Why is the US so isolated from international competition in sports in general? (golf, playoffs)
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Think the international competition is just low in soccer/football? Think again, you don't see them being all hyped up when their basketball or NFL-style football national teams play either. I have to wonder is it to avoid seeing the pressures of anti-American sentiment or is it because America is not United enough as a country? And you can't use the excuse either that the rest of the world don't give a **** about our sports. Explain how basketball got so prevalent in Europe and Australia and baseball in Japan and Latin America...
Good grief. I hate these kinds of questions. I wander into this forum in order to learn a little about the World Cup, and I read this.
While not well-phrased, I'm guessing the subtext of this question is "Why doesn't the United States swoon over soccer"? The presence of this thread in the soccer forum says as much.
The reason? We like our sports, and we have a lot of them. Baseball, basketball, football (Our version), and a host of others are already sucking up all our time and energy. I mean, hell, once kids stop being force-fed soccer in their teenaged years, they almost all drop it entirely or move on to other sports they find more interesting.
So we aren't terribly concerned about the opinions of people elsewhere about our sports. Hey, if you like basketball in places such as Lithuania or baseball in places such as Japan, well boffo. But I'm not terribly worried about if people don't care for our version of football or not.
I mean, hell, I some cricket when recently visiting South Africa. It was interesting for ten minutes, then I changed the channel. Yet I seriously doubt the good people of South Africa cared whether or not I cared for cricket. So why this insecurity about soccer?
Good grief. I hate these kinds of questions. I wander into this forum in order to learn a little about the World Cup, and I read this.
While not well-phrased, I'm guessing the subtext of this question is "Why doesn't the United States swoon over soccer"? The presence of this thread in the soccer forum says as much.
The reason? We like our sports, and we have a lot of them. Baseball, basketball, football (Our version), and a host of others are already sucking up all our time and energy. I mean, hell, once kids stop being force-fed soccer in their teenaged years, they almost all drop it entirely or move on to other sports they find more interesting.
So we aren't terribly concerned about the opinions of people elsewhere about our sports. Hey, if you like basketball in places such as Lithuania or baseball in places such as Japan, well boffo. But I'm not terribly worried about if people don't care for our version of football or not.
I mean, hell, I some cricket when recently visiting South Africa. It was interesting for ten minutes, then I changed the channel. Yet I seriously doubt the good people of South Africa cared whether or not I cared for cricket. So why this insecurity about soccer?
RE: your BOLDED sentence above: That's entirely UNTRUE in my experience.
I know quite a number of kids who were "force-fed" (your word) T-ball, Little League baseball, basketball and various other American activities, who ultimately ended up wanting to play soccer. They still play soccer at the park with their church and school friends, plus they always look forward to any and all soccer on TV -- especially World Cup soccer.
Most of the rest of the world seems to be so invested in soccer, which is literally the most boring sport ever invented including golf and bowling, which isn’t even a sport lol. It’s so painful to watch I don’t think anyone in America is losing sleep over not competing as much there. We all have plenty of chances to watch little kids play soccer, which is really all it’s good for. Fantastic sport... when you’re 6.
RE: your BOLDED sentence above: That's entirely UNTRUE in my experience.
I know quite a number of kids who were "force-fed" (your word) T-ball, Little League baseball, basketball and various other American activities, who ultimately ended up wanting to play soccer. They still play soccer at the park with their church and school friends, plus they always look forward to any and all soccer on TV -- especially World Cup soccer.
Not in my neck of the woods. Once the kids hit twelve or thirteen, it's almost impossible to scrape together enough players for form a league. That's because they're all opting to play either lacrosse or football.
Think the international competition is just low in soccer/football? Think again, you don't see them being all hyped up when their basketball or NFL-style football national teams play either. I have to wonder is it to avoid seeing the pressures of anti-American sentiment or is it because America is not United enough as a country? And you can't use the excuse either that the rest of the world don't give a **** about our sports. Explain how basketball got so prevalent in Europe and Australia and baseball in Japan and Latin America...
America is not allowed to cheer for our national teams . The Progressives think its Nationalistic and leads directly to becoming a Nazi state also racism if there are too many whites on the US team .sic.
Most of the rest of the world seems to be so invested in soccer, which is literally the most boring sport ever invented including golf and bowling, which isn’t even a sport lol. It’s so painful to watch I don’t think anyone in America is losing sleep over not competing as much there. We all have plenty of chances to watch little kids play soccer, which is really all it’s good for. Fantastic sport... when you’re 6.
This doesn't make any sense!? If football (soccer) is so 'boring' then why oh why is the world so obsessed with it? The popularity of the sport surely shows the opposite no? The 'beautiful game' is obviously the least boring of all sports.
This doesn't make any sense!? If football (soccer) is so 'boring' then why oh why is the world so obsessed with it? The popularity of the sport surely shows the opposite no? The 'beautiful game' is obviously the least boring of all sports.
Hahaha that’s a good one! There’s nothing “beautiful” about it! Between the constant flopping, overacting, and aimlessly kicking the ball around, then you have actual games ending in 0-0, or 1-0 on a regular basis. Literally nothing happened for *90 minites* which is even longer than any timed sport in existence. This is a sport where the rest of the world once again hasn’t figured out what makes something dramatic or exciting, which sure isn’t NO playoffs! Why is this hard to figure out?! You don’t just play a regular season in the league then crown a champion based on that. Completely anticlimactic and lame. Doesn’t at all determine who the best team is at the time.
If I wanted to watch a bunch of guys flail around and fail to score, I’d just take my friends to the bar.
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