The several handfuls of American fans
are very excited about this development.

Furthermore, uh, ZZZZZzzzzz.......

Soccer?

I think the Dodgers going for the pennant is more newsworthy.

Until they get owned once again by the Phillies.

#3...

I thought the same thing going against the Cards. After the 9th inning in game 2 though, memories of 1988 are flashing back. Plus Philly is what 3-9 their last 12?

bah on all of you!

if i could get a day off id be watching the cup waaaaay over the damn Worthless Series.

Watching baseball has been increasingly more painful each year. Especially after all the roid horse crap.

Watching on television is even worse.

The only way baseball should be televised is in the Highlight form where all of the scratching, spitting, adjusting of athletic supports, rearranging of hats, and the like is cut out.

and dont even get me started on guys trying to throw someone out who is taking a lead off a base.

or eternal foul balls.

Even golf is more interesting on tv, they cut out the parts where the guy is walking around. having a drink, chatting up the fans on the rope.

they just show the shot.

Anyway, its about time the USA showed its stuff in soccer.

its not as if the last 3 generations didn't grow up playing.

I mean.. there is a reason for the term Soccer Mom.

I personally am most looking forward to Basketball season.

I mean for fuck sake, right wrong or indiferent, we have SHAQ and LeBron!

The King and the Superman/Sherrif/Rapper/
Geanie/One man entertainment Complex!

If nothing else Basketball will be interesting this year.

The gods know there is no reason to watch the Browns.

#5...

Those 0-0 soccer matches must really bring in the ratings.

It's the world's most popular sport. Yes, it brings in the ratings.

6 | POSTED BY CRISPEE_OC AT 2009-10-11 12:29 AM | REPLY | FLAG:

at least they are running around.

Not starring at each other. while doing their best
"I a Cow" impersonations.

Dont get me wrong, there are many flaws with international level soccer, the refs, are often suspect, the Acting, the incredibly BAD acting to get fouls.

but i find that the cons of soccer at that level are not outweighed by the positives.

I find the complete opposite for baseball.
And as ESPN 2 has shown everyone, Literally any sport will bring in the ratings.

I am pretty sure i have caught curling on there....

I am pretty sure i have caught curling on there....

#8 | Posted by Valisk at 2009-10-11 01:20 AM |

Soccer = NASCAR = Watching paint dry.

USA! USA! USA! USA!

I'm glad my grandkids all play soccer and not boring baseball. Soccer is non-stop action with all the kids moving. Watching baseball is like watching paint dry. I could eat a few hot dogs and a box of cracker jacks between two stupid pitches and so could the outfielders.

few hot dogs and a box of cracker jacks between two stupid pitches and so could the outfielders.

#11 | Posted by fwthom

silly....not all outfielders are gay.

Kid Soccer is good sport. They have to run a lot and there's not too much physical contact.

World Cup soccer got three Oscar nominations last year. Best Faker, Biggest Whiney Pussy and Has the Craziest Fans. All three awards were won by Rush Limbaugh.

Every time a soccer story comes up somebody has to chime in with how no one follows the sport here.

Soccer: The All Natural Tranquilizer

Watch it with a cold Smithwick's and you are sure to take a nap.

Soccer would only be interesting to watch if every player was given a machete, and the Mexican "Goooooooooal!" guy was announing every game. Other than that, it's a sport for Third Worlders, Eurotrash, and Americans who were always picked last when sides were chosen for real sports. Buncha hyperactive fruitbats runnning back and forth all day to maybe score one or two goals. Big Fucking Deal. I hope their fans continue to violently assault one another for my amusement.

#15 | Posted by cookfish

Leave it to a rightard like this to put a negative spin on America making it into the World Cup. Why do you hate America, douchebag?

When you learn to read, junior, you'll see that I hate soccer, not America. Go punch your parents and teachers repeatedly for raising and 'educating' such a tool.

"One of my favorite things about it is the lack of stoppage. The clock runs throughout the first and second half, so a whole match runs in two hours."

No beer and viagra commercials? Corporate America must hate it. With stoppages they would have pumped so much money into brainwashing, er, promoting it that everyone on this thread would think it the most exciting sport ever.

watching grown men kick an aspirin around...

