What pisses me off about the World Cup

milarso

Disclaimer: I don't care about soccer. I just don't. I think it's boring.
Yes I know the rest of the world loves it. Yes I know there are people who will think I'm just a stupid American for not liking, "The world's game." Yes, I know the rest of the world calls it football, I don't. And I'm not going to start, so don't ask me to. I'm not trying to dog on people who are soccer fans. I'm just stating my own opinion.


With that being said, I understand that there are some huge soccer fans in America. They are actual fans. They follow the game and are into it all the time. I get that, and while I don't care for the sport, I respect that there are people who love it. These folks should go nuts now that the Wold Cup is on. It's probably the one time every four years where soccer gets attention in the US.
But is there anyone else who is getting irritated with people who clearly have never watched a soccer match in their life acting like they are the biggest fans in the world now? Seriously, pretending like you like it just because it's popular for a the moment doesn't make you trendy or worldly, it makes you seem like an idiot.

pjfan31

What about something like the Olympics? Every four years it is on, and I support my country like crazy. Does that mean I'm going to be following sports like Gymnastics, Equestrian and that walk (where it looks like they have a carrot shoved up their arse) full-time? Fuck no.

I like soccer, I don't love it, and I hardly watch it. But I know come 4am Monday morning, I am waking up to watch Australia beat Germany.


Cmon Aussie

arq

Do you know that the rest of the world loves soccer? Are you a stupid American who doesn't like soccer? do you know that soccer is called futbol (football) so please call it with the right name, are you trying to dog on soccer fans?



But i understand you bro, is really lame, people who doesn't even know where was the last world cup are now the biggest fans :roll:

DURP

I don't care for soccer either. I respect the sport and the people who play but i would rather sit through a womens softball game then watch soccer.

Also i'm sick of ESPN shoving the world cup down my throat. I get it already it's world cup time please stop trying to sell soccer to me ESPN. I'm not suddenlly going to like soccer because of a few commercials and some stories.

Did i watch the US teams in Vancouver yes. Did i watch Lindsey Vonn of course she is my G/F (she just doesn't know it yet) but the only sport i was fanatic about was the Hockey tourny. But i am hockey fan Professional and amature.

Fair weather fans are apart of life. I never met a New England Patriots fan outside of one dude i knew in the Army. He is a die hard Pats fan and i knew him when the Pats stunk in the 90's. Now there are Pats fans everywhere. It's easy to root for your team when they win trust me i'm a Bills fan and the 90's were great times. But now it's really really hard to be a Bills fan sometimes but i stick it out and love my hometown team. Fuck fair weather fans they piss me off.

LikeAnOcean

I understand soccer.. its more of a cultural thing, an event, national pride and so forth, but as far as gameplay goes, to me, it's a slower, poor man's version of hockey.

So much of the world is into it because of the above, but above all else because its a cheap sport to play. All you need is people and a ball. Any country can participate. Its a very simple sport.. and when I say "simple" I'm not implying that there's no strategy, because there definitely is, but every sport has a level of strategy..

It's overrated is what I'm trying to say, and if every country could afford a hockey rink and hockey equipment, I gaurantee you hockey would be preferred.. baseball and american football would appeal also if people had the attention span for it.

Every American has played soccer as a child, but what gets me is these other countries that have never played American football or baseball, yet make a judgement that soccer is so much greater.. It's great because it is a past time for them.. They judge us, yet they've never played our sports.. We judge them and have played and understand their sport.. Who has the edge here?

Again, nothing against soccer (football), but to the rest of the world its about accessibility, and then being a cultural thing that anyone can participate in.. As far as the actual sport goes, there's much more interesting sports out there.

Gary Carter

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I understand soccer.. its more of a cultural thing, an event, national pride and so forth, but as far as gameplay goes, to me, it's a slower, poor man's version of hockey.

So much of the world is into it because of the above, but above all else because its a cheap sport to play. All you need is people and a ball. Any country can participate. Its a very simple sport.. and when I say "simple" I'm not implying that there's no strategy, because there definitely is, but every sport has a level of strategy..

It's overrated is what I'm trying to say, and if every country could afford a hockey rink and hockey equipment, I gaurantee you hockey would be preferred.. baseball and american football would appeal also if people had the attention span for it.

