Dear Disney-Espn-Abc Pinheads;

[kicker22]

I'm not going to get into the argument of which sport is better, because I simply don't understand why it has to be an either soccer or football argument and don't see why people can be fans of both sports.

That said, one thing to remember when comparing high school football and soccer numbers is that there are only a handful of states nationwide where soccer is played in the spring (Iowa being one of them). I'd be willing to bet that if it wasn't competing with football in the fall in a majority of the states that the numbers of high school athletes participating in soccer would increase exponentially.

 

[HawkGold]

You just don't like it when people disagree with you and challenge your narrative. You say that in 10 years Soccer will be surpassing other sports. I am saying I have been hearing this exact narrative for a long, long time, and it hasn't happened yet, and it won't in another 10 years either.

Speaking of arguments, why did you carry this crap over to another thread about cord cutting. Jesssshhhhh

Dean, I do like to debate. You changed the tone by the "mocking" comment. I never did such a thing. Big dif. That's where you get argumentative.

 

[HawkGold]

I'm not going to get into the argument of which sport is better, because I simply don't understand why it has to be an either soccer or football argument and don't see why people can be fans of both sports.

That said, one thing to remember when comparing high school football and soccer numbers is that there are only a handful of states nationwide where soccer is played in the spring (Iowa being one of them). I'd be willing to bet that if it wasn't competing with football in the fall in a majority of the states that the numbers of high school athletes participating in soccer would increase exponentially.

I live in a state where football and soccer are at the same time. In many of the schools, soccer teams are larger by class size. Our local high school football numbers are way down and they are a perennial power. I think there are 32 varsity football players out of 1000 students. The marching band as 215 members.

I don't see those defending soccer as saying soccer is better. I love football. Those supporting football are for sure saying football is better. I love both sports. People do miss out on the strategy and intensity of soccer. My guess most haven't attended higher level high school games.

 

[HawkGold]

Soccer is boring.

To you and that's OK. I would suggest going to a match of local highly ranked bigger high school teams if you haven't and then decide. Soccer on TV does miss a lot of the up close stuff you see with Football. Football TV coverage doesn't do a good job of seeing plays develop as they happen. It does show very well what is happening at the ball. In soccer, the play doesn't stop, so other angles can't be reviewed by audiences much.

 

[HawkGold]

Czeched by a Czech?

Ya, he came into me hard and we where pushing "legally" back and forth. He was about 6-2 at 190 and I'm 5-10 at 165. He got his very strong elbow/arm into my pit and lifted up as I started to get away from him with the ball at full speed. Being very strong he lifted up enough that on my next stride my foot hit...air and I crashed and burned hard. Being an "American" soccer player relying on speed more than the finer points I was totally embarrassed. I had never seen something like that before. Being on an adrenaline rush I did the American thing and hit him hard on a "tackle" the next opportunity. He objected and we were nose to nose acting like whiny Italians. Our local club was playing a university club in a "friendly".

One of the differences between soccer and football is the adrenaline rush. When I used to play before my awful knee injury I could never sleep at night following a soccer match even if the match was in the early afternoon. There are no breaks between plays.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

IMO the main things hurting soccer in the US are that its low scoring and boring if you don't understand it. I've played baseball my whole life, I understand it very well, and I love watching it. However, I completely understand the people who find baseball boring, especially kids. If you don't understand the intricacies of the game, it can be slow and painful to watch. Soccer has the same problems in America.

Also, the fact that soccer games regularly end in ties doesn't sit well with most Americans. Look at what the NHL had to do with overtimes and shootouts. Its just not fun to sit through a 90 minute event to no result.

I completely agree and was going to post a similar post. Soccer in America will never grab hold or get to the level of the 3 main sports. Hell, baseball is just on the fringe and is painful to watch on TV. There just isn't enough scoring in matches to keep people's interest these days, so people won't watch on TV. If they don't watch on TV, they will not really recognize any of the players which is important for viewing. People won't be able to relate to the players so will have no interest. See hockey. Same problem. Not enough scoring and most people can't name 6 hockey players in the NHL.

These are not great sports for TV viewing. IMO, hockey should widen the goals so that games get up in the 8-6 or 7-5 score range. That would help. If you have a professional sport and teams are only able to manage scoring 1 or 2 points/goals, that's rough to watch, unless you are involved in that sport. It's horrible for TV. There is no reason the goals have to be so small with those athletes. Get the scoring up. Soccer could adjust some rules to create more fast breaks for scoring opportunities if they wanted as well.

