European sports in America..

[ArenaBoy]

For those that do not know, I am a huge soccer fan (football to you awesome Brits). My profile picture is the logo of my team Chelsea. Living in America, soccer is sadly not very popular especially in my area known as the midwest. A lot of people are getting into soccer nowadays but there are people in my area who just refuse to accept that it's becoming popular. The other day, I was wearing my Chelsea jersey when a gentleman asked me what the heck my jersey was about. I explained the jersey and everything only to be called a: "Fucking wannabe European." That upset me greatly because I love it and I've played it since I was 5, I was happy to play it and watch it as I got older. Most of my family, who are all about "All-American" sports would always ask me when I would start playing real sports.
What irks me is that America is a country embracing of other cultures yet we refuse to accept a lousy sport. Fellow Americans, what's your take on this? Do you think that we should be more accepting of a sport from the other side of the globe? I say yes.

[rahmota]

Hey I'd be happy to have more sports to choose from. In my high school we had basketball, softball, track or soccer to choose from. The social pecking oder went in that order for some reason too. I don't see what the big deal about where a sport comes from to be such a horrible thing.

And from what I've seen of Rugby I doubt anyone in the NFL could do very well in that. Also much as I like NASCAR when did that become a "sport"?

[Knightmare]

I'm sorry, but I don't like soccer. I played in a league when I was a kid; I've watched it on television; I've tried to like it. But I don't. Maybe the games I've seen were bad ones. Boring, slow, no scoring, etc. Maybe it's because you can't use your hands? I don't know. I DO know that I understand it, I appreciate it, but I just can't get into it.

Rugby is a different matter, however. I love rugby.

But what the hell is up with Cricket??

[AFPheonix]

I like to play soccer, watching it is not that exciting, however. I do have to say that baseball is more boring still. Gah, that game is VERY boring.

[Barefootgirl]

Well, I AM European, and i find football (soccer) beyond boring. Its tedious in the extreme (sorry, Arenaboy), the players are overpaid halfwits, although of course this could be said about the majority of premier team sports players in the world, and its just so dull and effeminate.

me, i like rugby.

[ArenaBoy]

Well, I AM European, and i find football (soccer) beyond boring. Its tedious in the extreme (sorry, Arenaboy), the players are overpaid halfwits, although of course this could be said about the majority of premier team sports players in the world, and its just so dull and effeminate.

me, i like rugby.

No prob BFG, it's just the problem I have is that there are those who have never even watched a match once in their lives and they instantly bash it. In this country, the NFL reigns supreme when it isn't even real football. A friend of mine who came here from England actually called the NFL "a bunch of guys in oversized bicycle helmets and tight pants chasing a bad lookalike rugby ball up and down the pitch for three hours."
If you so much say you like soccer you get called all sorts of names, foot fairy being one of them by those who only know of the sport through the World Cup. And BFG, at times it can be effimate because of the godawful diving but I love it because of the tactics involved and rugby is a tough as nails sport.

[rahmota]

Well I find watching a lot of sports boring as heck. Playing sports are a lot better.

And I'll agree with you about the players being overpaid clowns.

[protege]

Also much as I like NASCAR when did that become a "sport"?

It became a sport when ESPN realized they could get some serious advertising revenues from it :p

I'm not a NASCAR fan at all. To me, seeing the cars go round and round an oval 500 times is boring. I'd rather watch F1 or vintage car racing.

[rahmota]

Protege: True after the loss of Dale (Moment of silence) and all it has gotten a bit overly controlled and there is less risk taking which does make for a safer race. But very boring. Go fast turn left. Again somehing that would be much more fun to do than watch.

[Sphinx]

I love soccer as well, and have always wanted to play it. :) And I get the same grief from some of my friends who say "why dont you like REAL sports, all you like are soccer and hockey" .....Those ARE real sports!!! Much better than the football and baseball that always play here in the south. I had to get satellite so i could watch them. Gahhhh when will it ever end!! lol:rolleyes:

[Greenday]

If you so much say you like soccer you get called all sorts of names, foot fairy being one of them by those who only know of the sport through the World Cup.

