2014 World Cup

[TimeForGuinness]

As for Dempsey, it was a foul...but the leg kick is just a natural reaction to thinking you're falling backwards...Dempsey's face just got in the way. I doubt it was malicious.

It was actually kind of Deuce's fault. He brushed him back with an elbow in mid-air which threw Boye off his trajectory.

Yup...but who thinks of that in the moment? It was just physics, but still a foul I guess.

[go birds]

watching a play develop in soccer is >>>>>>>>>>>>

[Freed Roger]

Driving home I flipped thru the local sports stations to see if I could hear what happened in WC action today. All I heard was the quadrennial media kvetching about soccer. I really don't care who likes or doesn't like WC anymore -there's plenty of alternative forms of sports/entertainment niches for all. But in the sports media - if they don't like it and are incapable of covering WC without greater-than-thou-snark, then just don't cover it at all.

Anyway, that's my quadrennial [expletive] about the [expletive] about the WC.

WC ratings for TV are way up. -according to this the US game was higher than typical NFL game.
http://www.thewire.com/entertainment/20 ... me/372939/

[MrSaigon]

Before anyone gets banned:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xLn-X8YJRg

Also, I like the game a lot, but soccer has some problems. Flopping is a big one. The other big ones are time wasting and seemingly arbitrary stoppage time. I don't know if a running clock would help, players would probably still writhe around in fake pain just for a breather. But a new mechanism for stoppage time would probably help all the problems. What's cool is that flopping isn't hardly a part of the women's game.

I don't think soccer's problems make it any less watchable than any other sport, however. Basketball has inherent competitive balance issues. Baseball is as boring as church, and there's something not right about watching football players all killing themselves.

Debates about "Fergie time" have led to studies to ascertain whether it really exists and if so, whether Manchester United benefit from it more than other clubs. An OPTA study in 2009 found that in 48 games in which United were leading between 2006 and 2009, an average of 191.35 seconds of injury time was added, compared with 257.17 seconds when they were losing.[10] Another OPTA study which looked at games involving United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur found that all except Chelsea received more added time when they were losing than winning; on average United received 79 seconds more stoppage time in matches they were losing, more than any of the other five. However, the conclusion was that "there is no statistical proof that Fergie time applies specifically to Man Utd. But the statistics do show a bias towards big teams."[1]

[Radbird]

Just because I don't watch enough soccer to understand all the nuances doesn't mean it's boring to me. Frustrating, yes. And I haven't been able to catch much of the WC so far (busy time at work with the end of the quarter approaching). The kid loves it and tries to educate me but until I can start watching on a regular basis it's not going to click.

I remember meeting up with our UK buddy Seagulls when he was in Denver last year. He was so passionate about football - and a self-taught baseball fan. I should be able to do the opposite.

When we were in London in November 2007 and walking through the Chelsea area, we ran into a mob scene outside a bar full of red and white checkered fans obviously celebrating. Turned out to be the hangout for Croatian football fans. Don't know what was going on - European Cup? (I'm not sure that even exists). Cool experience, though.

[pioneer98]

Reasons why I think Americans don't like soccer:
1) Americans didn't invent soccer. We invented basketball, baseball and football. It's not a coincidence that these are our top 3 sports. These 3 sports had a grass roots start and spread here. Soccer and hockey are imports from other countries.
2) I think some Americans see how crazy other countries get about soccer, and at some level realize they are missing out. Some people react by trying to understand it and others react by trying to tear it down.

[slide_into_first]

I react by trying to pick up hot Brazilian chicks

[Fat Strat]

Also, I like the game a lot, but soccer has some problems. Flopping is a big one. The other big ones are time wasting and seemingly arbitrary stoppage time. I don't know if a running clock would help, players would probably still writhe around in fake pain just for a breather. But a new mechanism for stoppage time would probably help all the problems. What's cool is that flopping isn't hardly a part of the women's game.

I don't think soccer's problems make it any less watchable than any other sport, however. Basketball has inherent competitive balance issues. Baseball is as boring as church, and there's something not right about watching football players all killing themselves.

The action in your typical football game comes in 5 second bursts followed by minutes of guys huddling up and touching each other's butts.

As you say, there are problems in any sport. A lot of you have already made good points that I agree with completely. I also think one of soccer's main problem is that Americans can't stand not being the best at something. Most of the whining and superiority about soccer comes from people over 35. We were terrible at soccer during their formative years, and they can't accept a sport where America is not clearly better than a country like Ghana or even, say, Mexico or the Netherlands.

It's all changing though. My generation (I'm 35) all grew up playing soccer. Not surprising that ratings are way up. Give it another 20 years and the World Cup games will have ratings that rival the Olympics or the Super Bowl.

[mtcefc]

Having some American friends one big thing seems to be not understanding how a game can end in a draw (or a tie). This could happen and actually be good for USA when they play Portugal, obviously a win would be best but being 3 points in front of Portugal with a game against (I presume) a Germany team who will rest players after already qualifying after beating Ghana may well see USA into the knockout stages where there will be no draws (eventually).

What goes on in the 90 minutes (or 120 if there is extra time) is what keeps me going back. You never know when there will be a great game from out of nowhere. I went away with friends on Friday and the Spain v Holland game started slowly to the point where I said to my friend it was dull, then Holland kicked on and spanked the Spanish. The reaction of Spain should be good to watch.

With any sport it CAN be boring, but every now and again, you get a classic, like baseball I assume.

[Jocephus]

i have to admit i got into the us/ghana game but that was mainly because

1)had to work till 7
2)had gametracker on as it was slow
3) was following along in this thread.

what im trying to say is...i love you guys.