Sorry to all the diehard soccer fans, it's a great sport, but it just is never going to get to the level of American football or basketball in this country.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I used to agree with you. In fact I hated soccer 10 years ago. However I have a 7 year old and it's easily his favorite sport. I've enjoyed watching him compete and learn the game partially because I know absolutely nothing about it so I get to learn along with him.

I agree that USA soccer is stuck in the mud because quite frankly our best athletes do not play soccer. Until the Allen Iverson's, LeBron's, and that level of athlete starts playing soccer young we'll always be a step behind, and honestly whatever I'm not emotionally invested in how good USA soccer is. However, I went to a Sporting KC game this year with my kids and there was a great fanbase there. Atlanta recently had over 70k at a match for their MLS team, which plenty of NFL teams would love to have. The support for local teams at the MLS type level is absolutely new.

I know of several 3A schools in the area that have under 20 kids playing football in a junior high class. when I was in school 20 years ago now, there were like 3 kids in my entire 3A class of about 100 boys that didn't play football in junior high. I don't think we're going to turn on the TV tomorrow and be inundated with soccer. However I think there is much different structural support for soccer in the US that there wasn't when Pele showed up.

You want to know what I like most about soccer? You know you're getting in and out of a soccer game in under 2 hours. When you have baseball and football over 3 (and sometimes 4) hours, and even some basketball games going 2 1/2, our traditional sports are becoming absurdly long.

No, nothing to do with that. Each sport has their specialized and stud players. It's the lack of scoring which is horrible for TV and people don't identify themselves with soccer players.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

In our area the best hs athletes do play soccer. I think you nailed it about understsnding the game. It is the most complex game w no timeouts. Players learn to read the game and adjust on the fly.

Myself I find 1-0 games the most satisfying as I usually get talent depleted teams and I can teach inexperienced kids to play lights out defense and can figure out how to score once. Had a team go winless once the first year and ran the table going 1 to 0 the 2nd year only to lose 0 -1 in the championship in sudden death with only seconds left in ot. Thats intense and exciting.

I about fell asleep reading your post!

 

[MelroseHawkins]

To you and that's OK. I would suggest going to a match of local highly ranked bigger high school teams if you haven't and then decide. Soccer on TV does miss a lot of the up close stuff you see with Football. Football TV coverage doesn't do a good job of seeing plays develop as they happen. It does show very well what is happening at the ball. In soccer, the play doesn't stop, so other angles can't be reviewed by audiences much.

This past HS season, took my wife and 10 yr old boys to watch our niece on the Assumption girls while they were in town. Met up with Grandpa (Granddaughter on team). The Assumption girls are a power and have won the last at least two state championships. They are a pretty technical team. My boys were bored as hell. Even Grandpa leaned over to me and whispered in a soft voice, "It's not the most exciting game, is it?".

Now I personally found it interesting and not bad to watch live as I was trying to figure out the intricacies of the game along with strategy.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

I find baseball an oddity. While it isn't "exciting" per say, each team averages 4-6 runs per game, so you have runs being scored. It blows my mind of how much of a spectator sport baseball still is. The attendance numbers are crazy. 73 million people watched baseball games in 2016, the 11th best ever. http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/mlb-attendance-drops-1-1-percent-still-11th-highest-season-100516

Also baseball has done a great job with the online portion of it, and the regional relationships with the TV markets. Baseball might not be the #1 sport for American's, but fans are certainly still coming out to games, and the financial health of baseball is strong.

The reason attendance is so high in baseball is the mere fact of having so many teams along with so many games (162). It's a loooong season. In addition, you will get spectators that go to games that really aren't so called huge fans as they go for something to do in the summer and grab a beer and hot dog, etc.. There are people at baseball games that are just there to get out and baseball is relatively inexpensive compared to many other games as far as tickets go.

So, in summary, you have a summer sport where it's nice and warm out along with a long season with a lot of games.

 

[mopkins]

At least here in the twin cities, sports are becoming way too specialized for kids and its pretty sad. If you don't play your one sport year round, you get left behind and won't make the varsity team ever. Hockey is the worst because you have to pay for ice time and equipment year round and it is expensive as hell. So all the kids you see playing hockey basically have rich parents. Our babysitter loves soccer and isn't terrible at it, but her parents didn't have the time/money to let her travel and play soccer year round so her coach wouldn't play her in high school so she quit and went out for cross country.

