OT:Womens World Cup ratings Out do Final 4

[Sean Miller Fan]

The chances soccer will catch on as a major sport in this country are like the chances that communism will catch on.

Ain't gonna happen.

Zara,

What are you talking about? It HAS caught on. Its here. Educate yourself on the topic. In Seattle, to name 1 city, the Sounders average 45,000 and are every bit as popular as the Penguins are here. Soccer is the "cool" sport in Seattle for young people kinda like hockey here. They are in the TOP 25 in the WORLD in attendance (in fairness, most Euro stadiums are smallish). That's just 1 city.

Its, here man. Just continue to hope the MLS never becomes good because if it does, there will be 30 more "Seattles."

 

[Pitt79]

SMF... the problem is that football, baseball and basketball are all AMERICAN sports, while ice hockey was invented by the Canadians.

But soccer.... is a sport that foreigners play. You know, those backward countries outside of North America.

The chances soccer will catch on as a major sport in this country are like the chances that communism will catch on.

Ain't gonna happen.

Personally, I have been a FOOTBALL GUY all my life, still am, grew up a Steelers fan in the '70s, but I have come to the belief that football will eventually die out, a combination of the concussions and the injuries and the self inflicted wound of the sport itself over micromanaging itself into boredom, which is happening now with flags over little technicalities every other play, insufferable review time outs, etc. It won't happen this year or next, but it will eventually, which is unfortunate, I'd be willing to bet that in 100 years, football as we know it won't exist, and soccer will be exactly the same, and likely take over football's fall time slot.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I am a football guy too. I could probably sit and watch a Toronto vs Montreal CFL game from start to finish. I couldn't watch a maple leaf vs Canadians hockey game from start to finish. I couldn't watch a Toronto vs Seattle NBA game, and I certainly couldn't watch a Toronto vs NYY baseball game from start to finish. I may be able to watch a Toronto FC vs NYCFC soccer game from start to finish.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Zara,

What are you talking about? It HAS caught on. Its here. Educate yourself on the topic. In Seattle, to name 1 city, the Sounders average 45,000 and are every bit as popular as the Penguins are here. Soccer is the "cool" sport in Seattle for young people kinda like hockey here. They are in the TOP 25 in the WORLD in attendance (in fairness, most Euro stadiums are smallish). That's just 1 city.

Its, here man. Just continue to hope the MLS never becomes good because if it does, there will be 30 more "Seattles."

Another example that it's here...a typical sunday Of ENGLISH SOCCER gets better TV ratings than the NHL in the US.. The Same network (NBC). No bias (cable vs over the air). A Sunday morning game 3000 miles away vs prime time hockey draws better TV numbers.

 

[SoufOaklin4Life]

Yeah, I would rather watch the Center in Jamie Dixon's defense hedge 25 feet away from the basket against Coppin State. You got me there.

You'll watch it all, and complain about what you're watching.

baseball is as boring to me as soccer...which is as boring as regular season hockey and NBA regular season.

I understand the bucco fanboys are very exciting because the Pirates managed to actually beat the Cardinals a couple games in a row...at home..because, that's what they are supposed to do.

 

[Pitt79]

Another example that it's here...a typical sunday Of ENGLISH SOCCER gets better TV ratings than the NHL in the US.. The Same network (NBC). No bias (cable vs over the air). A Sunday morning game 3000 miles away vs prime time hockey draws better TV numbers.

Hockey is kind of a weird sport anyways. A lot of you complain that you can't get into soccer because you "never played growing up", how many of you hockey fans who grew up in Western PA actually PLAYED hockey? Sure, we had no soccer opportunities as kids in Western PA, but I certainly don't remember and hockey opportunities either? I at least played some adult rec soccer in Pittsburgh in the '80s and '90s, but I never even skated on ice, lol. And the Penguins popularity is kind of a fluke anyways, if they hadn't lucked out and been really bad in certain specific years and been able to draft Lemiuex, Jagr, Malkin and Crosby over a 20 year period, the franchise would have probably moved to Kansas City by now and nobody would have cared.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

Hockey is kind of a weird sport anyways. A lot of you complain that you can't get into soccer because you "never played growing up", how many of you hockey fans who grew up in Western PA actually PLAYED hockey? Sure, we had no soccer opportunities as kids in Western PA, but I certainly don't remember and hockey opportunities either? I at least played some adult rec soccer in Pittsburgh in the '80s and '90s, but I never even skated on ice, lol. And the Penguins popularity is kind of a fluke anyways, if they hadn't lucked out and been really bad in certain specific years and been able to draft Lemiuex, Jagr, Malkin and Crosby over a 20 year period, the franchise would have probably moved to Kansas City by now and nobody would have cared.

