Is the best way to deal with them to ignore them? If you do actually respond to them on-line, how do you guys retort?
Just ignore them. If you happen to be in the mood to say something, just say "Dude, why do you feel threatened and intimidated by a sport?"... ...because, really, that's what it's all about with these types. And leave it at that. Don't reply a second time with the same poster.
Ignore them. And while you're doing so, don't stew inwardly about them. Don't let them get you riled up. Ignore them and forget about them.
Dealing with Anti-Soccer Trolls Don't. Most of them are NFL or Baseball fans who realize their sport is dying a slow death and they are threatened by the growth of soccer in America. Ignore them. Pity them. Move on.
Honestly not many of them about any more. Never really bothered me even when they were in the majority. Always just thought it weird. Plus some of it was/is brought on by soccer fans, who tend to be the thinnest skinned most rabbit eared fans around (almost as bad as SEC fans) often claiming somehow soccer is morally superior. So I just ignore and feel a little sorry for them, particularly during the world cup. This is basically a giant world wide month long party, and you want to sit at home complaining about those damm kids your loss. I'm not going to sweat about it.
As a avid fan of four sports I am amazed at the attempts many will go to discredit soccer's growth in the US. There are many who despise the sport-- it's boring, it's communist (which is funny to me being mostly conservative...lol), etc. Just in the last few days I've seen many say that the World Cup ratings in the US are only good because "it's every four years" ..comparing that to figure skating geting massive numbers at the olympics. It gets me down some but I try not to let it bother me. I need to prepare my son who is 11 that he will hear comments made as he plays soccer and really enjoys it. Just last night we were kicking the ball around after getting home from work. I've seen a lot of dislike coming from the meat head sports talk radio host. I think it comes down to insecurity about the sports growth and it overtaking other sports. Which is a shame, because as I mentioned I'm a fan of many sports.
An old friend of mine from High school has been bashing soccer on Facebook, but it's really without much malice--he even "tagged" me in one post just to make sure I saw it. Obviously, he's not THAT serious about it. At this point, a lot of it is on the same level as "Pants on the Ground" -esque "kids these days and their weird sports."
I believe people have the right to express their opinion, whether I agree with it or not. I, of course, have the right to disagree. We live in a world today where people are so hyper sensitive, that they must result to crude language or even banning comments - Big Soccer isn't exempt from this either. I've seen firsthand how opinions and comments are censored because of a differing opinion. People need to learn tolerance, even for intolerant language. That's the only path to a free society. So, don't be concerned about "anti-soccer" trolls - be concerned when people start censoring opinions. That's the bigger threat.
Yes, but usually done after they have been cajoled by soccer-haters, and in soccer-centric articles to boot. And there-in lies the difference: It's extremely rare for a soccer fan to comment on baseball/basketball/gridiron articles and out of the blue start bashing those sports. Soccer-haters though... they'll come out in numbers, without being instigated, and spew their hatred on the comment sections of any article that has the word "soccer" in it. Exactly. These (along with the local TV sports hosts) are the instigators that affect the masses. I always say... if the prominent radio & TV stations in your local market are soccer friendly, the sport will be accepted by the local masses more willingly and it will grow quicker. Imo, this is the #1 obstacle that has to be eliminated in order for soccer TV ratings to progress.
This is true; I just worry about it less than I did 10-15 years ago because it's clear that support for/interest in the sport has reached critical mass.
Soccer has reached the critical mass, it will explode in the next coming years...the bashers and haters realize this...they're panicking.
According to a large recent poll to which I posted a reference in another thread, 47% of Americans now find soccer exciting or interesting. Still, 49 % find it on the dull side or boring. So, there is still a majority against it, but we're getting there. Very soon (in a matter of a few years, or may even happen now if the US has a good run in this World Cup) we American soccer lovers will be in the majority for the first time. Then, the answer to the trolls who say "it's soccer, who cares?" will be an accurate "most of us do." I mean, if we were to respond. It's best to avoid feeding the trolls, like people here have said. This is very significant, especially when one realizes that in countries like France, and oh wow, England, the stats show 50% of the population, not more, interested in soccer (France is a culture that somehow looks down on sports in general, considered to be not intellectual enough, and even though soccer reigns on top, overall only half of the French population likes it, while in England other big sports compete with soccer such as rugby and cricket - these stats are more favorable in other European countries such as Italy, Germany, and Spain, but it is interesting to know that interest in soccer in the United States is statistically only closely behind the interest expressed in traditional soccer countries like France and England; although most likely the interest in the United States is still more casual than passionate, while in France and England it is more passionate than casual - anyway, we're getting there). As expected (something the haters used to say would not happen since youth players would abandon the sport) among those who played soccer as kids, 86% retain interest. This is one of the major factors slowly driving up the fan base as these kids become adults, since soccer is the second most recreationally practiced sport in the United States (behind basketball). People like what they are familiar with and grow up with, and youth soccer is slowly changing the landscape (figuratively *and* quite literally since we see baseball fields being taken down and changed into soccer fields everywhere in American parks and public lands). So, yes, critical mass has been reached, interest in soccer will be in the majority shortly, and it's completely irreversible. Little by little what will happen is that more interest will result in more revenue for MLS, player salary will rise, which will make young American athletes choose soccer more often, which then will increase the talent pool, and inevitably one day the United States Mens' National Team will become an international force. The dream of the first United States FIFA World Cup victory will happen one day. I think it's inevitable. Maybe it will take another 20 years (that is, 5 Cups in the future) but mark my words, it will happen. This country produces too many elite athletes and for it to be extremely strong in soccer, all that is needed is that our young athletes decide to be college soccer players and then professional soccer players, rather than football and basketball players. Once enough US athletes become professional soccer players the talent will go up by leaps and bonds.
