Sound Off: Is Football (Finally) on the Rise in America?

[UK0wnag3]

Quote: Originally Posted by elgreazy1

It's not how the country or this continent was founded: it was win/thrive or lose/die. That sentiment has been engrained in American culture from day one and I don't see it ever changing.

Hey, I'm from the country that conquered the world. But it's 2014. I can't say I fully believe that's the reason.

[eyeamg0dly]

Quote: Originally Posted by UK0wnag3

Hey, I'm from the country that conquered the world. But it's 2014. I can't say I fully believe that's the reason.

I think having draws brings the mentality of "hey we don't really need to win if it gets too hard". It is kind of like settling for less without having a realistic or high risk of losing. I think when you lose that "winning" mentality or swag it completely changes the way you play the game.

I don't want to sound bad but sometimes I question the mental toughness of most European athletes. I think you guys work as a team better than we do here in the states but lack that individual mental toughness to fight back after things have gone bad. I am not saying that all Europeans lack this or that only Americans have it, but from just from a general perspective this is what I see.

[UK0wnag3]

Speaking generally, American sports reward teams for losing by giving them the first pick at young talent and they get to play at the same level.

[NYwRiter94]

Quote: Originally Posted by UK0wnag3

Speaking generally, American sports reward teams for losing by giving them the first pick at young talent and they get to play at the same level.

That's to encourage parity in leagues that are dependent upon television revenues. If the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't get three straight top two picks, the team would have moved, as there are other teams in Pittsburgh (the Steelers, Pirates) that people can watch. In the rest of the world, that's not an option. You have your soccer team and that's it. Conversely, if a crappy EPL team in a bad city drafted the next superstar, he'd just go play in Germany or Italy. If Aaron Ekblad or Sam Bennett (top NHL draft prospects) gets drafted first overall by Florida, they're not taking their talents to Russia for less money and a lower quality of life. American sports leagues feature all of the premier players in a given sport, unlike soccer where there are several leagues who compete for players.

As for the draw thing, I'm really glad to see people talking about the "win at all costs" perspective of the US. Sure, I'm just an ignorant biased American, but I truly believe that we do sports better than anywhere else in the world. Not because of the specific sports we play, but because with all of these different sports we play, we have had more opportunities to figure out what does and doesn't work in sports. There are some rules in soccer that make no sense -- why are there only three subs allowed in the World Cup with no re-entry? It doesn't make you "tough" to play a full 90 minutes, particularly because it just leads to players taking plays off and playing at less than 100%. Sure, there are breaks every 10 seconds in American football, but you also don't see Calvin Johnson taking a break to stretch out his hamstring on the line of scrimmage while the Detroit Lions are snapping the ball.

The diving is also absurd. My friend told me that it's not tolerated in the MLS, so I'll take his word for it, but I don't understand how people are willing to watch the mockery of injuries that these players put on.

Finally, the willingness to tie a game and the lack of drive to win shows itself in the way the players and teams play. I watched a player on Australia sit on an open opportunity to hit one of his players in stride entering the box, essentially giving him a perfect chance at a shot on goal. Soccer players seem content on making these very low-percentage plays such as crossing the ball to one forward in a sea of defenders, while an attempt at a much more creative play isn't even more inherently risky.

The pageantry of the World Cup is great and I love supporting my team. But the on field product is worse than my high school team's. To be fair, my school is a college player factory and a perennial powerhouse, but they played a very "Americanized" version of the sport which, honestly, is way more entertaining to watch and seems much more successful. Because soccer is far and away the only globally important sport in the rest of the world, people are too afraid to change rules or traditions, which then prevents the sport from improving.

[eyeamg0dly]

Quote: Originally Posted by UK0wnag3

Speaking generally, American sports reward teams for losing by giving them the first pick at young talent and they get to play at the same level.

I can agree to this point of view. There are so many franchise rules in american sports to even out the playing field as much as possible. This is why we have team salary caps, drafts, etc. Personally I think we have too many rules that impede the flow our games.

We are so anal over every little facet of our games. Look at our obsession with stats and how we try to track every possible aspect of the game mathematically. I am surprised that the MLS hasn't started creating stats for its own sabremetrics system.

[eyeamg0dly]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYwRiter94

As for the draw thing, I'm really glad to see people talking about the "win at all costs" perspective of the US. Sure, I'm just an ignorant biased American, but I truly believe that we do sports better than anywhere else in the world. Not because of the specific sports we play, but because with all of these different sports we play, we have had more opportunities to figure out what does and doesn't work in sports. There are some rules in soccer that make no sense -- why are there only three subs allowed in the World Cup with no re-entry? It doesn't make you "tough" to play a full 90 minutes, particularly because it just leads to players taking plays off and playing at less than 100%. Sure, there are breaks every 10 seconds in American football, but you also don't see Calvin Johnson taking a break to stretch out his hamstring on the line of scrimmage while the Detroit Lions are snapping the ball. The diving is also absurd. My friend told me that it's not tolerated in the MLS, so I'll take his word for it, but I don't understand how people are willing to watch the mockery of injuries that these players put on. Finally, the willingness to tie a game and the lack of drive to win shows itself in the way the players and teams play. I watched a player on Australia sit on an open opportunity to hit one of his players in stride entering the box, essentially giving him a perfect chance at a shot on goal. Soccer players seem content on making these very low-percentage plays such as crossing the ball to one forward in a sea of defenders, while an attempt at a much more creative play isn't even more inherently risky.

