On the Eve of the new Season...

[vansmack]

Man, if only we would've played like that all game, and not just the last 14 minutes. Damn.

We would have loved to, except the Belgian midfield destroyed the American midfield all game.

It wasn't until they went up 2-0 and sat back to protect the lead that the Americans were able to dictate play.  Belgium nearly made the same mistake a number of teams make against the Americans - don't sit on them.  That's how the Americans earned their reputation for grit and determination on the pitch - they simply never give up.

[vansmack]

I'm ticked off.

There's only one thing to be upset about from yesterday's match - Wondo not poaching that goal (and the win) at the end of regulation.   That's his entire game and why he was selected to the 23 man roster - to score "that" goal.  Completely against the run of play, ugly ball bouncing inside the box, that he has a knack for putting in the back of the net.

Otherwise, this US team accomplished all that it could accomplish in this tournament.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

This is 100% because it's the only "major" sporting event in the last decade to take place during traditional work hours.

[cough]March Madness[/cough]

I knew someone would try to pass off this false equivalency, I just thought it'd be someone far less skilled in critical thinking than you.

22 combined hours of opening (or "second round" coverage if we're using the official terms) round coverage != a 2 hour soccer match. "The opening round of March Madness" (which is the only part that takes place during work) isn't "a sporting event," it's "32 sporting events," for rating tracking purposes.

Play an NFL playoff game at 1pm on a Tuesday and tell me what the streaming numbers are (in an imaginary -- yet otherwise identical except for this one fact -- world where the NFL allowed free streaming of its games).

[vansmack]

I knew someone would try to pass off this false equality, I just thought it'd be someone far less skilled in critical thinking than you.

I wasn't comparing the two - and frankly I don't care how many people watch soccer in America vs how many people watch March Madness.

I was pointing out that your simple statement was factually incorrect.  They may not be the same (though the second round of March Madness is on a Sat and Sunday, the Sweet 16 is played on Thursday on Friday), but that March Madness is a Major Tournament that takes place during traditional work hours.  Perhaps a better example for you would have been the America's Cup - or do you not consider that "major" despite the reams of cash thrown at it by retailers and designers you covet, watched world wide but for in America?   

And we get that you consider yourself cultured, but not cultured enough to appreciate soccer, and that you're struggling with this, because, after all, why else would you constantly click a thread that you know to be not worthy of you, unless you really wanted to be a part of it?  But nobody cares about how much you despise something that you secretly want to love in a thread dedicated to appreciating it.

   

 

[betao]

Comparing World Cup viewership, whether it be via live stream stats or inhouse ratings, to any other US sport is silly. Of course people in the USA produced higher ratings for the WC - because when the USA plays, it's a big majority of the country cheering on the same team. You may not watch or stream an NFL game or MLB game if you don't care about either team, but the WC is the biggest sport we compete on in an international level, so yeah the entire country is involved, not just a few cities.

Sure there are bandwagon fans for the WC, but it's like that for every championship or tournament in every sport.

[betao]

Man, if only we would've played like that all game, and not just the last 14 minutes. Damn.

We would have loved to, except the Belgian midfield destroyed the American midfield all game.

It wasn't until they went up 2-0 and sat back to protect the lead that the Americans were able to dictate play.  Belgium nearly made the same mistake a number of teams make against the Americans - don't sit on them.  That's how the Americans earned their reputation for grit and determination on the pitch - they simply never give up.

They did dominate us in the midfield but I say it's because our defensive line couldn't clear the ball properly. We could stop an attack but it always with a kick upfield that would ultimately land back into the Belgium midfield. Had we been able to hold possession from those clearances, we could've made a couple of counter attacks down the side.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

I was pointing out that your simple statement was factually incorrect.  They may not be the same (though the second round of March Madness is on a Sat and Sunday, the Sweet 16 is played on Thursday on Friday), but that March Madness is a Major Tournament that takes place during traditional work hours.  Perhaps a better example for you would have been the America's Cup - or do you not consider that "major" despite the reams of cash thrown at it by retailers and designers you covet, watched world wide but for in America?   

The NCAA changed the names so the "round of 64 games" are now called the "second" round (the four play-in games are the first round, technically). I don't believe the Sweet 16 round of games occur during work hours, but I may be wrong.

I absolutely don't consider the America's Cup to be a major sporting event in the sense of 98% of people in this country have no clue its going on. The media coverage for the America's Cup is non-existent. Now, I personally like the America's Cup, but it hardly registers as "an event" for the average American the way March Madness, the Olympics, or an NFL Playoff game would.