YAWN.

#18 | Posted by nullifidian FLAG has never seen a game

There is more in your face advertising in soccer than football or baseball. In fact many uniforms of team members have corprate logos on them, the side lines are one big billboard..... yeah corporate America hates that, networks hate it, not advertising. Its gold Nulli, gold I tell you..

"There is more in your face advertising in soccer than football or baseball."

Is there? Haven't seen a game in ages. But without stoppages, they are mostly confined to logos, right? I suppose they could scroll commercials on the bottom of the screen. Or they could do split screen commercials during live action. I doubt any of those solutions would be very popular.

My son tapes the Chelsey games on the DVR.

He played baseball for 8 years.

We had him playing soccer in first grade--but he broke his wrist doing a double gainer off the swing at school and couldn't play.

In America, soccer, like aged whiskey and Cuban cigars, is an acquired taste. Once you're hooked, you're hooked for life.

In America, soccer, like aged whiskey and Cuban cigars, is an acquired taste. Once you're hooked, you're hooked for life.

Very true.

I think Americans hate soccer for two reasons:

1. The rest of the world embraces it. Therefore it's somehow suspect and un-American. (See Also: The Metric System, President Obama.)

2. The sport itself is not a conspicuous display of wealth. All that is required is a ball and a piece of dirt to play on. Compare that to any of America's premier sports which require bats, gloves, pads, helmets, or a paved, behooped court. Soccer is a game poor people can play, and being poor is practically a crime in America. Americans once played stickball, but now we leave that to the Cubans.

Americans are also likely to be uncomfortable with a sport without time outs. No getting up to pee and grab a new beer for 45 minutes at a stretch? Maintaining focus on a single event for nearly an hour straight? American minds quickly become overtaxed.

Snoofy: I think your a real dick okay?

Come up here to Nwest where we play Soccer, as well as things like American football, basketball, baseball et al with relish-on our hotdogs

I'll be sure and tape the soccer games so I can watch them when I'm in bed. It'll save me a few bucks never having to buy anymore Sominex should I ever have trouble falling asleep.

Futbol is a subtle science. No doubt many in the USA have trouble appreciating it. LOL at the "picked last" comment by Cookie. Doubt you or any baseball or football player could keep up on the pitch. B-ball players, though, probably could--for a half at least.

Best sporting event I ever witnessed: 2002 World Cup.
Awesome run by the U.S. team, getting up at 5:30 in the morning to go the bar and watch...good times.

Hopefully we'll make it out of the group stage in South Africa.

I never gave a rat's ass about soccer till my two nephews started playing it. Both were damn good, although one moved on to football halfway through high school and the other is now playing baseball on scholarship in college.

I asked my girls if they wanted to try soccer and they said yes. They're both pretty good, and they don't mind mixing it up. I get out and run drills with them, and it's a blast. The program they're in adds an incredible number of kids every year, so the sport's popularity can only continue to grow. Mrs. Cbob and I took the girls to a collegiate soccer game last year, and we all enjoyed the higher level of athleticism.

I still don't understand all the rules, but the basics are simple - you try to kick a ball into a goal while somebody else tries to stop you. After several years of watching my nephews and my daughters play, I've developed an appreciation for the elegance of such a simple sport.

GO USA!

#17 | Posted by cookfish

You hate a sport? Then don't watch it. Then get a life with all your new free time not paying attention to a sport you hate. Tool.

It's the world's most popular sport.

#7 | Posted by Timex at 2009-10-11 12:36 AM | Reply | Flag:

One more illustration as to why most of the world is not good enough to be American

Vernon explains my "Reason #1" why Americans can't stand soccer.

Any sport which poor people enjoy is not good enough to embrace the virtues of American Exceptionalism.

#33 - Seriously. What is it with this compulsion? I love America too, but Vernon's statement is just silly. Clearly there's a hubris that colors many Americans' perception of soccer. We didn't invent it, so we can't like it, because to do so would signify weakness.

Yeah, I guess if you have low self-esteem.