You make some good points. I wonder how long it will be till someone truly tries to americanize soccer because its lack of specific rules. For example look at basketball before it had the shot clock. Dean Smith would coach his players to milk the time and hold possession to keep the other team from scoring. Thanks to the forward thinking of Dean Smith, the shot clock was established to prevent this "boring" style of play from continuing.

In the current state of soccer, why don't teams try overloading parts of the zone to create the mismatches to produce goals. Lets say I want to isolate CR7 on the wing. I would shift everyone else to the other side of the pitch. If the defense doesn't shift over, you have the numbers where you need to setup a pass. If they shift, you have the 1v1 or 1v2 match up you want.

Same thing in corner and free kicks. Why do they insist on piling in the box and leaving the goal up to chance or perfectly placed kick? Why not just put a few people in the box and the majority on the outside. The defense still has to mark these outside guys or else they will be taking shots from the outside. This creates the match ups you want on the inside.

That is just formations, imagine what happens if you actually run set plays from the buildup

[UK0wnag3]

Quote: Originally Posted by NYwRiter94

That's to encourage parity in leagues that are dependent upon television revenues. If the Pittsburgh Penguins didn't get three straight top two picks, the team would have moved, as there are other teams in Pittsburgh (the Steelers, Pirates) that people can watch. In the rest of the world, that's not an option. You have your soccer team and that's it.

The Premier League is highly dependent upon television revenues, so much so that I predict modern football will collapse upon itself within ten years. The bottom line is if you aren't good enough to play in the league, well take someone else. Also, to use Wigan as an example, it's a rugby town. Until the football team had success everyone was watching successful rugby league team. Let's not forget the whole Wimbledon/Mk Dons relocation debacle aswell.

Quote:

Conversely, if a crappy EPL team in a bad city drafted the next superstar, he'd just go play in Germany or Italy. If Aaron Ekblad or Sam Bennett (top NHL draft prospects) gets drafted first overall by Florida, they're not taking their talents to Russia for less money and a lower quality of life. American sports leagues feature all of the premier players in a given sport, unlike soccer where there are several leagues who compete for players. As for the draw thing, I'm really glad to see people talking about the "win at all costs" perspective of the US. Sure, I'm just an ignorant biased American, but I truly believe that we do sports better than anywhere else in the world. Not because of the specific sports we play, but because with all of these different sports we play, we have had more opportunities to figure out what does and doesn't work in sports. There are some rules in soccer that make no sense -- why are there only three subs allowed in the World Cup with no re-entry? It doesn't make you "tough" to play a full 90 minutes, particularly because it just leads to players taking plays off and playing at less than 100%. Sure, there are breaks every 10 seconds in American football, but you also don't see Calvin Johnson taking a break to stretch out his hamstring on the line of scrimmage while the Detroit Lions are snapping the ball.

The flip side to that is once an NFL game reaches the blowout stage, most of the big players sit on the sidelines. You aren't gonna have Man Utd say "I know we've made three subs, but we're taking our other stars off aswell."

Quote:

The diving is also absurd. My friend told me that it's not tolerated in the MLS, so I'll take his word for it, but I don't understand how people are willing to watch the mockery of injuries that these players put on.

It's gamesmanship, just as it happens in the NBA. No fan in the world likes watching it, but unfortunately it's part of the game. I'm not gonn deprive myself of watching a sport just because there's one aspect I don't like.

Quote:

Finally, the willingness to tie a game and the lack of drive to win shows itself in the way the players and teams play. I watched a player on Australia sit on an open opportunity to hit one of his players in stride entering the box, essentially giving him a perfect chance at a shot on goal. Soccer players seem content on making these very low-percentage plays such as crossing the ball to one forward in a sea of defenders, while an attempt at a much more creative play isn't even more inherently risky.

That's because American sports are obsessed with Win-Loss records, whereas soccer realises that a season is a marathon, and it's about being consistent to accumulate points. As much as I love extra-innings and walk-offs in baseball, it's 162 games. One tie here or there shouldn't kill you.

Quote:

The pageantry of the World Cup is great and I love supporting my team. But the on field product is worse than my high school team's.

Nope, not rising to that one.

Quote:

To be fair, my school is a college player factory and a perennial powerhouse, but they played a very "Americanized" version of the sport which, honestly, is way more entertaining to watch and seems much more successful. Because soccer is far and away the only globally important sport in the rest of the world, people are too afraid to change rules or traditions, which then prevents the sport from improving.

[gerg1234]

Quote: Originally Posted by UK0wnag3

First question: Why do you Americans hate draws so much? What's wrong with sometimes just saying "It was a closely fought game, fair play" and shaking hands? Back on point, yes. Every time I go stateside (as I am right now, though flying home today) I notice how much soccer has grown from the year before. As an outsider it really is noticeable. There's been a huge football maturation.

Honestly, I find that most of my friends that hate the sport & complain about draws just use draws as an excuse. They don't complain on end when an NFL game ends in a tie.
Without getting too into it, I'd say that most Americans are pretty close minded. Hell, I was when it came to soccer. 10 years ago I hated the sport...didn't know why, I just did.