Without annoying any serious Champions league talk here, my last major sport to conquer and really get into has to be the football and the Champions League. Been reading up on it for the last few months, and think i definitely need a club to support but can't push myself to cheer for one of the big clubs just due to the disparity between how much money they spend compared to others. Any suggestions?
Without annoying any serious Champions league talk here, my last major sport to conquer and really get into has to be the football and the Champions League. Been reading up on it for the last few months, and think i definitely need a club to support but can't push myself to cheer for one of the big clubs just due to the disparity between how much money they spend compared to others. Any suggestions?
Good luck if you're only interested in following Champions League.
Yeah, I'm only a casual football fan and much of it revolves around the lack of competition in European football. There are really only 4-6 good teams in each of the major 4 or 5 leagues in Europe. So really there are only about 20 teams in Europe that ever compete for the Champions League.
Now I'm no expert but if you don't cheer for one of Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Juventus, Roma, Lyon, Bayern and a few others you'll hate the Champions League.
Even if you want to get into an individual domestic league like the Premier League, Serie A, whatever they call the French, Spanish and German leagues you'll never cheer for a winner unless you pick from roughly 4-6 teams from each league. (out of 20 teams in each league)
Of course I'm no expert. If someone can prove that European football is full of parity (or even just one of the leagues) go ahead and prove me wrong, I'm certainly no expert.
I also hate the diving. Can't stand it. That and in many ways football lacks legitimacy to me in many ways because of scandals and such.
Lots of reasons I love football but not enough for me to follow any of the leagues closely.
I only really watch Champions League (if someone I care about is playing or if it is the knockout stage), the WC, Euro and the occasional Serie A or Premiership game if it is a big matchup like Inter vs AC or Chelsea vs Man U.
Last edited by flip; 04-28-2010 at 04:29 PM.
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If it were up to me (this might piss off hardcore fans) I'd basically make the Champions League a league unto its own.
So take the top 16 teams in Europe and make a full on European league just like Serie A or the Premiership.
Then maybe like 4 open spots for promotion/relegation for the winners of the domestic leagues.
Take Man U, Chelsea, Barcelona etc right out of their domestic leagues for good and let them all compete in a true league of the best teams in Europe. Then the domestic leagues could actually have some parity.
If I was a fan of a team like West Ham or A. Villa or some other Premiership team who has literally zero chance of winning their league ever I'd probably just give up all hope. They can't even win the 2nd rate domestic cups when teams like Man U and Arsenal are fielding what basically amount to their backup squads. I don't see the point in cheering for a team when even if they have a miracle season the best they can finish is 5th in their league. I couldn't imagine being part of a league where my teams chances of finishing in the top 3 are quite literally zero.
Obviously what I think should happen will never happen but oh well they clearly don't need my support to stay afloat.
There is only one sports organization in Eur/NA more crooked and elitist than UEFA and that is the NCAA.
If it were up to me (this might piss off hardcore fans) I'd basically make the Champions League a league unto its own.
Hahaha, I think I did turn a shade of red when I first glanced over your post.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip
I don't see the point in cheering for a team when even if they have a miracle season the best they can finish is 5th in their league. I couldn't imagine being part of a league where my teams chances of finishing in the top 3 are quite literally zero.
As simply as I can put it off the top of my head, it can boil down to two things:
You're supporting a club rather than a franchise; and
You love the club as much as, or even more than, the game.
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Hahaha, I think I did turn a shade of red when I first glanced over your post.
As simply as I can put it off the top of my head, it can boil down to two things:
You're supporting a club rather than a franchise; and
You love the club as much as, or even more than, the game.
Once again I'm no expert but I think some of it too is that people know their team won't win the Premiership (or whatever) and just want them to do well compared to similar teams or their rivals. For some clubs finishing in the top half of the table might be a victory in itself.
If it were up to me (this might piss off hardcore fans) I'd basically make the Champions League a league unto its own.
So take the top 16 teams in Europe and make a full on European league just like Serie A or the Premiership.
Then maybe like 4 open spots for promotion/relegation for the winners of the domestic leagues.
Take Man U, Chelsea, Barcelona etc right out of their domestic leagues for good and let them all compete in a true league of the best teams in Europe. Then the domestic leagues could actually have some parity.
If I was a fan of a team like West Ham or A. Villa or some other Premiership team who has literally zero chance of winning their league ever I'd probably just give up all hope. They can't even win the 2nd rate domestic cups when teams like Man U and Arsenal are fielding what basically amount to their backup squads. I don't see the point in cheering for a team when even if they have a miracle season the best they can finish is 5th in their league. I couldn't imagine being part of a league where my teams chances of finishing in the top 3 are quite literally zero.
