I understand that soccer is all the rage these days and I have been following the world cup just like many others. But…
One often hears the question, “Why isn’t soccer more popular in the US?” Of course there are many reasons. Ninety minutes of running around only to end up nil nil is not very satisfying. I mean real sports shouldn’t end in a tie and they certainly shouldn’t end 0-0.
When my boys were little and started out playing little league, the rules said not to keep score. Of course, even though they weren’t supposed to, the kids knew who really won the game. Even these little ones understand that sports are supposed to have winners.
While I certainly don’t endorse hooliganism, I sort of understand it. Thousands of men continually bored to tears have to find something to do, no?
Of course, even if match after 0-0 match is not enough to to drive you from the sport perhaps this will…
Read the rest of this awesome post at National Catholic Register.
June 17, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Oh good grief! Enough with the soccer bashing already.
I am an equal opportunity lover of sports, but I enjoy PLAYING them more than watching them. I have never in my life opened the sports page of a paper and couldn't care less about somebody's "stats". When I watch it is to see feats of endurance, strength and, yeah, grace of the athletes. This is why I appreciate soccer as much as football. I have played both – a lot. Soccer is FAR from boring. Sure I like to see points scored in a game, but a shot that hits the post can be just as exciting. Every single corner kick is like sudden death overtime in a football game.
The amount of shear endurance and athleticism required to play well often far outstrips that of other sports. Soccer is hockey without the ice. (Don't like hockey? Maybe you haven't played it much.) It can be extremely fast paced, suddenly explosive and full of all the strategy and tactics of other sports – like football and even of games such as Stratego, Risk and BASEBALL. (Although I am a Met fan, I will only watch a game if I am there and can have hot dogs and beer.)
I would venture to say that there are probably more Catholic soccer players than Catholics in any other sport there is, and, in many cultures, that religion IS brought out to the field. Forget the English. They've always had "issues" with religion.
Lastly – this whole thing about soccer being gay is well, pretty stupid. Reminds me of how kids call "gay" anything they don't understand. Having sustained many injuries in lots of different sports. I can say that (outside of Muay Thai) the most brutal injuries I've had where on the soccer field. (Broken ribs, broken clavicle, concussions, etc. etc.) Hardly anything wimpy or "gay" about it. There. I'm done.
June 17, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Well said Jimbo. I love this site, but I just don't get the hostility to soccer.
June 17, 2010 at 4:41 pm
The amount of shear endurance and athleticism required to play well often far outstrips that of other sports.
I had this argument with Stephen Greydamus on the NCR link, but I always chuckle at this statement. First of all, it's difficult to compare the different sports because each one requires a different type of skill. That said, I have a hard time swallowing that barely 6' feet tall, 160 pound guys are superior athletes to football, basketball, and hockey players.
I don't hate soccer, nor do I find it boring. I'll watch plenty of World Cup soccer . . . and then forget about the sport for the next 3 years and 11 months.
June 17, 2010 at 5:03 pm
Why not applaud Rooney? Because someone who does PR shuts him down don't make blanket assumptions about the sport.
And Pat – Stop knocking soccer. You will make my husband angry and you don't want to see him angry.
June 17, 2010 at 5:36 pm
Here's reason 5,648:
http://www.theonion.com/video/soccer-officially-announces-it-is-gay,17603/
June 17, 2010 at 6:55 pm
Heya Paul:
Well, in response to your comment, "That said, I have a hard time swallowing that barely 6' feet tall, 160 pound guys are superior athletes to football, basketball, and hockey players."
My statement had nothing to do with a player's size for one thing. (BTW, tell that to the Dutch I played with – the tallest people in the world.) Nor do I think that a larger person is necessarily a superior athlete. Um – do you?
I do MMA, and it is about the most grueling sport I can think of. But soccer has to be a close second in terms of endurance. Every position is different of course, but try halfback in a 90 minute game with no timeouts then tell me that it is as hard as football. I've played QB, line, and just about everything else in Fball, and while they all require an explosive sort of physicality, on the endurance scale it's just not close.
You mention Hockey. And so did I. I think they are comparable in a lot of ways. As for basketball – I'd agree that a hard played Bball game requires close to the same amount of endurance as soccer and extraordinary skill.
Soccer combines both the endurance of CONSTANTLY running, with the explosiveness of sprinting. It also takes ever bit of skill, balance, grit as ANY other sport. Bar none. (Particularly when you consider that one must master use of your feet as the primary ball mover, unlike in other sports where your hands are (more naturally) used.) Compare this to many other "sports" – like baseball, where one WAITS in a field for 45 minutes JUST IN CASE a ball MIGHT come along. Gimmie a break! Bocce requires more endurance and just as much skill.
Blackrep: yes – saw that, and was partially responding to it. Too bad we can't say "retarded" anymore, since calling that video "gay" due to its stupidity would be wrong, and my limited vocabulary doesn't support any other suitable adjectives. (OK. I do admit that it was also funny. Stupid things can definitely be funny.)
Pat's sister… "Mr. McGee…" HA!
June 17, 2010 at 8:20 pm
Superior athletes? Reggie Bush is under 6' tall. Emmit Smith is under 6'. Heck, most running backs are under 6', and there is a reason – the type of running (bursts with lots of change of direction) require a low center of gravity. The taller you are, the harder it is to pull it off. Soccer requires that dame type of ability, at least of midfielders and most forwards (there are some exceptions – Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Peter Crouch are both around 6'6" or taller).
