Why Soccer Is Better Than Football

The Wall Street Journal ^ | May 18, 2012 | BRUCE ORWALL

[MinorityRepublican]

LONDON—Words can barely describe the jaw-dropping season finale staged by England's Premier League last weekend, but that didn't stop every pundit, Twitter wag and pub crawler in Britain from searching many beers into Sunday night for new ways to say "best season ever."

The day started at 3 p.m. with seven of the league's 20 teams still playing for something important: not just the championship, but also to secure berths in a prestigious Europe-wide competition and the right to stay in the Premier League at all, under rules that annually demote the weakest teams.

It wasn't settled until minutes before 5 p.m., when two improbable late goals delivered Manchester City—the world's only underdog lavishly bankrolled by an Abu Dhabi sheik—its first title since the late 1960s. Former Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher described the feeling that swelled up in City supporters when he told the BBC: "I just swore a lot. I cried, I cried like a baby." Celebrating in a Santiago, Chile, bar, he "may have tried" to rip a TV off the wall.

Observing the mayhem from my usual perch at the Gunmakers pub in London's Marylebone, I left the television undisturbed, but marked a personal milestone of my own: I've made the switch from American football to real football. After years of trying to sneak away from the National Football League—with its weaponized linemen, bounty-hunting defenses and periodic bursts of action to break up the commercials—I am finally, completely finished with it. You may be ready for some football, but I'm so bored with the NFL.

As an American, this puts me at loggerheads not just with my countrymen—this year's Super Bowl was the most watched program in U.S. history—but also my colleague and boss, Wall Street Journal deputy editor in chief Gerard Baker.

[JohnBrowdie]

And, why do they pretend they don't have arms?

because it is a sport designed for, and practiced primarily in, primitive countries. they would probably become violent if they were allowed to use their arms.

[LuvFreeRepublic]

Great read. Thanks for the post. The comments from the usual suspects are true to form, lol.

[GeorgiaDawg32]

I love Rugby League, Rugby Union, not so much. I was a fan of a team that rarely won but dangit, they didn’t quit trying. Can’t remember the name, this goes back 15 years or better when I worked in London two weeks a month.

[Chode]

cause you can nap now and again during the game and STILL not miss a score???

[Reily]

When the ref blows the ball dead or it goes off the pitch (field) that is out of bounds!

I played college rugby then club rugby for 15 years, loved every minute of it.

[Melas]

Saying that something is more interesting than football, is akin to saying it’s more interesting than watching the paint fade on a junkyard Pontiac. Everything is more interesting than football.

[dfwgator]

The other great thing about the EPL is that you are not rewarded for just being the hot team at the right time (see the LA Kings). No unbalanced schedules, each team plays the others home and away, so there’s no arguments over strength of schedule. It also takes 3 ties to equal 1 win, so teams definitely will not play for ties. And as we saw this year, it came down to Goal Differential, so teams are encouraged to score as much as possible.

[Colonel_Flagg]

"I just swore a lot."

Being a United supporter, I swore a lot too.

I do like games where scoring actually means something, so soccer and hockey are right at the top of the list.

[kosciusko51]

Of course you failed. Sport, like cars, are an emotional affair, and people have their preferences.

The rise of soccer in the US was not brought about by poor peasants from other countries (although they play it), it was brought about by the upper middle class liberal mothers afraid that Johnny would get hurt playing American football (nevermind soccer players take more balls to the face than Liberace, but I digress). Soccer, to the average American, smacks of European elitism.

And has anyone noticed that professional soccer leagues in the US have had the staying power of a liberal talk show host? No matter how much the soccer advocates say soccer is better, the American public hasn't bought into the hype.

[JMS]

Have you ever watched Cricket? I’ll take soccer over that any day.

[vladimir998]

Nah!

Australian Rules Football. Now, that is a GAME!

[dfwgator]

Being a United supporter, I swore a lot too.

Now United fans know how Bayern fans felt in 1999.

[Moose4]

I’m not the biggest soccer fan around, but I do admit the concept of promotion and relegation makes things interesting. How many late-season games do you see where a team tanks it to get better draft picks? Do you think, say, the Pirates would slack off if they knew another loss might put them down in AAA ball?

The Man City/Man U drama could happen in any sport where one team makes a miraculous last-second comeback to get a win. The part that’s unique to most soccer leagues in the world was taking place on the other side...Queens Park Rangers fighting like hell because if they lost, they stood a good chance of being relegated back to the Championship. In an equivalent NFL scenario, there’s nothing but pride on the line for the team that’s low in the standings. But in the QPR/Man City game, QPR had every reason in the world to play like it was a title game, because for them, it basically was. As it was, they dodged the bullet. (Poor Bolton. I saw the end of the QPR/City game on Youtube and they had shots of the Wanderers fans when they got relegated. Talk about heartbreak.)

}:-)4

[MPJackal]

I just can not stand the dives. Guys don't even get touched, fall to the ground in fake agony, get carried off on a stretcher, the “offending player” gets a yellow card or worse, then the injured player jumps up and runs back on the field. Disgusting. And it now happens in Basketball now and Foorball. Every time a reciever drops a ball they try and fake interference. I blame soccer. Hockey fixed it, penalize the flopper.

[mitch5501]

"...and periodic bursts of action to break up the commercials..."

Aussie rules football has one burst of action.It starts at the beginning and stops when the final siren sounds.Of all the forms of football going around,AFL leaves the rest for dead when it comes to spectacular,non-stop bone crunching action.

I don't think soccer is crap or NFL for that matter,just that when it comes to relentless action,none hold a candle to the footy from down under.

[dfwgator]

Not as big of a problem in the EPL....they started clamping down...players have actually gotten red cards and suspensions for diving.

[Paisan]

Soccer is so gay

[867V309]

Of course you failed. Sport, like cars, are an emotional affair, and people have their preferences.

The rise of soccer in the US was not brought about by poor peasants from other countries (although they play it), it was brought about by the upper middle class liberal mothers afraid that Johnny would get hurt playing American football (nevermind soccer players take more balls to the face than Liberace, but I digress). Soccer, to the average American, smacks of European elitism.

And has anyone noticed that professional soccer leagues in the US have had the staying power of a liberal talk show host? No matter how much the soccer advocates say soccer is better, the American public hasn't bought into the hype.


Word.

[mitch5501]

You got that right vlad!

No body armour,no helmets and it's a brutal contact sport.Fast,furious and on occasion you can see men actually fly!

[dfwgator]

The MLS is a joke...it’s like watching a Single A minor league baseball game compared to the EPL....MLS teams get their butts handed to them by teams from El Salvador in the CONCACAF Champions League.

One thing is that more Americans are playing in the EPL. Clint Dempsey had a huge year for Fulham, and there is speculation that either Manchester United or Arsenal is going to after him.