Alaska Darin Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 Yes, it sucks so bad that it is the most popular game in the world. No other sport is even a close second. And American football? . Yeah, because a bunch of third worlders love it everyone else should too. Popularity has never equaled quality and it never will. Kickball is the WalMart of sports.
bbb Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 Yeah, because a bunch of third worlders love it everyone else should too. Popularity has never equaled quality and it never will. Kickball is the WalMart of sports. I've always wondered if that is what the chanting and hooliganism is about. Because they want a spectacle and the product on the field just is not that..................I know 80-90% of all fights I've seen at the stadium were when the Bills were getting blown out and what was going on the field held nobody's interest at that point.
maryland-bills-fan Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 (edited) In a game full of stupid rules, offsides takes the cake. It just kills so much offense. Hockey's is so much better. Heh? hockey is played on a small playing "field" and its equally dumb to have 1/3 of the field excluded for use and having many scoring attempts in hockey killed by offsides. Actually, the hockey rule (the puck must enter the zone before the attacking player) and the soccer rule (the player can not enter the zone behind the last defender before the ball is kicked to him) are similiar. In soccer, at least if the "offside" player is not gaining and advantage from being in that position, then the play is not stopped like it is in hockey. I think there are more offsides in hockey then in soccer and certainly less "iceing" calls in soccer (e.g. none) then in hockey. I think hockey would be a different and maybe better game if they didn't allow substitutions during actual playing time. Be a man and suck it up for 45 minutes rather than 90 seconds. Edited June 19, 2014 by maryland-bills-fan
diver Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 Don't get mean with each other on posts. We are all Bills fans. I grew up an American. Played little league and watched the Bills all my life. I played soccer in High School, coached Premier youth soccer and now continue to ref the game for over 20+ years. I dealt with Dads during much of the transition years of soccer in America. The transition continues but 20 years ago it was horrible trying to explain the game to parents and Dads who bitched that they would rather have their son or daughter playing baseball. All I heard all the time "Soccer is boring and there is no scoring". If you haven't played the game or have a youth really involved in the sport it is tough to overcome the "boring" aspect of the game. I love the Bills and American football but very frustrated with the commericials and the constant stoppage of play. Football is a reason to show commericials on TV. In my reffing we always keep in mind that the purpose of our goals is to keep the game fair and keep the flow of the game going. The term. "Spirit of the game" is often used and is often used in letting a team finish their attack when time is running out before calling the game over. Many judgement calls are in the hands of the soccer crew as it is in any sport. Bottom line. Just watch what you enjoy and quit bitching about what others enjoy. To each their own.
CodeMonkey Posted June 19, 2014 Posted June 19, 2014 In a game full of stupid rules, offsides takes the cake. It just kills so much offense. Hockey's is so much better. It really doesn't kill offense at all. But I do understand exactly where you are coming from. The blue line concept is much easier to see and understand for people who are not terribly familiar with the game. When I first started following the game, I said exactly the same thing as you. But now I prefer the rule as it is. I strongly suspect that once people that grew up with the game become adults, this opinion will change even among Americans.
maryland-bills-fan Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 promo you really stirred up a hornets nest with this one. we always call soccer a 3rd world sport. one ball, 20 kids, field way too big, too many players out there etc. but i must admit the world cup can be amazing. 20 kids? So two got a red card already?
CodeMonkey Posted June 20, 2014 Posted June 20, 2014 (edited) "Soccer Moms" don't realize that soccer is a contact sport. Badmition is a non-contact sport. American football is a collusion sport (but while wearing 20 pounds of armor). That's about the best, most concise explanation I have seen about this (but I suspect you meant collision, not collusion .. unless you meant the Pats* ). The worst one I think though is "hand ball" (handling). I see players even in the world cup matches wanting this call even if the player has his arms down at his side and the ball happens to bounce up and hit his arm. At the youth club level it is far worse. if you attempt to explain the actual rule to a soccer Mom she looks at you like you are crazy. Edited June 20, 2014 by CodeMonkey
John Adams Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 promo you really stirred up a hornets nest with this one. we always call soccer a 3rd world sport. one ball, 20 kids, field way too big, too many players out there etc. but i must admit the world cup can be amazing. Youth soccer isn't played on a full size field with 11 players each side. American soccer associations finally figured out that one ball-22 kids was a bad idea and now copy the European model of playing smaller sided games until kids are in their teens. In Europe, they mostly play 8v8 soccer until U15. Here we tend to make the switch at U13 but that's because high school coaches put pressure on the soccer clubs to prepare players for high school soccer. Stupid coaches think that learning formations matter for youth soccer.
