Relegation

[Moderately_Askew]

Its an opinion buddy. I dont find it exciting enough. Having that kind of opinion is not wrong because it is different than yours. There is nothing better than the NBA. Its no comparison. Football, a little to many commercials, but its as exciting as you would ever want.

Sorry, but it you really want to be a jerk, soccer to me is little more than a bunch of skinny, long haired pretty boys flopping and crying with a goal or two a game. At least with American sports they take the time to have a competition committee to continually try and improve the game and make it more exciting. Soccer hasnt changed one bit since the old days.

Bottom line is that Americans are spoiled with better sports. They are more fun to watch and more fun to play. Its as simple as that.

This again emphasizes your lack of knowledge surrounding soccer, I never bashed you for having an opinion.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Soccer often gets better TV ratings in America than the NBA, MLB, or NHL.

I'm sure some of them do. But its not me watching. I am much more loyalty based, however. If I actually like a certain team, it be more entertaining for me.

 

[CowboyRoy]

This again emphasizes your lack of knowledge surrounding soccer, I never bashed you for having an opinion.

If I dont think its exciting, how is that knowing or not knowing anything about soccer?

 

[JBS]

This guy says soccer is boring and then in the same breath says nothing compares to the NBA!

Hahahahaha...arguably the most boring American sport that exists..

No more than 3-4 teams consistently fighting for the nba championship...talk about boring

 

[JBS]

More importantly...for the folks around here who are looking to hop on the soccer wagon..stay away from chelsea and Arsenal...

LFC!

 

[Craig]

Im not teying to be a smart***, but technically the top 3 teams dont necesarily get promoted. The top 2 championship teams do and then the next 4 teams playoff for the 3rd promotion.

 

[CowboyRoy]

This again emphasizes your lack of knowledge surrounding soccer, I never bashed you for having an opinion.

This guy says soccer is boring and then in the same breath says nothing compares to the NBA!

Hahahahaha...arguably the most boring American sport that exists..

No more than 3-4 teams consistently fighting for the nba championship...talk about boring

Now that part I will agree with. If there is one thing they need to change about the NBA its the super teams that the players keep building. That being said, it is still the most amazing sport to watch the athletes do their thing. Heck in soccer, half the guys are just walking around most of the game or standing around. Hardly cant miss material.

 

[CowboyRoy]

More importantly...for the folks around here who are looking to hop on the soccer wagon..stay away from chelsea and Arsenal...

LFC!

But lets be honest about Soccer. Its Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain. Throw in a France and maybe England here and there.

 

[erod]

I'm sure some of them do. But its not me watching. I am much more loyalty based, however. If I actually like a certain team, it be more entertaining for me.

ESPN wants out of its NBA deal. They get pathetic ratings for those games. MLB games aren't any better. They dropped the NHL a long time ago.

But they get tremendous ratings for EPL games, and unbelievable viewership for USA qualifying games.

I agree that some soccer games aren't fun to watch, but you get Arsenal and Chelsea, or a Real and Barcelona matchup, and it's end to end.

 

[CowboyRoy]

ESPN wants out of its NBA deal. They get pathetic ratings for those games. MLB games aren't any better. They dropped the NHL a long time ago.

But they get tremendous ratings for EPL games, and unbelievable viewership for USA qualifying games.

I agree that some soccer games aren't fun to watch, but you get Arsenal and Chelsea, or a Real and Barcelona matchup, and it's end to end.

Yah and lets talk about Dynasties for a moment. These cats all gang up and play on the same teams in soccer. And maybe soccer is becoming more popular in some circles, but I have no friends or family that sit around and watch soccer. Olympics and World Cup, yes.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Americans are not big soccer fans because we are already used to other sports like football, basketball ect...ect... that are much more entertaining. I watch soccer during the world cup and olympics, but it simply doesnt have the appeal to me. For me there simply isnt enough action or scoring. My suggestion to the sport would be to get rid of the off sides or some kind of dumbed down version of it. Its slows the game down waaaaaay too much and reduces the scoring by about 80% in my estimation.

And you also have to hate the guys that flop around like they just got shot when they are barely touched. This also slows the game down waaaaay tooo much. It would be much more entertaining if it was like 8-7 instead of 2-0.

I think full contact soccer would be more exciting and let the goalies wear as much or little protection as they want. Shorten the width and length of the field Make goals worth 6 pts and you get a 1 pt kick try after scoring. Then allow a kick off from the scoring team and one player on each team- besides the goalie - to use his hands to throw the ball. Then if you could have some players play wide striker and call others runningstrikers then have your biggest dudes called linemen. It would be real cool if they had girls to comeout and lead the crowds in cheering too.