And have you seen some of the Nigerians and Ivory Coast players? They could easily out bench most baseball players. I'd like to see you tell Didier Drogba that he's not an athlete and see what happens.
But that's not the point. Like the Texas A&M saying goes – from the outside, you wouldn't understand; from the inside, you can't explain.
June 17, 2010 at 8:22 pm
I have a similar reaction to baseball – I didn't realize a beer gut made you an "athlete".
June 18, 2010 at 1:15 am
like others have said enough with the soccer bashing. it is tiresome and unbecoming to you. I've followed and played the sport for 45 yrs and i'm American born, not an immigrant
I don't complain about the languid play of a baseball game, the ridiculous scores of a basketball game or more.
the world cup comes around but every 4 years as the younger generation would say Sit down and STFU
June 18, 2010 at 1:49 am
I'd like to see you tell Didier Drogba that he's not an athlete and see what happens.
Neither I, nor anyone else said they weren't athletes. I just scoffed at the notion that they were more athletic than other athletes.
I didn't realize a beer gut made you an "athlete".
Ugh, this is such a stupid stereotype. Yeah, there are some hefty baseball players, but they are a distinct minority. And beer gut or no, they have a skill that 99 percent of the people on this planet lack. Hitters can hit pitches coming at them at speeds of 90 MPH plus, or curving at ridiculous angle, making contact when they have .4 seconds to make a decision whether to swing. Oh, but it's not as tough as slowly running around a pitch for 90 minutes and taking a couple of shots on net.
June 18, 2010 at 2:36 am
Have you ever thought of making St. Hilarius the patron of your blog?
Just wondering.
gbm3
June 18, 2010 at 3:23 am
So, in this interview, Rooney says "we don't do religion." And Pat, you interpret that "we" as Rooney speaking for the entire sport of soccer?
Not "we on the England team" or "we on Manchester United" or "We Rooneys"…. the only possible interpretation is "we, the entire sport of soccer."
Look through photos from after the England game, you'll see Oguchi Onyewu with a shirt that says "HE is lord". Must be referring to Sepp Blatter.
Youtube Brian McBride, you'll see a 6'+" fellow scoring soccer goals, followed immediately by crossing himself and kissing his wedding ring.
I can go on… seem to remember a story of a soccer goalie in Poland who became a priest and did pretty well at it…
June 18, 2010 at 4:01 am
Anonymous, humorless, and with ppor reading comprehension skills is no way to go through life.
June 18, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Oh Paul Zummo…
No disrepect intended here BUT…..
Based on your "slowly run" comment I can now safely surmise that you haven't played soccer other than that day in Catholic elementary school gym class when all they had was a kick ball, right? Lemmie guess: some other kid had the ball, and you didn't do much running?
Maybe you accidentally clicked on a game once and saw someone jog and figured that's pretty much it?
I don't want to sound harsh here but, generally speaking, ignorance is a poor qualifier for judgmental commentary.
It's like those Classical music enthusiasts who say that "rock isn't music" or the F-1 fans who don't get NASCAR, beer drinkers who don't appreciate wine, and vice versa, and so on. It's OK not to "like" something you don't understand, but making arguments about it opens you up to the possibility that you may say something…well… that doesn't sound too informed, ya know?
BTW, that Anon comment to Patrick was way out of line, IMO. This is kind of entertaining stuff. Doesn't anyone else think that Patrick kicked the hive to see some bees?
June 18, 2010 at 4:03 pm
Okay, slowly was a bit harsh, but as a guy who runs 9 miles+ most Saturdays, I still don't think the act of running around qualifies as making one more uniquely athletic than someone who has to employ a multitude of skillsets.
I do find this entertaining because I never said I didn't like soccer, nor have I actually ever said that soccer players are unathletic. As I've said, it's difficult to compare sports because they require completely different skills and motor functions. I do find the reaction by soccer fans highly amusing, however.
June 18, 2010 at 4:11 pm
Paul: You win. I am beat. I have nothing else to say except that I agree with you now when you write, "…I still don't think…" HA! 😉
June 18, 2010 at 4:47 pm
Touchy touchy, these soccer fans.
June 18, 2010 at 6:12 pm
I just want to say… FORZA ITALIA!!!!!!!!!!! 😛
June 18, 2010 at 7:36 pm
All ribbing aside, the US got totally hosed today.
June 19, 2010 at 4:18 am
I played soccer through my freshman year in college. I think you're absolutely correct in saying that the skill sets are different.
But I think you miss a critical point in the scoring of soccer. You're looking at a nil-nil result as uninteresting. Most soccer fans will realize that there's a result behind the result. There are points awarded for the wins and draws that add up by the end of a season or tournament. A nil-nil draw actually gains both teams a point in the world cup. That one point may make the difference between going on and going home. In soccer, you look at the long run, not the short run. To be honest, it makes a certain amount of sense. If you finish regulation without a winner, then there is no winner. Just accept the result. American football accepts ties after overtime. No big deal.
As to Rooney. He didn't say they didn't do religion. The one that said it was a Football Association rep that was with him. Everything I've ever read about Roo says that he's perfectly comfortable discussing his faith. I hope he hits the back of the net a couple of times next week.
As to the sensitivity of soccer players…well…you just don't understand how many times you hear how your game isn't a "real" sport from football and baseball fans.
Mark W