I’m so disgusted by FIFA and Qatar, that I’m not watching. That they’re behaving this way while the world has its eyes on it is really telling.

Anonymous wrote:It’s like watching paint dry.

That would be baseball…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s like watching paint dry.

Umm. You just took that quote from me, which I said about baseball a few pages back.

DP but you cannot possibly think you coined that phrase. More than one thing can be boring.

On this point, I think soccer and baseball are similar in that they're significantly more fun to watch in person than on TV (but neither is fascinating in either instance). I love American football but I don't think it's worth the price of a ticket because the experience watching on TV with friends or at a bar is better to me than in a stadium.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have participated in several sports on competitive teams. Wrestling requires the most conditioning (based on my experience), then American football, followed by competitive distance running, then soccer (I was a center midfielder.)

Wrestling careers are quite short.

Soccer careers can last over 20 years.
That does not even include their youth, grammar school and collegiate playing years.

You are supporting my point that soccer is not as demanding a sport as wrestling or as American football. Almost anyone can play soccer. Even those soccer players who engage in intense competition can last decades in the sport because it doesn't require the extreme conditioning and use of one's body as do wrestling, American football, or water polo among other sports.

Lots of unknowledgeable comments about American football on this thread.

Regardless, all athletes--regardless of the sport or the intensity of one's competition--deserve praise and admiration.

I wish that I was more excited about World Cup soccer, but--even as a former soccer player--I prefer to watch other sports more than I do soccer. Different strokes for different folks.

Almost anyone can play football, just look at all of the front yard games that will be occurring on Thursday. If you're talking about professional at the highest level, compare the number of kids dreaming of playing in the premier league and eventually make it to the number of kids who dream of the NFL and make it. The premiere league odds are longer by orders of magnitude.

This. Football doesn't require much skill. I have friends who played football in college WITHOUT ever playing in HS. Being a linesman is not skillful. You just bulk up and block. Soccer, on the other hand, requires intense training from an incredibly early age. If you have not shown talent in soccer by age 10, you are not going anywhere in the sport. You don't just pick it up in high school and go onto a career in the field. I mean, even Tom Brady picked up football later in life because it just doesn't require advanced technical mastery.

Are there some great athletes in football? Of course. But the vast majority of that 53 person roster cannot even run the field, and many are just morbidly obese.

This is just ignorant.

Yes, you can play football in HS without much skill, especially if you just happen to be a big guy. Unless, of course, your HS has a highly competitive football team that wins championships and sends players to major college programs. Then maybe not. Same with college. Sure, there are probably people who aren't not particularly good athletes playing DIII football at schools you've never heard of. But if you play football for Ohio State, you can't just walk on without being a strong athlete. Even what you perceive to be "just big guys" on a team like that have a refined athletic skill set that is not accessible to the average person. It is not easy to move a 250 lb adult out of the way when he doesn't want you to. It requires some of the same skills as Olympic level weight lifters. Do you not think those people are athletes either? Plus other specialist positions require great speed and agility. A down in football goes by quick by much is asked of players during that short burst of action. If you don't understand that, you are not familiar with the sport.

And by the time you get to professional NFL players, you are talking about next level athletes. These are people who train daily for most of the year, for hours at a time. Who are constantly working on both strength and speed. Even your average NFL practice team member (so someone who never sees a professional game) is an impressive athlete.

Guess what? There are lots of mediocre athletes playing soccer at the HS level, too. That doesn't mean professional soccer is easy. In both sports, it gets progressively harder and more competitive as you level up. The sports are different so training starts at different times, and American football in particular does not really make sense as a sport until the bodies involved are matured because of the strength it requires. Whereas soccer is a speed/agility-based game so it's easier for very young players to begin refining those skills, as well as building the endurance necessary for the sport.

I don't understand why it is necessary to compare these sports. They are very different and the pro athletes involved in both are incredibly impressive.

Anonymous wrote:It’s like watching paint dry.

Umm. You just took that quote from me, which I said about baseball a few pages back.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s terrible to watch - and not what Americans like to watch. Soccer is now dominated by grown men pretending to be hurt. Americans like toughness- hockey fights, football tackles, etc. Nothing masculine about pretending to be hurt. I just can’t watch.

