World Cup 2014

[RastaRocket]

whoooopie doo. Means nothing. I have lost count of the times that some one has claimed we reached the tipping point; I heard that first back in the 70's with Pele. Every ten years someone claims this and every time they have been wrong.

15 million is NOTHING. There are 315 million in the US.

All those kids that play youth soccer- 90% of them lose interest once they get to high school. They barely even watch it after that if at all. Soccer will never become all that in the US. Just will not. Because there is TOO MUCH COMPETITION for what many see as a boring sport. Football, Basketball, Baseball will always be more. NOW I could see Soccer replacing Hockey one day- that sport has slipped badly. So it is possible that it could become a distant 4th - but that is all.

Don't watch then, you'll see eventually.

 

[joseephuss]

I don't recall anyone in this thread saying that the U.S. has reached a tipping point with soccer. If someone did I missed it. I would also disagree if that point was truly made. A tipping point hasn't yet been reached, but the growth of soccer continues in the U.S.

The interest in the sport goes up every year. It is why ESPN/ABC want to show the World Cup and EURO finals. It is why NBC forked over a lot of money to get the rights to the English Premier League. They aren't throwing out money for the fun of it. They make some money in return.

The Mexico-Brazil game garnered 11 million viewers in the United States. That isn't a big number when compared to the NFL, but then again what is? It is a good number for a match played in the middle of a week day. It is comparable to some numbers posted by some World Series games in recent years.

I have no grand predictions for soccer in the U.S. It would be silly to say it is going to overtake any sport especially the NFL or college football, which are both growing in popularity every year as well. They only thing I know for sure is soccer isn't going away. It will continue to build at a slow, gradual pace.

 

[jterrell]

I hear ya. But the majority is offense.

In baseball. You don't see a build up for soon to be record breaking defense stat or player.

In football, it's all about TD records, WR receptions, running back yards.

In hockey, yes the goalie is in the spotlight. But going back to rangers in 1994. It's all about messier.



Yes, you can find instances of defense in history. It just will just never be the consistent forerunner in notoriety.

you are saying very silly things.
defense is recognized in every sport.
in baseball shut outs, strike outs, complete games, low ERAs, saves are hugely valued.
No hitters are historical.

the Stars under Hitchcock were a defensive team that made the sport popular locally by winning.

defense wins championships is the mantra of coaches across all sports.

but most importantly when you are the worlds most popular sport for about 50 consecutive years with no signs of regression anywhere the thought you need to change something borders on insane.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

you are saying very silly things.
defense is recognized in every sport.
in baseball shut outs, strike outs, complete games, low ERAs, saves are hugely valued.
No hitters are historical.

the Stars under Hitchcock were a defensive team that made the sport popular locally by winning.

defense wins championships is the mantra of coaches across all sports.

but most importantly when you are the worlds most popular sport for about 50 consecutive years with no signs of regression anywhere the thought you need to change something borders on insane.

Peyton Manning best offensive season scoring
LeBron James - people watch him to score. Kobe same.
Derek Jeter 3000 hits.

4 days ago - Rollins joins illustrious list of franchise hits leaders
Mccutchen player of the week - offense



You clearly don't understand the point being made here.
Never said defense wasn't recognized.

It will never be more of a consistent headliner compared to offense. Never.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

Leetch won the Conn Smythe...staying in soccer, the Italian team that won in 2010 was anchored by their defense. It wasn't Totti, Pirlo, whoever that got all the recognition, it was their back line, Nesta and Cannavaro in particular.

Italy won in 2006

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Leetch won the Conn Smythe...staying in soccer, the Italian team that won in 2010 was anchored by their defense. It wasn't Totti, Pirlo, whoever that got all the recognition, it was their back line, Nesta and Cannavaro in particular.

And yet the casual observer won't know that. They will know of messier though.

 

[LatinMind]

how many goals is uruguay going to miss?

 

[CATCH17]

I pretty much see it the same way.

Not sure about it surpassing hockey though.

The casual viewer looks at the tv screen and doesn't see anything more than running around UNLESS there is chaos around the net as one tries to score.

They need to make it more "offensive"... Action draws attention, action sells.

In all of sports, the accolades and notoriety goes to a scorer. Rarely does a defensive scheme, player lead the charge popularity-wise.

It's fine the way it is.

As long as teams can put 10 guys behind the ball then you will have some boring matches. It takes a lot of creativity to get through a wall like that.

Ghana's goal against the USA was a special goal that took a lot of creativity.

Like any sport though you are going to have bad games. It doesn't matter what rules they change.


The part I like about "soccer" though is that it's 45 minutes of non stop play.

You wanna talk about boring? Going to a commercial break every 4 or 5 minutes is boring. A lot more boring than watching a team try to unlock a defense.

