Posted on 06/18/2014 6:54:10 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Dispense with the borg-like insistence that everyone must like soccer. Everyone doesn't like pro basketball, everyone doesn't like pro football. No one has their drawers in a twist about that.
As far as viewership, the problem to me appears to be cameras focusing on a huge field with brightly colored, shorts-wearing people apparently toddling about the field chasing a ball. That's what it looks like, and that's reinforcing the American impression that it's a kid's game. Yes, I know that the players are not literally toddling, but given the video showing that huge field, the action appears to be slow and the players appear to be small.
Maybe "arena soccer" with a more compact playing area would help, lol.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Baseball an American sport dirived from Cricket, and Football an American sport derived from Rugby?
Maybe we need to derive an American sport from what we now call “soccer”. I remember indoor soccer was tried. That actually looked pretty cool.
I do know that most kids that play soccer at a very young age move on to American sports when they reach Middle school or high school. Mine did, as did all their friends.
Maybe we don’t need to have a sport rammed down our throats. I’m a musician. I don’t like rap or hip-hop. If or when it morhps into something I like, well, I’ll like it.
The question asked in the article is for the marketers of Soccer in the US, not the consumers that don’t really care to watch it.
BTW, the World Cup numbers are high because it is an annual event. How high would the numbers be for it or, say the Olympics, if you could watch them every weekend? I enjoy watching soccer for short spurts while at a sports bar. I rarely see anybody score, but it is usually pretty exciting when they do. I confess that one of the most annoying parts of the game is the inability of players to use their hands to accomplish anything. It’s like having to play ping-pong with your eyes closed. It’s a fabricated challenge.
Add in more time for the players to just stand around like they do in NFL or MLB games. That way viewers can have more opportunities to go get another beer.
1. Elongate the ball.
2. Allow players to use their hands.
3. Allow players to pass the ball with their hands and other players to catch the ball with their hands.
4. Allow players to wear padding and actually, physically tackle opposing players who have the ball.
5. Have goals count as 6 points and extra points count as 1 with kickers kicking straight on instead of soccer-style.
Amen.
How about just two players per team, each gets 20 alternating penalty shots.
I always thought that any penalty in the goal area (leading to a penalty kick) should be reviewed via instant replay. The flow of the game has already stopped, so the minute to review the film will not interrupt active play. If the offensive player is shown to be acting, he should receive an automatic yellow.
I figure anyone who is trendy enough to actually watch soccer gets sufficient penalty by having to watch this stuff.
A Beyonce halftime extravaganza. Ummm.... would be way more exciting than an actual soccer game. (and it would still suck)
If they put a wall up at the end of the field and let the ball bounce back into play after an attempted shot, you would get rebound, second-chance shots and more scoring.
Imagine hockey if after every missed shot, they blew the whistle and had to start over again.
I will watch Soccer when the clock counts down not up, and no added time at the end.
I have watched one game, was thinking “thank goodness, it’s finally over” when they added extra minutes to the game and I was forced, yes FORCED to watch more mind numbing scrambling about.
Oh, and what is with the “tactical”. I see hordes of players running about. I know what the word tactical means and don’t see anything tactical happening.
The writer has the offside rule wrong. At the time the ball is played, there must be two defensive players between the player the ball is played to at the time of contact. The goalkeeper is almost always one of the defensive players, but the writer is wrong.
I do agree that the offside rule needs modification. My suggestion is that once the ball is below the top of the penalty area, the offside rule is no longer on in effect, except in the goalkeeper area which could be expanded by a couple of yards.
Maybe the hundreds of millions of people that watch soccer, inc myself, just love the sport, find it gripping, and love it just as you do your sports?.
Wow, watched ONE game and got all that? Thank you for the reply. It’s not many people that will publicly out themselves as an f*ing moron. Well done, and I’ll be sure to note this for all your future posts.
Start with five minutes of free kicks. Then watch your paint dry.
Sigh.
Its a huge myth that soccer games are all 0-0. Very few games of soccer, at any level, end up 0-0. Or even draws.
Now your comment I can respect! Well said sir.
As for stoppage time, I like it just the way it is for primarily one reason. It is a traditional and expected practice that the ref not end the half or the game if one team is threatening to score; and waits until the threat on goal no longer exists.
It’s one of the quirks of the game that make it so exciting at the end of a close match.
Go USA!
Soccer is a Euroweenie and third world game we Americans simply do not identify with. The liberals schools have been pushing soccer in public schools for about 30 years now. That is where the latest kids have been identifying with soccer.
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