 

[JBS]

But lets be honest about Soccer. Its Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain. Throw in a France and maybe England here and there.

First and foremost, club soccer is significantly better than international soccer..

Second of all, Brazil sucks right now...And England isn't much better...But there are numerous other teams that you are leaving out

 

[erod]

Yah and lets talk about Dynasties for a moment. These cats all gang up and play on the same teams in soccer. And maybe soccer is becoming more popular in some circles, but I have no friends or family that sit around and watch soccer. Olympics and World Cup, yes.

Not hardly. For instance, Manchester City plays in the EPL, and also plays in the Champions League against the top teams from Spain, Italy, Germany, France, etc. Then they play in the FA Cup and other events.

 

[JBS]

Th is guy is watching the wrong soccer...

It's like saying, holy crap football is stupid! The cfl sucks...

Yeah, well no crap

 

[erod]

But lets be honest about Soccer. Its Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain. Throw in a France and maybe England here and there.

Holland, Portugal, Denmark, Mexico, Ivory Coast, Chile, Ecuador......

But never mind that. It's the clubs that play the beautiful game, not the country teams that get thrown together here and there.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Th is guy is watching the wrong soccer...

It's like saying, holy crap football is stupid! The cfl sucks...

Yeah, well no crap

Ill watch "club soccer" and see if it is any more exciting.

I also forgot the most annoying thing about soccer. Once someone gets a 2 goal league they simply sit on the lead and play keep away. Or when people are perfectly happy to play for a tie. Often during games the motivation is NOT to lose instead of winning. Teams tie and they are jumping for joy.

 

[JBS]

Ill watch "club soccer" and see if it is any more exciting.

I also forgot the most annoying thing about soccer. Once someone gets a 2 goal league they simply sit on the lead and play keep away. Or when people are perfectly happy to play for a tie. Often during games the motivation is NOT to lose instead of winning. Teams tie and they are jumping for joy.

But it's ok for dallas to get a lead and play keep away in American football?

 

[LandryFan]

I don't want to waste this thread "selling" anybody on soccer. Like most sports, if you spend the time to learn about the tradition and nature of the EPL, you'll develop an appreciation, but that's neither here nor there.

What I do want to promote here is one of the greatest things about soccer: Relegation.

Yes, winning the whole dadgum tamale is what it's about. But what about mercilessly punishing the losiest of losers for good measure? That's what relegation does.

I'll preface this by admitting this is obviously more difficult in the NFL than it would be for basketball, baseball, or hockey, but just imagine for a moment the look on Jeff Lurie's face knowing that, no, the Eagles won't get to play in the NFL next year. Glorious. Philly might burn to the ground. Finally.

For those not familiar with relegation, basically it means if you finish in the bottom three teams in soccer, you get sent down to a lower the league for the entirety of the next season, and you have to earn your way back. The top three teams from the lower division then take your place.

It adds tremendous drama to the bottom of the standings, not just the top.

Granted, the Cowboys might have come dangerously close to such a reality this past season, and seasons stuck in the Viagara League One would be dark and lonely. Careful what I wish for, no doubt.

But imagine replacing Cleveland, Jacksonville, and Tennessee with Birmingham, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas.

It could also jumble up the divisions, too. Cleveland drops out, and Las Vegas fills in. Then Cleveland earns it's way back in to the NFC South when Tampa gets relegated.

Again, I realize this isn't really plausible for a sport like football. Perhaps baseball or basketball would benefit much more in interest, and it would be easier to do, especially with basketball.

But it's fun to imagine the NFL with that albatross hanging over each team's head.

Can't imagine such a concept would go over very well with season ticket holders in any sport...does soccer have season ticket holders? If their team becomes a minor league team, do they get a discount? What about for the teams entering the "Bigs"? Just don't see the plausibility of it.

 

[Doc50]

There is constant action.

There isn't a series that gets interrupted with 3-4 minutes of commercials every 5-10 minutes.




Soccer is all about trying to pick your way through a defense and it's not a simple thing to do. It's a chess match much like the NFL.

You have to learn the game so you can enjoy the build up for that goal otherwise it just looks like a bunch of guys kicking the ball around doing nothing.

..............Yup, that's exactly what it looks like.

If you can believe it, when I was growing up in Arlington, there was not 1 soccer field in town. Our entire generation essentially thinks it's a communist torture sport.

 

[CowboyRoy]

But it's ok for dallas to get a lead and play keep away in American football?

But it's ok for dallas to get a lead and play keep away in American football?

Its not the same. IN soccer they basically just sit there and pass the ball backwards and dont even try to score.