Thats because they knock the puck around a bit and occasionally into the net In between beating the shit out of each other
One reason why the USA doesn't like soccer
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
Thats because they knock the puck around a bit and occasionally into the net In between beating the shit out of each other
That is a top rant
And yet America loves baseball which blows your opinion up. Though I do agree with some of your words. The nation has an instant gratification mentality. Self-indulgent, lazy, insular.
You haven't heard of the inning, I take it. Much less the half inning.
Point is there are no timeouts, tv commercials, etc., during the top/bottom half inning. There are countless stoppages while the batter adjusts his gloves (unnecessary), the pitcher adjusts his cup (sometimes necessary), and when the manager walks to the mound or makes a pitching change (which does allow for a tv commercial as the reliever warms up). But it's far different from other sports as there is no running clock, timeouts, replay challenges, half-times, period/quarter intermissions which fuels televising ads (including the much dreaded tv timeout). The half-inning break lasts about 3 minutes, about the same length as a "tv timeout" for basketball. To attend a baseball game one must endure long periods of little excitement. So during a 3-4 hour stretch there isn't much instant gratification for the fan. Taking into consideration how fans can sit through 3-4 hours of mellowness, I never have understood why soccer (football) didn't catch on here. But it comes down the macho attitude taken by gridiron football fans and shared with their baseball brethren for decades. And the possibility the NFL and MLB conspired to bring down NASL.
Why is there a two-minute warning in the NFL but not NCAAA? For televising ads, not for strategy or to alert the teams and crowd of home much time remains. I'm surprised the NCAA hasn't adopted the rule yet.
Only reason people can stand to watch baseball for 3 or 4 hours is because there is so much food and beer going round. Cricket lasts far longer (5 days) and plenty manage to watch it without beer.
yanks and proper sport 
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You underestimate the elation created by the snap of a sharp curveball. Shame is that most Americans do as well which is why the game has done everything in its power to create more 'excitement' by catering to batters. Let's not forget the game was in the depths before the steroid era birthed the home run chase which has seen an inexplicable hike in runs scored. And say what they may, Chase Utley is leading the majors in home runs with 21 only two months into the season. And he's a smallish second basemen. Baseball is still fecking about to benefit their best interest.
You could try to join the South American qualifying zone like Australia moved to Asia.
That's because all the top atheletes play american football in the fall.
Please explain why Britain is the fattest nation in Europe.
MDonald's
Minus the tea breaks, intervals, lunch and rest periods. It's certainly no battle of attrition. I'd say an extended hockey game is the hardest sport to keep fit. It's been said guys like Sergei Zubov lost 8-10lbs in one 6 period game (regulation plus 3 overtime periods). 3 overtime hockey game > 5 day cricket contest.
Rest periods? You have lunch and tea with some drinks breaks (you try playing cricket in the hot sun for 6 hours without drinks). Only other reason for stoppage is bad light or rain and surely all these things detract from the excitement anyway?
You make it sound like they play all day, all night.
I don't know a single activity that can be performed in the daylight without drinking fluids.
What the feck does that have to do with anything? They play for much longer than in baseball and the fans aren't constantly eating and drinking despite them both being slow games.
The very best American athletes choose the American football, baseball and basketball. Football/soccer has to compete with the athletics, swimming, hockey and now X Games for the next tier of athletes.
I don't doubt that if some of those top tier athletes had started with footie and kept at it that the US team would have some world class players.
+1 for a bit of common sense.
Some on here are being ridiculously harsh on the U.S.
There are 3 very popular sports in the states. It doesnt matter how shit we think those sports are, they are the reason the U.S. don't have good footballers. IT'S NOT BECAUSE THEY'RE SHIT AT SPORTS.
At the olympics the U.S. usually cleans up. Swimmers, Sprinters, Boxers, Tennis players.
What exactly are the british good at then?
have north and south america together in the quali stage...
just like all of europe is together...
have seedings and 5 quali places between 5 groups...
brazil, argentina, mexico, chili & paraguay might qualify for example
problem solved... you get to have your arse kicked by a decent team and dont qualify for the world cup...
everybodys happy...
and you can probably play us in a summer friendly when we fail to qualify again...
I like it; I really do.
I think FIFA have it all wrong in making things easy for nations from North America(i.e. us) to qualify for the World Cup.
