Question

[StumpNewGround]

I’ve noticed a few on this board have a better than average interest in what I call soccer.

Please show me the error of my ways. Australian rules football(of which I’m watching live right now) and rugby to me are far better spectator sports.

What is the attraction to soccer? Sorry. I don’t get it.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

And that's the way we want it you neanderthal!

...

Just kidding. I see soccer as a game held back by one simple rule. The offsides in soccer is the original equity rule. It intentionally prevents scoring because 1 guy against a goalie is "unfair".

 

[Cantdoitsal]

I respect soccer's worldwide allure but can't figger out where this fascination comes from.

 

[Dawgbite]

It’s the only major sport still available to average speed, average size, average athletic ability white people. Used to every kid grew up paying every sport but sports have become so specialized that the average kid has been squeezed out of football, basketball, and baseball. Baseball uses economics more than athletic ability to deny the average kid a chance because if mom and dad can’t afford travel bal and select tournaments then your not going to the next level.

 

[The Peeper]

I’ve noticed a few on this board have a better than average interest in what I call soccer.

Please show me the error of my ways. Australian rules football(of which I’m watching live right now) and rugby to me are far better spectator sports.

What is the attraction to soccer? Sorry. I don’t get it.

Soccer wasn't even a possibility to play when I was growing up, but, both my girls grew up playing it for years. We traveled all over the South from Dallas to Atlanta watching them. As much as I love and support my kids, I can say I loathed every minute I sat and watched them play that game. Today, I would watch a blank screen on an unplugged TV before I would get up, turn it on, and watch soccer.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

I think it is relativity easy to play and not a ton of skill is needed, plus the cost to play is almost nothing, just a ball. A group a dirt poor kids in a 3rd world country can play it almost anywhere with one ball.

 

[drexeldog23]

I respect soccer's worldwide allure but can't figger out where this fascination comes from.

100% . I have tried and tried and tried and tried, like seriously . i respect it s the #1 sport in the world but i just don t get it.

 

[curseddawgs]

Because the structure of professional soccer is far and away the best in all of sports. The champion is crowned for their entire season of work and not just a team getting hot in a 3 week tournament. There are also domestic, continental, and international competitions. You can gain promotion or relegation. All in all teams are always playing for something and you aren’t awarded the best young players because you tanked for a year

 

[Cantdoitsal]

100% . I have tried and tried and tried and tried, like seriously . i respect it s the #1 sport in the world but i just don t get it.

My ex is Peruvian who didn't give a 17 about sports but would turn into a different person when Peru was playing. I enjoyed watching with her to see her go full beast mode which also had me kinda enjoying watching the game too. That night a while back when they beat Brazil I thought neighbors were gonna call the cops.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I’ve noticed a few on this board have a better than average interest in what I call soccer.

Please show me the error of my ways. Australian rules football(of which I’m watching live right now) and rugby to me are far better spectator sports.

What is the attraction to soccer? Sorry. I don’t get it.

It’s a lot of fun to play. I can be enjoyable to watch if you understand the game and have a rooting interest. I equate enjoying it to people who enjoy the 11 v 11 view of football that let’s you see the whole thing. There’s enough action in football that you can just watch the ball and enjoy it without knowing much.

However, there is irony to me in a person being fine with a 14-7 football game but a 2-1 soccer game doesn’t have “enough scoring”…

 

[Maroon13]

I'll never forget taking a German exchange student to a sec football game. I thought he would love it. After he says," meh it was ok. All they do is run around a few seconds and fall. Stand around. Repeat."

He did not understand the drama of the down and distance and so on. Most Americans don't understand the drama and chess match of working the ball down the field to set up a shot at goal.

 

[FlotownDawg]

To me, soccer is a sport that has to be played at a high level to be enjoyed. I referee high school and club soccer, and if it’s a game between two unskilled teams, it is dreadful to watch. Just a bunch of kickball. The allure of soccer is watching two skilled teams try to maneuver the ball down the field and create a scoring chance. It’s hard as hell to score a goal and it should be. That’s one reason I just can’t get into the NBA. It just seems like scoring is so easy it’s not even a challenge.

 

[Cantdoitsal]

100% . I have tried and tried and tried and tried, like seriously . i respect it s the #1 sport in the world but i just don t get it.

17d up.

 

[L4Dawg]

You have to understand it to enjoy it. And for the above poster who said that the offsides rule is the worst, it would be totally awful without it. It would be like a MLB where every pitch had to be a slow pitch softball pitch, with no such thing as a strike.

 

[L4Dawg]

I'll never forget taking a German exchange student to a sec football game. I thought he would love it. After he says," meh it was ok. All they do is run around a few seconds and fall. Stand around. Repeat."

He did not understand the drama of the down and distance and so on. Most Americans don't understand the drama and chess match of working the ball down the field to set up a shot at goal.

Yep, they say our football is slow and boring as heck, with very little action.

 

[L4Dawg]

The best way to get into it is, to me, about the same as the best way to get into baseball. You pick a club team (forget the international crap) and start watching most of their games. I like the English league. Don't just latch onto the current best team. Learn about the clubs and their culture, history, and style of play. Then pick one that seems to fit.

