Hey, Thought you guys might be interested in the amount of guys who are Mets fans who mentioned the Metrostars as a team they root for after I brought them up in this thread here: http://forums.espn.go.com/espn/thread?forumID=425&start=0&threadID=2184156&sortBy=null I was expecting a lot of "soccer sucks" and "MLS is terrible" but it looks like the average fan is at least somewhat fond and aware of MLS. I posted under the name "Satanjones" halfway through the first page.
Please lets not make this into a "my sport is better" thread. All I am saying is that I assumed the average sports fan (i.e. baseball, football, basketball) would think that soccer is low-scoring and thus "boring."
I think it's more surprising to see literacy from Mets fans, but hey, any goodwill thrown MLS's way is OK by me...
lol wasn't trying to. I'm both a baseball and a Met fan. Been my whole life. The main reason yanks don' like soccer is because they think the sport is boring
I've been watching baseball recently. I am not a fan, but I played as a kid, etc. I'm trying to find out why baseball fans chide soccer for lack of action, when it's clear that any action in baseball comes in widely separated spurts. I spent a lot of time watching 1. the pitcher hike his pants, shake off pitches from his catcher, and generally try to psych out the batter. 2. Watch the player who had been relieved mope in dispair on the bench while the broadcast staff talked about his ups and downs, etc. In other words, things seemed pretty slow going out there. I think when baseball fans talk about no action in soccer, they simply mean it doesn't look like baseball; it doesn't look like something familiar. Obviously, when the score is close in the later innings, and players stack up on the bases, and a penant is a stake and you actually care about one of the teams, it's got to be a thrill unique to that sport. I should go out to the ball park, kick back with hotdogs and beer and just soak up the atmosphere. I haven't done that since I was a kid -- and then only twice, and I was way too young for the beer.
I love going to baseball games. nothing quite like it because of the laid back atmosphere. Hell, hanging out in Wrigleyville while a game was going on was a blast
Every time I head up to a Cardinals game with some friends (once every year or two), I am entertained by the ballpark experience for about 4 innings, but the lack of any action on the field has me ready to leave by the 5th inning. You literally pay to sit there and essentially watch grass grow - and people scratch themselves. Of course, I still haven't been up since I turned 21.... maybe that will make things more entertaining. I'd probably enjoy baseball a lot more if the season was 25-40 games long, so each game felt like it had some meaning. Even though I cheer for the Cards, it seems like a W or L is utterly meaningless when there are 161 other games. Laid back atmosphere is nice, but a little intensity wouldn't hurt... I'll be back up in September to see the Cards vs. the Mets - and see how quantities of alcohol affects the baseball experience
Quite the opposite of a college football board I used to be on. Of course it got so off topic on there that I wouldn't want to base such stuff on crazy nutbars. But I think soccer has a hard time in the South thanks to college football. I don't really know what the correlation is but some people think college football is the ONLY thing you can talk about. Then you get to the slightly less nutty who will discuss MLB and the NFL. Then you get to what I'd call "mainstream" where everybody can like everything. I bet now that the league is showing minimal profits in places (Columbus is floating near break even, LA has profited some, Dallas thinks they'll get into the black next year) the league and sport will be taken more seriously. More TV exposure can't hurt, not to mention home-grown talent like Landon.
I agree, and I feel left out sometimes because as a transplatn, I never had a "college team". But you can change that... and also we will ibe up at the Brewhouse tonight to watch DC take on the Metros The Brewhouse You welcome to watch with us... that way you can help us covert people to soccer fans one viewer at a time
Crap. I'm just reading this at 11:00 p.m.! I'll try to come to another game though. I have no clue where the Brewhouse is but I can figger it out.
I enjoy attending baseball games, but soccer is definitely my sport. There is a tactical, skillful kind of art that soccer entels. Baseball games are a wonderful atmosphere, but as far as TV value, soccer catches my eyes much easier.
I gotta say Falcons and Dawgs games are excellent with 70,000 and 90,000 fans (respectively) at a game being noisy. But it's really fun to attend a sold-out soccer game. I was at the 1996 Olympics and saw the Women's gold medal game. It was nutz! On a side note, I will never complain about the Falcons playing in a Dome. Does anybody enjoy 90+ degree weather and sitting with 70,000 people for 4 hours? I can deal with it but I much prefer 72 degrees and shady.
Go to DC sub-fourms to the Dispora in "Non-Locals" all the info is there. If you need anymore info use my e-mail addy there or PM me.
Not sure how this looks underneath dogfried's post, but in my case and I think that of many sports fans' we tend to like many sports. Yes, most of us can point at one and say 'that's my favourite' but we can get into a lot of different sports. Me? Soccer's my favourite, but I run competitively and have played and watched and importantly enjoyed more sports than I can be bothered to list. So it doesn't surprise me at all to hear baseball fans' like soccer. I'm pleased to hear it though.
Agreed. I like a ton of sports... if anything if something is on and its competative, I'll watch it. What always gets me laughing is that each sport has something unqiue to it which makes its interesting... you can go into the same mentailty for one sport as another. You have to like it for what it is, not what it isn't. But we can't be all egalitarian about it, can we?
one of the main compalints I've heard about soccer from people is that a team can play well, and dominate the whole game, and still lose. With the possible exception of hockey, this doesn't happen in other american sports I'm from NC, where college bball is king (and I love it) and it is difficult for me to get my friends to go from a game where a good play results in 2 or 3 points to one where a good play that doesn't produce is just aesthetically appreciated
And I can understand that, but it sometimes takes people years to figure out something, and appriciating a sport is no different. As long as those who are interested keep showing up, they'll get it in time. I have a buddy who only reason to exist was for the Dawgs. Now years later, still interested in the team, he now is the pround owner of a DC jersey. It took time, but it works.
Baseball is still first and foremost in my heart, and always will be, but it is much, much slower than soccer. American football, however, is still the slowest major sport there is in the US - its mindnumbingly boring. At least in baseball, the ball is in play 90% of the time. In football, its got to be less than 5% of the time. Soccer? 99%. That's what I love about it.
Excellent discussion. Myself, I definitely didn't grow up watching soccer, but I grew to love it, beginning with the 1990 World Cup. I think that the more the soccer community understands that it needs, needs the general fan, the better all will be. I think we can all agree, we LOVE SPORT. And most of us are broad based (myself, Any Missouri Sport team, particularly the Tigers) and aren't on the extremes of those who only love soccer and hate all others or love all others and hate soccer (I'll never understand the adament hate that some have). Anyway, its great when others acknowledge that each sport/soccer included have their moments of grandeur.