04/25/24
June 19, 2006
Brian McBride's 42nd Goal Lifts U.S. over Ghana, 110-109: "I will never be a soccer fan until somebody thinks of a way to increase scoring," writes Robert Scherer of Montgomery, Ohio. "Taking away the goalie would be a start."
Well, it looks like we've got the makings of another "Why soccer isn't popular in the US / How to make soccer more popular in the US" thread"! My feeling? I don't give a shit if it isn't popular here. I follow the EPL and I'm loving the World Cup. If some people don't care for one or the other, then that's great for them. I couldn't care less. (If I've completely missed the point of this post, then here are some other completely idiotic things about the world cup in some local papers recently: exhibit A and exhibit B.)
posted by blarp at 08:15 AM on June 19, 2006
Dang, from the title of the article, I thought I was in for some Onion goodness. Instead, I get Robert "Bob the Weenie" Scherer from Montgomery, Ohio. Way to go, Bob. I don't watch soccer that often myself, but when I do, I'm able to appreciate the game, not sit around and bitch about it. You don't like it, don't watch it. It's just that simple! What is so damn hard about that? Quit your ignorant bitching and moaning and watch something you like!
posted by The_Black_Hand at 08:21 AM on June 19, 2006
Yet another in a series of people who have taken time out of their (assumingly) busy schedule to let us all know how dumb they are. Dude, it's not like a thousand years of playing the damn game have made soccer fans and players stupider about soccer. The game is played the way it is for a reason. Your ninety-minutes-later summation isn't full of the wisdom you may think it is. (And that may have been the best letter they recieved about the World Cup. Certainly it was selected for its interesting and challenging contention.)
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 08:22 AM on June 19, 2006
Must be an Arena Football fan.
posted by oscillator72 at 08:33 AM on June 19, 2006
I know this link borders on redundancy, but the suggestion to dump the goalie was so brilliant I had to link it. How would teams handle a goalie-less defense? Would a specialist rise up who could defend the net with his chest and legs, a la Michael Flatley Lord of the Dance? My feeling? I don't give a shit if it isn't popular here. That's my thinking, too. It feels to me that soccer is popular enough today in the U.S. for the MLS to be around for at least another 10 years and Fox Soccer Channel to continue to hook fans on international play. This isn't 20 years ago when the NASL's closure left U.S. fans without games to watch on the tube. That's enough for me, and if the appeal of soccer continues to elude geniuses like Robert Scherer and Frank Deford, I'll cry for them on the inside.
posted by rcade at 08:36 AM on June 19, 2006
Mcbride and the COACH needs to be sent back home. THEY BOTH SUCK!!!!!! Put in Eddie Johnson . He is the only scorer on the team...... Mcbride plays weak and was never a threat. The coach puts to much stock in the players that play in Europe. He needs to play Dempsey and Johnson at the same time.
posted by Dallas at 08:56 AM on June 19, 2006
You said that already.
posted by yerfatma at 09:13 AM on June 19, 2006
I like how the paper quietly refutes his point by posting a photo of a goalie who let in four goals. My feeling? Soccer already is popular here. But I said that already.
posted by chicobangs at 09:43 AM on June 19, 2006
Yeah. I could do without those exciting saves, like that Japanese stop on the penalty or that Brazillian save off of the Australian. Who needs that? This is the kind of person that says he wants more scoring -- but then if you were to suggest the NFL should switch to CFL rules, which are more offense focused, he'd blow a gasket at the suggestion of such perversions to his game. yawn.
posted by mkn at 09:56 AM on June 19, 2006
Just for shits and giggles, let's say they do remove the goalies. The next logical thing to do would be to shrink the goals right? So if this guy wants it to be more like basketball, that would make the net what, about 80cm x 80cm?
posted by MrFrisby at 10:06 AM on June 19, 2006
FWIW, I believe the best way to increase scoring would be to eliminate the offside rule when the ball is inside the penalty box. Of course, that would've helped the US against Itally the other day. :)
posted by drumdance at 10:43 AM on June 19, 2006
drumdance read my mind. I think it would be interesting to start a soccer league with that particular rule change and see what kind of effect it would have on scoring, gameplay and general entertainment value. Honestly, if a defender lets a striker behind him in the box, it's kind of his own fault, no?
posted by Scott Carefoot at 11:24 AM on June 19, 2006
Brian McBride is a very capable holding forward in the English model. He's great in the air on crosses, is tough, physical, smart and disciplined, is effective on both sides of the ball, and has a decent enough shot. The fact that the USA doesn't have a pure goal scorer is not his fault, it's just that the system has not been able to produce one yet. Go easy on McBride, he does many many things very, very well.