Let's not kid ourselves, pro-soccer players are a bunch of foot faries. I have never seen a sport where so many people take dives at every chance possible. You could be watching the action at one end, and all of a sudden someone at the other end of the field will fall to the ground, complaining about being fouled.

That being said, I love soccer. It's an awesome sport. I played it for about 8 years. I don't watch any American leagues, but I have been following Champions League and rooting for Chelsea to kick some ass. And when the World Cup started the last time, I was rooting for Germany since the qualifying rounds, unlike those Italian bastards back home who waited until the semi-finals to start watching the World Cup and were all of a sudden "Italian Pride". Support your team from the beginning and maybe I won't be so ticked off.

[ArenaBoy]

That being said, I love soccer. It's an awesome sport. I played it for about 8 years. I don't watch any American leagues, but I have been following Champions League and rooting for Chelsea to kick some ass.

You are pretty much on my good side if you support Chelsea. :) That said, it is catching on somewhat in Canada. Toronto just got a Major League Soccer team and their merchandise demand is through the roof. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2007/08/c5992.html

There are quite a few Americans playing in the English Premiership now and the MLS has broadcasting rights with ESPN2 right now. That said, the sport is SLOWLY inching it's way to prominence in the USA.

[Aldous]

Used to play, then got in a serious injury, haven't played sports since. Don't care much for them, I'm the intellectual type. I'd rather spend 3 hours trying to figure out a problem or puzzle than watch sports. That being said, Soccer doesn't infuriate me. Baseball does. Soccer, A-Okay in my book. Baseball, not so much. As for the "foot fairy" comment. Lemme tell you, 6 years of soccer and 7 of Tae-kwon-do (Foot based martial arts) my feet are pretty well trained to kick ass. So my one friend called me a foot fairy, and I booted him in the gut. Funny part, all my friends and I started playing soccer instead of football for about 6 months. Much more fun for me, than "set, hike, okay run."

[ArenaBoy]

It sure would be easier to get your soccer fix if you left the US! For some reason that sport has just never caught on in America the way it has everywhere else.

Interestingly enough there's 3 channels dedicated to soccer on cable. They all show just about every league and then some.

I think you're near Toronto no? They have their own team called Toronto FC; as far as I know they've been a success as tickets have been near impossible to get.

There are also people who say that the league will fail. The only reason the NASL failed was lack of interest and overspending. Different times now. The current league took measures to prevent overspending and marketed to fans.

[Dragonlover]

Speaking as a Brit, soccer bores me to tears both to watch and play, although if a couple of managers are having a go through the media I'll read it for a laugh. Rugby on the other hand... if I wasn't a skinny assed gamer with crap lungs I'd probably try and play it at amateur level.

I think the main thing with America is that to an extent they don't 'get' football, in the same way that this side of the pond we can't grasp American football.

Dragonlover

[Will-Mun]

No prob BFG, it's just the problem I have is that there are those who have never even watched a match once in their lives and they instantly bash it. In this country, the NFL reigns supreme when it isn't even real football. A friend of mine who came here from England actually called the NFL "a bunch of guys in oversized bicycle helmets and tight pants chasing a bad lookalike rugby ball up and down the pitch for three hours."
If you so much say you like soccer you get called all sorts of names, foot fairy being one of them by those who only know of the sport through the World Cup. And BFG, at times it can be effimate because of the godawful diving but I love it because of the tactics involved and rugby is a tough as nails sport.

See, no offense, but you're complaining about people in America not liking Soccer, but then you and your friend attack American Football in the same manner people here attack Soccer. It's cultural man, thats all.

As for me, I don't like sports, any sport at all. Just not into competition for the sake of competition, and being paid for being able to throw/kick/smack a ball around...