What people ultimately want more than anything is to be part of the group, and to avoid being seen as different. They want to be accepted and they want their opinions, values and worldviews reinforced on a consistent basis. From a sporting perspective, where the landscape has been more or less rigid for a very long time, soccer challenges those beliefs and values. It is the exact same underlying cause of Islamophobia for example. Anything that challenges a persons set of values and beliefs is seen as a threat. Make no mistake, fear is the single most important factor here. You may not realize it, but soccer trolling is one of the healthiest indicators of the sports growing stature. People actually go out of their way to denigrate the sport. I bet you there was hardly anyone trolling Stanley Cup finals articles, because not only is hockey established within the landscape, but most Americans keep hockey at arms length, knowing that it has no capacity to challenge the established order. Soccer is different, because people seem to have an understanding that no matter how boring and dull they think the sport is, it has the capacity to challenge the established order. I believe every one of those trolls who hates the game. Hey! I understand your plight! I don't for one second think they are lying. They really do hate it. But if you want people to continue sharing your views, you have to ensure that every generation that follows is exposed to the same experiences you were. For many of these people, 40 years and over, they fail to realize that younger people that are exposed to the sport see it in an entirely different perspective. To them, hearing things like pro soccer ranks second for 12-24 year olds just doesn't compute, because it doesn't fit in with their understanding of the world. And you begin to panic. Once you understand that their trolling is derived from fear, its not so serious needing to reply to one. Though I'll admit that doesn't mean I don't take the time to troll back occasionally.
Agree to a certain extent that soccer does get a disproportionate amount of hate prior to instigation, but some of this is also knowing that soccer fans will take the bait more than other fans. You talk S**t about the NFL most fans will just laugh it off and ignore you. You talk S**t about soccer, and particularly the MLS, you have hit the jack pot if your a troll. Also soccer fans have over time taken an almost evangelical approach to the sport. Which makes sense considering how much of a niche sport it historically was in this country, but can be annoying for fans of other sports to not only have to hear someone talk about a sport that they don't care about, but also be told how wonderful a sport it is. I am not a particularly big fan of the NBA, so get annoyed in the spring when ESPN and sports talk radio are all NBA all the time, but I don't get the sense I am being preached too. Basically still think the best approach is to ignore the trolls and let the sport speak for itself.
But what if that S**t talk about the NFL comes in either one of these two forms: A) "American football sucks!", or B) "American football sucks, soccer rocks!" Would those NFL fans still laugh it off?
They probably would ignore it, especially if it were coming from soccer fans, whose opinions they do not consider worth paying much attention to.
But unfortunately they don't ignore it. And especially if such statements("American football sucks") are coming from soccer fans. The comments sections of almost all sports article(and many non-sports also) is proof of this.
Well... As a general rule: The best way to deal with the "no way and I am not hearing you!!!" quadrant of opposition forces is to ignore them. The other three require all your attention. In line with Zxcs post before: people want to belong to a group. So some of the most avid soccer detractors will give in eventually. The rest will just belong to the portion of people that exist all over the world who just don't like the sport. And just won't bother either way. They, in the end, do not matter at all. They fund other sports.
Roger Allaway, meet some BS posters: http://forums.bigsoccer.com/threads...-contracts-etc.1998719/page-104#post-30473357 Ignoring it and laughing it off they did not. And these are soccer fans, in a soccer forum to boot. One can only imagine the reaction were these posters not soccer-friendly. And I didn't even use the "sucks" word.
Apparently I was wrong. Some NFL fans can be just as thin-skinned as some soccer fans. However, I don't plan to follow their example. I still think that ignoring bashers is the best policy.