Like watching soccer?

[Russic]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Those that don't like watching soccer are obviously missing the current Italy vs. Slovakia game.

3-2!? WTF is going on!?

[chemgear]

Seriously, this is an insane game.

[SeeBass]

wow that Slovak keeper was way off his line

[SeeBass]

when the Slovaks hang 3 on you then you don't deserve to go on.

[VladtheImpaler]

It's so gratifying to see the cheating, flukey, boring Italians finally get their comeuppance. I've been waiting for this since 1982.

[chemgear]

Anyhow, now that the game is over . . .


To atually add to the discussion: I think North Americans and our sports tend to have a very short attention span. And we need constant stimulation kinda like that mouse experiment where the it would rather zap itself in the brain than eat. We need high scores to keep any sort of interest.

We rarely appreciate a good defensive game of any sort as a general rule.

I also find we have waaaaaayyyy to many games for many of our sports. 162 games per team in baseball? 18 games for a eight team league in the CFL? Come on - that's ridiculous.

7 games series can be dramatic but single elimination games in the Olympics/World Cup are pretty darn cool too.

[Komskies]

This means that 2 of the last 3 champions (France in '98 and Italy in '06) didn't advance past the qualifying round. Brazil on the other hand ('02 champs), are in good shape.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by chemgear

7 games series can be dramatic but single elimination games in the Olympics/World Cup are pretty darn cool too.

7 game series > single elimination games every time.

You might get more upsets with single elimination, but I'd rather have a long series to prove which is the better team overall (and not just on one given day). Bounces and luck are such huge factors in any sport that it's not uncommon to see the team who plays better lose.

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

I find a 10-7 baseball game and a 98-105 basketball game far more painful to watch than a 1-0 soccer game. Scoring does not necessarily equal entertainment to me. I enjoy watching the build-up, the chances, the saves, and yes - even good defence.

I also love my hockey, but they are different games with different strategies.

Completely agreed.

Basketball is pretty much the most painful sport for me to watch. There are no game-changing plays outside of the last 30 seconds. A brilliant shot is quickly negated by a brilliant shot at the other end. I'm 6'5 and I really tried to like basketball as a youngster, went to basketball camps, tried to train up, but it just wasn't at all interesting to me to play.

The thing about hockey and soccer are that there are big plays. Especially soccer. In a lower scoring, more defensive sport, when you do manage to create a goal its a huge deal. Either the play has to be absolutely sublime and brilliant to break down the defense or a calamitous mistake was made usually. Just like hockey can have some brilliant breakaway or tic-tac-toe passing, soccer also has the moments of sheer brilliance. It's a beautiful game.

That said, there are certain matches that are mostly unwatchable just like in hockey. For the most part this World Cup has been very entertaining, I'm watching it much more religiously than I'd watch the NHL playoffs if the Flames are eliminated. To me the World Cup is the most amazing sporting event in the world followed closely by the Euros.

Hockey and Soccer are definitely my two favorite spectator sports. But I did play a lot of soccer growing up.

[Cactus Jack]

Hockey and football (soccer) have more in common than I think soccer-haters realize.

[worth]

How can you tell no one actually reads the OP's post on CP? 29 posts and not a single one on the actual topic.

I'm waiting for the .mp3 version so I can live every day with 24 hours of vuvuzela.

[Locke]

Do you think the Africans are offended or embarrassed by how much the rest of the world sincerely hates their instrument?

[Komskies]

Originally Posted by Locke

Do you think the Africans are offended or embarrassed by how much the rest of the world sincerely hates their instrument?

It's not even theirs. They stole the "tradition" from Mexican soccer fans in the 1970s.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Komskies

It's not even theirs. They stole the "tradition" from Mexican soccer fans in the 1970s.

I dont care whose it is, vuvuzelas suck ass.

[puckluck]

Watching soccer is like watching the Canucks. I can't stand how any time a player is touched they fall to the ground like they've been sniped from the crowd. I was forced to watch the Brazil game a couple days ago against the Ivory coast and Kaka took a second yellow card on a horrible dive. That is why I hate soccer.

What a horrible sport, and I don't really care if it's the most popular game in the world. The only reason it's the most popular is because it's the most cheapest game to play. All you need is a ball, and that's what makes it so popular in other countries.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by rerun

soccer is boring as hell.
I mean... What's so exciting about a 90 minute game which ends in a 1-0 score?

Not sure why half the world is so crazy about it. Obviously they've never seen a hockey game.

fyp

[ynwa03]

I think one thing a lot of people fail to take into consideration is the sad state football is in in Canada. I honestly think that if Canada had a strong international team and could compete with the central American nations like Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago etc., and actually made the World Cup once every so often, people in here wouldn't look at the game in such a bad way.

It's sooo difficult to get into a sport when you have no team to cheer for. I love the game, so it's easier for me to latch on to a team like Argentina or Spain because i appreciate how they play the game. But for an average Joe who hasn't played or watched the game, it's tough to just 'get into' the game because the World Cup is on. I think that's why people watch Nascar, Baseball and Golf, but call Football boring.

PS-Football=the real game where you use your foot on a ball and not that other lame sport

[chemgear]

I can't disagree about the diving, especially when it comes to the Italians.



But having played it, it's certainly not like you have kevlar reinforced helmets, pads, skate guards, and such. Something that looks a kinda soft can actually hurt quite a bit. I was caught a couple times recently thinking a player just got VERY lightly tapped on the head. 2 minutes later they get up and they're bleeding badly trying to get back into the play.

[puckluck]

Originally Posted by ynwa03

I think one thing a lot of people fail to take into consideration is the sad state football is in in Canada. I honestly think that if Canada had a strong international team and could compete with the central American nations like Honduras and Trinidad and Tobago etc., and actually made the World Cup once every so often, people in here wouldn't look at the game in such a bad way.

It's sooo difficult to get into a sport when you have no team to cheer for. I love the game, so it's easier for me to latch on to a team like Argentina or Spain because i appreciate how they play the game. But for an average Joe who hasn't played or watched the game, it's tough to just 'get into' the game because the World Cup is on. I think that's why people watch Nascar, Baseball and Golf, but call Football boring.

PS-Football=the real game where you use your foot on a ball and not that other lame sport

Sad state?

More people play soccer than hockey in Canada. Mostly because it is cheaper to put your kids into soccer than it is into hockey.

[Finny61]

Originally Posted by puckluck

Sad state?

More people play soccer than hockey in Canada. Mostly because it is cheaper to put your kids into soccer than it is into hockey.

Yeah and what do these kids do if they want to become professionals? Hockey has structure and support, soccer...I'm betting not so much within Canada. I wouldn't jump at calling the MLS the hierarchy of professional soccer either, you basically have to move to another country.