Why do you love soccer?

[olsonic1]

I'm a novice and I'm doing soccer research for a project at work. I am completely blown away by the level of devotion and love that i am seeing. I recognize it as similar to my feelings about music (I am a composer in real life) but it seems to go even farther and deeper. I love it. So here are my questions.
1. Why the passion at this level?
2. How does soccer become/affect your life?
3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?
4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.


Wow, I'm completely inspired by what I'm seeing.
Thanks, Matt

[AFCA]

Originally posted by olsonic1

1. Why the passion at this level?
2. How does soccer become/affect your life?
3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?
4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.


Wow, I'm completely inspired by what I'm seeing.
Thanks, Matt

1. Besides eat, sleep, drink, love (not sure about that one), sex and a roof over your head football is the most important thing in the civilized world (with the notable exceptions of the USA, Canada and Australia and New Zealand)
Football is more than a game you watch. It's something that adds to the quality of life and for some a culture on it's own.
2. See 1.
3. Say what hippy boy?
4. It would be a mix of several dance-styles, from old skool to trance to hardcore and back. At least in Holland it would :D

[AvidSinger]

Originally posted by AFCA
1. Besides eat, sleep, drink, love (not sure about that one), sex and a roof over your head football is the most important thing in the civilized worldHow DARE you suggest that eating and sleeping are more important than football? ;)

[comme]

1. Tied in to 2. Football is the most irrational game. I support Spurs, I live in Cardiff (about 200 miles away), no-one else in the family is from Tottenham (or even London) or supports the club. I have no links at all, but since then the greatest and worst experiences of my life have been through football.
2. I can't remember if I played football and then watched it or the other way round, it was when I was about 6/7. But 2 main factors influenced my love of the game. The first was the fact that I was extremely good at the game when I started playing. The second was England's success in the 1990 WC. Both these factors made football take a hold of me, one it has never released.
3. The only book I would recommend is Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby. It covers one man's love of the game throughout his life, and what made him love the game.
4. If football was a song it would be the most diverse sound you have ever heard, but one that you can't stop listening to.

[MikeyPez]

Q: 1. Why the passion at this level?
A: Well its just so dierse and encompassing that its like a drug. It engulfs you with pleasure, pain and other emmotions.

Q: 2. How does soccer become/affect your life?
A: Soccer is a sport that is not very popular or well-taken here in the US and after the WC94 I became re-introduced to the game that i was forced to play but liked.

Q: 3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?
A: I haven't a clue.

Q: 4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.
A: It be all music from the world samba from brazil to English drinking songs. It be Techno/House, Rock, Jazz, Classical...etc. Thats how diverse the game is. I could be watching a game and hear flight of the bumblebee or Metallica.

[Bryan Gividen]

4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.

Honestly, the best way to answer this question is to look at all the different chants, songs, rhythms and other noises made during the World Cup. Each country's supporters has different ways of cheering on their country. From African rhythms, to Brazilian beats, to English singing, Football's music is displayed.

[Morpheus1271]

1. Why the passion at this level?

I think that it is different depending on where you are from. Let's take two extremes. European soccer has a long standing tradition (like baseball in the states) of culture, history, and rivalries. Successes and failures that help mold a particular teams fan culture. There are places where fans are fans simply because they reside in that city or town. (i.e. although i don't watch baseball i consider myself a yankees fan, why? because they're MY team. they are so engrained in the culture and history of NY that it's just natural). On the other extreme would be those fans (such as the current MLS fan base) who support their league and their team out of curiousity, anticipation, and excitement for what the future can bring. Taking part in the journey so to speak of being recognized on the world stage.

2. How does soccer become/affect your life?

Mainly for the reasons above.

3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, along with all other Tolkien works :) (a great example of passion)

4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like?

A long, flowing compilation of sounds from throughout the world. Representing the depth and diversity that soccer fans across the globe embrace.

[Femfa]

1. I think that, as an American, the passion for soccer is different. In other countries, the passion is part of the culture, it's so engulfing, that a few react against it and don't care for it. My passion as a U.S. fan is partly that here, I am different for liking soccer, I'm not following any pack. So, in that sense, the U.S. soccer fan, as a minority, is a more "pure" fan in my mind because it's not part of the herd mentality. We have to search and hunt out soccer here - link pages to sites around the world, stay up late, get up early, learn to program the VCR or invest in Tivo, follow Internet radio, pay for satellite or cable packages and fight to get our games on at local sports bars. We're a hardened bunch. Some are fighting the wars of soccer conversion - I personally don't care. I love the game, that's all that matters.

2. The game keeps me reasonably fit, amuses me to no end, and develops my carpal tunnel syndrome (clicking on too many soccer sites.)