What I wouldn't mind is American Sports stop calling themselves World Champs until they actually PLAY someone outside of America! :D

[daleduke17]

What I wouldn't mind is American Sports stop calling themselves World Champs until they actually PLAY someone outside of America! :D

Just looking at baseball, I think the title of "World Champion" could stand, depending on what teams are being played. Look at the Boston Red Sox (yes, I'm biased that way). They have players from Japan, United States, Cuba (Mike Lowell, kinda), Dominican Republic, Canada, Nicaragua (if Hansack is still on the team), and Puerto Rico. Other teams have players from the Netherlands, Mexico, and Australia to name a few countries. To me, that gives Major League Baseball a claim to "World Champion" status.

To refute my above claim, all of the teams play within the confines of the United States and Canada (except two games in Japan and past ones in Puerto Rico and Mexico). Like you said, Will-Mun, to truly be a "World Champion" it would be better to defeat teams from around the world. A nice inter-brand game would be something like the 12 Nippon League teams vs 12 MLB teams to lay claim to a sort of "Intercontinental" Champion of baseball.

[ArenaBoy]

Let's not kid ourselves, pro-soccer players are a bunch of foot faries. I have never seen a sport where so many people take dives at every chance possible. You could be watching the action at one end, and all of a sudden someone at the other end of the field will fall to the ground, complaining about being fouled.

Stop watching the Italian National Team, same goes for Portugal, Spain, and the Spanish League. There are plenty of players who would tell you otherwise about diving. Diving has only become a recent thing in the sport. There are plenty of players who tend to get giggles of actually giving a diver something to whine about. Need I add how much faking basketball has?

Daleduke, they did set up something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic

What I'd like to see in American pro sports is promotion and relegation. Basically the 3 worst teams get sent to the lower leagues and the 3 best teams in the lower league get sent to the higher level leagues. Imagine the Yankees and the Red Sox in a battle to avoid being relegated.

[daleduke17]

Daleduke, they did set up something like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Baseball_Classic


Yeah, I remember the WBC. I was talking about having Japanese League teams face MLB teams. It would be interesting to see Seibu vs Boston, just to see Matsuzaka face his old team.

[crazylegs]

But what the hell is up with Cricket??

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
Each man that's in the side that's in goes out, and when
he's out he comes in and the next man goes in until he's
out. When they are all out, the side that's out comes in
and the side that's been in goes out and tries to get
those coming in, out. Sometimes you get men still in
and not out. When a man goes out to go in, the men who
are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes
in and the next man in goes out and goes in. There are two
men called umpires who stay all out the time and they
decide when the men who are in are out. When both sides
have been in and all the men have been given out, and
both sides have been out twice after all the men have
been in, including those who are not out, that is the
end of the game!"

Make sense? :D

As a Brit I'd like to throw my hat into the ring for the crowd of football dislikers, a game where 22 men with over inflated egos and over inflated pay packets kick a an inflated pigs bladder for 90 minutes a week.

Rugby on the other hand, thats a real sport.

[Seshat]

I'm not sure what you mean about 'what's up with Cricket', but anyway:

In baseball, the bowler (or whatever you call the person who throws the ball at the batter) has to hit an invisible zone: above home base, between the knees and the shoulders of the batter, if I recall correctly. If he hits that zone three times and the batter fails to connect with the ball every time, the batter is out.

In cricket, the zone is visible. The bowler has to hit the wicket behind the batsman, the batsman has to prevent him from doing so - with the bat. If the batsman's leg is in front of the wicket and the ball hits it, it's called 'leg before wicket' and is an automatic out. If the bowler hits the wicket, the batsman is out.

In baseball, once a batter has hit the ball, everyone who's on the batter's team and in the field tries to run as far around the diamond as he can without getting out. The diamond being the four bases in a square pattern (okay, a square on one corner) in the middle of the field. The batters have to put their foot on each base as they circle the field.

In cricket, once a batsman has hit the ball, he and his fellow batsman (the two who are in the field) try to run from one end to the other along the pitch as many times as they can without getting out. The pitch being the rectangle with the wickets on the short ends, in the middle of the field. The safe zone near the wicket is called the crease, and the batsman has to put his foot in it each run.

