This may be the highest attended soccer game this year at PHP with 9,000 in attendance!!!! I'll probably be there with my 12 year old daughter.
Great it is on Wednesday.... In May. I'm pretty sure whoever schedules these things does not really take into account the regional fans that live outside the city. Ohh well ,c'est la vie! At least PHP and possible FCD will get some press.
boy, it's too early in the morning for blatant sexism for me. short answer: USWNT vs Japan is a better competition than USMNT vs, say, Guatamala.
Better competition, three times slower. Plus vs. Guatemala you get to yell at El Pescadito for diving.
I've heard women's NT soccer is little better (if at all) than Men's high school soccer. I only watch the women play when it's a World Cup or Olympic competition. The saving grace is the US WNT is amongst the best in the World. Can't say the same for the US MNT.
if speed is of greater concern to you than competition, why not be a NASCAR fan? or why be an MLS fan when you can watch a Euro league?
Never said I don't watch both, but it's pretty tough to go to a Euro match every week . I also didn't say I wasn't going, just making the comment that USMNT is more entertaining regardless of the opponent, IMO. Go to FCD/Seattle on 5/16, then USWNT on 5/20 and then tell me which one had more action.
Y'all should go to a Major League Baseball game versus the aforementioned high school soccer game and tell me which had more action. "Action" is not the same thing as compelling competition. Different strokes for different folks, of course, but singling out women's soccer as undeserving of your attention does smack of sexism, especially when you support a third-rate league in a soccer-backwater like we all do.
Correction and clarification - we are a THIRD RATE TEAM in a SECOND RATE LEAGUE. And women's soccer is slow. Technical. But slow. Just saying.
No, this IS sexism. Period. The women can play technical and very GOOD soccer. Yea, granted, it might be slower than the men, but it does NOT "suck." Oh, and maybe they don't beat each other up (as in lots of physical fouling) as much as the men do. Watch Hope Solo play or better yet -- Marta of Brazil (who will be playing for the only good team in LA, the Sol) -- and then tell me exactly why you think it "sucks." For example, watching ANY team (male or female) play disjointed, "kick the long ball" soccer sucks . . . Watching ANY team play with good possession, lots of connected passes, etc. is fun! [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4y5AdXKg3c"]YouTube - Hope Solo Great Goalkeeper[/ame]
I must spread rep before giving to hutchtx again... it's tough being in the enlightened minority on a sports message board, eh?
FC Dallas represents the highest caliber of play "locally available" on a regular basis. And it's hard enough to watch these matches after a steady diet of European football on TV. Nevertheless, it's the best available if I want to see a game in person. I don't frequent lower level soccer matches (e.g. local MEN's amateur league, high school soccer, etc...) so maybe I'm just not that big a fan... I don't watch baseball games either. Too slow. US vs. Japan is an international game which is somewhat of a novelty. Whether this friendly would be worth the inconvenience of a drive across the metroplex in the teeth of rush hour.....? It might be if it were a World Cup match.
Thanks! Being the mom of a daughter who plays soccer (not that she wants to go pro, or anything -- she just plays for fun in a rec league) who says that Mia Hamm is one of her heroes, comments like that REALLY upset me. Oh, and, overall, you guys are a fun, intelligent bunch!
I had this discussion somewhere else (this board? the WPS board, maybe? I forget.). What you're not realizing is that Women's soccer is by definition DIFFERENT than men's. Unfortunately, it looks so similar to men's soccer that it is often judged with identical criteria. A USWNT friendly is the highest locally available level of soccer-played-by-women. What we watch with FCD is the highest locally available level of soccer-played-by-men. Now, the two may be similar enough to you that you're not interested in the one that doesn't have all the criteria you look for in sports entertainment, and that is absolutely FINE, but some comments here (including one possible interpretation of your comment #11) are equating the two games as though they were IDENTICAL, and one was inherently inferior. This is the same sort of mindset as complaining that the networks go all out covering the BCS title game or March Madness. After all, those are not the best available players playing their sports. What they both are, however, are high levels of football-played-by-eligible-college-students abnd basketball-played-by-eligible-college-students. It's valid not to be interested in either college sports or women's soccer because the assembled teams could not successfully compete under largely similar between-the-lines rules against teams with less restrictive membership criteria, but to say something is inherently worse because it is by rule limited to women raises the specter of sexism.
POSITIVE Rep for Hutch for politeness in expressing her point of view - and boo to whoever neg repped HutchTX for her comment (do you neg rep anyone who has an opinion different than your own?) - watch out - instant karma's going to get you! :|
I am usually a lurker, very rarely do I post, BUT this post was enough to bring me out of the dark. First, I must point out that you wrote "I've heard", which equates to a third grade junior high level. If you have no first hand knowledge of Women's soccer, then you have no business making a judgement on the level of play. Second, I truly would love to see you go head to head with any of the women in the National Team pool. While the game is played differently - it is quality soccer. And yes - for what it is worth - I am a girl and I have played my whole life and I play with the guys and hold my own. Kat.
Chazsoccer, DeigoRed, and I welcome you to the Vast Minority among this B.S. Board . . . the female soccer fans!