 

[Dawgbite]

Yep, they say our football is slow and boring as heck, with very little action.

When tickets went on sale for the NFL game in Germany this fall, there was 1.3 million people in the que to buy tickets. I’m sure a lot of those people could care less about the game itself but just wanted to say they attended the event but that’s a lot of people trying to buy tickets.

 

[dorndawg]

I'll tune in when USA is playing in men's or women's World Cup, and maybe the men's finals (obv we're not in that). I admittedly don't know the "game within the game" strategy, but I find it maddening to watch; I'm just forever thinking "have any of you simply considered *trying* to score?"

I went to an MLS game once, and it was perfectly fine - in the same way that doing most anything outside on a nice day with a cold beer in your hand is pretty, pretty good.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

You have to understand it to enjoy it. And for the above poster who said that the offsides rule is the worst, it would be totally awful without it. It would be like a MLB where every pitch had to be a slow pitch softball pitch, with no such thing as a strike.

There are quite a few of actual soccer folks that thinks it should go away . Here is an article from 2021 and you can find many more.

And you analogy sucks. It is more like if in the NFL they had a soccer type rule that the receiver can't be further down field than any defender before the QB throws the ball. So Tyreek Hill or Randy Moss could not run past the defender until the ball is in the air. What defenses do is they have a safety that tries to stay deeper than the receiver. That's all soccer would have to do also.

 

[patdog]

There are quite a few of actual soccer folks that thinks it should go away . Here is an article from 2021 and you can find many more.

And you analogy sucks. It is more like if in the NFL they had a soccer type rule that the receiver can't be further down field than any defender before the QB throws the ball. So Tyreek Hill or Randy Moss could not run past the defender until the ball is in the air. What defenses do is they have a safety that tries to stay deeper than the receiver. That's all soccer would have to do also.

Rather than do away with the rule entirely, it would be interesting to see how it played out if they relaxed it so to be offside you had to be completely past the 2nd to last defender instead of have any part of your body that can play the ball past the 2nd to last defender.

Another change is like to see considered is making the goal a little larger.

 

[The Peeper]

Yep, they say our football is slow and boring as heck, with very little action.

Auburn 3 MSU 2 comes to mind....

 

[L4Dawg]

When tickets went on sale for the NFL game in Germany this fall, there was 1.3 million people in the que to buy tickets. I’m sure a lot of those people could care less about the game itself but just wanted to say they attended the event but that’s a lot of people trying to buy tickets.

How many tickets did the Bundesliga sell last year?

 

[L4Dawg]

There are quite a few of actual soccer folks that thinks it should go away . Here is an article from 2021 and you can find many more.

And you analogy sucks. It is more like if in the NFL they had a soccer type rule that the receiver can't be further down field than any defender before the QB throws the ball. So Tyreek Hill or Randy Moss could not run past the defender until the ball is in the air. What defenses do is they have a safety that tries to stay deeper than the receiver. That's all soccer would have to do also.

Nope, the analogy is a good one. It was tried way back when. It resulted in games with the same type of scores that a slow pitch softball game with MLB players would. Scoring was TOO easy. Teams just lumped the ball forward to a player or players bird dogging the opposition goal. It was loathed. The offside rule is what MAKES the game what it is, and how popular it is.

 

[Dawgbite]

How many tickets did the Bundesliga sell last year?

No idea but I’m willing to bet my free chat that they didn’t have a million people trying to buy tickets to a single regular season game.

 

[L4Dawg]

No idea but I’m willing to bet my free chat that they didn’t have a million people trying to buy tickets to a single regular season game.

Well, there will be ONE played there.

 

[RivaDawg]

I know nothing about soccer. Ted Lasso got me interested. They talk about it a good bit on the Dan Lebatard show with Messi maybe coming to Miami. I would like to get more familiar with it before the next World Cup so I can at least understand what is going on in the games.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

Nope, the analogy is a good one. It was tried way back when. It resulted in games with the same type of scores that a slow pitch softball game with MLB players would. Scoring was TOO easy. Teams just lumped the ball forward to a player or players bird dogging the opposition goal. It was loathed. The offside rule is what MAKES the game what it is, and how popular it is.

An internet search found two experimental games. That does not give the defense a chance to adjust.

The second article also mentions the FIFA executive that is working to get rid of the offsides that I had the first link in the earlier post.

2 games prove nothing.

One game in 1956

Another one was 9-7

 

[L4Dawg]

An internet search found two experimental games. That does not give the defense a chance to adjust.

The second article also mentions the FIFA executive that is working to get rid of the offsides that I had the first link in the earlier post.

2 games prove nothing.

One game in 1956

Another one was 9-7

It was WAY before the game was codified. That happened in the mid-late 1800's at Cambridge University. The basic laws of the game have remained pretty much unchanged and the game is more popular than ever. What you propose would destroy the game to all but a few Americans. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[National Champion Chip]

I fell in love with international soccer a few world cups ago. One of the things that makes me love a sport is the passion for winning with some sort of disregard for money. (think college minus NIL). I know these guys/gals make bank. That’s why I don’t watch club soccer or the NBA for example. But on a worldwide scale, international soccer is by far the most cared about sport.