And we get that you consider yourself cultured, but not cultured enough to appreciate soccer, and that you're struggling with this, because, after all, why else would you constantly click a thread that you know to be not worthy of you, unless you really wanted to be a part of it?  But nobody cares about how much you despise something that you secretly want to love in a thread dedicated to appreciating it.

You also subscribe to the philosophy that all evangelicals who hate gay marriage are secretly homosexuals too, huh?

I pass judgment on things all the time on here. Things I like, things I don't like. That's my schtick: 95% of my posts are the messageboard equivalent of Joaquin Phoenix giving thumbs ups and downs from the sidelines. Come on, you know that.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

Comparing World Cup viewership, whether it be via live stream stats or inhouse ratings, to any other US sport is silly. Of course people in the USA produced higher ratings for the WC - because when the USA plays, it's a big majority of the country cheering on the same team. You may not watch or stream an NFL game or MLB game if you don't care about either team, but the WC is the biggest sport we compete on in an international level, so yeah the entire country is involved, not just a few cities.

Also, there isn't free streaming of NFL or MLB properties, generally.

Sure there are bandwagon fans for the WC, but it's like that for every championship or tournament in every sport.

You're understating it a bit. Sure, the Super Bowl has bandwagon fans, but the Super Bowl's ridiculous TV # is in line with the fact that the NFL's regular season numbers are, many weeks, the highest viewed programs on TV.

The multiplier between MLS/USMNT-qualifying games ratings and the World Cup ratings is ridiculously more than any of the big four sports. People watch world cup soccer the same reason we watch the Olympics: its not because we love Team Handball, its jingoism and nationalism run amok. And its the same reason we all tuned in for the Kerrigan/Harding Olympic finals: not because we had a growing love of figure skating as a society but because it was a much-hyped event.

[stevewizzle]

it's a beautiful game, played throughout planet earth on different terrain, different styles, where race, gender, and size seem not to matter.  i'm sorry that others on the board can't find the simple enjoyment in that.

[sweetcell]

it's a beautiful game, played throughout planet earth on different terrain, different styles, where race, gender, and size seem not to matter.  i'm sorry that others on the board can't find the simple enjoyment in that.

plus, it has super hot sweaty guys that take their shirts off.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

it's a beautiful game, played throughout planet earth on different terrain, different styles, where race, gender, and size seem not to matter.  i'm sorry that others on the board can't find the simple enjoyment in that.

plus, it has super hot sweaty guys that take their shirts off.

You forgot to log into the walkonby account.

[stevewizzle]

it's a beautiful game, played throughout planet earth on different terrain, different styles, where race, gender, and size seem not to matter.  i'm sorry that others on the board can't find the simple enjoyment in that.

plus, it has super hot sweaty guys that take their shirts off.

why they have shirts to begin with is beyond me.

[Julian, Forum COGNOSCENTI]

it's a beautiful game, played throughout planet earth on different terrain, different styles, where race, gender, and size seem not to matter.  i'm sorry that others on the board can't find the simple enjoyment in that.

plus, it has super hot sweaty guys that take their shirts off.

why they have shirts to begin with is beyond me.

Now, I say this with a staunch, unblemished record of heterosexuality, but if soccer was played in the nude like the original Olympics, I'd watch a solid half of it before the novelty wore off for me.

[hutch]

the point isn't that soccer is as popular as the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL...of course not...

the point is that its getting more and more popular due to a confluence of different factors (ESPN hyping it, Americans having more access to quality football on cable, demographic factors, etc.)..

But at the end of the day those of us who enjoy soccer and relish the World Cup aren't thinking that every American must join us or something!......its fine...

I remember watching the 1986 World Cup and you could only watch 95% of the games on the hispanic channel and it got hardly any coverage in the US media (although Maradona did miraculously make the cover of SI).... most Americans didn't even know it was happening...and back then you couldn't even watch soccer in the US (I'm talking things like Champions League, Premier League, etc)... and back then you didn't have a US soccer league...and back then the US hadn't qualified for a World Cup in DECADES!!!!!!!!

Point is soccer has come a long way...its just a gradual progression.... there isn't going to be this one magical point where soccer becomes popular with everyone.... not even if the US were to win the World Cup would this happen...

and thats fine...

[sweetcell]

it's a beautiful game, played throughout planet earth on different terrain, different styles, where race, gender, and size seem not to matter.  i'm sorry that others on the board can't find the simple enjoyment in that.

plus, it has super hot sweaty guys that take their shirts off.

why they have shirts to begin with is beyond me.

well, to be fair, at the beginning of a game they aren't sweaty yet* so why bother, really.

* unless the game is played in Manaus.