People have been saying this sport is going to be huge for 30 some odd years now at it is still a niche sport so no I don't think thats the reason.
Maybe if we change the rules so that each goal counts for 7 points it will seem like more scoring to them.
As a sports fan of most sports "MLS in particular", elitist crap is kind of ironic. I've noticed certain people take pleasure shitting on soccer like it is in fashion to do so - If you read between the lines...some american broadcasters call it a sport played by wimps and sissies who can't play real manly sports like baseball and football. Gee, can u say elitist crap?
Just following ESPN you get the feeling soccer is making some steps towards US relevance. They're promoting and showing the entire Euro tournament. They've gone from showing just the CL final a couple years ago to covering qualifying games this year. That said it is still completely a niche sport with off peak hours for a lot of the big games but it is making steps. I don't see it ever becoming truly mainstream just for the fact that the US sports calender is already self efficient and the want, investment, and history just isn't there for soccer. Not to mention the diving, acting, and embellishing hurdle that must be jumped by our red blooded red stated brethren.
Yeah Zed, because no one ever flops in basketball either, nope I've never seen that happen. As for soccer, it is a niche sport now, and it won't change quickly, but it is growing and will continue to grow. More and more teens are staying with the game as they grow up, television ratings are getting better and better, the market is growing and will continue to grow.
Flopping never results in the only goal of the game. Plus when people dive its because they don't have a scoring opportunity when you flop you risk it not being called and giving your opponent a clear route to the basket. Besides you never see Manu rolling around like a little girl after a flop.
Soccer is pretty exclusionary itself. With American Football, especially at the youth level, you can be in pretty bad shape, or just a, comparatively, big non-athletic (agility) kid and they will find a spot for you, ie. offensive line. That's not a slam on Football, I said comparatively. Baseball, you don't have to be as agile as a Soccer player nor do you have the need for the quick recovery (Soccer endurance) of a Soccer player. When I was coaching the really little ones, the ones that left to baseball were the ones who couldn't hack the running and moving. The slower pace of playing baseball was more suited to them. As you continue moving up in youth Soccer, every position demands a well coordinated, athletic person. The heavy, bigger, slower ones get weeded out. I agree, that height doesn't make a difference as in basketball, but many taller basketball players would have a hard time playing Soccer as many shorter Soccer players would in Basketball. So, I don't agree with the thought that Soccer is a game anyone can play. Looking at all the people who talk about their high school football days, ( and I mean looking at them in an athletic way) I think American football is more inclusive than Soccer is. Soccer is a very demanding sport and one that many (Americans especially due to our eating habits) cannot be disciplined enough to play at the higher levels.
Big Keeper you raise some great points. I think at a young age Soccer is more inclusive becuase there are enough players out there so the bigs, uncoordinateds and slows get to lumber around and get some touches and still feel like the've made a contribution. And, like you said as they get older and the competition begins to sharpen, everyone must eventually be fit fast and smart. Conversely, Football my be tough for the young ones but as they age, like you said, a role position is more attainable as they develop size and strength. I think I see proof in your theory with my son. He is 11, short and weighs about 68 lbs. He was always a smart player and a hustler and was successful at Baseball, Basketball and Soccer. Now that his friends are beginning to outgrow him in a big way, he is beginning to struggle in Baseball (hitting) and Basketball (height) like he never did before. He is still a good player and a contributor in those, but his soccer playing is taking off like a rocket! Of course this Soccer dad couldn't be more pleased. His small size combined with his athleticism is actually working to his advantage in Soccer. For the first time he his talking about dropping other sports for Soccer only
I don't think it's a matter of being "against" soccer as much as it is being "for" the sports that have more of a tradition here. Back in the 90's I went through a period when I felt like some of the folks out there, but the older I get the more I realize it's perfectly natural for me as a native born American to be more into baseball, football, etc. We don't expect Italy to adopt baseball as it's national sport, but for some reason Americans are ignorant if they don't fully embrace soccer. I will always be a soccer fan, but it's just one of many sports I like. It's not #1 in this country, and there is no reason why it should be.
There's also no reason it shouldn't be. I would agree with "they aren't for it" if Soccer was just ignored. It's the ignorant attacking statements made about Soccer that tells me many are actively against it. Also, it's not that some Soccer fans think Americans are ignorant for not fully embracing Soccer, it's more that they are frustrated that many Americans wont give it a real chance. This is seen when you analyze their reason for not liking it. It's often that they don't like it based on what they hear about it. They only act like they are giving it a chance by rarely glancing at it with an already prejudice view. Soccer is not a game that you can glance at for 5 minutes and make a conclusive judgement of the sport. Yet, that's most likely the chance it is given by many now. Not an easy road to overcome for Soccer. Marketing needs to be aggressive and point out the highpoints of the sport that is common with all our others, ie. the inherent tough physical play of Soccer, the showy, skillfull nature and the athleticism.