maryland-bills-fan Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 That's about the best, most concise explanation I have seen about this (but I suspect you meant collision, not collusion .. unless you meant the Pats* ). The worst one I think though is "hand ball" (handling). I see players even in the world cup matches wanting this call even if the player has his arms down at his side and the ball happens to bounce up and hit his arm. At the youth club level it is far worse. if you attempt to explain the actual rule to a soccer Mom she looks at you like you are crazy. Does the ball play the hand or the hand play the ball? Could he(she) have gotten their hand out of the way? Was the hand in a natural position? That's it.
papazoid Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Soccer is still a long ways behind the "Big 4" in North American sports, but those days may be numbered. According to a recent poll by ESPN, soccer is the second most popular sport among Americans ages 12-24 and the most popular sport among Hispanics. http://www.sbnation.com/soccer/2012/3/3/2842696/soccer-popularity-american-youth-mls The social media site Facebook, through one week, has already seen more people having interactions about the (WORLD CUP)tournament than it had for the Sochi Olympics, Super Bowl and Academy Awards combined. http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/story/1907511/united-states-portugal-world-cup-match-draws-record-television-ratings
bbb Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Much of the action is international: 85 per cent of the people talking about the World Cup on Facebook are from outside of the United States. There are 1.28 billion people on Facebook worldwide, 80 per cent of them living outside the U.S. So, they're counting this facebook status update by Pitbull for well over a million likes, shares and comments. None of which look to me like they have anything at all to do with soccer: http://www.thestar.com/business/tech_news/2014/06/23/world_cup_facebook_usage_outpaces_super_bowl_sochi_and_oscars.html
xsoldier54 Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 +1 I've tried to watch that game so many times, and it is just boring to me. If you like soccer, great, but no thanks for me. God I remember when my boys were 4, it was the only sport they could play, and it was like getting my spleen taken out without anesthetic. Thank god they gravitated towards football, then lacrosse. Lacrosse is more exciting than soccer? Not even worth arguing that one. Enjoy your silly little games while the rest of the world watches a real sport.
xsoldier54 Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Yeah, because a bunch of third worlders love it everyone else should too. Popularity has never equaled quality and it never will. Kickball is the WalMart of sports. Yes third worlders like Spain, England, Italy, France, Germany. Get over yourself. It's popular because it is a great sport. It ain't kickball and calling it that just shows your ignorance. If you don't want to watch it fine, but you are missing out. Your loss.
CodeMonkey Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Does the ball play the hand or the hand play the ball? Could he(she) have gotten their hand out of the way? Was the hand in a natural position? That's it. Did you watch the Mexico Croatia match last night? Two textbook handling instances that were so obvious they could be used for referee training and neither was called. Crazy. Edited June 24, 2014 by CodeMonkey
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Lacrosse is more exciting than soccer? Not even worth arguing that one. Enjoy your silly little games while the rest of the world watches a real sport. Yes. The Duke-Notre Dame Championship @ least produced a game that either team may have won.. And there was plenty of scoring, yet wasn't too high for lacrosse @ 11-9. You kinda figured that Duke would win, but Notre Dame had a shot @ the end. A soccer match would have probably ended in a tie and they would have shot penalty kicks for the championship. How awful is that... Or the favorite would have just won outright. We have disposable income in this country, kids want to player cooler games. Who wants to look like a flopping nerd? @ least lacrosse players attempt to get hookers, even if that sometimes goes terribly wrong! LoL ;-P Yes third worlders like Spain, England, Italy, France, Germany. Get over yourself. It's popular because it is a great sport. It ain't kickball and calling it that just shows your ignorance. If you don't want to watch it fine, but you are missing out. Your loss. You mine as well call Europe a 3rd World continent... All their money goes to taxes. Sucks when all your disposable income goes into the socialized system... All you have left is a foot and a ball! ;-P ;-P Edited June 24, 2014 by ExiledInIllinois
maryland-bills-fan Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 (edited) Did you watch the Mexico Croatia match last night? Two textbook handling instances that were so obvious they could be used for referee training and neither was called. Crazy. The first one was pretty clear and should have been called. I wonder where the linesman was- his flag should have been spinning around in a circle like mad. A problem that goes along with the game is that the ref only has one set of eyes and his eyes on a corner kick are looking at all the hand fighting, pushing, punches and tripping going on in front of the goal. Other things that soccer moms don't realize is that the ref is often screened by players (there are 22 on the field and often at least 3-4 in the way), or even one player (if the issue is on the other side of a player's body) and that the ref is moving. Every time you run a step, the shock of your foot hitting the ground is transmitted up you body to your eyes and jarrs your vision. Your brain sort of intergrates the images it sees and presents the data to the brain as a smooth film clip, but information is missing. Also your eyes (like a camera) have a limited depth of