Wow, a threat spanning 4 years and finally someone gives a coherent answer. It all revolves around fear. Its the same reason why anyone lashes out over anything, be it religion, politics, you name it. People identify with sports like a way of life. It becomes a part of them in the same way that being a Christian becomes a part of someone. Anything that threatens its outright dominance is seen as a threat, and mus be defended. The reason why soccer has been a target is for the very simple reason that the sport is growing in leaps and bounds, and plenty of people are very uncomfortable about that. The good news is that more and more people have and are growing up with soccer being acceptable, largely due to availability on TV, video games, internet, MLS and so on. The vitriol will dissipate in the future, but it it'll still be a while before its eradicated. People can talk about how much nonsense that argument is all they like, but thats exactly what happens. Its amazing more people dont see how obvious this is.
So bullies fear the nerds they pick on? People don't hate this sport out of fear, they hate it because its fans are usually dorky (in this country) and whiny, and because of the diving and low scoring. And the sport's feminine movements. All the whiny fans here who say "You hate us cos you're jealous! You fear us!", just make it worse, and are dead wrong. It's natural to stomp on those who are weaker. That's why you guys get villified. Not because of fear. lol
good try. not entirely incorrect. but i still disagree. we fear what we don't understand. we mock what we don't understand. most american sports fans(american football,baseball,nascar, etc etc) simply don't get it(football). what is really funny is that most of the guys i play football with like american football and baseball and racing... oh well, it's like trying to get your kids to eat broccoli .. it really is good if you would just give it a chance.
We don't fear everything we don't understand. Many don't understand particle physics, it doesn't mean they fear it. You're right, there are more footy fans who like the main sports, than main-sports fans who like football. Usually, no one will laugh at someone who says he likes the main sports. But if someone says they like football, they will get laughed at. And deservedly so: How could you not mock that? Do you think those guys are feared? lol. Broccoli is a good example. People hate it because they tasted it, and it grossed them out. They did try it. But if you steam it, put some butter or hot sauce on it, then yum yum. Same with football. They hate it because they find it lame. But if you let the players run with the ball, and tackle each other, then yum yum, it'll become #1.
Well it looks a lot better when more than 5 people respond to shouting guy. Yeah I fully understand basketball... Like any sport, its not rocket science... Yet I still think its garbage! Its not always about not understanding or trying a sport. Sometimes people simply don't like stuff.
Um, lot's of religious nuts do fear physics and other forms of science, because it threatens they're religious beliefs. You can find tons of religious forums on the internet where people mock science. lolwut? It's ok to mock people because they like something which isn't mainstream? Sorry I'm not following, this sounds like 5th grade bully logic. I grew up, I do things I enjoy. I don't give a phuck whether someone else thinks it's worthy or not. You're the type of dude who sits in the corner of the bar talking chit about people who are dancing because you're too bitter and worried about what others think that you're afraid to do it yourself. Not everything is about being feared or intimidating...Seriously this is like 14 year old wannabe gangster logic. Grow up kid! u wot mate?
Pointless anecdote here. This has nothing to do with the fact that most people do not fear what they don't understand. You are 100% wrong. I don't give a shit what anyone thinks of me. I do what I want. You are talking out of your ass. And yeah, it is ok to mock footy fans like you who spazz out over nothing. Get a life.
Not pointless at all. Evidence that illustrates a point. People do fear things they don't understand, not everyone but some definitely do, amusing you would even argue it. What do you think racism is, any form of prejudice? Why do you think some people dislike when new ethnic groups move into their communities? Who's spazzing out? Quit being so defensive.
The sport as played here doesn't really have any feminine movements. You don't see American guys walking around with the hands hanging limp at the wrist. It doesn't mean that the UEFA guys who do this are gay, but it's something that we in the States understand really early is not to be done. Also, not as many players cry when they lose big (relevant to MLS big) matches as in Europe. Real Madrid and Barcelona, for all their talent, have about ten players between them who actually walk out onto the pitch with every hair slicked into place like they're going to the theatre or something. I don't know what the hell that's about, but you won't see as much of it here. Now, what you DO get at the grassroots level in the States, unfortnately, is a bunch of crunchy former or future Honor Society guys who probably aren't big enough or fast enough for gridiron or tall enough for basketball. Guys who couldn't come out and play until they finished their AP physics homework. Most of the guys who played on my HS's team (state semis my junior year) wouldn't have been picked first for sandlot anything in my neighborhood. It doesn't help that women and girls play the sport using the same rules and equipment- this is not the case with gridiron, basketball, baseball or hockey. It also doesn't help that the average professional in three of those four sports is bigger than the average footy pro. It's possible that what they're basing the stereotype on are UEFA nations, but if they're doing that, it means they're watching even as they bash. I'd call it equal parts derision and fear.
Landon is very effeminate, along with many other usa footballers. Interviews after league games here are cringeworthy. Perhaps the Euros are more fem, but not by much. I'd say it's 99% derision. 1% fear, if that. The establishment really isn't worried that football might take over. That's a myth perpetuated by posters here.
