourses squandered to allow the World Cup to be hosted on Doha in order to put their tiny Uber wealthy country on the world’s front stage.

Too many ethical red flags around this World Cup. Why are so few people talking about the thousands of temporary workers who have died making it possible?

Plenty of people have been talking about this for years. Where were you?