Jed2007
07 Sep 2007, 01:23 PM
Let me start by saying I absolutely love my country and was proud to serve in the US Marines for 5 rewarding years. With the kick off of our American pigskin football I need to use the word soccer before I start talking about Peyton Manning and LaDanian Tomlinson. So, all non-Americans, sorry for using the word "soccer."
Why is it that America sucks when it comes to sport? We watch year in and year out overpaid basketball, football (pigskin), and baseball players driving their Rolls with an entourage of about 50 strong that would probably explode from glare if you put a spotlight on them. America is completely taken over with bling, highlight reels, and interviews. We have analysts for our sports analysts.
I watched a MLS game which was the most bizarre display of "lets pretend we're English footballers and actually touch the ball the right way." It ended up looking like Tiger Woods trying to pole dance. Gross. The players did plenty of one touches through mid field, and then a lob to the far corner of the field, but no one is there. The fluidity just isn't there, and is apparent when you see some insightful play but no players at the other end. That's why I have loved English football for so long. Not only are there brilliant plays but there is actually a teammate waiting to finish.
It goes without saying that our pool of players gets soaked through our mainstream sports. Any high school (grades 9th-12th) or college/university will tell you they recruit soccer players. They are athletic, agile, enduring, and coordinated. So that doesn't leave much for prospect as the avg MLS player is paid about $17,000 a year. And why should anyone aspire to be a professional soccer player in America when the money is in baseball, pigskin football, and basketball?
America is slowly getting turned off by all of the current professional sports due to the decay of morals from these players. Imagine a player from Chelsea getting arrested for beating up his wife, or 5 players being busted for large amounts of narcotics, and most recently, owning and running an underground dogfighting ring. What would be your response to those players continuing to wear your shirts?
You know what America's response is to all of these incidents (because every one of those has happened here)? The response is, "when will he be playing again?" Can you believe it? The judge usually issues some fines to be paid, the player reads some scrap from his lawyer "apologizing to da comunity fo all mah actionz, and do not wesh to be judged." And that's that, see you at practice. If that isn't bad enough, we have movies and commercials that glorify these criminals, kids emulating their speech and off the field antics.
When I see interviews with the Chelsea side never once do I suspect some underlying agenda. I most certainly see some clues that would lead me to believe he's not happy there or that a move is to be made, but I never hear about how this player has over $9000 a month in alimony because they have 9 kids with 9 different women. We have about 12 of those types, and they are all adored for their talent.
I suppose the only reason to explain the disinterest for soccer in this country is the scoring. There is no appreciation for a 0-0 result, no matter the level of skill difference. I hear "there's just no action in soccer" all day on our sports channels. Since David Beckham's arrival soccer is given daily attention now. Even though it's all controversial talk and speculation on if he will make a difference or not, we're at least covering it. All of these analysts believe that if soccer had more games resulting in 5-4 that Americans would watch. I find that to be evidence that only a small percentage of Americans know what it takes to play soccer. Every year soccer is claimed the #1 most physical demanding sport. Not a guess, a fact. Followed up by #2 motocross racing (believe it) and #3 hockey.
Football and basketball don't even make the top ten. Granted, it takes a special type of athlete to not get killed in 1 play of NFL football, but how many of those players can chase a soccer ball for one half of a game? The truth is many of their hearts would explode.
My father even told me that soccer goals were not as fun to watch as the drama that occurs in the final seconds of our sports. Fair argument considering that we have unheard of comebacks and are very entertaining to see how the team will respond, whereas in soccer I find that a 3-0 lead ensures you could probably leave by the 70th minute. I think the fairer argument would be that comebacks and drama like that is RARER in soccer, which would trigger our attention span to not expect it, hence we lose interest...in other sports, you will see fans to the end to see if a comeback will happen.
However, my father changed his mind about how exciting soccer can be after showing him youtube.com clips of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka, and Lampard swinging in goals from way out. He was blown away by goals from Yeboah, Giuli, Bergkamp, the list goes on. Afterwards he said, "that is truly more amazing than any freak basketball shot I've ever seen." I know dad, now shut up and enjoy it already!