Every American has played soccer as a child, but what gets me is these other countries that have never played American football or baseball, yet make a judgement that soccer is so much greater.. Its great because it is a past time for them.. They judge us, yet they've never played our sports.. We judge them and have played and understand their sport.. Who has the edge here?

Again, nothing against soccer (football), but to the rest of the world its about accessibility, and then being a cultural thing that anyone can participate in.. As far as the actual sport goes, there's much more interesting sports out there.

soccer is not cheap at all. it goes deeper then just a ball and a field.

LikeAnOcean

metsfan wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I understand soccer.. its more of a cultural thing, an event, national pride and so forth, but as far as gameplay goes, to me, it's a slower, poor man's version of hockey.

So much of the world is into it because of the above, but above all else because its a cheap sport to play. All you need is people and a ball. Any country can participate. Its a very simple sport.. and when I say "simple" I'm not implying that there's no strategy, because there definitely is, but every sport has a level of strategy..

It's overrated is what I'm trying to say, and if every country could afford a hockey rink and hockey equipment, I gaurantee you hockey would be preferred.. baseball and american football would appeal also if people had the attention span for it.

Every American has played soccer as a child, but what gets me is these other countries that have never played American football or baseball, yet make a judgement that soccer is so much greater.. Its great because it is a past time for them.. They judge us, yet they've never played our sports.. We judge them and have played and understand their sport.. Who has the edge here?

Again, nothing against soccer (football), but to the rest of the world its about accessibility, and then being a cultural thing that anyone can participate in.. As far as the actual sport goes, there's much more interesting sports out there.

soccer is not cheap at all. it goes deeper then just a ball and a field.

but all it takes is a ball and field to play... You aren't going to see poor countries playing hockey, hell, I can't afford to play hockey.. that "so much deeper" you speak of is tradition, national pride, and so forth.. nothing wrong with that, but when you break the sport down, I don't see how its more interesting than other sports.. it's essentially a slower version of hockey.

Gary Carter

LikeAnOcean wrote:

but all it takes is a ball and field to play... You aren't going to see poor countries playing hockey, hell, I can't afford to play hockey.. that "so much deeper" you speak of is tradition, national pride, and so forth.. nothing wrong with that, but when you break the sport down, I don't see how its more interesting than other sports.

and you need money for that ball and field. go call up your youth soccer league president and ask him how much money it takes to keep his soccer fields alive so kids can play soccer. yes you do see poor countries playing hockey. you think belrus is spitting out money like we do, hell no.

LikeAnOcean

metsfan wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

but all it takes is a ball and field to play... You aren't going to see poor countries playing hockey, hell, I can't afford to play hockey.. that "so much deeper" you speak of is tradition, national pride, and so forth.. nothing wrong with that, but when you break the sport down, I don't see how its more interesting than other sports.

and you need money for that ball and field. go call up your youth soccer league president and ask him how much money it takes to keep his soccer fields alive so kids can play soccer. yes you do see poor countries playing hockey. you think belrus is spitting out money like we do, hell no.

but now with baseball, you also need to keep up that field, but now every one needs a bat, gloves, batter's glove, helmet and so forth.. not to mention hockey. I can't even afford hockey equipment myself.. and the price to keep an indoor building iced up? insane.

It's about accessibility.. hockey is a rich persons sport. Baseball takes more money to play than soccer.

There's nothing wrong with the simplicity of soccer. That alone might be a reason for the draw.



My point is, soccer isn't that much greater than other sports.. its just more accessible.

Jearlpam0925

5 decades in, and they're still trying to push this as a major sport here. Sorry, it ain't happening. Though I can live with it being the center of attention for one month every four years. That sounds about right for the amount of attention it deserves.

Gary Carter

LikeAnOcean wrote:

but now with baseball, you also need to keep up that field, but now every one needs a bat, gloves, batter's glove, helmet and so forth.



My point is, soccer isn't that much greater than other sports.. its just more accessible.

i disagree with that but i'm not bout to get into a pissing match with you of all people.

LikeAnOcean

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

5 decades in, and they're still trying to push this as a major sport here. Sorry, it ain't happening. Though I can live with it being the center of attention for one month every four years. That sounds about right for the amount of attention it deserves.