Obviously what I think should happen will never happen but oh well they clearly don't need my support to stay afloat.
There is only one sports organization in Eur/NA more crooked and elitist than UEFA and that is the NCAA.
No offense man, but that's a really bad idea. Some of the best games in Europe are in domestic league games and domestic cups. Domestic games also generally draw bigger crowds than Champions League games except during the knockout stages.
You'd also be taking the best part of European football, that being the rivalries, and throwing it away. I'd much rather watch a Spurs/Arsenal, AC Milan/Inter, City/Man U, etc. matches over games like Barcelona/Bayern. It'd be like if the NHL created a different division for teams in the top half of the league and it eliminated games like Calgary vs. Edmonton.
There's also the fact that some of Champions League teams are from leagues of less quality than the Premiere League, Serie A, La Liga, etc. Some of the teams that win their leagues and qualify for the Champions League would be hard pressed to finish in the top 10 of the higher quality leagues.
Also, especially this year in the Premiere League, the race for the last Champions League spot has been just as compelling as the race for the League title.
Without annoying any serious Champions league talk here, my last major sport to conquer and really get into has to be the football and the Champions League. Been reading up on it for the last few months, and think i definitely need a club to support but can't push myself to cheer for one of the big clubs just due to the disparity between how much money they spend compared to others. Any suggestions?
Hard to suggest a team because they are the champions so they have to be a big team. Maybe a bigger team from a smaller league? Like Ajax, or Anderlecht or FC Basel or someone like that.
Also, especially this year in the Premiere League, the race for the last Champions League spot has been just as compelling as the race for the League title.
They will never have a playoff, if they had a playoff and the 7th place team got in say 2 years in a row. And got knocked out of the CL early. England would risk losing their number of CL spots from 4 to 3. I don't know exactly how figure out how it goes, but its a rolling 3 or 4 year thing. Germany only has 3 right now, before this year people might thought Italy would drop to 3 soon. Inter getting to the final might change that.
No offense man, but that's a really bad idea. Some of the best games in Europe are in domestic league games and domestic cups. Domestic games also generally draw bigger crowds than Champions League games except during the knockout stages.
You'd also be taking the best part of European football, that being the rivalries, and throwing it away. I'd much rather watch a Spurs/Arsenal, AC Milan/Inter, City/Man U, etc. matches over games like Barcelona/Bayern. It'd be like if the NHL created a different division for teams in the top half of the league and it eliminated games like Calgary vs. Edmonton.
There's also the fact that some of Champions League teams are from leagues of less quality than the Premiere League, Serie A, La Liga, etc. Some of the teams that win their leagues and qualify for the Champions League would be hard pressed to finish in the top 10 of the higher quality leagues.
Also, especially this year in the Premiere League, the race for the last Champions League spot has been just as compelling as the race for the League title.
I never said it was a good idea. Nor do I think it will ever happen. However, if I was in charge and could start from scratch I would make a super league with Europe's best club teams.
I will address a few things that I think you are misplaced with though.
The part about attendance wouldn't be a big deal. If there was a league comprised solely of the teams I listed earlier (and a few other powerhouses) there would be no problems with attendance. You could do it either in the format of the Premiership (1 home and 1 away with every team with no playoffs) or you could do a modified version where there is a knockout round between the top 8 after a regular season.
Second, a decent portion of rivalries would generally remain in tact because teams like Inter and AC would remain in the same league. Same with Man U and City even Spurs-Arsenal.
As for some Champions League teams being of lesser quality, well you just don't bring them in. Limit this new super league to the best 20 club teams in Europe. Even if Liv, Man U, Everton, A. Villa, Tottenham, Chelsea and Arsenal all make it in to this new league.
Third, even if some of the races are exciting it is still only about 5 or 6 teams that are EVER involved in those races. What has West Ham/Stoke City/Fulham had to play for all season? Not getting relegated? Well the middle of the pack teams don't really have to worry about that. They certainly aren't playing to win the Premiership or qualify for CL. The only thing they are playing for is to finish in the top half of the table because they can never do better than about 6th.
