World Cup 2006

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June 22nd, 2006, 01:07 PM
Graeblyn

Quote:

Originally posted by Darion
The US could win the world cup and still, no one would watch soccer.

At my new job here in the UK, we have a special casual-dress day tomorrow... but, I have to wear a "football" (soocer to us americans) supporter outfit. Nobody in my department seemed to quite grasp that not only do I not own any apparel supporting "my" team, but that as far as I know, there IS NO usa team apparel available for sale.

I plan to give up on supporting the US team and just borrow an England United tee-shirt from my brother-in-law
June 22nd, 2006, 02:18 PM
Cyrinne

There are places in the United States where you can buy lots of usa world cup soccer things! And MLS club team things. I think maybe it depends on where you live. Even before I had a live in soccer fan boyfriend I was pretty aware of the presence of DC United. And I was out at a festival in Alexandria over the weekend and saw a decent spotting of USA world cup jerseys in the crowd. Not that people are nearly as into it here as they are in other countries, but it isn't as if people stare at you like you're retarded if you say the word "soccer".
June 22nd, 2006, 03:13 PM
Karmei

Also, not all Americans are soccer challenged. I went to a school that had no American Football team and we had a pretty decent soccer team. In fact, it's the only team sport I played at all. Several of the school in my area had WAY better soccer teams then they did football teams and they drew bigger crowds. Two towns, (Habor Springs, Michigan and Elk Rapids, Michigan) had teams which consisted of all-state players. (As in, the entire team made all-state every year.) I can tell you that when those two teams played, it was bigger then many school's homecoming football games. Slowly but surely, we're getting around to enjoying good sports! Honest!
June 22nd, 2006, 06:30 PM
Aristotle
Quote:

Originally posted by Darion
The US could win the world cup and still, no one would watch soccer.

Actually, the world cup set all kinds of ratings records in the US. And (while this isn't saying much) it absolutely obliterated hockey. It actually did very well ratings-wise on ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2.

It can't beat NFL, MLB, or NBA, but it *is* improving.

There are a number of problems though that I don't know if soccer (easier to use that term) purists are interested in addressing:
- The 1 ref for the whole field thing is just bogus as hell. There should be at least 3 refs (1 for each half of the field and a head ref who roams) in addition to the 2 linesmen. They need to get the calls right. I'd also like to see 2 more refs, 1 behind each goal area to get a different angle on fouls committed in the box. Americans really, really, really hate games that get decided by bad calls. There were TONS of those in the World Cup.
- The whole pansy ass taking a dive trying to get a foul/card has to be stomped out. Americans don't like fakers, and they especially don't like fakers getting rewarded. This is probably the one thing I was more disgusted by while watching the World Cup. The amount of diving just makes me fucking sick. Players should not be so actively TRYING to get bad calls. Yes, this happens a bit in other sports, but when it does, the players gets RAPED for it in the media and from then on refs will basically let them get hacked on. They should start liberally handing out yellow cards for people who take dives. Taking a dive in the opposing team's box trying to get a penalty kick should be a red card. That will end that sleazy technique fast.
- Scoring. Seriously... the scoring sucks. The problem with a sport with such low scoring is that results can be too fluky. I mean, one accidental own-goal or one bad bounce and you lose a game? That stinks in any sport. I don't know the answer. My personal suggestion is always get rid of off sides. I think that's one of the shittiest rules in all sports. Without that rule, you'd get people keeping forwards... FORWARD, which would also mean more space on the opposite side of the field. Together, this means more scoring and more exciting long ball plays.
Those are my top 3 things that I think need to change. I actually think the first 2 are even more important than the third.
June 22nd, 2006, 06:40 PM
Aristotle

um....... How hard does our coach suck?
June 22nd, 2006, 06:56 PM
Azyael

Quote:

Originally posted by Aristotle
[list][*] The whole pansy ass taking a dive trying to get a foul/card has to be stomped out. Americans don't like fakers, and they especially don't like fakers getting rewarded. This is probably the one thing I was more disgusted by while watching the World Cup. The amount of diving just makes me fucking sick. Players should not be so actively TRYING to get bad calls. Yes, this happens a bit in other sports, but when it does, the players gets RAPED for it in the media and from then on refs will basically let them get hacked on. They should start liberally handing out yellow cards for people who take dives. Taking a dive in the opposing team's box trying to get a penalty kick should be a red card. That will end that sleazy technique fast.

YES!

Seriously, I felt like I was watching a bunch of drama queens. Every thirty seconds some guy was rolling on the ground clutching his ankle/thigh/nutsack/whatever.

I played Soccer in HS. I know it's a contact sport. I know that shit hurts. But seriously, the amount of milkage that goes on during -EVERY SINGLE PLAY- is outright disgusting. The likelihood of some guy having his leg torn off every 30 seconds of play is unrealistic, and them acting like it really made me want to turn off the TV.
June 22nd, 2006, 08:24 PM
Cyrinne

Quote:

Originally posted by Aristotle
um....... How hard does our coach suck?

I think he was supposed to be good once though, wasn't he? Clearly, that was not this year.
June 23rd, 2006, 12:28 AM
Jidoe

Bruce Arena is a good manager. I don't know what happened to the US team this year, but as far as I can see it, the future is pretty bright (I'm hoping they could find a good striker to substitute Brian McBride).

As for you suggestions, Ari:

1) I definitely agree that the sports need more refs, but it's a problem. There are TONS of soccer leagues world wide, and for that instance, we (such a small country!) have dozens of professional/semi profession/amateur leagues that need referees. Once you decide to have more refs, you need to actually HAVE them, and it's just too many.

2) No arguing here. We've got a severe problem with players taking a dive in our local leagues. I'm really hoping to see it vanish.

3) Offsides can't be completely rid off. It needs to be revised, definitely, but the game would really suck if you had players who stick in the opponent's box all game and do NOTHING else.
June 23rd, 2006, 03:07 AM
Shadarach

Well, you have to remember.. the World Cup is the top (theoretically) 32 teams in the world.

Camaroon didn't make it, Nigeria didn't make it, Senegal didn't make it... And the US did.
June 23rd, 2006, 05:09 AM
Brannick

Quote:

Originally posted by Shadarach
Well, you have to remember.. the World Cup is the top (theoretically) 32 teams in the world.

Camaroon didn't make it, Nigeria didn't make it, Senegal didn't make it... And the US did.

More off - Belgium didn't make it, Turkey (3rd placed in 2002) didn't make it, Greece (Euro 2004 winners) didn't make it...

But hell, we (Poland) also made it and...? We're going home after a major suckage (Ecuador), a game of hard fighting and coughing up lungs (Germany) and a mediocre, 'we just are better' match (Costa Rica). And all of Poland wants our coach's head.

Yeah, flip the coach carousel once again, let's see when the next one figures out the 'who and what'... :rolleyes

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