The title says it all. Just a simple question. All my friends are pretty big sports fans and go crazy for the WC Games and they usually tune into the Hex games (I'm not sure they even know there is a qualifying round before the Hex). But I find myself always having to dumb myself down when they want to attempt to talk soccer. This board as a whole knows most of the big name prospects, the starting XL, the U20's, etc. It's EXTREMELY frustrating talking to my USMNT friends who follow the team in big games only when they have no idea who Fabian Johnson or Terrence Boyd is. Was just wondering if anyone or if everyone has the same problem!
Yes, but I don't consider it a problem. Complaining about it as if it is a problem just makes you seem like some lame hipster surprised I've never heard of your favorite band. Some people don't like soccer so much that they end up on a message board to discuss it, and I don't hold it against them.
Yeah. I have a few friends who will watch major tournaments, but aren't necessarily fans. When I get excited about a win in a friendly or by the U23 team, I'm met with blank stares. It's frustrating, sure, but you can't get too worked up. Just invite them to a watching party or to the local official American Outlaws (or whichever supporters group) bar, and offer to buy them a beer. That's what I do!
In 2002 I got up really damn early to watch the USA beat Portugal alone on my living room sofa. Of course casual fans can irk me, but at the same time I'm really thankful for the casual fans I know now (and I know a lot of them now). It's a damn sight better than just 10 years ago.
I usually got irked when, after the U23's epic failure, the casual USMNT fans I knew had a "sky is falling" mentality.....I still have to keep reminding them that they're U23 players and (largely) are not part of the senior team (exceptions made for Boyd, sometimes Shea, and sometimes Adu).
Yeah, it's definitely frustrating talking to people that don't know much about the game. But it's getting better. I used to have a lot of friends that would cite Brazil and the Netherlands as their "favorite team", but I hear a lot less of that now. Over the last couple years, I've done my best to "educate" my friends. They might not be on a message board like me, but I send them highlights, clips, and invite them to join me to watch all kinds of stuff - from U23 qualis to a random European game to catch a sight potential NT player. Since my friends are into sports in general, it hasn't been hard to get them to watch, and they've become much more familiar with what's going on for US Soccer. Even my girlfriend is a big fan now - I was surprised yesterday when she called me at work to remind me to DVR the Roma game as she wanted to see Michael Bradley on his new club! So while it can be annoying or frustrating, it's also an opportunity to give your passion to others. We all want to see soccer become a mainstream sport in this country, so I think of it as doing my small part !
Haha, that is a great analogy. You could substitute "favorite band" with "favorite microbrew IPA" as well. Honestly, some people don't have the time to follow certain things as closely as others. So basically you 1) can suck it up and talk to them and don't rain on their enjoyment of the game at whatever level it may be. 2) can act like a snob toward them and as though their discussion is not worth your time. That sort of reaction can be pretty effective in turning them off to the sport and the sport's other fans and lowering their opinion of you. 3) can avoid the subject with them if it really bothers you that badly. Honestly, it does sort of bother me that it seems quite a percentage of my fellow American soccer fans are pretentious about it. At least my friends who love baseball don't act better than me or like I'm not worth the time if I don't know the batting average of every player currently playing and the top 50 prospects in the minors. Lets not stifle a great sport in this country with our attitudes here.
At the last US vs Chile friendly in LA I met an old couple decked out in USA gear who drove all the way down from northern Cal and said they'd been to far more games than I. I was kinda shocked that I had to explain to them who Brek Shea and Juan Agudelo were. Generally I find it to be this way at most USA Men's games or MLS games though. It doesn't irk me or anything, it just makes me think about how far soccer really has to go in this country. I pretty much hate the NBA and watched all of 0 games this year but I could easily name a few of the players in our olympic starting line-up.
What irks me is when I do meet someone who's played soccer or is a casual soccer fan with kids who play they pull the 'US sucks at soccer and European soccer is so much better' I get upset and ask what European soccer? We don't suck. They they mention every top European side and we suck compared to them. I say 'We don't suck' then they mention only our losses. What do I do?