focus, and when you refocus to examine what is happening at a different distance, you lose information for a split second as well. There might be a 270 degree wide arc that the ref has to keep track of- you can not see Sally suddenly decide to swoon to the ground behind your back nor can you see somebody cold-cocking a opponent on the other side of the field. I used to play fullback and had a lot of tricks on high balls to make up for being short and for jumping like a boat anchor. Most were based upon denying the opponent the chance to play the ball in his perfered way. One trick is to realize that the ref isn't looking at our shoes and the opponent can not jump very high if I am standing on his foot. OR give the back of his knee a nudge with my knee just before he gets set to jump. OR am holding onto his shirt on the other side of the ref, when he jumps (don't hold the pants- he'll jump out of them). OR get to his launch spot before he does (or get in the way of his moving to that spot) and make him jump over you for the ball (his foul). Elbows to the solar plexis away from the ref works as does a punch to the kidney. Straightening out your forearm to give a punch to the groin, or grabbing works, but expect to get a punch to the face. Not that I would do any of these things, but it might give you an idea what the ref was looking for. As for the second goal, that was a borderline case and might have been called. The player was jumping away from the ball and trying to get his back in the way of a shot. He did not move his hand (arm) into the way of the ball because he did not see the ball, he didn't have time to get his hand from a natural position to out of the way and his hand was in a natural position for the jump that he did. If a player IS moving away with his back to where the ball is, then he is responsible for NOT making his body bigger by extending his arms or waving them around. It didn't look like that was the case and the ref let them play on (or didn't see it). It is not in the spirit of the game to give a PK (an almost sure goal at this level) for a fairly dubious hand ball, so I think it would be 20:80 whether a handled ball would be called or not. Edited June 24, 2014 by maryland-bills-fan
Campy Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Heh? hockey is played on a small playing "field" and its equally dumb to have 1/3 of the field excluded for use and having many scoring attempts in hockey killed by offsides. Actually, the hockey rule (the puck must enter the zone before the attacking player) and the soccer rule (the player can not enter the zone behind the last defender before the ball is kicked to him) are similiar. In soccer, at least if the "offside" player is not gaining and advantage from being in that position, then the play is not stopped like it is in hockey. I think there are more offsides in hockey then in soccer and certainly less "iceing" calls in soccer (e.g. none) then in hockey. I think hockey would be a different and maybe better game if they didn't allow substitutions during actual playing time. Be a man and suck it up for 45 minutes rather than 90 seconds. For starters, hockey does have delayed offsides which keeps the play going if the offending player does not play the puck (ie, gains an advantage) and gets back onside. And for your "Be a man and suck it up for 45 minutes rather than 90 seconds" comment tells me you probably cannot ice skate much less ever played any form of organized hockey. In hockey, you go as hard as you can, constantly stopping, starting, and changing directions, as long as you can. As opposed to 3/4 of the players on a pitch who are standing around with their hands on their hips at any given moment, hockey players are always in motion and always having to balance on skate blades which requires much more energy than chilling on a field in a pair of Adidas. I played soccer in high school, so don't think I'm anti-soccer. But if you want to pump up soccer, compare it to American football and hope you don't encounter any rugby fans, because comparing it to hockey the way you did will mean you lose.
dubs Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Yes third worlders like Spain, England, Italy, France, Germany. Get over yourself. It's popular because it is a great sport. It ain't kickball and calling it that just shows your ignorance. If you don't want to watch it fine, but you are missing out. Your loss. Until athletic beasts like LeBron, Calvin Johnson and Jimmy Graham start playing soccer it will be nothing more than a cute little pastime for kids and hipsters.
Smiley Dear Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 Yes, it sucks so bad that it is the most popular game in the world. No other sport is even a close second. And American football? Please. The rest of the world laughs at our game. The worst offense of all is calling it football. It isn't football. I love both the NFL as well as college "football", but there really is no comparison. They are two unique and completely different games. I for one respect the athletes that play both games at such a high level. Amen and allelujah. . Rice is the most popular food in the world. That doesn't make it better than steak.
ExiledInIllinois Posted June 24, 2014 Posted June 24, 2014 As opposed to 3/4 of the players on a pitch who are standing around with their hands on their hips at any given moment, hockey players are always in motion and always having to balance on skate blades which requires much more energy than chilling on a field in a pair of Adidas. BINGO... That has always been the thing w/soccer... Knowing when to coast and when to turn it. Most of it is coasting (of course be set in the right position). Overall, great anaylsis Campy! Rice is the most popular food in the world. That doesn't make it better than steak. Now you did it. Don't get me started. Asian carp is the most eaten fish in the world too. Really... Look it up, number one consumed fish (outside of US/Canada). Is it better than trout?
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