posted by psmealey at 11:48 AM on June 19, 2006
Although you won't ever read this I'm sure becuase you are just another close minded American who couldn't name a soccer player if his life depended on it. I don't see why people here think that all sports have to be high scoring or make complete sense. Fantastic generalization there. Every American is close-minded and wants their sports to be high scoring. You couldn't have said it any better. All Americans suck! /hint of sarcasm
posted by sublime4390116 at 11:49 AM on June 19, 2006
We could make a lot of these idiots happy that want to see more scoring by making every goal count as 6 or7 points like in football.... Then they would think soccer has a lot of scoring in it. How many football games end 14-0, 21-7, etc. .......That translates 2-0, 3-1 in soccer goals.
posted by Dallas at 01:00 PM on June 19, 2006
I think it's important to point out that this is a letter to the editor. It wasn't a sports columnist venting on the world's game and their beef with it's seeming lack of offense... it was Rob from Ohio, average guy. Let the troll have his glory of being printed in the local paper. I'm sure it took a while to devise that "get rid of the goalies" concept. I couldn't watch soccer if it were like that. It would be too XFL for me.
posted by igottheblues at 01:09 PM on June 19, 2006
Fantastic generalization there. Every American is close-minded and wants their sports to be high scoring. You couldn't have said it any better. All Americans suck! Ha. Bad wording on my part. I was trying to refer to just that certain group(ie. the ones that like to piss on all the soccer posts), but I guess I did kind of word that like all Americans suck.
posted by NightingalesGone at 01:38 PM on June 19, 2006
you are just another close minded American who couldn't name a soccer player if his life depended on it Actually I could care less about the generalization as opposed to naming soccer players being akin to open mindedness. Maybe we could save the Dafur if only Americans knew who Wayne Rooney is.
posted by gradys_kitchen at 02:06 PM on June 19, 2006
I'm so tired of hearing about what certain sports need to do to get certain people to watch. That being said, I've got to throw my two cents in just this once... Maybe I'd watch basketball if it were more like hockey or soccer, where you can spend the entire game on the edge of your seat because the whole game could rest on that one perfect pass. I haven't watched more than the 4th per. of a basketball game in years, what's the point? And baseball...in terms of entertainment value, I'll take a 2-1 soccer or hockey game over a 9-6 baseball game anyday.
posted by captaincavegirl at 02:56 PM on June 19, 2006
Although I think there should be more yellow cards handed out for acting hurt, I think the sport is solid and exciting. Compare the last 15 minutes of a tied soccer game versus that of the NBA. The last 2 minutes in the NBA takes 45 minutes with 75 commercials. Soccer- no commercials- just pure hold your breath excitement.
posted by caselaw at 02:59 PM on June 19, 2006
Soccer? It's all part of a communist plot, first they'll get us to understand it then they get rid of the NFL!
posted by rockyxgone at 03:02 PM on June 19, 2006
Ha. Bad wording on my part. I was trying to refer to just that certain group(ie. the ones that like to piss on all the soccer posts), but I guess I did kind of word that like all Americans suck. I understand that. There are definitely Americans who can't stand soccer, and jump at every opportunity to bash it, thank you mr. Scherer. But I think there are plenty of us who love soccer and probably love it a lot more than the NBA. Great point by caselaw. the last 2 minutes in the NBA are ridiculous to watch.
posted by sublime4390116 at 03:05 PM on June 19, 2006
Soccer? It's all part of a communist plot, first they'll get us to understand it then they get rid of the NFL! posted by rockyxgone at 3:02 PM CDT on June 19 lol You belong in comedy central. Hilarious!!!!
posted by zippinglou at 03:40 PM on June 19, 2006
Actually dallas does have a point from his post at 1:00 o`clock people just dont get it. not that i even give a crap about what americans think and yes im american i just like italy much better lol. soccer is fine the way it is. It doesnt need mor scoring
posted by italian_soccer#1 at 04:28 PM on June 19, 2006
"The result would be scores of 1-0 or in a really high-scoring game, 3-2. Often there would be no score at all!" Sounds a little like Baseball or Hockey to me.