Maybe I'm in the minority but I believe your frustration should be towards USA soccer and not fans like myself. I am a very casual fan but I like soccer. I try to watch the matches when they're on tv but there's not enough "filling" between matches to keep me interested and the product isn't that good. I watch, shop and breathe sports every day and I have never seen a USA men's soccer commercial, jersey for sale in the mall, any articles or blogs about USA men's soccer in my local paper or in any paper unless it's the World Cup. I have never been targeted by USA soccer to attend any matches or support our team overseas. Put more articles and ads out there. Tell me about our players. Get me excited and not just every 4 years. I tried to listen to the USA men's soccer match against Brazil on XM radio and it was nowhere to be found. I had to watch the match against Guatamala on my laptop in a 1-1 tie. I watched a sloppy match against some tiny island in the pouring rain in front of what looked like 5,000 fans. Put a better product on the field. We're ranked 36th in the world. Algeria and Bosnia are better than us?? At least we're better than Mali, Egypt and Gabon (but not by much according to the rankings) I will say that this site is awesome and is where I get my soccer information. All of you do an awesome job of informing and keeping the energy up for USA soccer. The Federation or whomever runs USA soccer could learn a thing or two from you guys.
This frustrates me too. I love watching Man U and Rangers play, but I'm never going to cheer for either over FCD. If quality of play is such a bother for them, one thing they can do individually is take their wife and kids and go out and support their local team. Besides, quality of play is still better in MLS than in a lot of countries. Sure, not EPL or Bundesliga, but it is frustrating to be told that the quality of your team and even your league aren't good enough for someone.
I don't care. The only people I talk about soccer with are on forums like this one. All my buddies watch the World Cup and that's about it when it comes to soccer. Most know Donovan and maybe a couple know who Dempsey is but I know that and don't get to in depth about soccer with them.
As a fan of a sport that is still very much in a growth phase in this country, I see myself as more of an ambassador of the sport. So I never EVER in a million years get frustrated with a casual fan who is showing an interest, but might not spend half their day on BigSoccer. Acting like a know it all dickbag to someone showing a genuine interest in the sport isn't a good way to create new fans. I used to bartend back in the day. And during the World Cup my bar would fill up with casual fans who enjoyed watching the games at my bar because I took the time to actually explain the game to them in a way they could understand and explain who the players were. That said, when I do encounter someone who is a self proclaimed soccer aficionado flapping their gums who in reality don't know shit about anything, I have no problem correcting them in a not so nice way. (as a lot of people here on BigSoccer have come to discover first hand). Get new friends. Or come to the reality that compared to the elite club teams or teams like Spain and Brazil, we aren't even close. Its O.K. to admit that there are teams and players that are a different level than the USMNT. But you can try and bring up wins like our win over Spain in the Confed Cup, and how we went up 2-0 on Brazil in the final. Point to the win over Italy. Your friends are probably too stupid to know that was clearly an experimental Italian side that we played. Most BigSoccer posters are too stupid to admit that was an experimental Italian side. Point out that the US won their group in 2010 and in 2002 advanced to the quarterfinals, completely outplaying Germany, only to lose when a blatant handball in the box wasn't called. ( I f*cking hate Frings). Admit that the US isn't a world power, but they are really close to getting over the hump. And if your friends still don't want to give credit where credit is due.... WHO GIVES A SHIT?
GVPATS77, I'm not being a dickbag to anyone or anything lol, I just think its frustrating talking to people about my passion when they have no idea who Jermaine Jones is lol. I'm blessed to have one other buddy who loves hockey as well, just as much as me, and in high school, we used to say to ourselves, how many people in this high school know who _____ (insert random player name from a team not named the Devils/Rangers) As for trying to grow the game, I'd say I'm an ambassador myself, I hold viewing parties for all the major games for my local friends and we get 30 kids to cram into my family room and watch it on my big screen lol.
Euro-philes bother me more than people who know little about the US team. Especially ones who dismiss US teams (or non Euro teams) simply because they are not Barca or Chelsea. People who know little about the US team are empty vessels that I fill with knowledge.
I find casual fans who have an unassuming curiosity for the game much more tolerable than supposedly "hardcore" American fans who combat their inferiority complexes by devoting themselves to every silly trend occurring in the European game. Klinsmann is the pied piper for that sort of USMNT fan.
I don't understand why it frustrates you. You kind of sound like a Star Trek geek who gets frustrated when someone doesn't know the name of the actor who played the captain in Deep Space 9. Don't get frustrated. Obviously if the person is a casual fan, there is an interest in the sport. Use it as an opportunity to shed some knowledge. You might create someone who will get more interested and take it upon themselves to get more informed. I don't expect everyone to share the same passions as me. If I want to talk about soccer I will talk about the game with friends of mine who are into the sport. Thankfully, I worked in the industry and I have a ton of friends that know a shitload about the game. And pretty much all of the guys I grew up playing with all still watch games on a regular basis. Get new friends I guess.