The 2014 FIFA World Cup
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What high drama at Manaus! Portugal saving a draw at the very, very last minute. Now at Germany v. USA on Thursday the current German national coach will meet his predecessor in charge of the opposing team, and for both a tie will be sufficient to advance, hmmm…..
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If I had been told we'd have 4 points through two games before the tournament, I'd have been ecstatic. But now I'm inconsolable.
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If I had been told we'd have 4 points through two games before the tournament, I'd have been ecstatic. But now I'm inconsolable.
Agreed
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In context it's a great result even if it might not feel like it right now. Portugal were amongst the favourites pre tournament and the USA should have won.
I'm personally hoping for a draw against Germany (as I love how Germany play when they play well), and I want to see the USMNT go as far as possible to raise the profile of the sport in the States.
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I couldn't give a flying one about how popular football is in the US. If they want to play it, then fine, but if they prefer their own sports, that's OK too. I quite like it when countries have their own traditions and things don't become too homogenous or ubiquitous.
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It's not about being redneck but I think there are some cultural barriers. There's a lot of subjectivness to the game that we hate. Timekeeping is a perfect example of what I mean here. The transparency of a countdown timer is more "fair" and takes some of the power out of the officials' hands. The penalty system rewards flopping even more than basketball. Definitely need to use a digital system not just for detecting goals but for offsides. Not saying football should change for America, just telling you that Americans get really hung up on issues they perceive as unfair.
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folks in the states are mostly only interested in things where they excel. I really don't want to sh!t up the thread but the olympics & all "world events" kind of show this. i think the only reason the World Cup is gettign the traction it's gettig at the moment is cause of folks from other nations that are into it that have immigrated to the States & spending that dollar & are neilson rating families. no money in it & we losing, no one would care.
of course i've no proof or anything to support this theory, it's purely early monday morning speculation & b$ing from a madmofo.
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I prefer the idea that football as it is challenges some very American hang ups. If it were to gain wider acceptance in its current form then it would be a signal of societal change, if not then it shows that American sporting culture isn't ready for change.
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oh & as far as traction i'm talking about in the united states.
what hang-ups & societal change you talking 'bout? we talking bout dudes kicking a ball around right???
i kid, i kid. very interesting article about pro hockey in the US & how they could ban fighting, will put the link when i get a moment . . .
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In other sports like American football, basketball, and to a lesser degree baseball, the scoring isn't so sparse that an egregious officiating lapse can't be challenged and maybe overcome (and even overturned in some cases with instant replay). In hockey and soccer, scoring is so rare that it can be more difficult to overcome a bad call. I think even more than in hockey, soccer officials have a lot of power in terms of giving or taking away a goal and affecting outcome. Just look at the first Brazil game penalty shot or that Boznia goal that was disallowed. Univision put it this way after Argentina benefited from slanted calls in defeating Iran: "“It is bad enough that the officiating is poor but when it is uniformly benefiting the bigger teams, such as the Italian foul against Costa Rica that should have been a penalty and yet went uncalled, or the non-penalty on Fred granted to Brazil, or the penalty not granted against Argentina today, one needs to question the integrity of the tournament. Who benefits, but FIFA and others with financial interests, when the big teams progress at the expense of the smaller ones. Perhaps one Costa Rica was the quota, less the television revenue numbers decline.”
As long as those kinds of injustices happen in a sport routinely, America won't buy into it. We're the country who's rolled out instant replay in every major sport. I don't think that mentality is changing anytime soon, and I'll admit I share that mentality. I want to players on the pitch to decide the game, not the officials. I think FIFA is soccer's biggest liability in penetrating this market.
That said, I do love the game. I just think it has the potential to be even better with some minor changes.
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I believe that it's regional. The US is huge geographically.
Soccer has always been pretty big here in Utah. Nearly every kid growing up plays. The same cannot be said for most of the other sports. We will never have an NFL or MLB team, but Real Salt Lake has been accepted into the culture with great pride.
The NBA hasn't been around all that long. There is room enough for soccer to grow in the US and I don't think it has to come at a detriment to other sports.
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I think soccer is played by kids universally. I played it from a pretty young age, and I think that's certainly nationwide if even Mississippi does it. I think this has been the case for a long time, but it has never been able in America to make the leap to popularity as a spectator sport.
If it can come at a detriment to NASCAR I'd be especially grateful.
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Soccer has always been pretty big here in Utah. Nearly every kid growing up plays.
Reminds me of the old joke- "soccer is the sport of the future, and always will be." Kids play it, but then they grow up and start following other sports.
The NBA hasn't been around all that long. There is room enough for soccer to grow in the US and I don't think it has to come at a detriment to other sports.
C'mon the Jazz had been in Utah for 35 years; that's an eternity in pro sports.
I think if soccer is going to grow, (which I think it will) I think baseball will be the most direct loser. The seasons overlap, they're both outside, and frankly, baseball is boring as dirt. And if you check the demographics, baseball has the oldest average fans, and soccer has the youngest. That has to mean something.
Will soccer ever reach the level of basketball or American football? I don't know. Like Mega said, I think that will require a massive cultural shift in the average sports fan, but I suppose it's possible.