The idea that Americans just want to dominate in the sport is just wrong IMO. Americans like all human beings love competition, and soccer doesn't appeal to any natural nationalist rivalries.
We have been dominated in hockey yet we still love that sport. The underdog victory over the Russian hockey team will always be remembered as one of the greatest moments in U.S. sports history, if not THE greatest.
I truly believe that football is about supporting your local team against your rivals in the next town over. Manchester United has had some great matches against Bayern Munich over the years, but that will never be a rivalry on the scale of the Manchester derby or with Liverpool.
If you think that USA-Costa Rica is ever going to create fan interest, then you're joking.
I like the idea of playing the South Americans. I think Americans will turn out for a chance to have an amazing underdog victory against the likes of Paraguay or Ecuador, let alone Brazil and Argentina.
Canada is dissapointing when it comes to football. If Hargreaves played for Canada (like he should but that's another story) and if we had a proper manager we would be much better. Football programs here are actually great up until the age of 15 then the players move elsewhere and get citizenships and play for other countries. But we are getting better and better. The MLS is also getting better and TFC (Toronto's MLS team) has by far the best fan following in the league and the atmosphere at games is actually better than MOST Premier League teams and at times better than OT considering the level of competition and size of the club. IF you don't believe me watch a TFC game and you will see what I am saying. WE have some decent players like De Rosario, De Guzman, Radzninsky and a few others. We are getting better but it will take some time for results. Canada is the most multi cultural country on earth. We have athletes from all over the world. We just need to make the right moves and be smart.
There you go. It's cyclic at this point. Americans know what the big sports are here, they have the highest level coaches involved in them, the best athletes play them, and they get the most TV coverage.
Most of the very best (european) football players are breaking through and have a name by the time they are about 16-19. In the American system, most of the best athletes are playing two or three sports until they are 18. They best players aren't recognized at 12 or 15 years old and brought to professional clubs for the sole purpose of honing talent in a single sport... it's just not the system. Nothing wrong or right about it, it's just different.
One of the more bigoted posts I've ever seen on the Cafe.
Thats because they knock the puck around a bit and occasionally into the net In between beating the shit out of each other
Your bad mouthing hockey on a forum with tonns of Canadians eh? Your a feckin moron and save your comments about other sports to yourself. You obviously know nothing about it so shut your mouth.
Actually one of the worst posts I've ever seen. You act as if that transformation is vividly apparent in only American life, and that similar things couldn't possibly be happening all over the world. The extent to which it is happening in other places is completely irrelevant, the US is the obvious candidate to pioneer that tragic trail because it is at the forefront of the world economy right now. Do you not think that type of transformation has been in the workings for the past 50 years all over the world? In some places (ENGLAND) the past 150 years? Cultures are throwing away their pasts left and right, all over Europe, South America, the Middle East and East Asia... Your statement is as bland as the industrial revolution, and undeniably tied to it, nothing new here folks... you're reasoning for Americans' "inability to appreciate anything of value in more than three minute intervals." is the biggest piece of shit, ever.
So to sum it up, you're wrong.
I dunno, I went up to see Brazil-Canada in Seattle and you lot were class. didn't hunker down and took it to them. By the end of the game, most of the Brazilian wannabes in the crowd were cheering for both sides.
Other than that, I can't say I've followed the Canadian team though.
Your well reasoned, sensible posts have no place in this thread
This thread is for piling in.Along with what you are saying, Chris H's earlier post knocks the nail in. The first time anyone in the States will ever run across a coach that actually knows a bit about the game will be in college. Opportunities to support yourself playing the game in the states are too rare (moreso before MLS) to be seen as a career, and scholarships are (I would expect) limited to a few soccer friendly schools. Compare that to the football and basketball infrastrutcture over here which are veritable factories churning out players.
Yes, piles of kids play, but they don't know what they are doing and it all fizzes out for the vast majority before senior school. I lived here as a kid, and played. I've seen films of us playing and it was a farce.
Have a gander at my location, bleeding heart.