I think a lot of that is happening now and so you see high school participation numbers falling off a cliff. It stops being fun and starts being way too serious.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

At least here in the twin cities, sports are becoming way too specialized for kids and its pretty sad. If you don't play your one sport year round, you get left behind and won't make the varsity team ever. Hockey is the worst because you have to pay for ice time and equipment year round and it is expensive as hell. So all the kids you see playing hockey basically have rich parents. Our babysitter loves soccer and isn't terrible at it, but her parents didn't have the time/money to let her travel and play soccer year round so her coach wouldn't play her in high school so she quit and went out for cross country.

I think a lot of that is happening now and so you see high school participation numbers falling off a cliff. It stops being fun and starts being way too serious.

Exactly the way it is going, unfortunately. Money talks and unfortunately leaves many kids behind, which is sad.

Soccer is a relatively inexpensive sport compared to other sports. I wonder if this plays into the reason that it is so popular around the rest of the world, especially those countries that are not that well off.

 

[deanvogs]

Dean, I do like to debate. You changed the tone by the "mocking" comment. I never did such a thing. Big dif. That's where you get argumentative.

I'm not having any issues with anyone else in this thread? You are confusing me disagreeing with you and a narrative I have heard nearly my entire lifetime as mocking you. I'm not mocking you, I'm mocking the narrative that has been out there for 30 years now.

 

[DDThompson]

Soccer is boring.

I wouldn't say that. It's pretty fun and funny to watch six year olds play soccer. It's like the ball has a magnet to 44 shoes.

 

[HawkGold]

I about fell asleep reading your post!

OK, funny comment of the day...you win.

 

[HawkGold]

I'm not having any issues with anyone else in this thread? You are confusing me disagreeing with you and a narrative I have heard nearly my entire lifetime as mocking you. I'm not mocking you, I'm mocking the narrative that has been out there for 30 years now.

Dean old buddy. I was specifically commenting about what you think I said about Iowa football attendance, not about mocking me.

Btw though, what is keeping Iowa from selling out? At least in part it's about how boring Iowa football can be. Whether something is boring or not depends on personal interests and closeness to the actors on stage to a large degree. Football, baseball, or soccer can be boring or exciting depending on your relationship to the game.

 

[HawkGold]

This past HS season, took my wife and 10 yr old boys to watch our niece on the Assumption girls while they were in town. Met up with Grandpa (Granddaughter on team). The Assumption girls are a power and have won the last at least two state championships. They are a pretty technical team. My boys were bored as hell. Even Grandpa leaned over to me and whispered in a soft voice, "It's not the most exciting game, is it?".

Now I personally found it interesting and not bad to watch live as I was trying to figure out the intricacies of the game along with strategy.

Technically correct teams I find boring myself. Wish I could without risk post some very exciting plays of teams I've been involved with but the school names are right on the jerseys. Dean might figure out where I live and come looking for me....

 

[MelroseHawkins]

OK, funny comment of the day...you win.

I just had to. I apologize.

FWIW, I do wish soccer would be more popular in this sport and on TV. I think I would enjoy watching it if I could relate to the US players more and there was a bit more scoring. I also enjoy good defensive games in sports, but unfortunately for soccer and hockey, one has to sit thru three periods before any overtime or shootouts.

 

[MelroseHawkins]

Technically correct teams I find boring myself. Wish I could without risk post some very exciting plays of teams I've been involved with but the school names are right on the jerseys. Dean might figure out where I live and come looking for me....

Well, even being a novice, I could tell that the players had very solid footwork and ball control compared to the team they were playing. In fairness, the opposing team was very young with underclassman. There are a couple from that team going on to play soccer at Div 1 colleges, including our niece. They were an impressive team.

 

[HawkGold]

Well, even being a novice, I could tell that the players had very solid footwork and ball control compared to the team they were playing. In fairness, the opposing team was very young with underclassman. There are a couple from that team going on to play soccer at Div 1 colleges, including our niece. They were an impressive team.

What is kind of ironic is that you basically described the Iowa Football version of soccer. Foot work. Fundamentals. Technically correct. Yet, how many call it boring?

Myself when I coach soccer, I love to create chaos and be impossible to predict (except for physical tight man up D).

We are seeing Iowa's O being a bit more chaotic, though I wouldn't describe it as that yet.