It's not bad, its just not better than our sports, which the rest of the world makes it out to be.. that's what pisses me off.. It' not the U.S., we just already have awesome sports.

When someone from Scotland brags about how awesome their soccer team is, I think, well how good is your baseball team?.. oh, that's right. You don't have a baseball team.. well guess what, Chicago has a soccer team, and we still think it's a second class sport.

Jearlpam0925

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

5 decades in, and they're still trying to push this as a major sport here. Sorry, it ain't happening. Though I can live with it being the center of attention for one month every four years. That sounds about right for the amount of attention it deserves.

It's not bad, its just not better than our sports, which the rest of the world makes it out to be.. that's what pisses me off.. It' not the U.S., we just already have awesome sports.

When someone from Scotland brags about how awesome their soccer team is, I think, well how good is your baseball team?.. oh, that's right. You don't have a baseball team.. well guess what, Chicago has a soccer team, and we still think it's a second class sport.

If you can catch the 'Sports Report' segment from the Colbert Report last night, then do so. Hilarious.

LikeAnOcean

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

5 decades in, and they're still trying to push this as a major sport here. Sorry, it ain't happening. Though I can live with it being the center of attention for one month every four years. That sounds about right for the amount of attention it deserves.

It's not bad, its just not better than our sports, which the rest of the world makes it out to be.. that's what pisses me off.. It' not the U.S., we just already have awesome sports.

When someone from Scotland brags about how awesome their soccer team is, I think, well how good is your baseball team?.. oh, that's right. You don't have a baseball team.. well guess what, Chicago has a soccer team, and we still think it's a second class sport.

If you can catch the 'Sports Report' segment from the Colbert Report last night, then do so. Hilarious.

I'm cool with people loving the sport, but its not greater than baseball, american football or hockey.. equivalent, arguably, but people act like it's god.. it's not.. it all comes down to tradition and nationalism, so forth.. which I understand, because american football and baseball isn't always about the sport..

nuffingman

PLEASE STOP CALLING FOOTBALL SOCCER!!!!

I feel better now.

SarahLou

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I understand soccer.. its more of a cultural thing, an event, national pride and so forth, but as far as gameplay goes, to me, it's a slower, poor man's version of hockey.

So much of the world is into it because of the above, but above all else because its a cheap sport to play. All you need is people and a ball. Any country can participate. Its a very simple sport.. and when I say "simple" I'm not implying that there's no strategy, because there definitely is, but every sport has a level of strategy..

It's overrated is what I'm trying to say, and if every country could afford a hockey rink and hockey equipment, I gaurantee you hockey would be preferred.. baseball and american football would appeal also if people had the attention span for it.

Every American has played soccer as a child, but what gets me is these other countries that have never played American football or baseball, yet make a judgement that soccer is so much greater.. It's great because it is a past time for them.. They judge us, yet they've never played our sports.. We judge them and have played and understand their sport.. Who has the edge here?

Again, nothing against soccer (football), but to the rest of the world its about accessibility, and then being a cultural thing that anyone can participate in.. As far as the actual sport goes, there's much more interesting sports out there.

Who do you think is judging you for the sports you play in the US??

What are the "other countries" that haven't played American football? and why would you expect them too? ACTUAL football is a universal sport, hence the appeal. These "other countries" have as much reason to play American football as Americans have to play buzkashi or swamp football!

Also when has Scotland ever said that we are good at football??! My God, we suck! hence why we are not in the World Cup, yet we still love to watch the world cup. It's the one time that football is fun!

Jearlpam0925

nuffingman wrote:

PLEASE STOP CALLING FOOTBALL SOCCER!!!!

I feel better now.

SOCCER. ALL DAY.

megatron

i don't think it's a problem because it's kind of like the olympics. i don't give a shit about bobsledding but i like rooting for the usa.

on the other hand

my friend text me today something like, "dude aldion or whoever is starting for us!!"

he has never watched soccer..just makes fun of it.
it's like c'mon man.

i hate people that ACT like they've been following shit for years after reading one article on espn.

all in all i think it's cool to root for the usa. just don't be a douche bag

Restless Soul

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

5 decades in, and they're still trying to push this as a major sport here. Sorry, it ain't happening. Though I can live with it being the center of attention for one month every four years. That sounds about right for the amount of attention it deserves.

