why do so many Americans hate soccer????

a lot of clubs in mainland europe are actually general sports clubs, of which soccer is just one arm (albeit usually the most popular by far). As such they are more likely to adopt a variety of sports, including basketball. Rivalries from soccer can sometimes spill over into the other sports as well.

No club in England has that kind of structure.

There's actually been a pro basketball league in England for around 25 years, but it's always struggled for attention. Then again, crowds are probably higher for basketball than they are for county league cricket matches. Crowds for the 1-day match league in cricket are considerably higher though.

Strangely basketball is perceived as being a bit more popular in the UK than ice hockey, even though crowds are lower.

 

I don't understand how English people like Cricket but don't particularly care for Baseball.

I don't see why they don't like basketball either. It's Soccer or Football... but with the hand instead of the foot and a hoop instead of a goal. It was created to play inside a gymnasium. They even used a Soccer ball at first. Sure it has stoppage of play and all that but still.

 

The same reason we like baseball but dont care for cricket. It all comes down to what you grew up playing and watching. In America its football, baseball, and basketball. England its soccer, cricket, and rugby.

 

or girls rugby, rounders and netball as they are more commonly known

 

Sorry, internet sarcasm detector broken

 

I know but it's amusing to me how people say baseball is slow and boring. Yet Cricket lasts forever. The one day matches last what 6 hours? That's a quarter of the day. The average length of a baseball game is only half that.

 

It weird, since converting to the world of soccer baseball does seem slow and boring. This is coming from someone who stood by baseball for over three decades. With that said, baseball still beats 99% of what is aired on US television.

 

Why is it an "one or the other" way of thinking with American soccer fans? Everyone knows that is IS ok to enjoy American sports AND soccer, right?

 

Soccer is more all absorbing because it has a year around calendar with loads of good leagues and competitions from all over the world.
If your favorite sport is American football, there's not much to watch outside of NFL and NCAA season and even during season on weekdays. So a typical fan probably shifts attention to other sports during the down time.

 

That why football is so popular in america because you only get to watch it from the beggining of september to the end of january. Im sorry but a sport that last from august to may plus summer tournament isnt going to be cherished as much as a sport that last only 5 months. Even 442 brought that point up a few years back when complaining about the increase in number of games is taking the special occasion out of the sport.

 

basketball doesnt get any kind of funding or proper promotion over here

they practically botch the team great britain matches with poor presentation even when we have a legitimate nba starting small forward in our team (deng, and hopefully gordon soon)

its definitely getting bigger and one of my boys is working on that as he is a post graduate working for the britain basketball league

i went to the gb vs slovakia game and there was about 3 or 4 thousand in there maybe less, but the venues arnt very big at all

at school level the only sports focussed on here are 'soccer', rugby and cricket

basketball cpoaching, unless at a school renowned for it is terrible

much that same as in usa for 'soccer' ??

 

Well Baseball is certainly as cherished if not more than American Football in the USA. I never really understood the argument of less games = more interest. American Football has such a short season because it would be mass murder to ask those players to play more than 20 games a year. That's it! If it was humanely possible for those players to go at it every week like that all year round, they would implement more games into the sport.

 

They need to play basketball in school.

Also yall need to get some former players or assistants of the great college coaches over there. Get like Coach K or Roy Williams to have a seminar over there. I'd send Coach Knight over there but he likes to do other things in the off-season.

 

Are you serious? Baseball the second most popular pro league and comes nothing close to the NFL in terms of popularity. All everyone I know has been talking about for the last month is how the NFL season is right around the corner. You dont hear those conversations in febuary about baseball. This whole offseason ESPN has showed NFL Live everyday once baseballs over Baseball Tonight goes into hibernation.

 

we do play it in school

but the teaching is awful

 

I used to think it was tradition. The dad hated soccer, so he passed that hatred to his son and so on. Also the other side of the coin, if the father likes soccer and is involved with it he will eventually pass it to his son or daughter. Now I think it's just the way soccer is set up. Americans hate soccer because they think it is too simple, it's low scoring, and those damn ties! Many don't get it because they have never been involved with it and that negativity that they believe is around soccer will never let them give it a shot. It depends, myself I love American Football and follow the other sports and at the same time not a lot of members in my family follow these other sports.

 

Well what you're talking about kind of is the variety of leagues and cups up for grabs in the soccer world. I actually disagree with that 442 article you mention, I think this works in the sport's favor. The game is so international, that there is a natural motivation to prove yourself nationally, then continentally and then globally. And then you have a whole different dimension of international soccer which invokes completely different passions ... so it's hardly redundant.

Having said that I do believe there are a few competitions out there that are a bit unnecessary like UEFA Cup, Sudamericana and Superliga and other secondary cups.

 

Also helps the crowds be bigger. You only get a few games a year to see say College Football so you save up and plan for it. You savor it. You have the road caravans like the Alabama or Nebraska fans that follow their team all over the country. Plus they tailgate...

Speaking of which American College Football started today. Gosh its glorious!

I can't wait to see the Virginia Tech vs East Carolina game.

I'm personally going to the Texas Tech vs SMU game on Monday. Driving the 5-6 hours from Tech to Dallas on Friday. Then back on Monday after the game so I can be in class Tuesday. Even though we just started class this week.

 

I hate American football. Tennis, Baseball, Hockey, B-Ball (SPurs BABY!) and Soccer are where its at.

 

Why do we love futbol?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXac8J4EoIE
That's why...

 

Do you play in the colleges?

Are the coaches paid well?

We disagree here.

Good vid.

 

we have some good university schemes and specific unis that cater for gited ballers

but the money isnt even 1000th of what is used to fund the game in the usa

is horribly under developed over here

 

Can I recommend to the mods that they make this a sticky? Seems like a 'new' thread with this topic is posted et least once a week. This has to be the most common thread on BS, with the possible exception of "The UPS guy who delivers to ESPN HQ in Bristol said something good about soccer."

 

One of the best videos ever!

 

Sounds like I could coach over there.