World Cup Proves

[Guest Joe Lefebvre]

Thank you for tossing me this nugget of wisdom ...

 

"Thats just not how the game of soccer is played. Its running clock. And those are tactics. It happens even at the youth level. Coaches call a sub for a player on the far side and he/she knows not to sprint over to the bench. Its a competition its about who knows how to play the chess game the best its strategy and tactic. And its part of the beauty of the game. It is one aspect of the game, I would not change."

 

Un-freaking believable ... Chess game he says. WOW !!! Those tactics are BS - you know it as well as I do. It's stalling - plain and simple. This is yet another reason why the avergae American struggles with the sport. Stop the clock and eliminate this non sense (diving - subbing - etc to kill clock) all together. And while I'm on the subject, how in hell can a referee make a call and then not have to tell anyone what he called ? It's ludicrous.

 

Alexi Lalas actually defended it this morning by stating that that's how Soccer is and that's something that Americans struggle with. Hello ??? That's the best our Soccer "expert" commentator can come up with ? "Oh you Americans wouldn't understand" he says (like it's some divine covenant that only soccer people can grasp). Well guess what - Your're damn right we don't get it ! Listen - I've got no issue with bad calls - they happen, but to not even state what the call was and then chalk it up to - "oh well that's Soccer for you" is total CRAP. Why aren't fans (and YES - I do consider myself a Soccer fan) provided with an explanation. Some accountability. Anything ...

 

Legit suggestions for improvement of the game (that won't alter it's "purity")

 

1. Stop Clock for injuries, goals, subbing or any other stoppage in play. Don't allow the officials to decide the extra time and then secretly track it and advise when the game is over. Also - this would eliminate all the BS stalling tactics by players & coaches. Take those variables right out of the equation.

 

2. If a guy goes down (takes a dive) and is on the ground for more than 15 seconds, he has to come out of the game for 5 minutes (minimum). It will not cost the team one of it's subbing opportunities. That ought to clean up the Diving a bit. This rule can and should evolve into a pseudo penalty box concept as well ...

 

3. Make the officials accountable !!! Must state the exact call being made at the time it is being made ... (Is that so much to ask - Really ???)

 

Finally - Under the heading of "Any publicity is good publicity", all this drama is actually garnering the sport some attention that it can use over here. I am really psyched to see the American team play again and I beieve they have a decent chance at cracking the final four or even making a run at the whole thing. That second half of the Slovenia game was outstanding. This team has heart for sure.

[BuckedTooth]

Thats just not how the game of soccer is played. Its running clock. And those are tactics. It happens even at the youth level. Coaches call a sub for a player on the far side and he/she knows not to sprint over to the bench. Its a competition its about who knows how to play the chess game the best its strategy and tactic. And its part of the beauty of the game. It is one aspect of the game, I would not change.

 

That part of the game isn't beauty at all, it is horsecrap and doesn't help promote it in places it doesn't sell....you know like the US.

 

I ain't no expert but I do watch 30-40 Premiere League games a year and a couple Barcalona games with the occasional Serie A mixed in. I am not Soccer Retarded.

 

It is a part of the game that doesn't appeal to anyone that likes action or the skills associated with successful soccer. It is gamesmanship only and should be saved for Pro Wrestling.

 

Tactics my arse. It is a waste of time that the best players in the world could be using to score more goals.

You have to be kidding yourself if you think it adds anything to the game except frustration on the trailing team's part as well as the fan base in general.

Might as well watch the clock at that point if there isn't going to anything but "tactics".

 

Dumbest post I have ever read.

[Guest Guest]

That part of the game isn't beauty at all, it is horsecrap and doesn't help promote it in places it doesn't sell....you know like the US.

 

I ain't no expert but I do watch 30-40 Premiere League games a year and a couple Barcalona games with the occasional Serie A mixed in. I am not Soccer Retarded.

 

It is a part of the game that doesn't appeal to anyone that likes action or the skills associated with successful soccer. It is gamesmanship only and should be saved for Pro Wrestling.

 

Tactics my arse. It is a waste of time that the best players in the world could be using to score more goals.

You have to be kidding yourself if you think it adds anything to the game except frustration on the trailing team's part as well as the fan base in general.

Might as well watch the clock at that point if there isn't going to anything but "tactics".

 

Dumbest post I have ever read.

 

score more goals??????????????? they could play a game for 5 days and they wouldn't score more goals.

my post is the smartest i've ever read.

