Learn about soccer

AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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Soccer - a sport with rules designed to make it as low-scoring and dull as possible.
That sounds pretty much like any team sport (and some individual sports like tennis) except basketball and the occasional rugby or throw/carry type football game. lol
 

Bar Sinister

Executive Branch Member
Jan 17, 2010
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I know about soccer. I even had season tickets to the North American Soccer League. But I found the game so deadly dull I stopped going after just a few games. What can you say when one of the games I watched resulted in only a single shot on goal by both teams in the first half? It was at that point my wife and I decided to give soccer up as a bad job.
 

AnnaG

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Jul 5, 2009
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Thats what I've been doing for years......
Till someone started this thread. lol

I know about soccer. I even had season tickets to the North American Soccer League. But I found the game so deadly dull I stopped going after just a few games. What can you say when one of the games I watched resulted in only a single shot on goal by both teams in the first half? It was at that point my wife and I decided to give soccer up as a bad job.
... and took up whining about it? lmao
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
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Location, Location
North Americans seem to need the fast pace and direct one-on-one conflict that you get in hockey, football, and basketball, or else the mind-numbingly slow pace of baseball. Most North Americans can't seem to follow the passing and waiting for a good shot that soccer entails.

So that's fine; nobody is forcing North Americans to watch or play soccer.
 

Blackleaf

Hall of Fame Member
Oct 9, 2004
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Soccer - a sport with rules designed to make it as low-scoring and dull as possible.

Football is so "dull" that it just happens to be the most popular team sport, by far, on the planet.

Give me the Beautiful Game over baseball or ice hockey any day of the week.

All North American sports will find it impossible to not only host international tournaments like the Football World Cup (because hardly anybody outside North America plays baseball, basketball or ice hockey) but to draw in the huge global TV audience and the huge crowds attending games like there are in South Africa for the World Cup at the moment.

Football is such a global game that today in the World Cup we have Serbia VS Ghana, Algeria VS Slovenia and Germany VS Australia. Later on in the tournament there'll also be matches such as Brazil VS North Korea, Chile VS Switzerland, New Zealand VS Slovakia, Portugal VS Ivory Coast and Italy VS Paraguay.

And already we've seen match referees and linesmen from places such as Uzbekistan, Japan and Guatemala.

No North America sport can hope to become as global a game.
 
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AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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North Americans seem to need the fast pace and direct one-on-one conflict that you get in hockey, football, and basketball, or else the mind-numbingly slow pace of baseball. Most North Americans can't seem to follow the passing and waiting for a good shot that soccer entails.

So that's fine; nobody is forcing North Americans to watch or play soccer.
lol Or the fast-paced golf?
I'd bet in general, soccer players have quite a bit more stamina and all around fitness than baseball players, American football players, etc. have. They're probably on par with hockey players, rugby players, and basketball players in that respect. Football players seem to need a break every few seconds and are so soft they need padding to keep from getting bruised. lol
Baseball players stand around watching the ball get passed around and occasionally swatted. The most they run is maybe 370 feet if they get a home run. lol (I played catcher for a girls' team when I was a kid cuz there wasn't much for soccer) :D
Basketball is boring cuz one team with the ball runs to the other team's net and scores. Then the reverse happens. It seesaws back and forth with the occasional foul, miss, or out of bounds and then seesaws back and forth a while more. The best part of football and basketball is the sidelines and girls in short skirts. :D
Too bad North Americans never took to jai alai and lacrosse. Those are pretty decent active games.

Football is so "dull" that it just happens to be the most popular team sport, by far, on the planet.

Give me the Beautiful Game over baseball or ice hockey any day of the week.

All North American sports will find it impossible to not only host international tournaments like the Football World Cup (because hardly anybody outside North America plays baseball, basketball or ice hockey) but to draw in the huge global TV audience and the huge crowds attending games like there are in South Africa for the World Cup at the moment.

Football is such a global game that today in the World Cup we have Serbia VS Ghana, Algeria VS Slovenia and Germany VS Australia. Later on in the tournament there'll also be matches such as Brazil VS North Korea, Chile VS Switzerland, New Zealand VS Slovakia, Portugal VS Ivory Coast and Italy VS Paraguay.

And already we've seen match referees and linesmen from places such as Uzbekistan, Japan and Guatemala.

No North America sport can hope to become as global a game.
Actually, I heard the Japanese are nuts about baseball. :) But there's bound to be the odd instance of exceptions. lol

Everyones entitled to have an opinion and express it.
Yup. It's just funny that people who don't like a sport will go into a thread about the sport and whine instead of posting in a thread on a sport they like. :)
 

Bar Sinister

Executive Branch Member
Jan 17, 2010
8,252
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Till someone started this thread. lol

... and took up whining about it? lmao


Apparently you have mistaken an honest reply for whining. Once again you seem to be attempting to give your fragile ego a boost by resorting to insulting language. I happen to find soccer dull and believe it is dull because the rules, especially the off-side rule, result in boring defensive play.

I also find bowling, darts, and snooker dull as spectator sports. I hope I am not accused of whining about them as well. Or am I not allowed to express my opinion without drawing a sneering comment from you?

