- I'll admit it: I'm a soccer fan. The first sport I remember playing with friends as a kid in Birmingham, Alabama, was, believe it or not, soccer. I've liked the sport for a long time. So I am a little biased. But with all the hoopla surrounding David Beckham's arrival in the United States and Major League Soccer (MLS), I'm getting tired of all of these sports talk, newspaper, and TV people attacking the sport of soccer. If they want to say that the MLS is terrible, that's fine with me. The MLS is not up to the standard of the English Premier League, the Bundesliga, and those other European leagues. If they want to say that the MLS will never be on the same level as the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball, that's okay, too. Those sports have a long tradition, and soccer is not going to sweep them away. But these people are attacking the sport itself, saying that it is boring. ESPN's Colin Cowherd said on his podcast, "One of the problems with soccer is that the clock starts from 0:00. America is a 'wind-down' country, not a 'wind-up' country." Are you kidding me? So, soccer is bad because it is different. Ridiculous. From this point on, I'm not subscribing to the Cowherd podcast, or anyone else with ridiculous comments like that.
- Another thing I'm thinking about giving up is college sports. (I can't believe I'm saying this, considering I grew up in Alabama and went to the University of Alabama.) I'm beginning to dislike the concept of kids getting full scholarships to universities to play sports and not doing their part as students. I think it's better for someone to skip college and go straight to the pros than to go to a university and graduate on classes like table tennis and The Beatles, which makes a mockery of the university they go to. The NFL should start a minor league for these kids. (Baseball obviously already has such a system, and the NBA is on its way.)
- One thing I'm not going to give up on, though, is being an Atlanta Falcons fan, even though they're in for a bad season after all the Vick trouble. I've been a Falcons fan since living in Atlanta in the early 1990s; I'm used to bad seasons. :)
20 August 2007
Quick Sports Takes - 20 August 2007
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This is David again. I've gotten into soccer over the summer after never having been a fan at all, so it's interesting to read your comments. I mostly watch EPL rather than MLS, and the weirdest thing to get used to is the constant singing. There are a LOT of things I like better about soccer in principle over American football; I just have to get used to low scores. I've watched three EPL this season: 0-0, 0-0, and 1-1 (and the second goal was on a bad call for a penalty kick!)
ReplyDeleteDo you have any soccer favorite teams?
I wholeheartedly agree with you about college sports. It's strange how much they can dominate an institution's priorities. You know that from Bama and I know it from UF.
Hey, David. I think the best way to get used to the low scores is to appreciate the value of a goal. All things being equal, it's harder to score a goal in soccer than it is to score a touchdown in football. Or think about it this way: in baseball, if they only gave runs for home runs, there would be a lot of 0-0 and 1-1 games.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite soccer team in the EPL is Aston Villa. When my buddies first told me about English soccer long ago, I thought I'd support a team from Birmingham, which is the city that my hometown in Alabama is named after. Villa has those cool-looking maroon (garnet?) and blue uniforms, so I was hooked. I also like Celtic in Scotland because one of my favorite players, Shunsuke Nakamura, plays for them. I also like the U.S. and Brazil national teams.
Definitely agree with you on the Cowherd rant. Though I haven't actually listened to him bashing on soccer, I've had the unfortunate chance of listening to his non-sense dribble that isn't even remotely entertaining.
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of soccer, what amazes me the most is how so many kids all across the states play soccer, yet very rarely end up becoming fans afterward. I really do think that's the result of poor marketing rather than the actual product itself. How is it any less exciting than say NASCAR or golf? Heck, with adequete marketing, it may even end up surpassing the NBA someday in terms of the quality of the products.
You are so right, bastard, about that last point. Soccer could pass the NBA someday. As much as I like soccer, I still like playing and watching basketball more, so I hate to say that. But with the whole gambling scandal and the lack of excitement in the playoffs, the NBA is going down.
ReplyDelete