"Not enough scoring. Too slow. Too long. No contact.” These are words that many Americans who hate soccer use to describe the sport of soccer. These words not only show what our media and society has done to our sports fans, but also what types of people (ignorant, sheltered, brainwashed) apparently live in this beautiful country of ours. As the most popular sport in the world, it comes as a surprise that soccer still comes, at best, fifth in the American sports hierarchy, which we claim to be the most intelligent in the world.
“Too Slow.” Let’s examine the claim that Americans don’t like soccer because it’s “too slow.” If you mean speed of play, then you have clearly not watched enough soccer. Yes, some of the best teams (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Juventus) that have a possession-based system may appear to play “slowly,” but this only occurs because the players’ speed of thought is so fast that the other team doesn’t have time to react and thus the game appears at some points “boring.” However, this is not a problem with the game, it is a problem with the bigger clubs having more money to spend on better players. For those who find it “too slow” you either haven’t watched a wide enough variety of teams, or you don’t respect or understand the game, in which case that is your problem.
“Too long.” For those of you who say soccer is “too long,” I would like to get the number for your drug guy because he must sell some strong stuff. Too long?! The game itself is 90 minutes with a 15-minute halftime…that’s it! Football, basketball, and baseball last well over three hours, not to mention every timeout, inning change, and commercial break in which there is no action anyway! This argument makes no sense to me, and if it does to you, well, good luck to you.
“Not enough scoring.” The most popular of the arguments against soccer is that there is not enough scoring. The national media has brainwashed the American society into thinking that more is always better and that the higher the score, the more exciting the spectacle. More touchdowns, more homeruns, more three pointers, it doesn’t make any sense. If it’s so easy to score, what makes it so special? The answer is nothing. Why does the crowd fail to explode into an uncontrollable frenzy when Alex Rodriguez hits a homerun? Because he has done it 643 times before! Have you ever seen Kobe Bryant rip his shirt off and run around the stadium after he makes a three pointer? NO because he has done it 1000 times before! It makes it all that more special and exciting when a goal is scored because it is so damn hard to do and each one counts for that much more! This idea that more scoring is better is a fundamental view that American society has. It is why we don’t cherish things as much, we take things for granted, and we make ourselves look greedy because we always want more. Soccer has the perfect amount of scoring; sometimes a lot, sometimes none, but that’s what makes it the beautiful game.
“No contact.” Ok, if you haven’t played I can see where it would appear that soccer is a relatively low contact sport, but it is not true. I do admit that the diving and theatrics of international play have poisoned the game, and that players should be penalized for faking injuries, but that’s not the whole story. Soccer is about skill, speed, and finesse. But don’t get me wrong, there is a lot of contact. Hey, hockey fans, this is for you…..Watch and learn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM5t8YLe0GM&feature=fvwrel
For soccer critics everywhere, think about what you’re saying. Think about your arguments. Do they make sense or are you just another brainwashed American sports fan? I hope I helped convinced you and if not, its your loss.
p.s. baseball is boring
Comments