[Guest Guest]

score more goals??????????????? they could play a game for 5 days and they wouldn't score more goals.

my post is the smartest i've ever read.

 

 

 

just messin' with ya. i am not a soccer fan, but i have seen the stalling tactics used in full force. it's a joke. it takes away credibilty from the game.

the people who say that they do that in other sports don't realize they are minor delay tactics and the rules do'nt allow it to get out of control. the officials and refs can hurry things along as well. they know what they can and can't do. i hate the game for many reasons, that being one of them.

[Guest Guest]

he was lying and trying to make an excuse. i saw the f'in goal. donovan made a commitment to shoot when he rushed the goal. the option of passing was when he was farther from the goal. do i have to explain your own f'in game to you. anyone that says he wasn't in position to make the play and moved out of the way on purpose is a bold faced liar.

 

Your dead wrong on the play from a soccer players view of things. In soccer you would not have passed the ball earlier, you want to get the goalie to commit to coming off his line before threading the ball across. If you hit it the pass before the keeper steps out he is still in position to slide across his line. The keeper held his line, showing he was anticipating pass. When Donovan realized the keeper was frozen to the line he hit a hell of a great shot, regardless of what the keeper did after that. The keeper had no need to lie, he admitted what all knowledgeable soccer fans could already see, he played it wrong. Yeah he flinched no question about it but he was just totally off guard from what he expected to happen.

[Guest Guest]

let's see, a sport where no hands and arms can be used, which obviously eliminates any hand eye coordination skills that are needed. the big three require all aspects of athleticism. hand eye could be the hardest skill of all. and the big 3 require just as much running and foot skills as soccer. so how is there any argument about what takes a better athlete? no hand eye equals no argument.

 

 

Once again. Another guy that wants to tell everybody that soccer is the world's sport. Whatever. You then speak of continuous action. Well, I did watch some and your continuous action was a 1-0 game with the announcers saying that the players are too tired to get any offense together. These are so gifted? Gifted at what? Kicking a ball?? 10 QB's on the field? Fail to see the comparison. I agree that baseball is boring, never said it wasn't. Soccer and hockey are just as boring to me. You go on to say that soccer is number one for a reason. You have failed to mention why you think it is? If it truly is the number one sport I'd take a stab at why...ANYBODY can play it. Boys, girls, athletes, non-athletes, etc. Need I say more.

Now how can you say hockey is boring? Is it because it doesn't involve thugs like football and basketball? Or is it because nobody uses steroids or gets caught bringing guns into public? Hockey is one of the more pure sports around, and just because you can't skate doesn't make it boring.

[Guest Guest]

Your dead wrong on the play from a soccer players view of things. In soccer you would not have passed the ball earlier, you want to get the goalie to commit to coming off his line before threading the ball across. If you hit it the pass before the keeper steps out he is still in position to slide across his line. The keeper held his line, showing he was anticipating pass. When Donovan realized the keeper was frozen to the line he hit a hell of a great shot, regardless of what the keeper did after that. The keeper had no need to lie, he admitted what all knowledgeable soccer fans could already see, he played it wrong. Yeah he flinched no question about it but he was just totally off guard from what he expected to happen.

 

 

wrong. he was drawing more defenders in and at him. his pass would have come before everyone converged in one spot. that's why he committed to the shot. the goalie never came off donovan, even though he should have come out and forced a play. he was not playing pass. do i have to explain your own game to you? if a hockey goalie hugs the net, he is playing the shooter. this goalie hugged the goal to the bitter end. but the hockey goalie won't get scared and move out of the way on purpose. you can rewrite history if you want. we all saw the play.

[Guest Guest]

wrong. he was drawing more defenders in and at him. his pass would have come before everyone converged in one spot. that's why he committed to the shot. the goalie never came off donovan, even though he should have come out and forced a play. he was not playing pass. do i have to explain your own game to you? if a hockey goalie hugs the net, he is playing the shooter. this goalie hugged the goal to the bitter end. but the hockey goalie won't get scared and move out of the way on purpose. you can rewrite history if you want. we all saw the play.

