All-inclusive "Media disparagement of soccer, real or imagined" thread

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

No, actually I comprehend it quite well.

The point was that particular lede wasn't necessary. The rest of the article was complimentary and would have spoken for itself, but certain writers and columnists always have to have that "I know everyone hates soccer and must be dragged screaming to it, but..." kind of line in them that reinforces the negative.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Exactly. It's time to stop spoon-feeding the mainstream with the "hear me out" routine. It's not 1990 anymore.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

There's still some belittling. Just watched Around the Horn for the first time in a while. They showed Bingham's long range goal for San Jose against WBA. Plaschke basically said that he should quit and become a punter for the Niners or Raiders. Yes, Plaschke represents the old guard. He's still on a popular sports show, though. At least they showed the highlight as well as commentary on US-France women.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

I'm heard Champions League Final talk on Fox Sports Radio during the later shifts. Granted, a majority of the callers on that segment turned about to be British.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Correct! I've heard several people on the local sports talk and at my school say they don't like soccer but like the World Cup because It's USA vs. Team X and I can root for the U.S. and it's simpler to follow than a regular soccer league season.

As for the media, It's turned for the better quite recently: Jim Rome doesn't bash it anymore, Colin Cowherd is now a fan, SC shows highlights regularly with hosts who don't mock it(I'm looking at you Jon Anderson)

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

and on ESPY awards: best play of year 3 of them were soccer plays, 2 football plays.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Dammit...I brought that up on the day OF the awards...and everyone was like "hey that troll is trying to say something...ignore him"

Hassli's goal beat out The Dunk by the Great Blake Griffin. Wambach's goal won play of the year...while I could understand why Rooney's goal would not have made it. It is an American awards show after all.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Not all of them.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Good thing you cleared that up, because obviously everyone thought he was claiming that every single soccer-playing human being in America under age 18 is watching soccer on TV, following it online, and wearing replica jerseys. Without your important clarification, we'd all have been gravely misled.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Regardless of what talking heads say, the amount of the game on TV speaks for itself.

(Reposted from another thread):

I'll have to assume most of the folks posting here are significantly younger than me. If I can be an old guy for a second....

Allow me to assume you aren't old enough to have been an adult during the 1994 World Cup. (Forgive me if I'm wrong)

In 1994 I got hooked by the soccer bug by watching the Brazilians arrive a few days before their match in my home town of Detroit and party thier asses off for 3 straight days.....(the match took place in Pontiac, actually)

Except for the World Cup, US soccer matches were NOT on TV....ESPN would rather show Irish road bowling than soccer, and besides the Olympics and perhaps a college game covered by your local UHF tv channel (remember them?) there was no soccer to be had...

Fast forward 17 years, and you've got a 1st division league that's been running for 15 years and is continuing to expand, the cream of the crop of International club teams making it a point to come to the US for sold out friendlies every year, more EPL matches on regular TV in the US than in England, 2-4 Bundesliga matches per week, La Liga, Serie 1, Ligue 1, many Central American leagues on FSC, and if you live in the right part of the country, a few FMF matches too...

ESPN carries MLS, the UEFA Champions League, and the affiliated networks aired EVERY match of the last two World Cups, not just the USA matches.....

Regardless of what Jim Rome says, soccer isn't going away any time soon.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Fox Sports 570 Southern California. Some D-bag in Bakersfield calls in and says: "no one watches soccer in the US because it's a sloppy game with no precision"... I had to laugh at that.

his first mistake was that he lived in Bakersfield...

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Oh Lord, stuck in a lodi um yum...dadadadaaaadatladaaaa. (I just drive by those places going North/South...seem the same to me...god I'm sick of that drive)

More EPL games on "normal tv" here than in England? I'm assuming normal tv means cable with options then?

I just do internet and ESPN+2, which means I almost can't watch soccer on tv. A few mls games and others. Univision helps.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Yes regular cable vs. pay per view.

Both the EPL in England and the Bundesliga in Germany are extra pay per view packages. You can't even watch Stuttgart matches in Stuttgart without buying the pay per view packages....