This is interesting to me because I watched the USA game today (at work, on my second work computer, as I worked). And I was really put off by all of the dramatic falling over/ grabbing one's leg. Each time they looked so much in pain, so agitated, it was startling. They'd zoom in on them, writhing in pain, and it made me uncomfortable to see. I was like oh my gosh this man just broke his ankle I can't watch this. But it happened like once every 60 seconds and it happened to the same players over and over, when then they'd just jump right back up and play again. I was at first upset by how much the plays seemed to hurt them (unlike in football where they seem to pop right back up and act tough, which is its own problem I know). But then I was upset at how dramatic and fake they were clearly being. Like, get up and grow up and play soccer, stop rolling around trying to convince the ref you're dying.

The men are such emotional drama queens. It’s funny to watch their antics.

It's part of the fun! The drama is to try to draw the foul...and at times to try to avoid getting called the foul (like the player that brutally illegally tackles and then goes down and writhes around like he was the one that was fouled).

It's a Greek tragedy. Gotta love it!!

David Stern deserves so much credit for making flopping a technical foul and finable after the fact if the refs didn't catch it in game.

It’s like watching paint dry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure lots of people are upset that they didn't skip work yesterday to watch a thrilling 1-1 draw.

Now, I know that my simple American brain isn't able to capture the subtle nuance of each touch and the grace of the 'beautiful' game, even though I watched.

The ball went in the net twice. It almost went in the net maybe 3 other times. At least a dozen players fell to the ground to take a break while grabbing their leg or toe from slight contact. Just like every other soccer match that I've watched.

Riveting.

Yes, the flopping in yesterday's game was out of control, especially toward the end. I can admit that as a soccer fan.

Our family now faithfully watches the women's English Premier League - great soccer and far less flopping.

It's cultural. The English are stoic. Keep calm and carry on! Don't be a wanker, Mate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s terrible to watch - and not what Americans like to watch. Soccer is now dominated by grown men pretending to be hurt. Americans like toughness- hockey fights, football tackles, etc. Nothing masculine about pretending to be hurt. I just can’t watch.

This is interesting to me because I watched the USA game today (at work, on my second work computer, as I worked). And I was really put off by all of the dramatic falling over/ grabbing one's leg. Each time they looked so much in pain, so agitated, it was startling. They'd zoom in on them, writhing in pain, and it made me uncomfortable to see. I was like oh my gosh this man just broke his ankle I can't watch this. But it happened like once every 60 seconds and it happened to the same players over and over, when then they'd just jump right back up and play again. I was at first upset by how much the plays seemed to hurt them (unlike in football where they seem to pop right back up and act tough, which is its own problem I know). But then I was upset at how dramatic and fake they were clearly being. Like, get up and grow up and play soccer, stop rolling around trying to convince the ref you're dying.

The men are such emotional drama queens. It’s funny to watch their antics.

It's part of the fun! The drama is to try to draw the foul...and at times to try to avoid getting called the foul (like the player that brutally illegally tackles and then goes down and writhes around like he was the one that was fouled).

It's a Greek tragedy. Gotta love it!!

I just wish they never started with VAR. The games were so much more authentic and bad reffing was part of the drama. Just let the game go!! It's gotten like American Football with a review of every g-damn play.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s terrible to watch - and not what Americans like to watch. Soccer is now dominated by grown men pretending to be hurt. Americans like toughness- hockey fights, football tackles, etc. Nothing masculine about pretending to be hurt. I just can’t watch.

This is interesting to me because I watched the USA game today (at work, on my second work computer, as I worked). And I was really put off by all of the dramatic falling over/ grabbing one's leg. Each time they looked so much in pain, so agitated, it was startling. They'd zoom in on them, writhing in pain, and it made me uncomfortable to see. I was like oh my gosh this man just broke his ankle I can't watch this. But it happened like once every 60 seconds and it happened to the same players over and over, when then they'd just jump right back up and play again. I was at first upset by how much the plays seemed to hurt them (unlike in football where they seem to pop right back up and act tough, which is its own problem I know). But then I was upset at how dramatic and fake they were clearly being. Like, get up and grow up and play soccer, stop rolling around trying to convince the ref you're dying.

