Nobody cares if they watch soccer. Responding to stuff like this in numbers does show readers (and editors) how people who think like this are not typical, average Americans, or that this is not what the nation as a whole thinks, no matter how much idiots like this pretend different. I'm not out to make morons watch soccer, I'm out to keep them from writing any more stupid things about it.
AP story in out local daily. I think this is more of a case of stealth bashing: Not coming out and saying soccer sucks, but covering contempt in a veneer of seemingly thoughtful critique. My reply at the bottom of the comments. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...ticleid=20100627_235_B6_RSEBRS715651&allcom=1
This patronizing line from the piece -- "the Americans spent the last several days reveling in their newfound celebrity" -- is so funny. The writer apparently thinks these guys can be "celebrities" only if they've had a few days of American headlines. I've seen a lot of similar assertions since last week. It's almost as if these pundits don't realize that Donovan, Dempsey, Howard, etc., are already well-known figures around the world. These guys already know what fame is like. It's not like they're unaccustomed to seeing their names in newspapers or something.
yeah - i heard similar sentiments just today on Around The Horn or PTI. This is the ESPN Disconnect, why I think there's still a gap to bridge. The typical soccer people know that Landon and Tim are well loved by Everton faithful and Dempsey (and McBride) at Fulham, but no one else knows. They know the World Cup and a bit of MLS and that's it. Unless there's a riot.
This is almost poetry. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBkbj_S3etY"]YouTube- Soccer - America's Path To Socialism[/ame]
Pretty funny. Hate to spoil it, for those who may not know, he's a professional comic. Something just seemed to slick about the production of this video. Anyway, it wasn't hard to figure out after that.
That will actually be a great video to have handy next time you encounter a particularly annoying soccer basher. Just point them toward that clip and say, "Ahh, so you're like this guy, then..."
Pathogen, Sorry, but he reminded me too much of "Larry the Cable-Guy" in his early days. While it's funny, I just thought something was up a couple of minutes in. I just can't stand comedians who think they are being original when this has been done before. It would have been funnier coming from "The Guy from Boston."
You're just the third person that has pointed out that it's a joke as if I and anyone else with half a brain couldn't figure that out.
You have to admit, there are enough incredibly stupid people around to account for at least some doubt. I'll bet that you could hear the same things, said in earnest, at any teabagger meeting.
Ya can't have a basher thread without the red bereted one chiming in with his opinion: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions...en_the_1977_new_york_cosmos_could_make_u.html
*sigh* and this is why Miss Teen South Carolina is not an aberration - even among supposed learned journalists like such as [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WALIARHHLII"]maps[/ame]
Pathogen, I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence. I didn't realize others told you it was a joke. I am sick of having to defend soccer as a sport. A friend told me that soccer isn't a sport, yet baseball has a "science" to it. I nearly dropped my teeth when I heard that. Every sport has some element of science behind it, i.e., physics, motion, energy, etc. I am tired of ugly Americans saying that it is not a sport because you don't use your hands and it is hard to score. That is what makes it a great sport. It should be a challenge to score and not use your hands. What a bunch of retards.
No one had to tell me it was a joke, is my point. It was obviously a joke even if it stretches the limits of Poe's Law.
I've always like Bill Simons, even before he liked soccer. But reading this is inspiring. America is part of the world football landscape, and people here like it.
I really am getting tired of the "this wont change soccer's standing in America" arguement. I mean these people claim they are "constantly being told" that X event is going to cause a breakout of soccer. Are people really claiming that? its such a dumb strawman arguement.
Bingo! You've touched on one of my biggest pet peeves. It's, like, completely made up. The worst is when they take this strawman and then distort the reality on top of it: "They said Pele/Beckham/MLS/1994 would make soccer big in America, but they didn't." Um, actually, they did. All those things pushed the sport along in this country, and without them we'd still be back in 1975, when soccer truly WAS invisible in the United States.
My local daily is running World Cup scores and schedules underneath bashing pieces from AP wire columns, not even bothering to write their own. Geez guys, nice effort. http://www.tulsaworld.com/sportsext...ctid=29&articleid=20100701_29_B6_Imdone620400 Of course, it's telling that in a couple of decades, it's gone from "Americans Don't Watch Soccer" to "Americans Can Stop Watching Soccer"
The problem with those 2 shows kind of a double edged sword. The good is that they have spent alot of time discussing world cup/soccer and have done so in a somewhat positive light. They have attempted (for non soccer people) to actually discuss it in a semi-serious fashion, and do a little homework. The bad is that when they open their mouths and start using terms like "our population X times bigger than Ghana, and we have so many kids playing soccer, we should therefore win" or "this team is FIFA ranked 10, the other is 15, so 10 should OBVIOUSLY win" or my personal favorite "we made qtr finals b/4, anything less is a failure." It becomes an almost be careful what you wish for scenario regarding mainstream coverage... However, I will gladly take it, warts and all.
What pisses me off about that article is that it somehow managed to make its way into a huge number of newspapers. My local paper in CT, the NY post, your paper in Utah, and other internet sights. How that hack gets that much exposure is annoying.