I do fear that some day the American sports world will go this way.....

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Television stations will not show a baseball team's home game in the home market in America. So it has always been that way...at least L.A.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Well then LA sucks.

Because I've lived in Detroit, Chicago, and Miami and watched NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL home games on plain old tv. (Though Detroit was subject to the occasional NFL "blackout")

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

or a ticket to the stadium. Bundesliga tickets are cheap. or go to a pub.

while PPV is annoying, I'd still take it over the ad shredded American sports any day.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

That's the thing. There's still plenty of ads on PPV soccer over here in Stuttgart. I try to catch Celtic matches whenever I can at the local Irish/Scot expat pub, and there's plenty of ads between halves and matches too.

Oh, and I agree with you re: ticket prices in the Bundesliga. I'm a VfB Stuttgart season ticket holder. (Section 37b, Row 19) A season ticket costs me 189 Euro ($246.60) for 17 home games. This breaks down to about $15.50 dollars per match, and train fare to and from the stadium is included in the price. (Just show your ticket, and your ride is free). Some nations ticket prices are a joke in comparison.

Two seasons ago I went to UEFA Champions League group stage matches (Stuttgart v. Rangers, Stuttgart v. Sevilla) in the "ultra" section for 25 euro a ticket. Less money than a DC United game.

For 50 euro (about 70 bucks) I can get a front row ticket behind either goal, a train ticket to and from the stadium (included in ticket price), 2 wursts, 2 beers and still have a few Euro in my pocket when I'm done. Will 50 Euro even get you in the door at an EPL match?

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/ranking/lastranking/gender=m/fullranking.html

Alright, the big THIRTY!

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

I went to a Borussia Dortmund match last year and I got a great seat for $35! And the (tasty) German beer was only like 3 Euros. Talking about doing it right!

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

I remember a lovely article in 2009 by an English fan who became a Dortmund supporter because travelling to Germany from England watching a match, and returning home that evening was cheaper and more fun (actual stands, not mandatory seats! beer!) than attending a Fulham match. If Fulham was too expensive, the mind reels at what other London clubs like Arsenal or Chelsea charge for a ticket....

http://soccerlens.com/why-the-bundesliga-beats-the-premier-leagues-house-of-cards/23169/

I recommend ALL U.S. fans who travel to Germany try to attend a match somewhere! (Bayern is the only place you probably WON'T be able to get in the door due to a 100% sellout, but 1860 Munich plays at the Allianz too.) Hell, if anyone reading this is ever anywhere near Stuttgart, PM me, and I'll walk you through the whole process in person. You'll only need about 50 bucks to have an awesome time! (a ticket, and a belly full of wurst and beer!)

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Ditto that!

The Sudtribune (South Terrace) in Dortmund is only 14 Euros (10 Euros for kids). We had seats in the southeast corner and it was a sight to see. Next time I go to a match I want to watch from there, sans lady friends. I think the real barrier to bringing back the terraces to England is finances. Why would the big clubs like Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, etc. want to sell cheap standing tickets when they can easily fill their stadium charging an arm and a leg? I suppose they wouldn't "have" to add terraces, but the fans would probably demand it if it were an option.

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

An interesting read on a Dallas radio personality trying soccer for a year and coming to a final conclusion about the sport. Basically the guy's name is Craig Miller who works for the most popular sports station here in Dallas (The Ticket) and never liked soccer and watched last year's World Cup and was seriously underwhelmed but after tons of e-mail, decided to give soccer one last try by picking a team and following them for a full year. I wont give away his final decision regarding soccer...

Blog:

http://juniormiller1310.blogspot.com/2011/07/experiment-is-over.html

Audio:

http://www.theunticket.com/craig-junior-spank-miller-tells-his-soccer-journey/

Re: Is soccer still commonly belittled or ridiculed by the media in the US or has it changed?

Nice.

Though I often wonder how many folks who pick up the sport "pick" a team.

I was lucky, I moved to a town that had a team, made friends with a couple season ticket holders, and that was that...