You're trolling and I'm trying to be serious. Take off the Mexico glasses and you'll see what I'm talking about. Landon's clearly not someone who'd be great at another major American sport, but I don't think he's actually gay. Are you kidding? Apparently you never saw a Barca-Madrid match. There's more mousse out on the pitch than sweat. If an NFL player not named Tom Brady went to work with his hair perfect, he'd be laughed out of the stadium, and rightly so. I want to blame Messi, but it's the Portuguese and monkeychanters who lead the gel pack. What their problem is, I don't know, but the English and Germans (whose cultures probably do involve more gay shit than the Ports or 'chanters) don't do that. Never mind all that. It's fear alright- I've heard it from coaches at the schools I taught at. "Can't get fast backup players for DB and WR positions because they're all playing soccer now..." You're looking at pro ball when the fear is that their kids will not hold the NFL/NBA/MLB/NHL as highly as a fan. No one's thinking that their brat will do anything professionally.
Because it's european, foreign stuff. They used to hate it every 4 years when the world cup came around, now it's more of a year round thing because soccer is growing and the haters know it. To turn it around: If baseball (foreign to europeans) was growing in Europe more europeans would probably hate it as a weird foreign sport moving into their culture, as it is baseball doesnt even exist in Europe and nobody talks about it. It isnt even worth "hating".
...And this is the whole point....soccer is a game of SKILL....these "American" sports are a game of size, speed, athleticism, strength,fitness.....I recently conducted some high school soccer tryouts at the school where I coach....I had a passing game, a dribbling game, a juggling game, a shooting game and a 'short-sided' game....5 'stations' and the kids rotated through the stations. The American football and Lax coaches watched and afterwards told me "that was interesting"....I asked why so...and they said.."you did everything with a ball"...if that was a 'football/lax try-out it would have been a 40yd dash, a zig-zag run for time, dragging a sled up and down the field, verticle leap...whatever"...I laugh my ass off every time I see the RGlll gatorade commercial.....where an actual American football (the object of the game) is rarely seen....it's all about his "athleticism"....soccer is a game of SKILL.
It isn't about liking one sport more than another, since lots of (gridiron) football fans don't like baseball, but you rarely hear about their "hating" it. Not many Americans have the slightest interest hockey, but few if any of them actively "hate" it. Most people who hate a sport have reasons other than the qualities of the sport itself for doing so. In my experience, the vast majority of those who proclaim their hatred of soccer don't know the first thing about it, and certainly don't know enough to rationally conclude that they "hate" it. The reasons that they give are clearly just excuses for holding the view that they do, and fall well short of a convincing argument. IMO, a great deal of the visceral dislike for the sport among those Americans who clearly are not familiar with it derive from soccer being the undisputed most popular sport in the world. There is a large streak of defensiveness of American exceptionalism, resentment that the Number One Anything In The World is something that the USA had nothing to do with creating. Many Americans just reflexively insist that everything in America is The Best In The World, just because it's from America, which they think is the same thing as patriotism. So, on some level below that of conscious thought, soccer being the number-one sport in the world is an insult to America, and they just won't stand for it. The same sort of disdain for other international sports that are not popular in the US, rugby and cricket for example, do not evoke the same sort of reaction as soccer, even though most Americans don't have the first idea about the sports themselves. The most common reaction by far in this country to cricket isn't hatred at all, but a sort of benign amusement at it's alleged incomprehensibility. Rugby is seen as little more than unbridled brutality, and so is accepted because its players are respected for their toughness. Soccer alone, the World's Most Popular Sport, has outright disdain, if not hatred, as the accepted default setting among Americans. This is eroding, and is nowhere nearly as ubiquitous as it was just a few years ago, but there is still a stubborn streak among a shrinking minority of Americans.
This x 1000. For all the flack that soccer gets from the NASCAR demographic for being "gay", those guys sure do have a preoccupation with the male physique and being a "beast" (or whatever). You hear it all the time regarding guys like Lebron. Anyways, basketball is probably about equal parts athleticism and skill. But American football, you can pick the game up extremely late and make the NFL if you have elite athleticism. You hear about guys in the NFL fairly often that never even played until late high school.
Your one exception totally kills your whole argument! Tom Brady is probably the most liked player in the NFL.
I want to say something about soccer. If you objectively look at a soccer game it should be admitted that the majority of the game, if not 80% of it, can be seen as boring. Having said that, it doesn't mean that if you saw it live it won't be enjoyable. The anticipation for exciting plays are there and they don't fit into any precise schedule. It also helps that there is a routing interest for at least one of the teams.
Maybe "boring" isn't the right word. There is no "exciting all the time" in every game. Having said that, the "boring" times in games make the "exciting" times (i.e. goals, shots on goal) special.
....and in the 'average' American football game the ball is actually in play about 12 minutes.....the fact that the 'contest' lasts over three hours is great ....for the tv people.....the absolute ONLY way to watch that sport is to TiVo it....
Actually, most people DO fear what they don't understand. It's perfectly normal. Fear is genetically coded into our dna. It's a survival mechanism. It's only the degree of fear that varies amongst people.