Well, hockey is super popular in Pittsburgh for the same reason that soccer would be if a similar situation presented itself. As you said, we went from Lemieux to Jagr to Crosby/Malkin. We had the best player in the world ever year for 20 years in a row and for most of those years, were a Cup contender. Nobody played hockey but it doesnt really matter because the Pens have great players and the NHL is the top league.

If a Pittsburgh soccer team played in the world's best soccer league and spent 20 years with the best player in the world, this place would be Soccer City USA, believe you me. Lionel Messi wouldn't be able to leave his house without 1000 Yinzers trying to take selfies and get autographs. Heck, I went to the AC Milan practice on a Wednesday afternoon at Heinz Field last year. It wasn't well publicized but there were probably 500-750 people there. A ton of middle school and high school kids swarming the players like they were Hollywood celebrities. To be honest, I only knew a few of the players' names but these kids knew all of them. Never, ever, ever would have happened 20 years ago.

 

[Pitt79]

Like I said, hockey's popularity in Pittsburgh is kind of a fluke, it's not like it's a sport WE played as a people growing up. My point just being, it's inconsistant when these hockey fans say they don't like soccer becaue they "never played it growing up", while they also never played hockey. I know a lot of kids play hockey in the Pittsburgh area now, but did anybody play it in the '70s? I don't remember there being any youth hockey, just like there was no youth soccer back then.

 

[Ski11585]

You'll watch it all, and complain about what you're watching.

baseball is as boring to me as soccer...which is as boring as regular season hockey and NBA regular season.

I understand the bucco fanboys are very exciting because the Pirates managed to actually beat the Cardinals a couple games in a row...at home..because, that's what they are supposed to do.

Man, why you gotta take shots at Pirates fans. Let us enjoy the series win over the Cards in peace.

 

[NTOP]

Good stuff. Except I am not trying to convert anyone. These are deep rooted opinions that only they can overcome and nothing anyone says will change minds. My flip toward soccer came naturally over the course of years through my love for sports and by watching it every weekend from the sideline. It didn't happen overnight and because someone told me it was a great sport. For some reason, some people have such a deep weird hatred for soccer, it would be like trying to tell a 60 year Union head that he should be a republican. He needs to learn for himself and come to any realization organically. My last couple posts were conversational in nature and directed at the soccer people here. Anything directed at the others is primarily when something stupid was said (ie-it's not a sport, or its for wimps who can't cut it in american football)

I don't need to be converted....I don't like the sport. Not interested in changing my mind....have better things to do. Don't watch hockey or the NFL very much, either. I don't hate soccer, the players or fans. I don't like light beer, salmon or escargot. Should I CONVERT to liking those?? Shouldn't this entire thread be on the Olympic Sports page?? Or Obits??

 

[Zaratoughda]

Man, why you gotta take shots at Pirates fans. Let us enjoy the series win over the Cards in peace.

The Pirates have the 3rd best winning percentage in baseball right now and are looking up at the team with the very best winning percentage in baseball (St. Louis), a team that they just took 3 out of 4 from.

So, sounds like a good race brewing. I am sure the Pirates would like to get out of that one game wild card thing, and it is only July.

 

[Zaratoughda]

Zara,

What are you talking about? It HAS caught on. Its here. Educate yourself on the topic. In Seattle, to name 1 city, the Sounders average 45,000 and are every bit as popular as the Penguins are here. Soccer is the "cool" sport in Seattle for young people kinda like hockey here. They are in the TOP 25 in the WORLD in attendance (in fairness, most Euro stadiums are smallish). That's just 1 city.

