Americans and football (soccer).

This is not a 'football vs soccer' thread.

I'm curious to hear from the cousins across the pond, why is it so many of you Americans label football as a boring sport? I often hear jokes about a 0-0 score line, as a point to prove it's boring which I've never understood, how do big numbers make a sport any more enjoyable?

I do feel, and please correct me Americans and I'm sure you will, that you guys don't understand or value sport in the same way us Europeans (especially us English) do. To us, football is a religion, a family, our birth right. Go to any football match in England, for example Arsenal v Tottenham (huge North London derby) and you can witness the sheer passion & desperation to see your team take the 3 points.

I feel American sports lack this, the heritage and the life long commitment. It seems more of a hobby for you people, a talking point at the office but nothing more. I rarely witness American sports with dramatic last gasp winners and fans traveling far & beyond to follow their team. For example, in 1989 Arsenal played Liverpool last game of the season (who at the time were the best team in the world), we (Arsenal) were 3 points behind & needed to win by 2 clear goals (win levelled us on points with Liverpool, and 2 goals meant our goal difference would be 1 superior to Liverpool's) and we did it despite no one believing we would, even us fans didn't see it coming. A last minute goal from Thomas secured us the title.

I want to know, do American sports have the same truly dramatic and "you couldn't write this!" scenarios? Inferior teams turning over big teams? Passionate rivalries? 9 months worth of football only for the title to be decided at the last kick of the entire season? (Sergio Aguero's 93rd minute winner to secure the title from rivals United against QPR anyone?)

I've been to the US three times, and I attended a LA Galaxy match and the atmosphere was nothing compared to English football, it was a mouse squeak to a lions roar in comparison & I fear this is what has drove the Americans away from the sport. That said however, I have witnessed surprisingly loud (and European-esque) support from Seattle Sounders & the Whitecaps fans (that's right Canadians, you can get involved too) but it seems like a minority, and the rest of you guys don't get it.

It's not called the beautiful game for nothing, I truly believe no sport in the world offers what football does in terms of its unpredictable & 'anything can happen' nature.

So Americans, I'm sure my generalisations over your sports will evoke response, and I'm genuinely curious to hear from you people and your opinions on sports & what it means in your country.

a reply to: AblyEnergy

I`m European, but being a sports fan I also occasionally watch American sports and have seen some dramatic stuff also with America.

The Miracle on Ice, A Super Bowl dude coming up a few inches short of being a hero for life with seconds to go, Indy 500 races, Ryder cups and what about basketball being as tense as it gets ?...and there are more things to name.

I don`t think it`s less over the ocean with regards to sport drama.

Aguero's last gasp winner

Watch this, a moment like this can be appreciated by anyone, football fan or not. Manchester United's match had finished, leaving them 2 points above City, thinking they had won the title. Yet City's match had not ended, and Aguero in the last minute put City 3-2 up and snatched the title away with a 1 point advantage.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Care to send me any links to any of this? I'd love to watch it & see.

I'm aware of golf & what it can offer, we love it in England. Amazing how us Europeans snatched the Ryder cup after being so far behind.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

I equate Soccor as boring as Basketball. Meaning, I won't watch it nor play either. Even Bowling and Golf are more exciting than those two sports. I do love me some Rugby though and wish it would take off here in the States.

Of course, those are only my opinions and I'm not bashing any fan of those two as they do have a huge following. They just don't trip my trigger.

Oddly enough, I like to listen to sports on the radio rather than watch it on TV. Unless I can go to the game proper.

a reply to: TDawgRex

I think to appreciate football you do have to love a team, so you feel what it means. Are rugby fans as devote as football fans?

I'm from Newcastle, England and currently live in Pennsylvania, US. I'm also a massive Newcastle United fan, and a huge fan of basketball, American football and most other sports.

American sports definitely have the same last-gasp moments, the same drama and suspense and the same history as football. You'll struggle to find football teams with as much history and heritage as the Green Bay Packers, New York Yankees or the Los Angeles Lakers.

Every weekend in the NFL you'll find a TD pass with time expiring or a field goal with time expiring to win the game. In the NBA you have buzzer beaters pretty much every week to win the game.

Take this example of Damian Lillards shot to beat the Houston Rockets and win the series in last season's playoffs..