Nay. Don't know where you're located, mate. I've never come across any town or city by the name of 'love you long time' in the States. I must say I find those of you less clever in humor pointless to argue... especially when you're taking a rant far too seriously. This is a football forum. Loosen you knickers, for Chrissake. But to address your shite reply, I live amidst it. I'm sure it's going on elsewhere also. But the US was a model of how a democracy should run just some 20 years ago. And if you honestly think that most European nations are disintegrating in cultural awareness and intellect at the rate the US is, you're just fecking deluded. It is a dilemma related to the height from which the society has fallen and the timeline in which that fall has taken place. Under Reagan, we were respected and showed a willingness to move forward whilst holding onto those precepts on which our Constitution was written. It has been a downward spiral since. So yes, I am quite fecking right as I am quite aware of world culture and no other country has in recent history has displayed a fall from grace quite like the States at the latest turn of the century. The next time you decide to call me on an issue of which you think you have a bit of knowledge, pay mind to the fact the aimless banter will only make you look like quite silly. Cheers.
Yeah, I remember playing in the states with a few Europeans/South Americans v local talent. We blew them away because they really played a different game - I still recall the shock on the guy's face when he started his tippy-tappy routine and I just launched in and took him and the ball.
Baseball's a great game. Miles better than 20/20.
Pretty good description of our development of players in those two sports. "Machine-like" would be another (although yours is better).
There is an unbelievable amount of time and effort put into coaching and scouting, and it has grown in leaps and bounds over the past twenty years, likely because of the enormous sums of money that the games produce at the college and professional level. Take American football, for example - there are many, many high school programs that are run almost as professionally as the NFL was not too long ago.
You're a complete fecking hypocrite is what your are. The worst of American culture. Those who take advantage of the opportunities the country gives you, the privileges, the quality of life, and everything that comes with it - and then turn around and call it shit while driving around in a freaking Hummer. In your retarded ignorance you completely ignore the world outside of our borders. Most European nations are struggling with high unemployment, stagnating economies, and negative population growth. They get taxed 50% and say thank you for the free education and health care. They have countries like Italy screaming "we want to stay homogeneous! Get rid of immigrants!!". This is what they want, and that's fine. But to say it's superior to America is plain stupidity.
Disintegrating in Cultural awareness and intellect? please. American culture is nothing more than a melting pot of the world's cultures. The fact that you seem oblivious to this pretty much proves that you kept yourself aloof of American culture. Hope you enjoyed your moated castle and enjoyed life keeping away from us peasants.
Quite familiar with my lifestyle, are you? A bit confused, I think. Certainly not doing yourself any favors as you just painted a similar picture of the very bastards I satarized in my original rant. The difference between you and I is that you look at countries who want to maintain their borders, language and culture as racist. I however understand the importance of borders, language and culture and see that a sovereign nation has every right to maintain them. Of course, there is a thin line. But it's not as if we're discussing Mother Russia. Radicals are of a very small percentage in most cultures. We have been the model of taking on the less fortunate to afford them opportunity, but we've now shown that we are unable to cope. America was a melting pot. It is now a breeding ground for squabbling and bickering over which group may currently be getting 'discriminated' against in a constant battle for prominence and/or money... whether it be racial orientation, gender, religion, sexual preference, etc... The bloody lawyers have been handed the keys to the country. And they are taking advantage, draining our once powerful economy of the power it once afforded us keeping us from making significant, positive impacts on the world economy and international relations as we once did. It is you who is oblivious to world and American culture. FFS, open your eyes lad. I am not immune to the man. He raps at my door now and again. Did it quite frequently not so long ago. However, I am not obliged to allow him to feck about either. And for that I am thankful. I count my blessings just as you. But I also keep my eyes wide open as tomorrow could be the day in which he comes to run amuck. And 'the doomed' as you and I were deemed by the late Hunter S. Thompson, 'The doomed? What then shall come of them?'
I live and was born in DC buddy, don't know where you're located. As for what I know about foreign culture, I've lived in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, and Croatia, so I'm fairly up to date on a couple different regions. Not to mention I'll be moving to Abu Dhabi next year. Don't be a pompous asshole and presume that all people who oppose your opinion are culturally blind.