This turned out to be way longer than I had anticipated, and if you actually made it through the whole thing I say thank you for listening. I'm surrounded by a materialized nation of free capitol and personal gain, and I want an organization that is beloved and faithful for Americans to regain their sense of sportsmanship and class. I have found it in Chelsea 10 years ago and I have never worn another club's shirt.
Why is it that America sucks when it comes to sport? We watch year in and year out overpaid basketball, football (pigskin), and baseball players driving their Rolls with an entourage of about 50 strong that would probably explode from glare if you put a spotlight on them. America is completely taken over with bling, highlight reels, and interviews. We have analysts for our sports analysts.
I watched a MLS game which was the most bizarre display of "lets pretend we're English footballers and actually touch the ball the right way." It ended up looking like Tiger Woods trying to pole dance. Gross. The players did plenty of one touches through mid field, and then a lob to the far corner of the field, but no one is there. The fluidity just isn't there, and is apparent when you see some insightful play but no players at the other end. That's why I have loved English football for so long. Not only are there brilliant plays but there is actually a teammate waiting to finish.
It goes without saying that our pool of players gets soaked through our mainstream sports. Any high school (grades 9th-12th) or college/university will tell you they recruit soccer players. They are athletic, agile, enduring, and coordinated. So that doesn't leave much for prospect as the avg MLS player is paid about $17,000 a year. And why should anyone aspire to be a professional soccer player in America when the money is in baseball, pigskin football, and basketball?
America is slowly getting turned off by all of the current professional sports due to the decay of morals from these players. Imagine a player from Chelsea getting arrested for beating up his wife, or 5 players being busted for large amounts of narcotics, and most recently, owning and running an underground dogfighting ring. What would be your response to those players continuing to wear your shirts?
You know what America's response is to all of these incidents (because every one of those has happened here)? The response is, "when will he be playing again?" Can you believe it? The judge usually issues some fines to be paid, the player reads some scrap from his lawyer "apologizing to da comunity fo all mah actionz, and do not wesh to be judged." And that's that, see you at practice. If that isn't bad enough, we have movies and commercials that glorify these criminals, kids emulating their speech and off the field antics.
When I see interviews with the Chelsea side never once do I suspect some underlying agenda. I most certainly see some clues that would lead me to believe he's not happy there or that a move is to be made, but I never hear about how this player has over $9000 a month in alimony because they have 9 kids with 9 different women. We have about 12 of those types, and they are all adored for their talent.
I suppose the only reason to explain the disinterest for soccer in this country is the scoring. There is no appreciation for a 0-0 result, no matter the level of skill difference. I hear "there's just no action in soccer" all day on our sports channels. Since David Beckham's arrival soccer is given daily attention now. Even though it's all controversial talk and speculation on if he will make a difference or not, we're at least covering it. All of these analysts believe that if soccer had more games resulting in 5-4 that Americans would watch. I find that to be evidence that only a small percentage of Americans know what it takes to play soccer. Every year soccer is claimed the #1 most physical demanding sport. Not a guess, a fact. Followed up by #2 motocross racing (believe it) and #3 hockey.
Football and basketball don't even make the top ten. Granted, it takes a special type of athlete to not get killed in 1 play of NFL football, but how many of those players can chase a soccer ball for one half of a game? The truth is many of their hearts would explode.
My father even told me that soccer goals were not as fun to watch as the drama that occurs in the final seconds of our sports. Fair argument considering that we have unheard of comebacks and are very entertaining to see how the team will respond, whereas in soccer I find that a 3-0 lead ensures you could probably leave by the 70th minute. I think the fairer argument would be that comebacks and drama like that is RARER in soccer, which would trigger our attention span to not expect it, hence we lose interest...in other sports, you will see fans to the end to see if a comeback will happen.
However, my father changed his mind about how exciting soccer can be after showing him youtube.com clips of Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Kaka, and Lampard swinging in goals from way out. He was blown away by goals from Yeboah, Giuli, Bergkamp, the list goes on. Afterwards he said, "that is truly more amazing than any freak basketball shot I've ever seen." I know dad, now shut up and enjoy it already!
This turned out to be way longer than I had anticipated, and if you actually made it through the whole thing I say thank you for listening. I'm surrounded by a materialized nation of free capitol and personal gain, and I want an organization that is beloved and faithful for Americans to regain their sense of sportsmanship and class. I have found it in Chelsea 10 years ago and I have never worn another club's shirt.