I don't think that was his argument, he was basically just saying that it wasn't his thing. That poster, song, is black, and while not all People Of Color are the same, the majority aren't into nationalism. He's right that the usmnt does not rep the country, nor do the symbols that are supposed to. More u.s. citisens burn the u.s. flag than any other nationality. People like trump supporters and Fox News have tainted nationalism, and many are turned off by it. I'd say that now, in 2016, nationalism is at an all time low, many just aren't into that or downright hate it. And that's fine, to be truly patriotic has nothing to do with waving a flag or cheering a team. True patriotism comes thru helping countrymen of all colors and cultures, and very few people do that. Unless Texas secedes, which yall been tryin for years @AlbertCamus You need to visit the Wall of Shame thread which catalogues everything you described. Very eye opening and comedic or sad, depending on your POV. As far as the OP, I'd say the fans he describes make up the minority of fans here. I'd rank the type, by number of people as... 1)Hispanic who follows Latin American leagues and NTs or Spain. 2)Fans who OP described. Anglo, Euro-centric. 3)Anglo who follows the local league. 4)Ethnic who follows the AFC, CAF, Brasil, 5)Other (Aussie, Kiwi, Pacific Island leagues, etc.) So it's fairly easy to avoid the fans OP mentions, tbh. They personally don't annoy me, the top Euro leagues are enjoyable, I understand their POV.
My buddies and I enjoy many leagues around the planet, some more than others. Than there are only a few of us that really follow as much as we can, both here in North America with the LMX and MLS and CCL, plus the Argie Primera and all of the Copa Sud n Copa Lib action. To as catch all UCL and Euro action possible. A very solid diet of footy each week. Um, I have noticed you try to be snarky but anyone that knows what they are talking about knows that Texas does not have to try to do anything. It was written into law back in the day that Texas could return to being it's own Republic whenever it wanted. Some stipulations apply however but that is for another thread. Whenever secession is mentioned by a politico here in Texas it is mostly to motivate others in our land to be a self sustaining State and look to down grade Federal assistance. Or just be tongue n cheek about the even notion of leaving the U.S. at 49 States plus debt ridden Puerto Rico.
I read somewhere that the right to succeed thing is a myth. Just checked that with a Dallas Morning News also a Constution Center articleS, I am correct. Not to get political but we have such a problem with made up news in this country. Interestingly, what Texas does have the right to do under its charter is split up to form five states.
So i'm supposed to care more about LA Galaxy games that mean very little than USNT games which have global (and cultural) implications . It doesn't matter if the national side plays much fewer games than MLS teams. They are far more important.
Sounds like you don't leave your bedroom or the MLS big soccer forums that often. I would say that the thing about American soccer fans that annoys me is anti-pro/rel zealots. But I've never actually met one outside of bigsoccer (that's where the 6% of them hang out i guess)
I don't understand the concept of "anti pro/rel zealots". How zealous can you be about something which doesn't exist here? Pro/rel had over a century to take root here. It never did. It's not a conspiracy.
To be fair (but why, you may ask?), to those who zealously support some notion, those opposing them always seem particularly zealous. Yet from the other point of view, the "anti-zealots" appear mostly to be "realistic". Zealotry - perception-wise - is asymmetrical, somewhat by nature.
I wanted to join because this is an interesting topic. I live in the South, have been here for about 8 years, as a Hispanic and as an atheist, living here is a challenge everyday, people are always talking about "the south rising and secession," it's pretty normal around locals, reality is, education is pretty bad not only in the south but all over this country, this past election was very challenging for us, a new type of nationalism has become "cool," and it went to a point where some of us didn't feel safe anymore because of all the prejudism Mr. Trump brought with him. Who knows what will happen in the future, Texas and California are different worlds in terms of culture and demographic, New York City can be counted as well. As the son of immigrants scaping the Salvadorian civil war (in which the US was involved) all I can tell you is that we just want to enjoy soccer peacefully, hoping we can do that in the future without Nationalistic "nuts," making it hard for us like it's been in the last 20 years.
I probably should've nipped this in the bud--let's keep the political talk to a minimum. No offense to anybody intended, nobody said anything out-of-line or "offensive" just trying to keep things neutral here.
