Kass hits it right on the head with this column. I like football, but watching the pros is almost painful. 60 minutes of play stretched over 3 hours? There are about 120 plays, each lasting about 6 seconds, which gives us 12 minutes of total action. Yes, its comparing sprints to a distance run (soccer). But combined with tv-time-outs and player specialization, it has turned the sport into a made-for-tv farce. Do you realize that players <i>used to</i> play offense and defense? Replace a player, and he wasn't allowed in for the quarter. Every farkin' guy in soccer can play offense and defense ... but some football player does the same, and the announcers wet their pants in disbelief. Don't get me started on how D-backs don't know how to tackle. Pathetic.
0-0 End to end non-stop action right to the end...there was about 20 Fire Fans at Features bar and grill making alot of noise throughout the match...it was pretty awesome...you shoulda been there.
I understand what you're saying...a 0-0 scoreline is just another over-used way the haters and the ignorant dismiss the most beloved sport in the world...they say, "it's low scoring"...well guess what America...the reaction to a basket is, "yea."...the reaction to a touchdown is, "yes!"...the reaction to a homerun is, "you can put it on the board"...but the reaction to a goal is an entire stadium jumping up screaming, dancing, singing, ect. What I'm saying is...a goal in soccer (football) actually means something...more than any other sport. But, if you just like high scoring, please, watch Cricket.
Not to mention a full Globe, fans watching in locations all over the city, and over 30 screaming their heads off from the rafters of RFK stadium.
The Globe wasn't full. Sorry to have to say so, but it wasn't. Tables were full. How many locations all over the city had fans, I can't say. I'd be surprised if there were more than 30-40 bars who even had it on, based on my past experience. The Kass article itself is a big deal, and makes nonsense of Karlheinz's post. The tide is shifting. But it hasn't gone very far yet. I think our next MLS Cup squad will get a lot of attention, in a way that even the 1998 team didn't. I think we're starting to get on the radar screen, and now we need some success to help us consolidate our position.
This should be on the front page of the SI magazine! What you just said is just so true and so perfect. F***ing Jim Rome (whatta f@g). I can't really understang how a human being can be that jealous from a game, not over a cheating wife or girl friend but jealous of a sport. I'm really, really starting to think that Jim's wife or girl friend got screwed few times by soccer players and she's into soccer players since then and that made him hate the whole game just because of few players. I know I went off topic a bit but I can't not remember this scum when I hear about soccer haters in America.
A 0-0 soccer game is the same as a 1-0 baseball game or a 7-3 football game. Boring. Except for a few afficiandos of any of those sports. Low scoring means boring to the average fan. A steady diet of 0-0 soccer games would be the death knell of the sport in this country. That's why the other traditional American sports tweaked their rules when scoring decreased and interest declined. You have to give the people an entertaining product - otherwise you end up preaching to the choir and miss the unwashed masses!
you know what my reply to this is? who the ******** is Jim Rome? seriously, when you said this I thought you meant JIM ROSE from ABC7.I was thinking,this guy is crazy.. Jim Rose has always been supportive of soccer and the Fire. Of course to took me a minute but I did put 2 and 2 together and realized who you were speaking of.Now, Im a pretty serious sports fan.I follow Baseball, Football and Soccer pretty hardcore.and to me Jim Rome is C level sports orientated celebrity.No body_not even the biggest Football heads care what he has to say.
You know what we need? Scandals! Let's just have our players take steroids, get in trouble with the law, fight dogs, get suspended from the league, and steal other teams plays. Cause you know thats what makes a real sport, just how dirty the players are willing to get.
How about players flopping around on the ground like they got shot if an opposing player even comes close to them to draw a foul? Or maybe killing a coach or a referee like in South America? Or maybe just the occasional riot in the stands with the subsequent stampede that kills spectators? When are they going to put the fences around the field at TP to protect the players like they do oversees. That's when we'll know that the beautiful game has really arrived in this country!
You're trying to tell people in Chicago that a pitchers' duel or a defensively-oriented football game is a bad thing? Oh dear.