 

This isn't hockey and a soccer goalie who is playing the shooter comes out of his net. You can't explain the game to me because you obviously don't know it. The difference between a hockey goalie and a soccer goalie is huge..a hockey goalie takes up 60% of the net with his body and pads (6' x 4') a soccer goalie is less than 12% of his net (8' x 24'). To play a shot a soccer goalie must come off his line, makes himself bigger by cutting the angle. Watch what Tim Howard did vs Heskey in the England game, textbook example of how to play it. I do agree with you that the keeper flinched I have said that. But you are dead wrong in thinking he was playing a shot he was waiting for the smart play from no angle a pass slid across the face of the net. Watch the US teams 1st goal against Turkey and see what a keeper who is playing the shooter does..Donovan again made a good play..notice the keeper does not hold his line to play the shooter

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhfFGFfCG-I

 

 

[Guest Guest]

This isn't hockey and a soccer goalie who is playing the shooter comes out of his net. You can't explain the game to me because you obviously don't know it. The difference between a hockey goalie and a soccer goalie is huge..a hockey goalie takes up 60% of the net with his body and pads (6' x 4') a soccer goalie is less than 12% of his net (8' x 24'). To play a shot a soccer goalie must come off his line, makes himself bigger by cutting the angle. Watch what Tim Howard did vs Heskey in the England game, textbook example of how to play it. I do agree with you that the keeper flinched I have said that. But you are dead wrong in thinking he was playing a shot he was waiting for the smart play from no angle a pass slid across the face of the net. Watch the US teams 1st goal against Turkey and see what a keeper who is playing the shooter does..Donovan again made a good play..notice the keeper does not hold his line to play the shooter

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhfFGFfCG-I

 

 

if the goalie wasn't playing donovan, why did the shot go directly, not at an angle, over his head? ( after he ducked) because he played donovan all the way. the proper play would have been to come out and challenge donovan. he's a bad goalie and a coward. he flinched? that was the biggest flinch in the history of mankind. he back flopped. keep re-writing history. you'll be right sooner or later in your mind.

[Guest Cannabis]

Americans have always had a love affair with their own inventions and propagate them to no end.

Americans have developed a stigma for soccer because they somehow feel it affects their masculine affinity toward football.

 

The truth is that since the majority of our country are overweight meatheaded slobs they tend to support the things that perpetuate that cycle.

Football is a great game, no doubt. There are great athletes in football. They play QB, RB, TE, WR, The Secondary, LB and that is about it. The

rest of the positions are filled with America's obesity epidemic.

 

Go to a local HS Football game and listen to all the fatsos talk about how the coach doesn't know what he is doing as

he cheers on JR who does all the work and gets no glory in trenches, you know one of the hogs. The only sport

besides SUMO that glorifies an early death by cholesterol.

 

When they see Soccer, instead of seeing it for what the rest of the world likes about it they feel threatened because they know

their ilk couldn't run 10 feet let alone play a game that requires athleticism.

 

You notice how you never see a football "athlete" criticizing soccer?? The RB's of the world know how tough it is.

Once again,

Stick to what you know,

Cut off the sleeves on your t-shirts,

Buy a leather jacket with your favorite NFL team on it,

Suck down round 3 at the old country buffet,

and tell everyone your kid has a gland problem.

Your argument sucks and proves why America prefers football to soccer. Even as you try to be an advocate for soccer you prove football is better by comparing World Cup Soccer to high school football.

[Guest Cannabis]

People like football because it has character. I cannot name one soccer coach, but I bet a lot of people have heard of Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Don Shula, Tom Landry, Bill Parcells, Bobby Bowden, and Joe Paterno to name a few.

[BuckedTooth]

Your argument sucks and proves why America prefers football to soccer. Even as you try to be an advocate for soccer you prove football is better by comparing World Cup Soccer to high school football.

 

That was the point of my post genius. Smoke some more.

[Guest Guest]

People like football because it has character. I cannot name one soccer coach, but I bet a lot of people have heard of Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Don Shula, Tom Landry, Bill Parcells, Bobby Bowden, and Joe Paterno to name a few.

 

You mean people in the US. If you think the soccer coaches don't have personality, you don't know the game.

[Guest Guest]

You mean people in the US. If you think the soccer coaches don't have personality, you don't know the game.

 

 

why is it that people in other countries where soccer is played still know the great sport personalities and follow the big 3? (that are all american based)

[Guest Guest]

why is it that people in other countries where soccer is played still know the great sport personalities and follow the big 3? (that are all american based)

 

You are totally wrong about that. Go to England and the people don't know who Vince Lombardi, Joe Torre or many other well known coaches in the USA. But ask them about Sir Alex, The Special One Jose Moruniho, Rafa Benetiz, Jurgen Klinnsman, Sven Goren Erikson, Raymond Domenech, or hundreds of other coaches and they will know them all very well. Same goes for France or Germany.