Having said that, bulldog sports matter more.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

It was WAY before the game was codified. That happened in the mid-late 1800's at Cambridge University. The basic laws of the game have remained pretty much unchanged and the game is more popular than ever. What you propose would destroy the game to all but a few Americans. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

So I keep posting facts from people that are part of the world wide game and their opinions on it and you just keep responding with generalities and your opinion. So some games played hundreds of years ago are what you have to go on. Baseball was slow pitch softball in those days. The third article I linked even discussed those early games.

 

[dawgstudent]

The whole world plays soccer

I think it is relativity easy to play and not a ton of skill is needed, plus the cost to play is almost nothing, just a ball. A group a dirt poor kids in a 3rd world country can play it almost anywhere with one ball.

The skill comment needs to be addressed. Soccer takes an immense amount of skill.

 

[sfnsfn]

I think it is relativity easy to play and not a ton of skill is needed, plus the cost to play is almost nothing, just a ball. A group a dirt poor kids in a 3rd world country can play it almost anywhere with one ball.

To be a quality soccer player requires a ton of skill and thousands of hours of practice. 99% of the population can’t just decide to start playing soccer in their teens. If you haven’t been practicing your foundational skills at a young age, you can forget about playing organized soccer.

 

[patdog]

So I keep posting facts from people that are part of the world wide game and their opinions on it and you just keep responding with generalities and your opinion. So some games played hundreds of years ago are what you have to go on. Baseball was slow pitch softball in those days. The third article I linked even discussed those early games.

You're posting fringe comments that 99% of the people in soccer say are ridiculous. Not much different than posting links to people claiming the moon landing is fake or there are crashed alien spacecraft at Area 51.

 

[sfnsfn]

To me, soccer is a sport that has to be played at a high level to be enjoyed. I referee high school and club soccer, and if it’s a game between two unskilled teams, it is dreadful to watch. Just a bunch of kickball. The allure of soccer is watching two skilled teams try to maneuver the ball down the field and create a scoring chance. It’s hard as hell to score a goal and it should be. That’s one reason I just can’t get into the NBA. It just seems like scoring is so easy it’s not even a challenge.

100% agree with your comment about watching unskilled teams play…which is an overwhelming majority of the high school teams in MS. Our state just hasn’t made it to the point where we have enough quality youth coaches and youth teams to have widespread player development.

We have a terrible shortage of quality youth coaches in MS…not nearly enough to keep up with the demand.

And it’s almost impossible to find a quality coach for the school teams as it’s very rare to find a teacher who played soccer growing up AND is also good coach.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

To be a quality soccer player requires a ton of skill and thousands of hours of practice. 99% of the population can’t just decide to start playing soccer in their teens. If you haven’t been practicing your foundational skills at a young age, you can forget about playing organized soccer.

99.999999% of soccer spectators are not quality soccer players, they are fans.

 

[Herbert Nenninger]

I started some on our high school team in 8th grade. My English teacher was our new coach. He gave us an assignment one day and then called me and my friend to the back of the class. He said “can y’all explain this offsides stuff to me?” We made sure it took the entire length of the assignment to explain it.
Our first game that year was against #1 ranked Clinton, in the sleet. Brian Hazelwood’s larger brother was guarding me. He stepped on my foot; it hurt.
Well that coach went to work offshore the next year. So our new coach was the German teacher. His literal qualification was that he tought German, and Germans were good at soccer.
We didn’t win much.

 

[L4Dawg]

So I keep posting facts from people that are part of the world wide game and their opinions on it and you just keep responding with generalities and your opinion. So some games played hundreds of years ago are what you have to go on. Baseball was slow pitch softball in those days. The third article I linked even discussed those early games.

My opinion is shared by the overwhelming majority of people who are soccer fans. I didn't read your articles because I have seen these FRINGE arguments for decades, mostly from Americans who think they can "improve" the game that is BY FAR the most popular one in the world.

 

[FlotownDawg]

I read somewhere that FIFA might experiment with loosening the offside rule where the entire body of the attacker has to be past the defender to be offside. I like that idea. Doing away completely with the offside rule would be a bad idea in my opinion because then you’d just have a couple tall players hanging out in front of the opposing goal the entire game having the team hoof long balls to them. Talk about boring.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Watching soccer is less exciting than watching flies 17.

 

[FQDawg]

I read somewhere that FIFA might experiment with loosening the offside rule where the entire body of the attacker has to be past the defender to be offside. I like that idea. Doing away completely with the offside rule would be a bad idea in my opinion because then you’d just have a couple tall players hanging out in front of the opposing goal the entire game having the team hoof long balls to them. Talk about boring.

I could definitely get on board with loosening the current implementation of the offside rule. This new approach where they're drawing computerized lines (at least when they remember to - I'm still not over this) is ridiculous. The width of someone's toenail shouldn't be what determines whether a player is offside or not.

I don't think it necessarily has to be the entire body of the attacker but it should be more obvious than just a single body part highlighted on a screenshot.

As for whoever said soccer doesn't take skill to play... I feel the same way about baseball.