In a nutshell I think there should be an equivalent to Serie A and Serie B for all of Europe. By that I mean the 20 best teams in Europe form their own Premiership/Serie A/Bundisliga which would then make Serie A, the premiership etc essentially be the 2nd best leagues in the world. You could even have relegation between the bottom 3 seeds and then 1 team from each of the top 3 leagues could move up to the new Champions League. You could even have a tournament to decide who moves up.
All of the domestic cups like the Carling Cup and the FA Cup could remain. You could even still have a similar tournament as the current Champions League that exists now.
Basically I just think it is totally lame that their are only 5 or 6 good teams in each league and the rest of the teams have virtually no chance at ever winning their league or even getting into Champions League. Like seriously what does West Ham/Wolverhampton/Wigan/Stoke City even play for? To avoid being relegated? To win the FA Cup? If they are lucky they might qualify for Europa League and if they have a miracle they might get to the semis or something. They certainly have zero chance of ever qualifying for Champions League.
I just don't know how a league survives where more than half the teams could be entirely removed from the league and it wouldn't change a single thing. (other than their fans might be pissed) But that is just the thing, I'm clearly in the minority and I don't get it.
Would you guys still cheer for the Flames if you knew it was impossible for us to win anything, ever? Even if we had all of the different competitions in NA hockey like the Carling Cup, Europa League, FA Cup and the Premiership that gave lesser teams a shot, more than 50% of top league teams have hardly any chance of ever winning any of them, even when their opponents frequently treat the matches as a total joke.
I just don't understand the mentality of cheering for teams that are made not to win. The team knows it, the league knows it, the fans know it. If you can't win, why are you even in the league?
To me it is honestly like letting the Detroit, Wash, Pits, SJ and Chi play in the AHL. Why would the other AHL teams even want to be in that league if they knew they could never, ever compete? What is the point? Loyalty? The chance to see star players a few times a year when they kick the crap out of your team 7-0 like Chelsea just did to Stoke City?
Just to reiterate my idea will never take shape. Ever. Even if it would make soccer 10x better no one wants it that way. People just like it the way it is even if the leagues are a ridiculous because there is virtually no competition except the big 4 or 5 in each league and the disparity in team salaries is like $100m from 1st place to last place.
I like parity. I know powerhouses are good for leagues but not when it is the same 4 teams for 20 straight years.
Sorry for derailing this thread but it probably won't get much action for a couple of weeks so who cares.
Just please don't cheer for Manchester City or Chelsea.
Be a Roma/Hammers/Shalke etc fan. I have a general hate on for people from north america who cheer for the BIG teams. Its practically obvious you just looked at the standings and picked a team.
With myself, just getting hardcore into soccer the past few years, I had to assess the leagues, and do some research and pick a team, its hard but its worth it to really be passionate about a team(As we all know with the Flames).
What's the fun in cheering for someone who always wins? Life would be good I guess, but it just wouldn't be as sweet when victory comes.
One good way to find a team is to learn about your heritage, and pick a team based on where your family immigrated one. That's usually the way it goes for most NA soccer fans.
There is plenty of good english speaking talk at www.goal.com forums for Spanish, Italian, and German leagues.
Game will be on Sportnet and FOX!!!!! The main network FOX.
I wonder if they'll use the football robots or Digger the Nascar gopher up Robben's shorts?
My prediction: Inter 2-1 in extra time.
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Game will be on Sportnet and FOX!!!!! The main network FOX.
I wonder if they'll use the football robots or Digger the Nascar gopher up Robben's shorts?
I heard it is one of the most watched sporting events of the year.
I'm definitely part of the crowd that refuses to sell the soul of football in order to sell the game to 'Americans', but I think the move to Saturday is a smart one. It makes it more convenient for the wide audience that is has these days, I think it might see a huge boost in viewership this year. Personally, I'm going to try and catch it in 3D!
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“Such suburban models are being rationalized as ‘what people want,’ when in fact they are simply what is most expedient to produce. The truth is that what people want is a decent place to live, not just a suburban version of a decent place to live.”
I'm definitely part of the crowd that refuses to sell the soul of football in order to sell the game to 'Americans', but I think the move to Saturday is a smart one. It makes it more convenient for the wide audience that is has these days, I think it might see a huge boost in viewership this year. Personally, I'm going to try and catch it in 3D!
I don't think you ever have to worry about FIFA bowing down to Americans. If they did it would have been done in the 1994 World Cup when Americans came up with insane ideas like 4 25-minute quarters, kick-ins instead of throw-ins and penalty shot breakaways from the 35 yard line!
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Watching the Oilers defend is like watching fire engines frantically rushing to the wrong fire