 

The only one of Americas big 3 that has transitioned to Europe is basketball. Baseball is not followed in the least, NFL is barely a blip on the radar and to quote a teammate of mine from college soccer who was from Ireland- "the NFL players all look the same in uniform you can't see anything about them other than big guy/little guy or black guy/white guy".

[Guest Guest]

You are totally wrong about that. Go to England and the people don't know who Vince Lombardi, Joe Torre or many other well known coaches in the USA. But ask them about Sir Alex, The Special One Jose Moruniho, Rafa Benetiz, Jurgen Klinnsman, Sven Goren Erikson, Raymond Domenech, or hundreds of other coaches and they will know them all very well. Same goes for France or Germany.

 

The only one of Americas big 3 that has transitioned to Europe is basketball. Baseball is not followed in the least, NFL is barely a blip on the radar and to quote a teammate of mine from college soccer who was from Ireland- "the NFL players all look the same in uniform you can't see anything about them other than big guy/little guy or black guy/white guy".

 

 

this sound like your opinions and some people you know. not much factual data in that post. TV ratings would prove you wrong.

[Guest Guest]

People like football because it has character. I cannot name one soccer coach, but I bet a lot of people have heard of Vince Lombardi, Knute Rockne, Don Shula, Tom Landry, Bill Parcells, Bobby Bowden, and Joe Paterno to name a few.

 

 

The locals know some soccer coaches because they are scumbag losers who make nonstop bad decisions not because of greatness.

[Guest Guest]

this sound like your opinions and some people you know. not much factual data in that post. TV ratings would prove you wrong.

 

What? the World Cup has a larger world wide audience than the Super Bowl..you can look the numbers up yourself its easy to do. The Super Bowl averages 350 million viewers worldwide, which is less than the selection show for the World Cup. The USA England game one of the top first round games and drew almost 200 million world wide, the final is looking to shatter the record 715 million viewers of the 2006 final which is more than 2x what the NFL gets.

 

Here's the lastest ESPN rating of the top athletes world wide-which recognizes popularity (I took out the women)

 

1. Tiger Woods'

2. David Beckham

3. Ronaldinho

4. Yao Ming

5. Roger Federer

6. Usain Bolt

7. Christiano Ronaldo

8. Lionel Messi

9. Thierry Henry

10. Lance Armstrong

11. LeBron James

12. Wayne Rooney

13. Kaka

14. Kobe Bryant

15. Rafa Nadal

 

There was not an NFL player in the top 50 with women included, and it wasn't until # 39 that Peyton Manning broke in on the all male list. You can guess that Yao Mings 1.3 billion countrymen have a big reason he is rated over LeBron and Kobe.

 

[Guest Guest]

What? the World Cup has a larger world wide audience than the Super Bowl..you can look the numbers up yourself its easy to do. The Super Bowl averages 350 million viewers worldwide, which is less than the selection show for the World Cup. The USA England game one of the top first round games and drew almost 200 million world wide, the final is looking to shatter the record 715 million viewers of the 2006 final which is more than 2x what the NFL gets.

 

 

Personally I think this is a stupid comparison. The World Cup happens once every 4 years....its like the Olympics of Soccer. You wanna compare sorta apples to apples. Compare the MLS Cup to the Superbowl and then tell us who has more viewers, more advertising dollars, more revenue pumped into the host city....go ahead.

[Guest Guest]

What? the World Cup has a larger world wide audience than the Super Bowl..you can look the numbers up yourself its easy to do. The Super Bowl averages 350 million viewers worldwide, which is less than the selection show for the World Cup. The USA England game one of the top first round games and drew almost 200 million world wide, the final is looking to shatter the record 715 million viewers of the 2006 final which is more than 2x what the NFL gets.

 

Here's the lastest ESPN rating of the top athletes world wide-which recognizes popularity (I took out the women)

 

1. Tiger Woods'

2. David Beckham

3. Ronaldinho

4. Yao Ming

5. Roger Federer

6. Usain Bolt

7. Christiano Ronaldo

8. Lionel Messi

9. Thierry Henry

10. Lance Armstrong

11. LeBron James

12. Wayne Rooney

13. Kaka

14. Kobe Bryant

15. Rafa Nadal

 

There was not an NFL player in the top 50 with women included, and it wasn't until # 39 that Peyton Manning broke in on the all male list. You can guess that Yao Mings 1.3 billion countrymen have a big reason he is rated over LeBron and Kobe.

