The MLB lockout thread

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Evergreen response.

Soccer was going to be the next big thing in America as far back as 1988 when the '94 cup was awarded to the US.

A) The US is just too wealthy. The appeal of soccer in most other major nations is that it requires a ball and some grass to play. So in the 3rd world, everyone plays it.

B) If you don't play it, you don't get it. You don't appreciate the skill involved. You can have never played football or basketball or hockey or even baseball in your life and recognize how difficult it is. Soccer just looks like guys kicking and chasing a ball around and seemingly without a plan. Offsides doesn't make sense to you, the strategies involved aren't readily apparent, there's seemingly little action apart from repetitive back and forth. Hell, the sheer number of leagues/cups/divisions, etc... involved makes interest in the international game hard to build.

And as big a problem is that the higher the level of play, the less interesting the games become. As the MLS gets better, the scores are likely to actually go down and there's likely to be less action because teams will tighten up a bit.

Soccer's just unlikely to gain a foothold here because there are simply more entertaining things to play if you have the resources to do so. My kids all play soccer because they get to run and kick things but my oldest prefers basketball and gymnastics now. My youngest son wants to play baseball and football and my youngest daughter wants to do dance and gymnastics as well. Soccer is a placeholder for them while they don't have attention spans.

I'll take 'em out there for as long as they keep asking to play because it burns off energy and nobody asks me to coach it, but I don't expect it to be something they're interested in for too much longer.

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

My son is 16 and plays soccer at the club/competitive level. He has made me truly come to appreciate it. It’s not easy at all. Sure, anyone can get out on a field and kick a ball. But the balls skills, body skills, strategy and conditioning to be able to be truly good is unreal. Most people don’t have a true appreciation for what it takes to play soccer at a high level. They just see guys/girls kicking a ball around.

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

This is 100% correct.

As I noted, you have to have played it to have any appreciation for it at all. And again, youth participation rates in soccer are at best stagnant over the last 15 years or so. It leveled out and is actually well down from the mid-90s boom that yielded...nothing.

I'm not saying it isn't incredibly difficult. I'm saying that it doesn't translate to the layperson and I don't see any spike in youth participation on the horizon or some massive wave of converts to the sport.

I agree on all the points here. Soccer as a major sport overtaking the top 3 isn't happening in our lifetimes. I didn't understand why at the elite level they cant pass the ball to their teammate on the run and hit them in stride. Seems like a basic skill.

Cant play the outfield unless you can make a thrown into a base correctly. Can't play hockey unless you can pass the puck to a streaking teammate. Cant play QB unless you can throw to a spot on the field where your teammate will be eventually. Cant make passes in traffic in BB, your not handling the ball. etc. etc. So even the elite soccer players cant do this, so it must be hard. Still don't understand why its so hard....

Still think the hardest skill to excel at the elite level against is hitting a round ball with a round bat.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

I agree on all the points here. Soccer as a major sport overtaking the top 3 isn't happening in our lifetimes. I didn't understand why at the elite level they cant pass the ball to their teammate on the run and hit them in stride. Seems like a basic skill.

Cant play the outfield unless you can make a thrown into a base correctly. Can't play hockey unless you can pass the puck to a streaking teammate. Cant play QB unless you can throw to a spot on the field where your teammate will be eventually. Cant make passes in traffic in BB, your not handling the ball. etc. etc. So even the elite soccer players cant do this, so it must be hard. Still don't understand why its so hard....

Still think the hardest skill to excel at the elite level against is hitting a round ball with a round bat.

Hockey. More specifically, stickhandling.

On skates at high speeds with people trying to hit you and you have to control a tiny little piece of vulcanized rubber while trying to move forward and avoid said people trying to hit you.

And then the guys that can take that same little piece of vulcanized rubber and deke a goalie to create a hole in these giant hockey pads and manage to snake the puck into said hole that's slightly bigger than a coffee cup....good lord.

The fact that these guys can take a cross ice pass at high-speed and just have it stick to their damn sticks somehow is amazing to me. Then to actually do something with it and control it the whole time. It's ridiculous.