 

[LatinMind]

all those missed goals by uruguay.. england comes back and ties

 

[Ren]

One of the highlights of the world cup has always been watching the English turn on their team when the crash and burn. Guess it will have to wait another week, oh well. Edit: never mind

 

[burmafrd]

Don't watch then, you'll see eventually.

No I won't because it will never happen

 

[burmafrd]

I don't recall anyone in this thread saying that the U.S. has reached a tipping point with soccer. If someone did I missed it. I would also disagree if that point was truly made. A tipping point hasn't yet been reached, but the growth of soccer continues in the U.S.

The interest in the sport goes up every year. It is why ESPN/ABC want to show the World Cup and EURO finals. It is why NBC forked over a lot of money to get the rights to the English Premier League. They aren't throwing out money for the fun of it. They make some money in return.

The Mexico-Brazil game garnered 11 million viewers in the United States. That isn't a big number when compared to the NFL, but then again what is? It is a good number for a match played in the middle of a week day. It is comparable to some numbers posted by some World Series games in recent years.

I have no grand predictions for soccer in the U.S. It would be silly to say it is going to overtake any sport especially the NFL or college football, which are both growing in popularity every year as well. They only thing I know for sure is soccer isn't going away. It will continue to build at a slow, gradual pace.

where did I say that the tipping point was stated in this thread? I could care less anyway. Its on BSPN and everything else and if you have not noticed it then you must be deliberately ignoring it.

just amuses me- you are parroting the same spiel that I have heard for about 30 years regarding soccer. If you cannot see the irony the you are oblivious

 

[LatinMind]

One of the highlights of the world cup has always been watching the English turn on their team when the crash and burn. Guess it will have to wait another week, oh well. Edit: never mind

lol yeah scoring chances came crazy at the end. Thats what happens when teams say **** go for the score. Teams counter and theres a goal. both teams were desperate because they both have a loss.

 

[burmafrd]

what you say has some merit but the largest difference is now the EPL is shown every week on major channels (NBC/ESPN/Fox all show some games).

The World Cup games are doing NBA Finals numbers.

And it only happens every 4 years

interesting how you do not mention that

 

[daschoo]

Listening to the English media after an England loss is one of lifes real pleasures.
Last 4 games have been great from my point of view, got Chile in the sweepstake so that dream has been kept alive, not long back from getting engaged on holiday in Croatia and loved it to the extent we're now planning to get married over there next year so supporting them since Scotland have yet again failed to qualify, really enjoying watching Colombia and obviously the English losing is always fun.

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

England is like the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Dallas Cowboys. Tons of coverage, hype and failure.

 

[joseephuss]

where did I say that the tipping point was stated in this thread? I could care less anyway. Its on BSPN and everything else and if you have not noticed it then you must be deliberately ignoring it.

just amuses me- you are parroting the same spiel that I have heard for about 30 years regarding soccer. If you cannot see the irony the you are oblivious

Why are you so angry? I'm not parroting anything. Just sharing my observations. Soccer has undergone a slow, gradual growth in the U.S. It has grown since I was a kid in the 1970s. That doesn't mean it has achieved any greatness or major power at this time, but it has grown and will continue to grow. Mind you that growth is at a slow pace. I'm sure how that is parroting or what is ironic about anything I have said. And you obviously do care or you wouldn't have opened a thread about soccer and responded a few times. People that don't care don't even bother to open up an obvious soccer thread.

 

[jterrell]

Peyton Manning best offensive season scoring
LeBron James - people watch him to score. Kobe same.
Derek Jeter 3000 hits.

4 days ago - Rollins joins illustrious list of franchise hits leaders
Mccutchen player of the week - offense


You clearly don't understand the point being made here.
Never said defense wasn't recognized.

It will never be more of a consistent headliner compared to offense. Never.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2014/06/19/clayton-kershaw-tosses-no-hitter/10831819/

YOU HAVE YET TO MAKE A POINT!!!

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...tle-seahawks-stomp-broncos-for-super-bowl-win

http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/...ame-5-win-nba-championship-fifth-title-061514

 

[jterrell]

And it only happens every 4 years

interesting how you do not mention that

EPL games are every week for 20 weeks and do just fine.
Soccer has established itself in America tho not anywhere near as it in other parts of the world.

Soccer isn't Nascar or Hockey; it is a world-wide sport growing at a ridiculous rate in the US... (not because of the World Cup-tho it never hurts; but because of how international and global this country is now and because it is on tv weekly.

 

[jterrell]

England is just not that good and haven't been.

They feel they underachieve but truly they just aren't that good.
It is a small country and they produce plenty of solid quality but little true brilliance.

The US would flatly be terrible if it couldn't use dual citizenship guys.
France has proven to be much the same.

Germany, Brazil, Spain and Italy are producing these guys by the boatload.
South America has its fair share also.