To foreigners, a Yankee is an American. To Americans, a Yankee is a Northerner. To Northerners, a Yankee is an Easterner. To Easterners, a Yankee is a New Englander. To New Englanders, a Yankee is a Vermonter. And in Vermont, a Yankee is somebody who eats pie for breakfast (and probably still uses an outhouse)
.... they focus on that probably because the "events" at the combine and the "stat sheets" they look at which include the 40 time, vertical leap, and the like are the easiest ways to test a high volume of sample size while still getting a decent picture of a guy's "athleticism." Obviously it doesn't always translate but it's a pretty good filter. Also, the actual combine includes 1 on 1 drills an other things such as the shuttle drill and the "T" and "L" drills that test agility and quick change/stop-start ability. You know, that lateral quickness thing you're talking about. However, most people don't know what actually goes on at the combine .... so it's not surprise that most people are just as ignorant about "throwball" as they claim the "throwball" fan/avg American to be about soccer/soccer players. And no, basketball scouts don't give a crap about anyone's 40 time ... that's laughable. Indeed, but the "given" name for it in this country is soccer. Sure, individuals call it what they want and that's fine. However, our top 3 divisions of soccer use the term (in fact, have it in their league name) and our national federation uses the term. Here in the USA the sport is deemed "soccer." Deal with it.
In the Anglosphere, the majority of people call the sport "soccer." The UK is in the minority on this point. I think the anti-soccer trend in the US is mostly limited to older people. The worst you can say about most people under 50 is that they're indifferent to the sport. Also, I think soccer fans in the US and Canada are unique compared to fans in other countries because most of us are fans of other sports as well. There is no rule saying you can't be a fan of MLS and the NFL at the same time. There is, unfortunately, a minority of soccer fans who feel that being fans of the sport somehow makes them morally and intellectually superior to the heathens who prefer football or hockey. That attitude is stupid, immature and counterproductive. If you want soccer to be a success in the US, it needs to become part of the American sports landscape, rather than being some sort of quasi-mystical lifestyle choice.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_City .... FIFA, nor Spain, nor any other country that played in it or spectator that went had an issue. What, the World Cup was a farce because this was the main stadium then ? Also, Chicago Fire SOCCER Club is in our league as well. Also, all of those FCs play in Major League SOCCER which is sanctioned by the United States SOCCER Federation. Also, marketing isn't your ... oh yeah that was covered.
I sincerely doubt that a smug attitude has anything to do with keeping people away. More likely, it has to do with their limited brain capacity and short attention span. What MLS needs to be successful it TV dollars and exposure, whether it comes domestically or from abroad. Once the TV revenue starts flowing in, those miserable bandwagoning serfs will come out of their caves with cash in fist.
I don't think it can be emphasized enough how truly weird it is to be so totally un-self-aware that one can be both a raging xeno and a multi-culti elitist simultaneously.
I went to google images and typed in "average americans." http://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...l=1615l3548l0l5030l16l16l0l8l8l0l92l585l8l8l0 This is the first 2 pictures that came up.
I know in the past BigSoccer has recognized smack-talkers. Has there been a contest to recognize trolls? A troll has to go up to the line (the line of being disciplined) to irritate without going over and he/she doesn't have special rivalry threads to practice the art. Maybe we should have a troll-off.
I agree that it's a generational thing, but I might draw the line a little closer to my own age (35). I was a voting-age adult when the World Cup came in 1994, which is the first time it had made any real impact in my lifetime (and treating the WC as a major event whether or not it was in the US is an even more recent phenomenon, probably only tracing back to about 2002). Older than that, you can still find a subtler (much less 'soccer is communist/socialist' but still 'soccer is dumb and inherently inferior to American sports' and you might even get a little 'un-American' thrown in) and also less widely held, but still not insignificant hostility. Absolutely.
What I think is a troll. Somebody who never adds anything to the topic. Never bothers to have statistics or evidences. Insults, use inappropriate language, or attack others. I have done some of these but for the most part I was attacked first, my responses were in self-defense, somehow the attackers never got a yellow but I did That is why I got banned from the National Team forum but Im ok with it, you cant be in a place where nobody likes you and most people would attack you for no reason until you get banned. The reality of the minorities...