The US hasn't been a model democracy for a fair sight longer than 20 years buddy. In case you haven't noticed, lawyers have been running through loopholes in the Constitution for far longer than either of us have been alive. The Supreme Court has been politically biased for far longer than 20 years as well, so it would make sense now that the executive is overstepping its boundaries. Because, like I said, the Constitution has been in the process of being taken apart for an awfully long time, so what you describe as such a high rate really could've been seen coming for quite a while now. If you had read my first post clearly and not skewed it to bits, you would have noticed that I conceded that the US' degradation is happening faster than other nations, but I also said that makes sense given its height at the top of the economic, political, and social world.
I'm actually enjoying our aimless banter, and the thought of looking silly on an online message board where I will neither meet nor befriend anyone on it isn't half as daunting as you might think it to be.
Well played, sir. A bit more reason and humor. Although I have to say you are not being quite as disagreeable as you once were. But how could you living in DC? You see first hand daily the reminisce of the whores who make up the US Congress. And I think you would also agree that while lawyers have been finding loophole after loophole for some time, they are now having an effect the likes of which is incomparable to the Reagan era.Yeah, I see what you're getting at. I think we fundamentally see the same thing, just from different perspectives. Although I don't think that your original post has much to do with why American's don't like football... but maybe you didn't either, and were just having a go at America's downfall for the hell of it. Whatever it was, I've enjoyed it.
Aye.
Yet no one saw it as it wasn't televised live and wasn't shown until a few hours later on a tape delay feed. It was only a huge story because it was during the Cold War era. Great story though - bunch of "ragtag" college kids beating a group of professionals, and not just any group, but some of the most talented playes around at that time.
Hockey is not much bigger in the US than tennis, golf, soccer, etc. It's never been within touching distance of football, basketball, and baseball. It's tried many times to crack the market and did so for a short while with Gretzky in the LA and NY. But two work stoppages have virtually killed it off. It's still popular in parts of the US but the majority of the nation don't care for it. And the ratings and lack of national tv contract support this. FFS, even the MLS have a national tv contract.
To a degree you are right. There have been a lot of top coaches teaching the youth over there. They come over from England, charge for their lessons, take the money and return to England.
I have done a lot of coaching over there up to a semi pro level with the LA Heat. I had many a run in with Siggy Schmidt who became the Galaxy manager, we remain friends to this day. We had many discussions on how to get the best and structure a youth development program. It just will not work.
Someone stated that you need a mega star to play for a team there to gell the interest. That will not work either. In the past you had Pele, Georgie Best etc. Recently in the Premier League you have had several good players. You now have Brand Beckham. None of those made or will make the slightest difference.
You can discuss this till you are blue in the face. It ain't gonna happen. Soccer will never take off in America beyond the point it is at now. The reason is there are to many US national sports and the biggest factor is the media. They dislike the game with a passion. Just listen to Jim Rome.
There are brilliant players over there. I scouted and recommended players for consideration but the logistics of developing those kids to the required standard was just not economical.
And you were wondering whether you should come back to the states to retire? Well that's sorted then, come back to LA and coach! On the subject of abiding Brits and LA footbal, just a couple of nights ago an LA club called Hollywood United (no kidding - http://www.cookandjones.co.uk/hollywood_utd.htm) which has featured old Brits like Vinnie Jones, Steve Jones and Paul Cook (Sex Pistols), just knocked my Portland Timbers out of the open cup. I'd cry if I weren't laughing. FFS.
You're spot on about the media here. Though it does make it to the ESPNs, it's not given its due by the the resident blow-dried machismo talking heads. Odious as they are, they seem to be the kingmakers when it comes to what sports are 'acceptable' in the states.
Never say never though.
There's the main issue... media. But we still have the dinosaurs in the media, the guys that grew up in the macho, anti-soccer, anti-anything the US didn't "create" sport. Those guys will slowly die off, thankfully, and will be replaced by people more open-minded hopefully. It still may not be enough to get the sport positive press but only time will tell. Part of the problem is soccer is not a great television sport, much better in attendance. But this can be aided by using various camera angles and hiring analysts that don't continually "educate" the viewers. These viewers watch the sport enough that attempting to educate us comes accross as very condescending.
BTW, any person that listens to Rome and actually buys into his rhetoric is quite fooled. He's a wannabe athlete of epic proportions, typical of most talk radio personalities. I don't take serious a person that brings up "Rome said" in conversation. He's a has-been never will-be most known for getting beat down by Jim "Chris" Everett on tele. He probably set that up with Jim to get notoriety, which if so was quite genius.