Oh, oh my. First, another paint-by-numbers "real 'Mericans don't like boring soccer" article. Second, amazing geographical mistake. The comments are hilarious and overwhelmingly pro soccer. I love crap like this. The logic astounds me. "Well Americans (i.e. people I know, and myself) don't like it, thusly it means nothing." Joegrav and I had this chat the other day. We used the same logic and came up with the following conclusions. 01.) Hockey East is huge among our friends, and few (if any) like NASCAR. Thusly NASCAR has no fans. 02.) We, and our friends, are fans of '70s/'80s new wave band The Boomtown Rats. By comparison Taylor Swift isn't popular amongst our friends so she has no fans. 03.) We all like Canadian TV comedy "Trailer Park Boys" and not "Lost" or "American Idol" so neither of those shows is popular, while "TPB" is obviously bigger than Jesus. Or Tim Horton.
This is called insecurity that soccer could become a bigger sport here in this country. What I do not get is these writers have to always write something negative no matter what, just let people enjoy the World Cup. No one is telling these guys they have to watch it or pay attention to it, so please just ignore it like you do the other 3 years and 11 months.
Well, he does have something of a point in that, in retrospect, it doesn't seem like it was a very tough group AND we did only win one game. We haven't really achieved anything yet, EXCEPT the right to play when the tournament gets serious. What really matters in terms of raising consciousness, is what happens next.
This article has gotten passed around quite a bit as a prime example of buffoonery. And not just in the New England area. It takes a lot of balls for an American sports writer to take a highly visible dump on a very exciting, dynamic, and successful American National sports team. It would be like dismissing an American Gold Medalist at the Olympics. You just don't do it. Even the people I know that are absolutely clueless about soccer are excited, and plan on watching on Saturday. What made the article an instant classic of course, was his highly visible geographic ignorance, that let everyone know that he truely is just a typical America-Only meat head that has no clue about the world outside our borders.
The guy got exiled from the Globe for being a dumbass on frequent occasion and topping it off with an error of Barniclean proportions. Forgive me if I find his commentary to be about as valuable to the discussion as a vuvuzela played at 120 dB.
What I hate the most about US sports coverage of this World Cup is all the xenophobic idiots that hate soccer feel they need to come out and make a statement about it. I'd much rather they just stick to ignoring soccer like they usually do and let the rest of us enjoy it in peace.
The same people that made vinyl records didn't make CD's...and now..who buys CD's anymore!! LOL By the way...who is this guy? (oh yea, I don't care or need to know..)
Am I going to want to throw large rocks if I click through? I'm reading this on Saturday the 26th, in the evening, and basically, I got no rocks left to throw
Seamus is right, Trailer Park Boys is the greatest artistic endeavor since the Mona Lisa.... Seriously, there was some big NASCAR race in New Hampshire this weekend. I'm sure all the NASCAR fans in the area had been planning this day for a long time, just like we-all used to int he pre-MLS days when the USA would play maybe once or twice a year within driving distance. I'm sure they all had a great time and some of them even got to call Jeff Gordon "a queer." I don't care about that, but I am certainly not going to ridicule anyone who does care. There is a huge spectrum of activities that people can enjoy, so who cares if your thing is something different than mine. Even the neanderthals on Dennis & Callahan were discussing the WC in a non-mocking way this morning, saying the US needed better strikers. Borges and his ilk need to let it go. Do you ever see an article the week leading up to the Super Bowl on how the writer doesn't care for the whole spectacle? No. Those writers are told to find another topic, and this should be no different.
I know this is the totally wrong thread for this, but something I noticed while reading it.... Big Soccer's ad's just hit a new confluence of bizarre for me. I was offered my choice of 4 2010 Rev jerseys: Assengue, Badilla, Heaps or Ralston. I could be the only one to own the jersey of three (or maybe four) players who never played for the team during the year (I guess the bright side is that they weren't offering game-worn)!!!
Gotta say, one thing the Borges wrote that will be interesting to see ... will this steep increase in attention actually continue on (dropping off a bit for obvious reasons) or will soccer once again fall to the low digits for followers till the next Cup comes around. It'll be fun to see how that plays out.
When was the last time you watched boxing? Ok when was the last time you watched UFC? I rest my case with Borges. Another ol' bastard.
Boxing is definitely on its way down (too many "governing" bodies, scandals, too few "name" fighters, etc) and UFC is on the way up...but I don't know how much bigger UFC is going to get. It still has to overcome its "bloodsport" beginnings in some places.
Blood sport is what people want to see... UFC is about 100 times better than boxing there are very few rules and its basically just a fight. the gloves are not pillows wrapped around hand so people dont get hurt the whole point is to see people get knocked senseless. There really is nothing better than seeing the lights go out on someone when you see the eyes just go blank and dull That being said this guy is a douche but what can you do. I will submit that if you actually go and read the article you are doing exactly what he wants... Your giving him hits and that gives him credit. Doesnt matter if 99% of the world hates the guy as long as people are vastly pro or con its all about ratings so your better off ignoring him and not giving him any of your traffic.