It's not bad, its just not better than our sports, which the rest of the world makes it out to be.. that's what pisses me off.. It' not the U.S., we just already have awesome sports.

Sounds like someone is a little jealous that American sports are not the centre of the world eh?

But I agree, football is boring, so is most sports. Although I'm british, I don't like football, never have. One day in and I'm already sick of the coverage it's been getting. I don't get the excessive passion it generates and I don't understand the team loyalties. Why should someone in London support manchester? I don't get it, never will. However, at least the World Cup thing is a bit more fun though because of the national angle. I can understand that at least. I have watched the Brazil matches in the past simply because they are pretty good, but I wouldn't know or care about any particular brazillian team within their country, or who played with who.

Anyway who is comparing American sports with football? I actually likedwatching things like NBA basketball but they never show it much here. :( I also like watching extreme sports like bmx biking or skateboarding than boring traditional sports., but we don't get to see it as much unfortunately.

haffajappa

Baseball is huge in Japan... actually probably bigger than football/soccer.
Winner of the world baseball classic 2 years in a row... yeuuhhh

Jearlpam0925

Restless Soul wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

5 decades in, and they're still trying to push this as a major sport here. Sorry, it ain't happening. Though I can live with it being the center of attention for one month every four years. That sounds about right for the amount of attention it deserves.

It's not bad, its just not better than our sports, which the rest of the world makes it out to be.. that's what pisses me off.. It' not the U.S., we just already have awesome sports.

Sounds like someone is a little jealous that American sports are not the centre of the world eh?

But I agree, football is boring, so is most sports. Although I'm british, I don't like football, never have. One day in and I'm already sick of the coverage it's been getting. I don't get the excessive passion it generates and I don't understand the team loyalties. Why should someone in London support manchester? I don't get it, never will. However, at least the World Cup thing is a bit more fun though because of the national angle. I can understand that at least. I have watched the Brazil matches in the past simply because they are pretty good, but I wouldn't know or care about any particular brazillian team within their country, or who played with who.

Anyway who is comparing American sports with football? I actually likedwatching things like NBA basketball but they never show it much here. :( I also like watching extreme sports like bmx biking or skateboarding than boring traditional sports., but we don't get to see it as much unfortunately.

Personally, I just like to agitate the soccer nerds out there.

EvilClosetMonkey

ug....

we like PLAYING soccer here... I grew up playing it and still do time to time.....

Just most of us feel that it is boring to watch here (other than WC)... just a cultural thing...

go 0-0 scores!!!

Heineken Helen

LikeAnOcean wrote:

If you can catch the 'Sports Report' segment from the Colbert Report last night, then do so. Hilarious.

I'm cool with people loving the sport, but its not greater than baseball, american football or hockey.. equivalent, arguably, but people act like it's god.. it's not.. it all comes down to tradition and nationalism, so forth.. which I understand, because american football and baseball isn't always about the sport..[/quote]
It IS greater than those sports if you prefer it to those sports... people have opinions and we need to get over that. Rugby is the greatest sport known to man.. everyone knows that surely? No? What's that you say? See we can all say stuff like that... it's my opinion... doesn't make it fact!

I used to be big big big into soccer before I discovered rugby. Now I'm a fairweather fan... I'll be damned if everyone else is gonna get all excited for the next month apart from me.... nope nope nope, if there's drink and excitement involved, I'm there... unless it's cricket. Yep, I will watch any sport... except for cricket... and I will get drunk and enjoy it and I will pretend to give a fuck. Now what's wrong with that? I've got Brazil and I've got France in two sweepstakes so I have an interest... I also have a pretty damn decent fantasy football league team so I have more interest.

GET OVER IT AND GET DRUNK... mmmkay?????????????????

Jearlpam0925

Heineken Helen wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

If you can catch the 'Sports Report' segment from the Colbert Report last night, then do so. Hilarious.

I'm cool with people loving the sport, but its not greater than baseball, american football or hockey.. equivalent, arguably, but people act like it's god.. it's not.. it all comes down to tradition and nationalism, so forth.. which I understand, because american football and baseball isn't always about the sport..

