European sports in America..

[ArenaBoy]

For those that do not know, I am a huge soccer fan (football to you awesome Brits). My profile picture is the logo of my team Chelsea. Living in America, soccer is sadly not very popular especially in my area known as the midwest. A lot of people are getting into soccer nowadays but there are people in my area who just refuse to accept that it's becoming popular. The other day, I was wearing my Chelsea jersey when a gentleman asked me what the heck my jersey was about. I explained the jersey and everything only to be called a: "Fucking wannabe European." That upset me greatly because I love it and I've played it since I was 5, I was happy to play it and watch it as I got older. Most of my family, who are all about "All-American" sports would always ask me when I would start playing real sports.
What irks me is that America is a country embracing of other cultures yet we refuse to accept a lousy sport. Fellow Americans, what's your take on this? Do you think that we should be more accepting of a sport from the other side of the globe? I say yes.

[rahmota]

Hey I'd be happy to have more sports to choose from. In my high school we had basketball, softball, track or soccer to choose from. The social pecking oder went in that order for some reason too. I don't see what the big deal about where a sport comes from to be such a horrible thing.

And from what I've seen of Rugby I doubt anyone in the NFL could do very well in that. Also much as I like NASCAR when did that become a "sport"?

[Knightmare]

I'm sorry, but I don't like soccer. I played in a league when I was a kid; I've watched it on television; I've tried to like it. But I don't. Maybe the games I've seen were bad ones. Boring, slow, no scoring, etc. Maybe it's because you can't use your hands? I don't know. I DO know that I understand it, I appreciate it, but I just can't get into it.

Rugby is a different matter, however. I love rugby.

But what the hell is up with Cricket??

[AFPheonix]

I like to play soccer, watching it is not that exciting, however. I do have to say that baseball is more boring still. Gah, that game is VERY boring.

[Barefootgirl]

Well, I AM European, and i find football (soccer) beyond boring. Its tedious in the extreme (sorry, Arenaboy), the players are overpaid halfwits, although of course this could be said about the majority of premier team sports players in the world, and its just so dull and effeminate.

me, i like rugby.

[ArenaBoy]

Well, I AM European, and i find football (soccer) beyond boring. Its tedious in the extreme (sorry, Arenaboy), the players are overpaid halfwits, although of course this could be said about the majority of premier team sports players in the world, and its just so dull and effeminate.

me, i like rugby.

No prob BFG, it's just the problem I have is that there are those who have never even watched a match once in their lives and they instantly bash it. In this country, the NFL reigns supreme when it isn't even real football. A friend of mine who came here from England actually called the NFL "a bunch of guys in oversized bicycle helmets and tight pants chasing a bad lookalike rugby ball up and down the pitch for three hours."
If you so much say you like soccer you get called all sorts of names, foot fairy being one of them by those who only know of the sport through the World Cup. And BFG, at times it can be effimate because of the godawful diving but I love it because of the tactics involved and rugby is a tough as nails sport.

[rahmota]

Well I find watching a lot of sports boring as heck. Playing sports are a lot better.

And I'll agree with you about the players being overpaid clowns.

[protege]

Also much as I like NASCAR when did that become a "sport"?

It became a sport when ESPN realized they could get some serious advertising revenues from it

I'm not a NASCAR fan at all. To me, seeing the cars go round and round an oval 500 times is boring. I'd rather watch F1 or vintage car racing.

[rahmota]

Protege: True after the loss of Dale (Moment of silence) and all it has gotten a bit overly controlled and there is less risk taking which does make for a safer race. But very boring. Go fast turn left. Again somehing that would be much more fun to do than watch.

[Sphinx]

I love soccer as well, and have always wanted to play it. And I get the same grief from some of my friends who say "why dont you like REAL sports, all you like are soccer and hockey" .....Those ARE real sports!!! Much better than the football and baseball that always play here in the south. I had to get satellite so i could watch them. Gahhhh when will it ever end!! lol

[Greenday]

If you so much say you like soccer you get called all sorts of names, foot fairy being one of them by those who only know of the sport through the World Cup.

Let's not kid ourselves, pro-soccer players are a bunch of foot faries. I have never seen a sport where so many people take dives at every chance possible. You could be watching the action at one end, and all of a sudden someone at the other end of the field will fall to the ground, complaining about being fouled.

That being said, I love soccer. It's an awesome sport. I played it for about 8 years. I don't watch any American leagues, but I have been following Champions League and rooting for Chelsea to kick some ass. And when the World Cup started the last time, I was rooting for Germany since the qualifying rounds, unlike those Italian bastards back home who waited until the semi-finals to start watching the World Cup and were all of a sudden "Italian Pride". Support your team from the beginning and maybe I won't be so ticked off.

[ArenaBoy]

That being said, I love soccer. It's an awesome sport. I played it for about 8 years. I don't watch any American leagues, but I have been following Champions League and rooting for Chelsea to kick some ass.

You are pretty much on my good side if you support Chelsea. That said, it is catching on somewhat in Canada. Toronto just got a Major League Soccer team and their merchandise demand is through the roof. http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/a.../08/c5992.html

There are quite a few Americans playing in the English Premiership now and the MLS has broadcasting rights with ESPN2 right now. That said, the sport is SLOWLY inching it's way to prominence in the USA.

[Aldous]

Used to play, then got in a serious injury, haven't played sports since. Don't care much for them, I'm the intellectual type. I'd rather spend 3 hours trying to figure out a problem or puzzle than watch sports. That being said, Soccer doesn't infuriate me. Baseball does. Soccer, A-Okay in my book. Baseball, not so much. As for the "foot fairy" comment. Lemme tell you, 6 years of soccer and 7 of Tae-kwon-do (Foot based martial arts) my feet are pretty well trained to kick ass. So my one friend called me a foot fairy, and I booted him in the gut. Funny part, all my friends and I started playing soccer instead of football for about 6 months. Much more fun for me, than "set, hike, okay run."

[ArenaBoy]

It sure would be easier to get your soccer fix if you left the US! For some reason that sport has just never caught on in America the way it has everywhere else.

Interestingly enough there's 3 channels dedicated to soccer on cable. They all show just about every league and then some.

I think you're near Toronto no? They have their own team called Toronto FC; as far as I know they've been a success as tickets have been near impossible to get.

There are also people who say that the league will fail. The only reason the NASL failed was lack of interest and overspending. Different times now. The current league took measures to prevent overspending and marketed to fans.

[Dragonlover]

Speaking as a Brit, soccer bores me to tears both to watch and play, although if a couple of managers are having a go through the media I'll read it for a laugh. Rugby on the other hand... if I wasn't a skinny assed gamer with crap lungs I'd probably try and play it at amateur level.

I think the main thing with America is that to an extent they don't 'get' football, in the same way that this side of the pond we can't grasp American football.

Dragonlover