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Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Around here it's big, in fact all home Sounders MLS games were sold out and they had expanded the capacity of the stadium. Can't say the same for the
Mariners. They also get good ratings on TV, and both Vancouver BC and Portland are getting new teams which will spark even more interest as rivalries develop.
On the other hand, I think those awful head numbing horns at the World Cup put a lot of people off of soccer for many years.
I know exactly what you mean cpg35223. I used to get the same feeling when watching an NFL game. Three hours plus of mind bending boredom, including non stop beer & truck commercials.
I attend weekly meetings where we deflate about 20 or 30 soccer balls. We then place them in a giant pit and as we shout "Git er Done" in unison, we set fire to them. As the fire burns we chant hymns of worship to Roger Goddell. We then close by saying the pledge of allegiance to America and then break for a meal.
These meetings happen nationwide, DM me if you are interested in joining.
I don't hate soccer;in fact I basically have a lack of interest in the sport really.I guess its just like NASCAR verus F1 and just a matter of sports taste and tradition really.What I saw during the worlds is drumbeat posts that got answered honestly really.
No, Americans dont hate soccer in general. Some do. In fact, soccer bashing use to be a popular and "cool" thing to do. It really isnt the case anymore and to my experience, lots of people are coming around.
We had 14K come to a single watch party in Kansas City during the World Cup. I have friends who were linemen on American football teams their whole lives through college who now have season tickets to an MLS team and prefer soccer over football.
The MLS is the only professional sports league in the U.S. that did not see a decline in ticket sales during the recession. They are the only league that has expanded during that same period. The MLS is growing faster than the NFL and MLB did and they are doing it while thriving.
In addition, soccer has the highest participation of any other sport on a recreational level for both adults and children.
So, to say that Americans hate soccer in general is foolish. We have a thriving professonal league for the sport and our national team is consistently rated as one of the Top 15 in the world. That isnt a sign of the country that hates the sport.
Is it more hated than the metric system, less or about even?
I actually don't know anyone that hates the metric system. I believe most people acknowledge (at least to themselves) that it is a superior system. Soccer is, of course, not superior to any other sport. Well, maybe baseball.
I think you'll see a turnaround in a decade or so when all the kids playing soccer these days get a little older.
LOL. I have been hearing this for about 30+ years! The thing is, soccer is like scouting or band camp. Many people do it as kids but few have any interest in it as adults.
America doesn't hate soccer, it's a popular sport played throughout the school years and at the college level, and our professional league draws better attendance that a lot of European rugby leagues. Where the conflict lies is between anti-American types who find it blasphemous that Americans would prefer our own home grown sports to the ones that the English invented and spread around the globe, and insular, overly nationalistic Americans who think the NFL and MLB are the end-all, be-all of team sports. These two groups egg each other on and are responsible for 99% of the drama involving America and soccer.
I don't think Americans really think about it enough to hate it.
Instead, the reaction is really to the weird, hectoring way soccer is brought to our attention. Personally, I think the vitriol you see comes after some Soccerphile begins to whine, "Why donnnnnnn't Americans love soccer? Everybody else in the wooooorrrrlllllldddddd doessssssss." Because this meme is embedded in just about every news story about the World Cup, from some puling commentator talking about how America is woefully behind in this game to the tired wheeze of "The rest of the world loves it why don't you?" This is typically followed by a bunch of rote discussions about how Americans are chauvinists, culturally inferior, blah blah blah, all because we prefer one kind of ball game over another. It's really lame and weak when you think about it.
So what if soccer is beloved in Senegal or Argentina? We like what we like, and don't really care for soccer being crammed down our throat as some culturally-superior alternative. We don't particularly like cricket either, a sport that's beloved by untold millions of Indians, Pakistanis, Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, South Africans, etc. etc. Yet they're not whining about it. Is that sufficient explanation for you?
What a terrible and overly dramatic post.
Can you please provide one accurate example of how soccer is being jammed down your throat?
I've played and watched the sport my entire life and I dont want everyone to love soccer. I just want everyone to at least respect and have a basic understanding of it before bashing it. I dont know how many people I come across that bash the sport but havent even watched a single second of high level competition of a sport. That is like saying something tastes terrible when you have never tasted it. I have found that most people, if they sit and watch a professional game, can at least gain an appreciation for it, if not like it.
LOL. I have been hearing this for about 30+ years! The thing is, soccer is like scouting or band camp. Many people do it as kids but few have any interest in it as adults.
Slow and steady wins the race.
There are things that get popular quickly and then fade just as quickly and those things are called fads.
Then there are things that gain popularity slowly and build a strong foundation and those things usually continue to grow in popularity until they become commonplace.
The NFL was once a obscure league that was dwarf by Major League Baseball. However, it slowly grew and finaly overtook baseball in the 70s and 80s.
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