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There's a lot of truth here -- particularly in the second paragraph, yet soccer does have its fine points -- for those conditioned to recognize them. But Americans, well-inclined toward the importance of the individual and the come-from-behind rally late in the game, are going to have a hard time identifying with a sport that often revolves around protection of a one-goal lead with an elaborate defense. (One other observation: It's good preparation for the subjugation, tedium, and ennui of too much of "Korporate" life. and the frustration of bowing and scraping before too many "soccer parents").
And while it's probably not so much the case today, I can recall my first exposure to televised soccer at the 1966 World Cup -- at a match between Great Britain and West Germany, IIRC -- at which a disputed goal evoked memories and resentments gong back to the Second World War.
So I'll reserve my first loyalties for baseball and American/Canadian football, in that order; the former because it is never ruled by a clock, and the latter because of the stronger role of strategy in a sport not dominated by "run and shoot" as, albeit at a lower intensity, is still pretty much the case for basketball and hockey.
That's super far fetched, it's like saying South Americans and Europeans can't understand why the defense in basketball is so weak, because when someone tries to score a point the defense always lets them do it meanwhile in football they'll do whatever it takes to prevent them from scoring. It's just a far-fetched political bullsh*t that I hope isn't part of the "American mentality" (likely it's not...).
No I wouldn't! I like football but that doesn't change the fact that it's a soft sport full of cheating players that throw themselves to the floor everytime somebody brushes up against them! As for your ridiculous comment about commercials and rugby! I think it just goes to show that you simply don't know the rules!!
That's how England won the semi-final against Denmark with Sterling taking a dive and being awarded a penalty.
In terms of the popularity of professional sports as entertainment, the short answer historically is prior competition from other major professional sports, namely baseball, basketball, football and hockey.
Hockey seems to have faded in the 1990s, lately also baseball, and it seems that even football has peaked.
A new factor in the Digital Age is the multiple ways and relative ease of broadcasting basically anything, including professional sports.
Soccer, like anything else, is available to those Americans who want it.
On that basis, it's as popular now as it needs to and can be right now.
Football (or soccer if you prefer) is played by a bunch of soft as sh*te p*ssies that's for sure, and I say that as an Englishman, watching Italians rolling around like they've been shot everytime somebody breathes heavily on them is not everyone's 'cup of tea'. I think perhaps our American cousins might take to Rugby more? A proper man's game that could be more 'up their street'.
Obviously you haven't watched a certain game England-Denmark recently, have you?
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That's how England won the semi-final against Denmark with Sterling taking a dive and being awarded a penalty.
Incidents happen, and England has been the victim of numerous such decisions.
England is not in charge of referring and referees even have instant VR video play back at their disposal these days.
So don't start blaming England for decisions made by UEFA referees.
As for any racist comments regarding the England team on Twitter and other social media, over 70% have been proved to come from overseas and are not even from England supporters.
The main countries sending racist comments regarding England players are India, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, with Russia ans China also thought to be involved, but don't let that get in the way of labelling England fans racist.
You are always going to get morons on Twitter, and it's up to Twitter to take down posts or pass them on to authorities, however to suggest England football fans are all racist is nonsense.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, the three players whose penalty shootout misses handed victory to Italy at Wembley, were the victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter -- many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.
Many of the accounts have been passed to the Metropolitan Police in London, however police powers are limited in respect of foreign nationals operating overseas, and the police may have to work with social media companies as well as GCHQ in order to deal with such unacceptable abuse in the future.
Quote:
Originally Posted by New Statesman
Sanjay Bhandari, chair of Kick It Out, the campaign group against racism in football, says that data from the last two seasons of football shows around 70 per cent of abuse originates overseas. “These are not football fans,” he says. “They are people who have never been inside an English football ground.” In part that’s because – while our problem with racism is acute – we don’t have a monopoly on being morons. Italian and French football fans are as likely, if not more likely, to abuse black players with monkey emojis.
Some suggest that Russian or Chinese trolls may have weaponised discontent around football to intensify political and social tensions in England. “It will be totally unsurprising if trolls started sharing bad stuff for these players, given that their goal is to sow public discord, and this is an excellent opportunity to do so,” says Savvas Zannettou of the Max Planck Institute for Informatics in Germany, who studies information warfare online. But to date there is little evidence of what social media platforms call coordinated, inauthentic behaviour.
That's how England won the semi-final against Denmark with Sterling taking a dive and being awarded a penalty.
No he was tripped, footballers are soft as sh*te though! I've seen rugby players have their heads stapled back together on the field of play while the game continues around them! I don't think Italian footballers are quite made if the same stuff as Italian rugby players!!
Incidents happen, and England has been the victim of numerous such decisions.
England is not in charge of referring and referees even have instant VR video play back at their disposal these days.
So don't start blaming England for decisions made by UEFA referees.
As for any racist comments regarding the England team on Twitter and other social media, over 70% have been proved to come from overseas and are not even from England supporters.
The main countries sending racist comments regarding England players are India, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, with Russia ans China also thought to be involved, but don't let that get in the way of labelling England fans racist.
You are always going to get morons on Twitter, and it's up to Twitter to take down posts or pass them on to authorities, however to suggest England football fans are all racist is nonsense.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, the three players whose penalty shootout misses handed victory to Italy at Wembley, were the victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter -- many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.
Many of the accounts have been passed to the Metropolitan Police in London, however police powers are limited in respect of foreign nationals operating overseas, and the police may have to work with social media companies as well as GCHQ in order to deal with such unacceptable abuse in the future.
>>>Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, the three players whose penalty shootout misses handed victory to Italy at Wembley, were the victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter -- many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.
Let's not diminish the home-grown abuse towards the three gentlemen. England must take full for responsibility the reaction after the game.
Soccer will never be as popular in the US as Basketball (which is an increasingly global sport btw) and American Football. There's too much historical connections between these sports in addition to American Baseball and body politic of the nation.
Incidents happen, and England has been the victim of numerous such decisions.
England is not in charge of referring and referees even have instant VR video play back at their disposal these days.
So don't start blaming England for decisions made by UEFA referees.
As for any racist comments regarding the England team on Twitter and other social media, over 70% have been proved to come from overseas and are not even from England supporters.
The main countries sending racist comments regarding England players are India, UAE, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, with Russia ans China also thought to be involved, but don't let that get in the way of labelling England fans racist.
You are always going to get morons on Twitter, and it's up to Twitter to take down posts or pass them on to authorities, however to suggest England football fans are all racist is nonsense.
Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, the three players whose penalty shootout misses handed victory to Italy at Wembley, were the victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter -- many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.
Many of the accounts have been passed to the Metropolitan Police in London, however police powers are limited in respect of foreign nationals operating overseas, and the police may have to work with social media companies as well as GCHQ in order to deal with such unacceptable abuse in the future.
English players never cheat, English fans are never racists, massive racist reactions coming from countries not even involved in the competition...
Yes, English players are no more nor less divers than any other nations' players. Yes, in this competition England got lucky to be dawn in the easier bracket. Yes, English fans have a long history of violence and racism. Deal with it.
Status:
"“If a thing loves, it is infinite.”"
(set 1 day ago)
Location: Great Britain
27,163 posts, read 13,455,286 times
Reputation: 19459
Quote:
Originally Posted by norcal2k19
>>>Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka, the three players whose penalty shootout misses handed victory to Italy at Wembley, were the victims of a stream of abuse on Instagram and Twitter -- many apparently from foreign trolls and bots.
Let's not diminish the home-grown abuse towards the three gentlemen. England must take full for responsibility the reaction after the game.
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