What is it about SOCCER??

[Lauren Hynde]

Football.

There are boring matches, sometimes. Things move too slowly, there's no drive behind plays, the players can't get 3 passes in a row without losing the ball. That usually happens at the start of a season, when the players don't know each other well, aren't used to play together as a team (as is often the case when playing for the national squad), when they're tired, or in a more general way, when they suck! That's what's wrong with "soccer", I imagine. How many of you Americans have seen an actual football match as it is supposed to be played? A match from any top European league, or from the Champions League? If you say that nothing happens during a match, I can't imagine you having seen that many.

 

[Belegon]

Football.
If you say that nothing happens during a match, I can't imagine you having seen that many.

Yeah, but they say it about baseball as well. Because I know the game, I see all the things they miss. So there is nothing boring for me. But like you said, I have seen a few games.

And by the way, I am one of the crazy americans that was showing up at a pub at 4 a.m. to watch the red, white & blue beat Mexico and play right there with Germany in the last World Cup, and I have a better understanding of the game then many of my countrymen. So I understand the game at least well enough to appreciate it.

But if you don't know why those people are running to the places, you can't anticipate. The crowd groans on a missed opportunity and someone turns to their buddy and goes, "what?" Because you have to see a few games to know, and if no one is there to explain it, you just see a bunch of guys running around, and not seeming to accomplish anything. So you get bored.

To understand the strategy and the beauty of what you are seeing, you have to have a minimum of knowledge.

 

[snooper]

True. It's one of few games in the world where the referee gets the respect that he deserves, the stupid blind git.

The Earl

Tut, tut, Your Grace; that should be "stupid blind git, sir" as you well know.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Is this what you guys mean when you talk about 'football strip'?