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What I'm starting to notice is that soccer crowds in the United States tend to be much younger, especially in MLS, a lot of kids, teenagers and people in their 20s, also appears to be the sport of choice for hipsters in parts of the country as well.
Baseball on the other hand the fan base appears to be getting older.
The demographics are shifting towards soccer, but it will never be number 1 because the media will never allow it.
I was in my 20's when I first started watching MLS. I agree that the younger generations have really taken to it but I think us Gen Xer's pioneered it.
Baseball is declining in popularity. I used to go to games when I was a kid because I was taken to them. I find it a very boring sport. Basically just watching a bunch of guys standing around and wait for something to happen which most of the time is a false alarm caused by a foul ball. Right now, Football is the main American sport and will be for some time. I agree the media will never allow soccer to gain too much ground.
It must require a lot of effort to follow a baseball team, they play almost every day! I like the sport but i can see why it would become tedious to follow a while, even the commentators seem bored until the playoffs Come around.
The NFL would be the most popular because every results feels important, it's not a long season and you only have to watch your team play once a week, I find it much more enjoyable compared to baseball.
The problem with soccer and specifically MLS is that it doesn't have a player that can capture the imagination of the media, Beckham was the only one who broke new ground and made his move to America the biggest sports news for a few months.
Look at the nba finals, the matchup between Lebron and curry is considered more important than the 2 teams competing, the sports media loves obsessing over individuals, they do the same with NFL quarterbacks. The individual seems to hold more importance in America compared to the team, or at least in the eyes of the media.
If hockey wasn't so popular in Finland, there would be more energy and interest and resources devoted to soccer, and they'd perform better at the World Cup, Euro, etc.
As it stands now, the attention is divided between the two and soccer is weakened, compared to what it might be if it was totally dominant.
Also, the most athletic kids in Finland are probably split into hockey and soccer when they are young. (At least as far as team sports are concerned.)
Instead of all the talent pool going to soccer.
What I'm basically asking is, why do you HAVE to be good at soccer?
Anybody ever play suicide soccer? We played that in gym class in the gymnasium. The object of the game was the same as regular soccer where each team tried to kick the ball past the other team's goalie. The main difference was that you could do anything to stop the guy with the ball, you could kick him, punch him in the stomach, kung fu him or grab hold of him and body slam him onto the hard floor. A number of kids didn't dress out because they were afraid to play. A couple of times I saw an ambulance backed up to the gymnasium doors and I knew they were playing suicide soccer in there. The game was eventually banned.
I've always *wanted* to support Italy in FIFA and Euro, but I can't bring myself to do it because I simply HATE the way they play.
It's like anti-football.
It's not the way you'd expect a people like the Italians to play this sport.
I hate that too. But that's nothing strange though. The way they play is very sensitive, not following the rules, and very opportunistic. Sometimes it works, but it's incredibly annoying because you feel the other team is joked on. In French I would say "la loi du plus fort", I also like to say "Forza cinecitta !"
Not that they are not talented but they make competition even more annoying in a way.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aliasfinn
Anybody ever play suicide soccer? We played that in gym class in the gymnasium. The object of the game was the same as regular soccer where each team tried to kick the ball past the other team's goalie. The main difference was that you could do anything to stop the guy with the ball, you could kick him, punch him in the stomach, kung fu him or grab hold of him and body slam him onto the hard floor. A number of kids didn't dress out because they were afraid to play. A couple of times I saw an ambulance backed up to the gymnasium doors and I knew they were playing suicide soccer in there. The game was eventually banned.
We have a similar game in the UK called murderball, it is often played with a medicine ball.
We have a similar game in the UK called murderball, it is often played with a medicine ball.
Sounds like our coaches were cut from the same cloth. Once we chose up sides he would throw us the ball and say "Go to it boys" and then sit on a stool and watch the bloodbath for 40 minutes. I always figured there was something wrong with that boy.
Sounds like our coaches were cut from the same cloth. Once we chose up sides he would throw us the ball and say "Go to it boys" and then sit on a stool and watch the bloodbath for 40 minutes. I always figured there was something wrong with that boy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brave New World
We have a similar game in the UK called murderball, it is often played with a medicine ball.
Sounds awesome. No way anything like that would happen in the US. They've even eliminated Dodge Ball in most places which is a similar game but uses a soft, bouncy ball. Today, the PC culture considers it a form of cruelty or some crap.
Sounds awesome. No way anything like that would happen in the US. They've even eliminated Dodge Ball in most places which is a similar game but uses a soft, bouncy ball. Today, the PC culture considers it a form of cruelty or some crap.
The worst injury I got was when a fat kid crushed me against the wall and my knee hit it with such force I limped for days. I got my evens with that kid later when he had the ball, I ran up behind him and horse-collared him, damn near turned his head completely around. I would have come close to breaking his neck but he didn't have one. I think the game would have been safer if we got to play it outside but the girls had the field all the time for their archery class. The boy's gym class never got to have archery, I guess the administrators figured we would get bored shooting arrows at a stationary target and start trying to pick off the kids running track 80 yards down field. They might have been right.
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