In both games, if a fielder who is positioned at the base/crease catches the ball with a batter/batsman approaching it but not on the base/crease, that batter/batsman is out. In cricket, the fielder must hit the wicket with the ball. In baseball, I think he only needs to be a certain distance from the base.

In both games, once there are no more batters/batsmen left in the batting team, the teams switch roles.

In both games, the team with the greater number of successful runs around/along the field at the end of play is the winner.

In both games, there are additional rules - how many times each team gets a go, rules about who goes first, rules that try to keep one team from playing with the sun in their eyes and the other not.

There you go. That's what's up with cricket.

[Greenday]

Baseball, pitcher throws the ball. Three strikes, you're out. You can hit a foul, which is when the ball is hit and it doesn't land in the field between 1st and 3rd base. That counts as a strike, unless it's the third strike. Also, four pitches out of the strike zone and a player walks, advancing to first base. Two players on the team that is up to bat can't be on the same base. You can get out by striking out, being tagged out while not on a base, if there's a force on you, you have to get on the base before an opposing player touches the base while holding the ball. Etc. etc.

[crazylegs]

The safe zone near the wicket is called the crease, and the batsman has to put his foot in it each run.

Just as a semantic issue,

You only need to get your bat (whilst it is on the ground) inside the crease to prevent you from being run out.

[Seshat]

Bah. I done good for someone who hates spectator sport and hasn't watched or played either for over a decade. So there, nyaaah. :p

[lordlundar]

Also much as I like NASCAR when did that become a "sport"?

Forget NASCAR, when did Poker get classified as a sport so ESPN can air the tournaments.?

And ArenaBoy, look at the bright side. Having an understanding of real football puts you up on the world stage. Those that bash you for it will never see that stage.

(note, I said understanding. You don't have to like it, but you have to have to acknowledge that it is a true world sport. Me? Hate real football, but then, I was always stuck in goal during school.)

[DexX]

I like rugby. Rugby is trench warfare in which nobody gets shot or has their toes rot off. It's an amazingly strategic team game, and each try (touchdown equivalent) is usually a full-team effort, coming at the end of a long strategic play.

Cricket is great when I'm in the mood for it, and I must amit I prefer limited overs to test cricket. It is too easy for nothing to happen in test, whereas the limited over matches really forced the batsmen to, you know, DO something. I saw a day-nighter at the MCG a few years back, and it was great fun.

Soccer isn't really my thing. I must admit I watched the Aussies in the World Cup (until we got robbed by some appalling refereeing) and enjoyed those matches, but when I don't have my national pride invested I don't get so into it. Any sport in which 22 men can run around for the better part of two hours and NOT SCORE AT ALL is not really my thing. Call me ADHD. ;)

American sports, well... I've tried. NFL seems to be geared toward television advertising, with its constant stoppages. The spend more time stopped than playing, and it's infuriating. I don't mind basketball, but I won't go out of my to watch it. I tried watching baseball during the Olympics, and Jesus Christ was it dull. I don't understand how a baseball fan could call cricket boring.

[Rapscallion]

Any sport in which 22 men can run around for the better part of two hours and NOT SCORE AT ALL is ...

... probably a version of my friends at a nightclub.

Rapscallion

[IDrinkaRum]

... probably a version of my friends at a nightclub.

Rapscallion

*dies laughing* Umm ... thanks Raps. Now I'm dead but wait!!! I'm alive again! YAY Me!!!

Anyways, my husband used to play rugby. He actually went to Virginia Tech and was on the team for a year (then he was asked to leave as his grades weren't up to snuff with all his partying - the rugby team there was a huuuuuuge party team). He was a prop for his team. He loved playing it. Now, if he were in better shape, I'd let him join the local adult male rugby team. Maybe if I used that incentive, he might actually start to diet ... hmmm ... just a thought ...