It IS greater than those sports if you prefer it to those sports... people have opinions and we need to get over that. Rugby is the greatest sport known to man.. everyone knows that surely? No? What's that you say? See we can all say stuff like that... it's my opinion... doesn't make it fact!

I used to be big big big into soccer before I discovered rugby. Now I'm a fairweather fan... I'll be damned if everyone else is gonna get all excited for the next month apart from me.... nope nope nope, if there's drink and excitement involved, I'm there... unless it's cricket. Yep, I will watch any sport... except for cricket... and I will get drunk and enjoy it and I will pretend to give a fuck. Now what's wrong with that? I've got Brazil and I've got France in two sweepstakes so I have an interest... I also have a pretty damn decent fantasy football league team so I have more interest.

GET OVER IT AND GET DRUNK... mmmkay????????????????? [/quote]

C'mon, Helen, with the quoting skills. Ya got me all over the place here. I love rugby. My two dislocated shoulders and deviated septum do not though....

Heineken Helen

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

C'mon, Helen, with the quoting skills. Ya got me all over the place here. I love rugby. My two dislocated shoulders and deviated septum do not though....

We got pretty hammered by the all blacks this morning :( although I was incredibly proud of them in the second half. The scoreline did not really tell the story. The first half was a sad time for an Irish rugby fan... very embarrassing and painful to watch :(

Jearlpam0925

Heineken Helen wrote:

Jearlpam0925 wrote:

C'mon, Helen, with the quoting skills. Ya got me all over the place here. I love rugby. My two dislocated shoulders and deviated septum do not though....

We got pretty hammered by the all blacks this morning :( although I was incredibly proud of them in the second half. The scoreline did not really tell the story. The first half was a sad time for an Irish rugby fan... very embarrassing and painful to watch :(

Yeah, I saw that. 38-7 I think at the half yeah? Not good. Sucks, they took Setanta off in the US so my chance to watch any matches anymore is very limited.

Thoughts_Arrive

What I hate is those vuvuzelas.
Sound like a swarm of wasps/bees.

pjwhip

I would ban the vuvuzelas, and make it mandatory for each nation to cheer/chant all game long. I love listening to that.

catefrances

metsfan wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

but now with baseball, you also need to keep up that field, but now every one needs a bat, gloves, batter's glove, helmet and so forth.



My point is, soccer isn't that much greater than other sports.. its just more accessible.

i disagree with that but i'm not bout to get into a pissing match with you of all people.

oh lordy.......... all thats required for soccer is a ball and the ground you walk on. it doesnt have to organised. all it has to be is people running around kicking the ball and voila!! there you have it. soccer. if you can manoeuvre around half your village or whatever then youve def got skillz. i mean shit you can do it alone with traffic cones... cant get much more accessible than that.

MayDay10

I know what you are saying... But I hope Im not generalized in this group. I have just started to follow the sport for the past few years and have played a shitload of the EA Sports games as Grimsby Town and also enjoy the WOrld Cup games. I have caught a couple MLS games on TV and plan on going to a Philadelphia Union game(s).
I am excited to watch the World Cup... but my knowledge of the sport is still pretty infintile. I want to see the USA win, but my heart isnt set on them... I would like to see any team win who hasnt yet won a World Cup. I actually like Team Canada because that is who I use on the EA World Cup games (they arent in this World Cup).

I have always contended that Soccer/Football deserves more respect than it gets in the US. Its a really awesome sport that translates throughout the planet... Russia, USA, Iran, North Korea, South Korea, Qatar.... you name it. Maybe the fact that I recognize that makes me not a poser?

flywallyfly

catefrances wrote:

metsfan wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

but now with baseball, you also need to keep up that field, but now every one needs a bat, gloves, batter's glove, helmet and so forth.



My point is, soccer isn't that much greater than other sports.. its just more accessible.

i disagree with that but i'm not bout to get into a pissing match with you of all people.

oh lordy.......... all thats required for soccer is a ball and the ground you walk on. it doesnt have to organised. all it has to be is people running around kicking the ball and voila!! there you have it. soccer. if you can manoeuvre around half your village or whatever then youve def got skillz. i mean shit you can do it alone with traffic cones... cant get much more accessible than that.

+1 I've seen firsthand where they dont even have a real ball to play with and they can still play.