The men are such emotional drama queens. It’s funny to watch their antics.

It's part of the fun! The drama is to try to draw the foul...and at times to try to avoid getting called the foul (like the player that brutally illegally tackles and then goes down and writhes around like he was the one that was fouled).

It's a Greek tragedy. Gotta love it!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure lots of people are upset that they didn't skip work yesterday to watch a thrilling 1-1 draw.

Now, I know that my simple American brain isn't able to capture the subtle nuance of each touch and the grace of the 'beautiful' game, even though I watched.

The ball went in the net twice. It almost went in the net maybe 3 other times. At least a dozen players fell to the ground to take a break while grabbing their leg or toe from slight contact. Just like every other soccer match that I've watched.

Riveting.

Yes, the flopping in yesterday's game was out of control, especially toward the end. I can admit that as a soccer fan.

Our family now faithfully watches the women's English Premier League - great soccer and far less flopping.

I could do with less flopping as an avid EPL fan but the women's game is just so slow. The speed isn't there, the strength is different and the pace is entirely different from the men. I just cannot watch this - and yes, I have daughters who play and go to Spirit games to support them. I wish the women well but this is one sport where I don't enjoy the women's side as much as the men's (tennis, eg, is one where I enjoy both equally).

Have you tried watching the WSL? It's better than the NWSL.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure lots of people are upset that they didn't skip work yesterday to watch a thrilling 1-1 draw.

Now, I know that my simple American brain isn't able to capture the subtle nuance of each touch and the grace of the 'beautiful' game, even though I watched.

The ball went in the net twice. It almost went in the net maybe 3 other times. At least a dozen players fell to the ground to take a break while grabbing their leg or toe from slight contact. Just like every other soccer match that I've watched.

Riveting.

Yes, the flopping in yesterday's game was out of control, especially toward the end. I can admit that as a soccer fan.

Our family now faithfully watches the women's English Premier League - great soccer and far less flopping.

I could do with less flopping as an avid EPL fan but the women's game is just so slow. The speed isn't there, the strength is different and the pace is entirely different from the men. I just cannot watch this - and yes, I have daughters who play and go to Spirit games to support them. I wish the women well but this is one sport where I don't enjoy the women's side as much as the men's (tennis, eg, is one where I enjoy both equally).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s terrible to watch - and not what Americans like to watch. Soccer is now dominated by grown men pretending to be hurt. Americans like toughness- hockey fights, football tackles, etc. Nothing masculine about pretending to be hurt. I just can’t watch.

This is interesting to me because I watched the USA game today (at work, on my second work computer, as I worked). And I was really put off by all of the dramatic falling over/ grabbing one's leg. Each time they looked so much in pain, so agitated, it was startling. They'd zoom in on them, writhing in pain, and it made me uncomfortable to see. I was like oh my gosh this man just broke his ankle I can't watch this. But it happened like once every 60 seconds and it happened to the same players over and over, when then they'd just jump right back up and play again. I was at first upset by how much the plays seemed to hurt them (unlike in football where they seem to pop right back up and act tough, which is its own problem I know). But then I was upset at how dramatic and fake they were clearly being. Like, get up and grow up and play soccer, stop rolling around trying to convince the ref you're dying.

The men are such emotional drama queens. It’s funny to watch their antics.

What's the "World Cup"?

Anonymous wrote:Sure lots of people are upset that they didn't skip work yesterday to watch a thrilling 1-1 draw.

Now, I know that my simple American brain isn't able to capture the subtle nuance of each touch and the grace of the 'beautiful' game, even though I watched.

The ball went in the net twice. It almost went in the net maybe 3 other times. At least a dozen players fell to the ground to take a break while grabbing their leg or toe from slight contact. Just like every other soccer match that I've watched.

Riveting.

Yes, the flopping in yesterday's game was out of control, especially toward the end. I can admit that as a soccer fan.

Our family now faithfully watches the women's English Premier League - great soccer and far less flopping.