Anyways, I love baseball, for the record. It's the ONLY sport I understand, and the only sport I really only care to understand. (Besides, it's something my Dad & I can enjoy together without having my mom or sister intervene and we're not arguing).

[Gibbo]

*dies laughing* Umm ... thanks Raps. Now I'm dead but wait!!! I'm alive again! YAY Me!!!

Anyways, my husband used to play rugby. He actually went to Virginia Tech and was on the team for a year (then he was asked to leave as his grades weren't up to snuff with all his partying - the rugby team there was a huuuuuuge party team). He was a prop for his team. He loved playing it. Now, if he were in better shape, I'd let him join the local adult male rugby team. Maybe if I used that incentive, he might actually start to diet ... hmmm ... just a thought ...

Anyways, I love baseball, for the record. It's the ONLY sport I understand, and the only sport I really only care to understand. (Besides, it's something my Dad & I can enjoy together without having my mom or sister intervene and we're not arguing).

I've always thought that rugby league and rugby union (in England we have two versions of rugby) could become big in the US if given a chance. There will be plenty of football players who either don't get a scholarship or make it in the NFL who would be coulf be persuaded to give them a try.

As for American sports I do like the NFL and NHL, but over here in England American sports, especially american football, aren't taken seriously. Most people here cannot get how a game can last for 3 hours (even though we have cricket, in which a game can last 5 days!) and don't understand the need to have overtime for every tied game. What people over here really don't like though is how teams can move from one city to another.

What's even taken less seriously than traditional American sports is American soccer. The MLS is seen as a retirement home for players looking for one last big pay day.

[protege]

Soccer isn't really my thing. I must admit I watched the Aussies in the World Cup (until we got robbed by some appalling refereeing) and enjoyed those matches, but when I don't have my national pride invested I don't get so into it. Any sport in which 22 men can run around for the better part of two hours and NOT SCORE AT ALL is not really my thing. Call me ADHD. ;)

Pittsburgh once had an indoor soccer team (the Spirit). From what I understand it was more popular than the Penguins hockey team--an average of 8,000 to about 6,000 in those days. Sadly, the team went out of business around 1986...and interest in the sport dropped off. Now, we have the Riverhounds. The interest is there, but it seems it has trouble getting promoted. Locally, people are more interested in the Pirates baseball team, the Penguins, and the Steelers (football).

American sports, well... I've tried. NFL seems to be geared toward television advertising, with its constant stoppages. The spend more time stopped than playing, and it's infuriating.

Agreed. I think the constant stoppages are...pretty damn annoying. Especially in the final 5 minutes of the game. Why is it that those final 5 minutes are the *longest* part? It's bad enough that every play has to be analyzed from every possible angle, but to draw it out even further? There's something wrong when it takes half an hour or more to go over a few seconds of play :rolleyes:

I tried watching baseball during the Olympics, and Jesus Christ was it dull. I don't understand how a baseball fan could call cricket boring.

You've never watched the Pittsburgh Pirates play then :p Seriously, our team sucks ass. We haven't seen a World Series since 1979, and haven't made it to the National League championship...since 1992. Most of the problem, is that the team keeps trading their better players for mediocre talent.

[Slytovhand]

I've followed the soccer since I was a wee kid, and supported Spurs in the EPL (English Premier League) for not much less. (though, the way they started out this year, I was thinking I'd need to change that :p worst start to a season since 1912...but, finally, we've started to kick butt... :wave: Chelsea :p)

Cricket bores me a bit too, though I don't mind a bit of the short version... and I don't mind teh 20/20 either (that's 20 overs only per team... basically a slog-fest).

Grid-iron... I'm lost... the only 'skill' I see being used is from the dude who throws the ball. At least in soccer, you've got to be very skilled to get anywhere - as well as very fit (ie... it's a 90 minute game - you're usually running for 90 minutes. None of this break every 2 minutes and change your entire team over...).