3. "Fever Pitch" is good. As an American fan, the "Our Way" DVD is really fun.

4. Depending on the score, I like Queen's "Under Pressure" or, of course, when we finally win it all, "We are the Champions".

[aloisius]

Most people who love it, played when they were kids. They played because it’s most fun to play. Why?
1. It’s simple to understand
2. Everyone gets the chance to have the ball. That makes them feel a part of the group.
3. Different people have the chance too be good at it. You don’t have to be very tall or short or very strong
4. You are moving all the time .

[Freedom for Scotland]

Ahh okay, my first post (after weeks of lurking - sorry about the user name, the first half dozen i tried were rejected so i opted for something emotive!)

Anyway, first of all when I stumbled across this website I had little more than contempt for American 'soccer' fan's. Just about every asumption and prejudice that I had made about you guys was inacurate, and I have been overwhelmed by your knowledge, interest, passion and devotion to a game that has struggles for recognition in the U.S. I have nothing but admiration for your efforts in trying to raise the proffile of a game that hasnt the tradition or the institutions that we have in Europe and South America. I have to say I think the commercial names for your teams sort of make the MLS less credible over here, but thats a characteristic of American sports 'franchises' but i would be interested to know why teams have the names that they have like the KC 'Wizards' and the Columbus 'Crew', do these have any significance to the regions or are they just added on to make the club sound cool?

Now to answer the thead; Football is not a game, it's a religion. I am not a fan, but a devotee. OK, on a simple level its a good fun game thats easy to understand and easy to participate in that can be enjoyed by a wide range of people. But it transcends all of that and appeals to something very primative in humans. Somebody mentioned it being similar to baseball in the U.S., but i cant see that because of the lack of local rivalrys and national teams. If you support a crap team in division 3, then ultimatly your life is worse than someone who supports a great team, and the devotion is so great one cannot simply change aligences. A few clubs in scotland have gone bust in the last couple of years, Clydebank and Airdrie went last year, and the fans of those clubs are now without a team, they may show a passing interest in other favourite clubs, but the sense of commitment is lost. History plays a big role forging devotion, I support Aberdeen, who have done nothing of note in the last 15 years, yet in 1983 we won the European Cup Winners Cup beating Real Madrid in the final. Alex Ferguson was the manager and we had Leighton, Miller, McLeish and Strachan in the side. We were the best team in Scotland, and when we won the Super Cup, the best team in Europe. Now Europe may have forgotton this by now, but Aberdeen F.C. are built on this history and it overshaddows a now rather unsuccessfull SPL team that struggles to attract more than 15000 to Pittodrie.

In my opinion national teams are the most important part of football. They represent national identity, and particularly for small countries they are the most important national representatives that the country has. To watch Scotland beat England at Wenbley in 1999 was much more than a football match, it was us beating the 'big' nation in the UK, it was irrelevent because england beat us by more goals at Hampden, but grudge matchs supercede everything, whether its revenge for wars (like England v Germany or Argentina) or something else, national teams play a vital role in maintaining national identity.

Finally i love football for the banter, for the songs and the chants and the quirks, and listening to English commentators when they are losing to Macedonia or Slovakia. One of my favourite chants was a random one i heard years ago when Mark Viduka played for Celtic, it was something like " with a bag of sweets and a cheeky smile, mark viduka's a f$cking paedophile" absolute classic.

the devotion that people have for football around the world in inexplical, it;s a whole lot more than a game.


Man that was long, disjointed and random post.

cheers guys for letting me express my love.

[AvidSinger]

Originally posted by Freedom for Scotland
i would be interested to know why teams have the names that they have like the KC 'Wizards' and the Columbus 'Crew', do these have any significance to the regions or are they just added on to make the club sound cool?Just about every team in US sports has an official nickname. It's just the tradition here.

It started, as most sports traditions here have, with baseball. In the 19th century, teams did not have official nicknames. The media, however, started nicknaming teams in much the same fashion that English football teams are today (Spurs, Red Devils, Gunners, etc.). The nicknmaes started to stick and teams began officially adopting them.

As other sports developed professional leagues, they also began using team nicknames. The reasons behind particular nicknames are as varied as the teams themselves.

Admittedly, some of the MLS nicknames border on the absurd, but the league wouldn't have the right "feel" to an American audience if the teams were named "New England FC" instead of "New England Revolution."

[Fulminante]

1. Why the passion at this level?

I am from Venezuela, and this country has been always a boring Baseball country, and we didn´t have so much interesting futbol teams and players years ago... but everytime a World Cup arrived... things changed, TV showed all the games, all the news, and so people had the chance to see everything about futbol at that time, and everybody get crazy because futbol is passion.
The first time I attended to a futbol game (Thank god it was the times of Maradona, so you can imagine what I lived)...I get caught forever. Futbol makes you an addict and makes you feel love for a team or players that people break in tears when they lose. Tears and pain are part of this sport.