That's TalkSport - talk radio where people are given free reign to indulge their prejudices. I wasn't talking about that. Of course there's prejudices against American sport in Britain amongst the chattering classes - but that's not actual sports journalism. No it isn't. You immediately brought up British sports talk radio, which isn't journalism; I was talking about actual sports journalism, people delivering the sports news, such as Sky Sports news or Setanta's news shows. They manage to cover US sports, constantly, and competently, without sneering. US media not only avoid covering soccer (or any foreign sports event not involving Americans), but when they do cover it they are incompetent and/or dismissive and/or focus on negative stuff like rioting. That's changing (thanks mostly to increased US coverage of the EPL, Champions League, and World Cup), but there is a level of professionalism in British media towards foreign sports that you often don't see in US media towards foreign sports - the worst of the sneering may be going away, but there isn't a whole lot of competence, and the foreign sports coverage is still very skimpy. And I mean actual sports journalism here, the coverage of the sports news - not talk radio with people shouting their opinions at each other or similar foolishness, or any kind of opinion "journalism".
No, they hate soccer because they know it already is huge - worldwide. They are of that species of American who doesn't see anything odd in titles like the MLB "World Series" or the NBA "World Champions" because to them America is the world and everyone in the world really wants to be American, because "America is the greatest nation on earth" (they "know" this in spite of most of them never having set foot outside the USA), and thus soccer by its mere existence is proof that their most cherished illusions are false. The rest of the world isn't interested in becoming American and that merely being the best in America does not a "world champion" make, even if it is a sport that no one else cares about (you don't see the Aussie AFL or Irish GAA champs calling themselves "world" champions, do you?). Remember in Once in a Lifetime, that soccer-bashing baseball writer who nearly broke down and cried when he was forced to admit that Pele really was a world star that Americans baseball fans were interested in too? I've personally encountered this same reaction by American sports fans from that same era, people who simply refused to believe that soccer was the most popular sport in the world, or that the rest of the world really didn't care about baseball or American football. In their minds, if it was number one in the USA, it was by definition number one and best in the world, end of discussion. Now in this age of the Internet and 24/7 news coverage, this sort of American parochialism isn't possible anymore, ie, people have to admit that soccer is number one worldwide, but deep down the old attitudes persist, and that is, IMO, why many people in the American sports media resent soccer - not because of the claims that it might one day be huge in the USA, but for the plain fact that it is undeniably huge worldwide right now. Deep down they wish the rest of the world would either go away, or else become American, and soccer-bashing is a good proxy for that covert wish.
I think traditional americans attitudes towards soccer are slowly changing. Perhaps, the failure of NFL europe indicates the rest of the world isn't interested. Overall I think I am hearing less and less soccer bashing. Afterall, many cities are wanting in on MLS.
Rowdies4Ever, You make some salient points, but isn't the Baseball World Series so called because it was sponsored by a newspaper of the same name? I have no real crux with the Ice Hockey or Basketball teams calling themselves World Champions either, most of the best players in the world are in the NBA anyway so i suppose it isn't actually a lie, even if it does lie of the wrong side of jingoism. I also think the funniest incident of trying to bury your head in the sand was when they were putting together a list of the most famous sportsmen in the world and an NFL running back was considered more globally important than David Beckham. Even Tiger Woods found that funny. As far as American sports in the UK go, there is a passion for them. It's great that the NFL is returning to Wembley Stadium this year, i went to the Dolphins/Giants game and it was fantastic. It'll be even better this time because we can sing "Oh when the Saints" all the way through the game, give them a bit of a soccer-esque atmosphere. And willywang, in answer to your question the reason NFL Europe failed is because is was absolutely terrible. Really bad players looking disinterested in grounds 10 times too big for theri supporter bases. The standard compared to the real thing was incomparable, unlike the MLS, which might not be as good as the stronger leagues in Europe but it does have some really good players.