The rest of the world has no sports other than cricket, rugby, and soccer. I dont like hockey but the gold medal game vs canada was riveting. i dont watch either sport hockey or soccer but i watch big events. After the olympics i got into the nhl playoffs, ill watch the end of the world cup but thats enough of that sport . The team that tied iItaly the other day acted like they won, i think they closed down there nation, what a joke. Your list is meaningless over here, i havent seen to many KAKA jerseys

[Guest Guest]

The rest of the world has no sports other than cricket, rugby, and soccer. I dont like hockey but the gold medal game vs canada was riveting. i dont watch either sport hockey or soccer but i watch big events. After the olympics i got into the nhl playoffs, ill watch the end of the world cup but thats enough of that sport . The team that tied iItaly the other day acted like they won, i think they closed down there nation, what a joke. Your list is meaningless over here, i havent seen to many KAKA jerseys

 

 

KAKA jerseys.....thats funny

[BuckedTooth]

Personally I think this is a stupid comparison. The World Cup happens once every 4 years....its like the Olympics of Soccer. You wanna compare sorta apples to apples. Compare the MLS Cup to the Superbowl and then tell us who has more viewers, more advertising dollars, more revenue pumped into the host city....go ahead.

 

You probably think it is a stupid comparison because you can't read.

Here are the givens in this thread:

1. NFL rules the US.

2. Soccer dominates the rest of the world.

3. Many have offered theories on why either 1 or 2 are so.

4. Football meatheads are still trying to prove 1 is right which we are already giving them,

and disproving 2 which is completely idiotic and small minded. They have a better chance of trying to

prove the moon is the primary source of heat and light for our planet.

5. Soccer fans know the MLS is small peanuts compared to the NFL.

6. There have been many opinions on how to make the game more appealing to Americans.

 

[Guest Guest]

Personally I think this is a stupid comparison. The World Cup happens once every 4 years....its like the Olympics of Soccer. You wanna compare sorta apples to apples. Compare the MLS Cup to the Superbowl and then tell us who has more viewers, more advertising dollars, more revenue pumped into the host city....go ahead.

 

Fine you want a year to year comparison, the UEFA Champions league Final has also outdraws the Super Bowl and is a bigger event. It is held yearly and crowns the champion club team of European soccer. We all know that the MLS is a second tier league for the sport, if you want to compare you need to put the NFL against the other top leagues, not one that is less than 20 years old.

 

 

The rest of the world has no sports other than cricket, rugby, and soccer. I dont like hockey but the gold medal game vs canada was riveting. i dont watch either sport hockey or soccer but i watch big events. After the olympics i got into the nhl playoffs, ill watch the end of the world cup but thats enough of that sport . The team that tied iItaly the other day acted like they won, i think they closed down there nation, what a joke. Your list is meaningless over here, i havent seen to many KAKA jerseys

 

The world loves NBA basketball its #2 as far as fans worldwide, cricket is big and so is rugby but basketball has passed them now. Its been that way for about 10 years now, right after Jordans career the change was official, helped by things like Yao, Dirk and other great foreign players making it in the NBA.

 

[Guest Guest]

You probably think it is a stupid comparison because you can't read.

Here are the givens in this thread:

1. NFL rules the US.

2. Soccer dominates the rest of the world.

3. Many have offered theories on why either 1 or 2 are so.

4. Football meatheads are still trying to prove 1 is right which we are already giving them,

and disproving 2 which is completely idiotic and small minded. They have a better chance of trying to

prove the moon is the primary source of heat and light for our planet.

5. Soccer fans know the MLS is small peanuts compared to the NFL.

6. There have been many opinions on how to make the game more appealing to Americans.

Here are my givens:

1. NFL rules the US.

2. Soccer idiots have to compare far off lands to try to get any respect.

3. Soccer idiots try to tell you how hard soccer is.

4. Soccer idiots try to tell you how there is non-stopped action.

5. Soccer idiots try to tell you how football linemen are not athletes.

6. Soccer idiots will forget about soccer as soon as the FIFA is over. So will TV, and the rest of the world.

7. Soccer is boring, look at the scores.

8. Great soccer players can play in the NFL they are called KICKERS!

 

Go blow a kazoo

[BuckedTooth]

Go blow a kazoo is the best ever.

Football linemen are not athletes.

Fast fat people are still fat.