2. How does soccer become/affect your life?

Makes you love your team and hate your rivals.

3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?

Well, the answer is that you have to live it to understand, and so you will describe it by your own words.

4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.

There are many, including a lot or artist who dedicate music to futbol, but still I think one song catch and describe the whole feeling of futbol, specially the latin american futbol and its stars (Including the greatest ever): "La Copa de la vida", original version, of Ricky Martin.

But also like the rock and dance songs dedicated to this game-sport that has a touch of art.

[Roel]

Soccer is a World Party! You can make friends almost anywhere but putting your best foot forward. A smile helps, too.

As for music, try playing soccer when there is a drum circle nearby. This is no problem to find one in the Santa Cruz area, but one time in San Diego we played a Jamaican club team, complete with dredlocks, ganja and rhythm section.

[christopher d]

Originally posted by olsonic1

1. Why the passion at this level?
2. How does soccer become/affect your life?
3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?
4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like. Great questions! I hope your research turns out well.

1) Because goals are set up and scored in a matter of seconds, and because noone knows when these seconds are going to come. Because, unless it's a blowout, your team is in the game until the closing seconds. Because the passion of the players on the field makes its way into the stands and TV sets.

2) Transplanted every other outlet for my sports jones. Seasons are endless, news is constant.

3) Read this board. For all of the silliness, folks are genuinely interested in the game. Then watch some games. Pick a team and follow it.

4) In 1956, Paul Gonsalves blew 27 straight choruses of "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue". Imagine if it was Charlie Parker. That would be a start. For a classical music analogy, try having someone play all 48 sections of The Art of the Fugue, only pausing between books. That would be soccer at its best. For a "bad soccer" analogy, any of Phillip Glass's works would do ;)

[BadReligion]

1. Because Football is everything. It ties into everything. Politics, Society, blah blah I can't really say, I'm American, and my support of the game is pretty much minimal, due to the fact that I rarely ever get to see my favorite club play..

2. It doesn't affect my life at all. I wish it did, but really, I just go online in the morning to see whats going on. Coverage is crap here, and I doubt it will change. Fox Sports World is ok except if you support an Italian club, which I do.

3. I don't know. That sounded pretty gay though.

4. If football was a song, it would be a fast techno song, like one of those happy hardcore songs. And you'd be on ecstacy while listening to it..

[KingKewell]

part of my love for the game stems from the fact that you get to primarily use your feet. too many games in america are based solely around the hands...its a completely different challenge.

[rymannryan]

Originally posted by olsonic1

1. Why the passion at this level?

Its hard to explain. There are about a million different reasons. One, what other sport does everyone in the world love so much? Two, soccer (football to some) is the most dynamic in my opinion. Anything can happen at any point in the game, and since there is less scoring in comparison to a sport like basketball, when someone does score, its all the more special, particularly when it involves a lot of skill or comes at a crucial moment. Three, so many clubs have a very old history and tradition, and the rivalries in soccer are like no other. Four, and this is probably the biggest one I can think of and it was actually cited by the thread-starter, the alarming passion and love of the sport that exists in soccer fans. There are people very passionate about other sports, but soccer fans really are one of a kind. These are just a few reasons right off the top of my head. Being a fan of soccer becomes an addiction really. Even if I wanted to dislike the sport, I don't think I could.

2. How does soccer become/affect your life?

I think with a lot of people, they like soccer so much because one of their first experiences with it was so special. The first full game I saw, MLS Cup '97 when DC United won at their home stadium, I pulled for them because they were the home team. Then, seeing them win in front of about 57,000 fans packed into a sold out stadium made me fall in love with that team. Then I went to see a game there, and that basically finalised it.

As for how it always affects me, well, its on my mind all the time.


3. What should I read and think about to tap into the love I'm seeing?

The book Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby is an amazing, yet true book about him being an Arsenal fan. you should definitely pick up a copy of this as it will enlighten you on how so many people feel about the game.


4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.


Don't know that I can help you on that one.

[johno]

quote:
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4. If soccer was a song or music, what would it be like.

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It is a song it is music... when you see a midfielder dance past two defenders, swing a cross that gets headed down by a big striker into the path of a player comming down into the box who volley's it past the keeper, when you play soccer you feel it... the best way to describe football is a virus... it only needs an opportunity and before long you are in trouble deep deep trouble...

[Hannover9_96]

Bill Shankly:

"Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

[ROM2]

Originally posted by KingKewell
part of my love for the game stems from the fact that you get to primarily use your feet. .

That's exactly wot makes football unique so the game is fluid, graceful and beautiful to watch and play...at its best.