Well, that and it's a boring @ss sport. This isn't just soccer-geek knocking on american football. I grew up with am football as my life. It was the sport I played, watched took part in fantasy leagues for. I turned down D1 scholarships in the sport because i took my life a different direction. But I breathed ate and slept american football. I can't watch it anymore. 5 seconds of action followed by 45 seconds of standing around and patting one another's butts. Do that four or five times and we need to take a 3 minute commercial break to rest from this tiring exercise. I literally have gotten to the point that its hard for me to sit through a full game. I've watched maybe 3 games in the past 2 years, and that includes Super Bowls.
I really can't believe that this is the case. I've always argued that the image of soccer just doesn't match up with the image that Americans are attracted to in sports. I don't see it as an elitist attitude against the sport but more of a cultural difference. I think you need to make the assumption that because I read this site I'm a soccer fan. So I don't know why you're attacking me. But I think it's a fair assessment that one of the main raps on soccer is the diving and acting, and that is a definite hurdle that must jumped for mainstream American sport fans to really accept the sport. Flopping does provide an advantage in basketball as in soccer for drawing fouls so it's an acceptable part of the game (at least when it helps your team) but the whole idea of faking injuries to draw cards, provide a breather and waste time is clearly a turn off. As a fan I don't like and I'm sure most fans don't like it but we enjoy the game for other reasons and when you're trying to attract a new audience it can be a deal breaker. Americans tend to root for the underdogs and the tough little scrappers who never show pain and that's just not the image of soccer. But I really kind of made that comment in just because I think soccer is clearly making steps towards becoming relevant in the US. But I still think its popularity has a ceiling because of the history and abundance of all the other sports.
I actually think that is a large part of the resistance to it as a major sport, especially from amongst the broadcasters who seem so against it. There are so many other major US sports with so much more history here in America, that they almost look for reasons NOT to like something new. I mean we talk of guys like Jim Rome, well he made fun of NASCAR ("Neck-car", the "left-turn-circuit", etc) for a LONG time until he realised what a revenue stream it was, and now he interviews guys all the time and even talks it up. The landscape can change - some - here in the states, but it will take the steady, grassroots growth of the sport, particularly in atendences, ratings and marketing dollars, to drive any real perceivable change in the media.
Another reason for a lack of interest in soccer in the U.S. might be, because they don´t dominate the sport! I made the experience, that many Americans (of course not all!) can´t stand seeing, they´re just not beyond the best (or even THE best) in everything and if they aren´t good enough to be one of the best, they prefer ignoring it! Don´t get me wrong, I don´t want to insult anyone and that´s definitely not the only reason (some of you have mentioned others before), but in my opinion that´s one important reason for a huge absence of interest in soccer in the U.S.! By the way, the NFL Europe folded, because they hired a stupid idiot as Comissioner in the last years, who didn´t have realistic ideas of what he can expect from the NFL-owners! Since the league focused on Germany, the attendances were rising and in the end we had three teams (out of six) with potential for attendances of more than 30.000 (Frankfurt, Düsseldorf and Hamburg). People in Germany loved their league, even though they knew, the quality was way lower than NFL!
Pretty arrogant to assume the US do dominate in all other sports? I mean how many times does the US go abroad to play international competitions for anything other than Golf?? It's not like there are international matches for American Football, Baseball (calling it a world series is just stupid to begin with) and Basketball where you see the MNT tear up everyone else in the similar sense Brazil does. I think it goes back to the fact that there are many sports competing against each other that invest heavily in their market!
I think it's more like Americans think they dominate said sports and just think of soccer as something kids play. Here lately in DC we've been getting a regular dose of anti-soccer rants while trying to lobby the city government for a soccer specific stadium. It aggravates me terribly that these people bash a sport/team without ever going to a match. I even offered to buy some of them a ticket so they would finally have an educated point of view.
Well, to be fair - I bash Cricket with some of my English friends, and I have never been to a game either. or really understand it. but I do it more to have a laugh, I wouldn't go to the extreme of not seeing it grow as a sport simply becuase it is not for me!
No, the world series was named that because we figured since no one else plays the game we might as well be world champs. The newspaper thing is just a myth. It is kinda of arrogant of us to proclaim are teams as world champs but then again people all over the world who grow up playing basketball, baseball, and hockey all dream of playing in the American leagues thus we have all the best players in those sports.
Actually, that is because they pay the most. But comparing a league to a NT does not always work. example; Success of EPL in Europe > Succcess of England NT in Europe
I never said us having the best leagues with the worlds best players makes America the world champs, it in a way makes the champs of those leagues the world champs. Right now every American considers Japan the world champs of baseball and Argentina the world champs of basketball ( I imagine most Americans view the FIBA championship as a tune up thus no props to Spain)