The fan point is an interesting one, and i certainly agree on the away fans point. You don't have 'away support' in the US the same way as we do back in the UK but that's down to the size of the country more than anything. You might travel 3 hours in the UK for an away game, whereas in the US you'll travel +10 hours or even have to get flights so there isn't that same away support.

There isn't quite the same hatred in sports in the US as between football teams in the UK. You have rivalries such as the Bears and Packers which goes back over 100 years etc, but it doesn't have quite the same hatred as a rivalry such as Liverpool/Man United or Newcastle/Sunderland. But really, is that a bad thing? The fans here are passionate but don't step into hatred and you don't have arrests after every game of football.

'Soccer' is certainly growing in the US, but it's obviously still got a long way to go to catch up with European soccer. This has more to do with the competition for sports in America though. I've worked at summer camps in the US with kids, and they all LOVE soccer. They all play it, and even the adults all say they played it as kids, but when they get to college they're faced with the choice of soccer or choosing one of the popular sports in the US like football, basketball or baseball where they can make more money and unfortunately soccer loses out.

originally posted by: AblyEnergy
a reply to: TDawgRex

I think to appreciate football you do have to love a team, so you feel what it means. Are rugby fans as devote as football fans?

Some people are very passionate about their teams. I'm a Green Bay Packers fan, have been for life. They are also considered to be some of the most ardent, yet polite fans in the NFL. There is a over 80,000 ticket wait list for this year alone, and that's for mainly the nose bleed seats. Season tickets are left in parents wills and it is estimated that season tickets are sold out for the next four generations.

And Green Bay is not a large town at all. It barely qualifies as a city.

They also don't have riots like the Soccer fans seem to enjoy. That's not passion, that's just plain drunk and disorderly.

a reply to: AblyEnergy

The Rugby fans I know are pretty devoted, but it's usually attached to a University team, but it is not shown much here in the States. You have to have additional cable channels to catch it regularly to watch it and I cut my cable years ago with the exception of internet.

a reply to: AblyEnergy

If you want to see The Miracle On Ice you best see the movie to have the full story :

www.imdb.com...

But here`s the final minute of it :



I see so much sport I forget it also easily because of that, I have no idea about which Super Bowl it was, it was about 10 years ago. I think there will be actual Americans who might tell you that.

While I only am actually a fan of few sports teams or individuals, I do enjoy listening to others talk about their passion. I always amazes me that some people can remember all the stats for their team or sport of choice going back decades, but yet still some how cannot balance their checkbook.

Americans definitely have passion for their sports.some baseball teams in this country have been around for more than 100 years.same goes for college football.
Americans don't get into the fast-paced low scoring games as much as Europeans.that's one of the reasons hockey suffers here also.
soccer popularity is on the rise here though.I believe the size of the athletes has a lot to do with this.a 5 foot 9 inch white guy cant play in the NBA or NFL.

Your ball is round ours is oblong. Your bounce is alot more predictable than ours.
Seriously though we love our game every bit as much as you do yours.When the
game comes on my dog leaves the room as well as my wife because of the way
I act. Very immature. Cant help it. "The TV cant hear you". I hear that all the time.

I wonder with the sort of sports the Americans like its more down to its pretty much all or nothing, will they be able to make that 30 yard touchdown or will he get an home run drama while football is more fluid, one second in one end penalty area and the next its at the other end and a goals appeared from nowhere buy 95% of its just pass-pass-pass which just doesn't have the drama of the play by play that is popular in the US

but that lingerie league for some reason over there sounds rather interesting

originally posted by: AblyEnergy
I'm curious to hear from the cousins across the pond, why is it so many of you Americans label football as a boring sport?

A majority of the people here get excited over baseball...so I suppose we Americans are the authority on boring things.

Sports here really are more of a hobby, something to listen to while on a long drive or for the sake of a fantasy league.



There's nothing else like it. In Argentina, there's even a church dedicated to Maradona. Link

originally posted by: nfflhome
Seriously though we love our game every bit as much as you do yours.When the
game comes on my dog leaves the room as well as my wife because of the way
I act. Very immature. Cant help it. "The TV cant hear you". I hear that all the time.

I once cured a guy that had a similar problem of yelling at a inanimate object. After pointing out by myself and others that the TV couldn't hear him and how he pretty much ruined the experience for everybody else by non stop hooping and hollering, and his excuse was, "But you don't understand!"