Now, I don't support AFL (Aussie Rules), but I'll give it to them... they do have to be fit.. and have some sort of skills... and tough. (for those who don't know what I'm talking about, much larger field than gridiron, NO padding or helmets! The only part of the body you can't hit is the head... while ppl are looking :p all that, in 4 quarters of 30 mins each...lots of points (depending on the game) lots of biffo. Oh, and you can climb up on the back of your opponent (or team mate for that matter) to catch the ball! Sort of like a more violent version of Rugby - but you score more points for kicking it through the goal (and no touchdowns...).

Oh, there's a new invention for us and the Irish... a combination of Aussie Rules and Gaelic Football... that's even more violent! There's an annual competition between us.


I like hockey (field), but I don't like the ice stuff... at least, not the way I've seen it played in America... it only seems to be about how you can take out your oppenent. Field hockey takes some nice skill...

But, speaking of skill... I think the one sport I adore watching (it could only be a dream or my next lifetime in the right body) is gymnastics! That stuff just amazes me!! Especially rings!

[Greenday]

Grid-iron... I'm lost... the only 'skill' I see being used is from the dude who throws the ball. At least in soccer, you've got to be very skilled to get anywhere - as well as very fit (ie... it's a 90 minute game - you're usually running for 90 minutes. None of this break every 2 minutes and change your entire team over...).

You've never competitively played football, have you? Name any position and I'll list the skills being used to play that position. Even and including kickers and punters.

Agreed. I think the constant stoppages are...pretty damn annoying. Especially in the final 5 minutes of the game. Why is it that those final 5 minutes are the *longest* part?

Because that's when timeouts become even more vital, thus they are usually saved for that specific time period. If you need to stop the clocked and the ballcarrier didn't get out of bounds, a timeout is your only option.

[Slytovhand]

You've never competitively played football, have you?

Yes, for many years when I was a youngster.


Oh... you mean American football....:p

BTW - anyone here seen that Asian version of volleyball - where they can't use the hands??

[AdminAssistant]

I think of American football as a 'roided up version of chess. It's just too darn slow for me to really care (baseball too....sooooo sloooooow).

I think I could get into soccer, I would probably enjoy it. There's enough action to keep me interested.

[Cat]

I do enjoy watching baseball (on TV....too expensive to actually go to a game {rip, Yankee Stadium}) esp if I am with friends in bar :)

Soccer, I played when I was a kid, and I can't get into watching it...though I do have friends who follow it (Big New England supporters....not sure who they like overseas)

Hate football....it is the constant stopping (and the Super Bowl Ads were lame this year) Plus, I just don't bloody get it at all.

NASCAR...ugh! My bf watches, I tried to get into it...sorry....its dull

Poker is not a sport, but can be fun to watch on TV...its more watching the players tried to bluff and use mind games...I have been known to get into it.

My favorite sport to watch..Equestrian....esp show jumping....I used to ride, and when I watch I tend to click at the horse and yell at the rider to change their stride (usually just while watching TV :D)

[protege]

I never got into Nascar either. I mean, 500 times in a freaking circle? Are you kidding me? I don't even think those fools could handle making a turn in the opposite direction :p

Seriously though, give me vintage sports car racing, F1, etc. Something where the cars take some *real* skill (not to mention a set of brass balls!) to handle--the 1930s "silver arrows from Mercedes, the Auto Unions, "Blower" Bentleys, Millers, Bugattis, etc. That's why guys like Sir Stirling Moss are still highly regarded...even though he no longer races, except in "historics" or exhibitions.

That's why I like the Pittsburgh Vintage GP so much. Well, that and it's free :p But, since I'm a local, I can usually get away with a quick blast through the course (public streets, BTW) the night before the race. All stop signs are removed, and there usually aren't any cops about. Meaning, you can slide around corners...much like the Alfas, MGs, Jags, and other cars will be doing the next morning. Great fun in a 'boring' Toyota :p

One form of racing I'd probably enjoy, is rallying. However, you don't see that on in the US much. The only events that are covered, usually don't see much newsprint. Too bad, since those guys are insane!