Football is so "dull" that it just happens to be the most popular team sport, by far, on the planet.

Give me the Beautiful Game over baseball or ice hockey any day of the week.

All North American sports will find it impossible to not only host international tournaments like the Football World Cup (because hardly anybody outside North America plays baseball, basketball or ice hockey) but to draw in the huge global TV audience and the huge crowds attending games like there are in South Africa for the World Cup at the moment.

Football is such a global game that today in the World Cup we have Serbia VS Ghana, Algeria VS Slovenia and Germany VS Australia. Later on in the tournament there'll also be matches such as Brazil VS North Korea, Chile VS Switzerland, New Zealand VS Slovakia, Portugal VS Ivory Coast and Italy VS Paraguay.

And already we've seen match referees and linesmen from places such as Uzbekistan, Japan and Guatemala.

No North America sport can hope to become as global a game.


Soccer is popular for two main reasons. One - it is the only sport available to most of the world's population due to the high cost of equipment in other sports. Soccer rules are simple, require little equipment, and a game can be played almost anywhere.

And then there is the cultural aspect. If soccer is the only sport you know it is going to be difficult to embrace another.

But I stand by my original comment. Compared to more dynamic sports like ice hockey, soccer is very slow moving and the number of scoring plays is quite limited. Changing the off-side rule would make the game more wide open and much more interesting to watch. It is interesting to note that in ice hockey the rules have been modified many times in attempts to make the game more exciting, beginning back in the 19th century when the 7th player was eliminated. Any suggestion that soccer rules be modified, however, meet with the attitude that the game is perfect the way it is. Perhaps soccer aficionados are correct and soccer is perfect the way it is, but I happen to find it mind-numbingly dull.
 

Ulgundo

Nominee Member
May 15, 2010
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I know about soccer. I even had season tickets to the North American Soccer League. But I found the game so deadly dull I stopped going after just a few games. What can you say when one of the games I watched resulted in only a single shot on goal by both teams in the first half? It was at that point my wife and I decided to give soccer up as a bad job.
Well i worship soccer but im pretty sure even i would have found North american soccer league boring,i mean does north american soccer league even exists? You should try wathing a game of barcelona if you have a chance and see what soccer is all about...And i've seen some posts from you stating the game would be more fun without the offside rule,in a regular premier league game there is between 0-6 offsides,the number usually being under 4.(But i guess its fair not to except the same quality from the nort american soccer league...)

By the way,the link is hilarious:D
 

AnnaG

Hall of Fame Member
Jul 5, 2009
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Apparently you have mistaken an honest reply for whining. Once again you seem to be attempting to give your fragile ego a boost by resorting to insulting language. I happen to find soccer dull and believe it is dull because the rules, especially the off-side rule, result in boring defensive play.

I also find bowling, darts, and snooker dull as spectator sports. I hope I am not accused of whining about them as well. Or am I not allowed to express my opinion without drawing a sneering comment from you?
It was a joke. Get a grip and quit taking everything so seriously. You didn't notice the "lol" and the "lmao" bits in what I said: "Till someone started this thread. lol

... and took up whining about it? lmao"

Now you are fair game. :D (pun intended)


Soccer is popular for two main reasons. One - it is the only sport available to most of the world's population due to the high cost of equipment in other sports. Soccer rules are simple, require little equipment, and a game can be played almost anywhere.
Same for rugby but it isn't as popular. Same for hockey, but it isn't as popular. Basketball? lol A ball and hoops, shoes, shorts and a shirt. People play basketball inside, outside, on pavement, on dirt, in gyms, etc. Hockey? Some sticks, some ice (or a gym floor or grass), some pads, footwear, and a couple goals. The basic rules are the same as soccer.

And then there is the cultural aspect. If soccer is the only sport you know it is going to be difficult to embrace another.
Show me a culture or a country that has only one sport, please.

But I stand by my original comment. Compared to more dynamic sports like ice hockey, soccer is very slow moving and the number of scoring plays is quite limited. Changing the off-side rule would make the game more wide open and much more interesting to watch. It is interesting to note that in ice hockey the rules have been modified many times in attempts to make the game more exciting, beginning back in the 19th century when the 7th player was eliminated.
And then fighting was allowed more freely and then not allowed so often, blah blah blah. Changing the rules all the time makes people lose interest in the play.
Any suggestion that soccer rules be modified, however, meet with the attitude that the game is perfect the way it is. Perhaps soccer aficionados are correct and soccer is perfect the way it is, but I happen to find it mind-numbingly dull.
Then don't watch it. I don't watch hockey or North American football, nor do I go whine about them in their particular forums.

Oh yeah, no offsides? Then players would be booting the ball through city streets, around through the forests, and everywhere but on the field. Good plan. :roll: They should stop the rule about icing in hockey, too.
 

TenPenny

Hall of Fame Member
Jun 9, 2004
17,466
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Location, Location
I can see the point about the offside rule; if it was made the same as in hockey, where there is a line to cross, it would certainly increase the goal chances. The way it is now, you have to be really careful where people are when you're getting a nice offensive pass going...it's also one the most misunderstood rule in soccer, at least at kids level.