I got with the other guys and explained what I was going to do and all agreed it would be funny. I bought a new TV, My first flat screen, and stashed it in the bedroom. When during the game, (Which was a preseason game as well, Packers vs. Browns) he was yelling, jumping up and down and yelling "In your Face!" every time the Browns scored.

Upon the next touchdown and he started his antics, I nodded to the others who plugged their ears and picked up a shotgun I had under the couch. "No, in your face." I said and shot the TV with birdshot.

Yea, kinda dumb, but no one was hurt and the look on his face was great and everyone was rolling! He doesn't do that anymore, at least at my place.

I don't mind exuberance, but on every play? Really?

a reply to: AblyEnergy

I think you're confusing our different tastes to be not having tastes.

I do feel like soccer is boring. I also think baseball is boring. I used to play both and playing them is WAY better.
Basketball is way more exciting but it all comes down to how well you understand what the players are doing that makes it exciting.

I think for me it's frustrating seeing the possession of the ball change back and forth on a giant field of grass. It's more interesting to see people controlling the ball and scoring.

And trust me American Sports watchers are passionate, you're just missing it somehow. Not sure how really? America is a LOT bigger so I don't care about a lot of it if its some team from alabama or florida so much.. I mean in my home town when UNC wins the NCAA the entire town goes insane. flipped cars, fires, everyone in the street. So many people you can be 15 and drinking a beer but they cant stop you. until the mounted police come in from all around.

For instance from 2009 in a town of what 65,000? :



I still have vivid memories of watching Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls as a kid. Those were special times. Or every Time NC State would play UNC and me and my dad got to cheer back and forth (he was a state fan.)

But no soccer is boring compared to basketball. uh uh awww. Oh hes got it, oh he lost it.. look he ran 10 feet with the ball yay, dang pass to the other team. oh look hes within 30 feet better take a shot. hmm 10 feet wide and way too high.

Soccer is like almost having sex. but being blocked by her friend before you get her name even. haha.

Those are all MY Opinions. I don't claim this to be "the truth."

a reply to: Maxatoria

The idea that the NBA championship could be decided by both teams shooting 10 free throws is kind of disturbing.
We're going to decide the super bowl by letting both kickers try field goals from the 50 yard line.
That's a hard sell over here.

I believe it stems from a naivety towards understanding the sport and an ignorance to the sport in general.

When I was a kid, I used to think it was boring and had no interest at all. It was only when I was a teenager that I started to fully understand all of the rules and watch a few games.

Then I attended some of my local games at Northampton and though it was ok. My family had season tickets so I thought I'd buy one and try it out. All of the sudden, you get to know the players and you learn the songs and you get the Buzz from singing together and when your team scores a goal it's electric. When your team wins you are ecstatic.

With the highs come the lows, yes you may lose half your games or more, but that's life, you support your team and hope for the next win.

I've now been a season ticket holder for years and will never look back. Yes we've gone through relegations, and it's been horrid, but we've also avoided relegation like last season and the last few games we won to save our league football status were electric.

Good times do come even if they're rare, like beating Liverpool in the cup a few seasons ago, it becomes club history and you can say that you were there.

The thing with Americans is, they hate losing and want instant success, whereas on the other side of the pond we always have hope that one day we will be winners, and dream of the day when our club will get into the premier league, even if we know it's unlikely, we always have hope. Hope and patience, and that's something I'm afraid our friends don't have.

originally posted by: DAZ21


The thing with Americans is, they hate losing and want instant success, whereas on the other side of the pond we always have hope that one day we will be winners, and dream of the day when our club will get into the premier league, even if we know it's unlikely, we always have hope. Hope and patience, and that's something I'm afraid our friends don't have.

SOME of you guys have a weird view of ALL Americans..

Ever heard of the Red Sox?

The Curse of the Bambino was a superstition evolving from the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004. While some fans took the curse seriously, most used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner

Linky

Try not winning for 86 years. You think people stopped being their fans? You should have seen that world series. Down 3 games... WOW.

Who is telling you guys what we are ALL like, cause I'm not paying attention to your sports or what you are ALL like either.


I played Soccer for years. I knew all the rules. It's Very boring to watch for me. I was left side defender, center back, sometimes as a sweeper.. Pretty good too.