posted by bo_fan at 05:56 PM on June 19, 2006
The best way to increase scoring is to do what American football does - give multiple points for a single scoring act. Why is a touchdown worth six points? Because it is. I doubt it's more sophisticated than that. Make each goal worth...oh, why not...9 points! That way Portugal wins in a 54-0 rout, and Brazil beats Australia 14-0! That oughta get the average American behind soccer. /sarcasm If people don't like soccer, that's fine. Just leave those of us that do alone, and go back to watching your high scoring sport of choice.
posted by Toxteth O'Grady at 06:03 PM on June 19, 2006
You know what basketball needs? Giant mutant squirrels at half court. Any player breaching the 8 second backcourt rule is set upon by the oversized arboreal rodents and forced to work in their underground nut mines. Or traded to the Raptors. That'd really pep that sport up.
posted by Mr Bismarck at 06:39 PM on June 19, 2006
Well at least I can understand a tie in a low scoring game. Plus, you have to watch the whole game because you never know when those few goals will be scored. But how do teams score 80+ points and still tie? And with that much scoring, why bother watching the first half? And that is a great point about those last few minutes of basketball. I tried to watch a game but that just irked me. I swear it took at least a half an hour to finish the last 3 minutes. Talk about no flow.
posted by MrFrisby at 06:52 PM on June 19, 2006
Sounds a little like Baseball or Hockey to me. Here come the stats! The NHL averaged 6.05 goals per game this season. In MLB, the American League averaged 9.52 runs per game, and the National League averaged 8.90 runs per game in 2005. In summary, I'll give you the NHL comparison (close enough), but you don't give enough credit to the amount of scoring in baseball.
posted by grum@work at 07:31 PM on June 19, 2006
And hockey has a tiny net! So the answer to Bob Ohio's pleas is obviously to make the goals smaller, not larger!
posted by Mr Bismarck at 08:38 PM on June 19, 2006
Just because we may not be a fan of a particular sport we do not need to down it. That is the beauty of sports, there is something out there for everyone to enjoy. It would suck If we only had one sport to watch. Its kind of like women. If you don't like a tall one pick a short one. If you don't like skinney ones get a fat one.......all that matters is that you enjoy it. Like the commercial says " Life without sport is BORING". .....As for me, I love having a variety of different sports to watch.
posted by Dallas at 02:57 PM on June 20, 2006
You do realize that you don't have to post the exact same comment in two different threads to get it read, right? Right?
posted by The_Black_Hand at 05:12 AM on June 21, 2006
The_Black_Hand. I have too post it on more than one thread in case it gets missed. Some people don't read every single thread out there. Do you? I just read the threads that interest me....That's the beauty of variety. It's kind of like the World Cup being on more than one channel. If you don't catch the game on ABC or ESPN, you can get it on Galvision. That way everyone gets to enjoy it. Some call this the SHOTGUN EFFECT.
posted by Dallas at 08:37 AM on June 21, 2006
And it sucks. Please don't do it here. This isn't USENET.
posted by yerfatma at 08:53 AM on June 21, 2006
It'd be one thing if you posted it on two different threads talking about two different sports, but you posted the exact same comment on two different soccer threads. Typically, if someone reads one soccer thread, they're going to read the other soccer threads posted...becuase they're obviously interested in soccer. I have too post it on more than one thread in case it gets missed. Don't flatter yourself. If your post gets missed, the world will continue its rotation. Now, if you come up with a cure for cancer, by all means, post it everywhere you can and I promise, I won't complain.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:58 AM on June 21, 2006
Don't flatter yourself. If your post gets missed, the world will continue its rotation... Bingo. I think you're overestimating the importance of your words there, Dallas.
posted by Texan_lost_in_NY at 12:09 PM on June 21, 2006
Some people don't read every single thread out there. If they aren't reading the thread that you've posted in, chances are they really don't care about what you have to say and won't care when you post the same comment somewhere else.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:23 PM on June 21, 2006
Well, at least I know you guys are reading them. Thanks for your opinions.
posted by Dallas at 09:02 AM on June 22, 2006
You, Mr. Robert Scherer from Montgomery, Ohio are an idiot. Although you won't ever read this I'm sure becuase you are just another close minded American who couldn't name a soccer player if his life depended on it. I don't see why people here think that all sports have to be high scoring or make complete sense. People have the same complaints about hockey. SO let's fix whats wrong with soccer. Kicking a ball into a gigantic net with no goalie in it would make for one hell of a sport. We should probably just try to do away with offsides, yellowcards and red cards while we are at it too. I honestly belive that the lack of scoring in many matches makes it more exciting everytime one team even gets close to the net. Who gives a damn in basketball if the team gets close to the net they are supposed to score in? Probably not very many folks.