I think the nip is whiskey though. happy new years, may dc united win the league and then the club world cup
Mine.. Pro/rel is now a legitimate argument. I support it, just not in MLS but you had a good point about pro/rel evangelists. This statement "MLS needs to adopt the FIFA calendar" is still made by Americans who wear winter coats when it's 59 degrees. I think Britishism's like boot, shirt, and squads are becoming more common. After all we use pitch and match. "Hipsters" is a stupid word but they have been a major factor in the success of MLS. They've also got taste. You rarely see lines at the Bud or Miller concessions at Yankee Stadium and the beer vendors have largely switched to Stella, Heineken (not that they're that much better) and Goose Island. NASL being called a "proper league". Ha! A significant number of Cosmos fans who are left are Latin American, hence the number of Spanish chants. Hempstead happens to be the drug capital of NYS with, with half the assaults in 2011 being gang related. Annoyances. British people who call MLS a "retirement league" because of half a dozen big signings over recent years, and "soccerball", because they still think it's the 1970's. At Yankee Stadium, the drum beat immediately before kick-off, which drowns out the crowd. I'm pleased though that they've almost completely silenced the official band. Again with NYC, the Man City color shirts and the Man City connection in general. I was glad to hear Man City players booed when they presented at a home match. The "everybody" chant, used at KC I think. Stan Kroenke. The perception of civilians that MLS stadiums are paid for by cities and states. The lack of progress on stadiums for NYC and NE. The standard of refereeing. Stewards (I can't remember what they are called here),
I don't like when purists get upset that I call it soccer, who cares. Hispanics call it Futbol when balonpie would be more correct but on one really cares. Honestly I find it more annoying that every other team is F.C, Sporting, United... Like the Pu** chant, not all traditions are worth keeping.
After witnessing a sh*t fight between two people on Facebook over tickets for away matches, I learned that some members of one of my club's supporters groups don't consider me a true supporter of the club because I'm not a member of a recognized supporters' group. As a season ticket holder from day one who stands in The Wall, is especially crude & vulgar, and technically predates this group, that kind of attitude annoys me.
Italians call it calcio. Why don't people get upset over that? This was the highlights show in the UK in the 1970s and 80s, While calling the world's most popular sport "soccer" is typically depicted as a symbol of American ignorance, the reason we don't call it "football" like the rest of the world is Britain's fault. The word "soccer" is a British invention that British people stopped using only about 30 years ago, according to a new paper by University of Michigan professor Stefan Szymanski. The word "soccer" comes from the use of the term "association football" in Britain and goes back 200 years. In the early 1800s, a bunch of British universities took "football" — a medieval game — and started playing their own versions of it, all under different rules. To standardize things across the country, these games were categorized under different organizations with different names. One variant of the game you played with your hands became "rugby football." Another variant came to be known as "association football" after the Football Association formed to promote the game in 1863, 15 years after the rules were made at Cambridge. "Rugby football" became "rugger" for short. "Association football" became "soccer." After these two sports spread across the Atlantic, Americans invented their own variant of the game that they simply called "football" in the early 1900s. "Association football" became "soccer" in America, and what was called "gridiron" in Britain became simply "football" in America. The interesting thing here is that Brits still used "soccer" regularly for a huge chunk of the 20th century. Between 1960 and 1980, "soccer" and "football" were "almost interchangeable" in Britain, Szymanski found. Then everything changed (via Szymanski): "Since 1980 the usage of the word 'soccer' has declined in British publications, and where it is used, it usually refers to an American context. This decline seems to be a reaction against the increased usage in the US which seems to be associated with the highpoint of the NASL around 1980." British people stopped saying "soccer" because of its American connotations. So, no, it's not wrong to call it "soccer" if you're American. http://www.businessinsider.com/why-americans-call-it-soccer-2014-6 There's nothing wrong with calling it football in the context of a conversation. Football is a catch all for several different sports, in fact I wish soccer fans would use it more often. "I went to the soccer match on Saturday, the home team played the best football I've seen in years."
Soccer-Football is how many newspapers in the early 1900's reported on the game. At times I will use it in a historical sense like they did back then.
I agree with you. The Yankees have a message board (not affiliated with the team) that has a rule that you can't tell someone that he or she is not a "real fan."