Its, here man. Just continue to hope the MLS never becomes good because if it does, there will be 30 more "Seattles."

SMF... I just went to the Pirates ESPN page to see how they are doing and....

Along the top they have NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAAF, NHL. Now THAT is an indication of what is most popular. Lemme tell ya, ESPN knows where the money is. They also have a tab after that with 'everything else'.... including cricket, rugby, tennis, golf and... soccer. IMO, THAT is an indication of the popularity of soccer.

Hey, there are a lot of people that like golf (and boxing, tennis, etc), and I am sure there are some that like cricket.

But, it's not like these are main line sports in this country. At least not like the main headers as far as ESPN is concerned.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Zara, once again you are posting without knowing all the facts. The ESPN web site knows what your screen "map" looks like. It knows you only have room for certain things, and it puts the rest in the "everything else" category. On my computer, which I am almost certainly running at a different screen resolution than you, soccer does indeed appear along the top. Oddly enough, seeing as to how this is the basketball board, NCAAM (that would be men's college basketball) doesn't make the top line and is the first item in the "everything else" tab.

Which, come to think of it, kind of falls in line with the theme of the original post in this thread.

 

[DT_PITT]

This is the thread that just won't die.

If only it was about basketball ...

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Hey, I mentioned basketball in my post!

Seriously though, what we need is another inane thread about what beers you snobs are currently drinking. Know anyone who might want to start one of those? ;-)

 

[DT_PITT]

Hey, I mentioned basketball in my post!

Seriously though, what we need is another inane thread about what beers you snobs are currently drinking. Know anyone who might want to start one of those? ;-)

Yeah ... if only that could get 175 replies too!!

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Yes, absolutely, within every 40 seconds there is 5-10 seconds of action where most of the people on the field are active, which is way more than baseball.

Really?

 

[Pitt79]

This is the thread that just won't die.

If only it was about basketball ...

Who cares? It's off season for basketball, why not have some fun with a topic that stirs people up, like this one apparantly has. Better than a basketball topic with 3 replies. Message boards are mainly recreation, just go with the flow and discuss what interests people today.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

I actually think it's been good. Most people haven't chimed in because they simply don't care. And they probably don't even click to it. No harm no foul. And it's there for the people who are interested in the discussion.

 

[DT_PITT]

Who cares? It's off season for basketball, why not have some fun with a topic that stirs people up, like this one apparantly has. Better than a basketball topic with 3 replies. Message boards are mainly recreation, just go with the flow and discuss what interests people today.

My comment was strictly tongue-in-check. I've been "recreating in the off season on these boards" since the turn of the millennium (with OT's worse than this as Joe noted). I'm just messing with you guys (a.k.a having my own fun). I honestly don't care. I just thought it was kinda funny that the one thread that won't die on a hoops message board is the one that has nothing to do with hoops.

 

[IamHeisenberg]

My comment was strictly tongue-in-check. I've been "recreating in the off season on these boards" since the turn of the millennium (with OT's worse than this as Joe noted). I'm just messing with you guys (a.k.a having my own fun). I honestly don't care. I just thought it was kinda funny that the one thread that won't die on a hoops message board is the one that has nothing to do with hoops.

You can't really just like soccer on the surface. It is a fascinating sport when you take a deep dive on it. Even the contractual machinations between teams and leagues is something I have never seen before.

I also find it fascinating the advancement of the Women's game. New countries are rising to the top like France and England that have never taken Women's soccer seriously.

I also find it fascinating that the U.S. Men can take on a team like Haiti and there be an actual concern for losing.

Truthfully, if some of our American elite athletes went towards soccer they would likely have more money than they could ever imagine in an International league.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

SMF... I just went to the Pirates ESPN page to see how they are doing and....

Along the top they have NFL, NBA, MLB, NCAAF, NHL. Now THAT is an indication of what is most popular. Lemme tell ya, ESPN knows where the money is. They also have a tab after that with 'everything else'.... including cricket, rugby, tennis, golf and... soccer. IMO, THAT is an indication of the popularity of soccer.

Hey, there are a lot of people that like golf (and boxing, tennis, etc), and I am sure there are some that like cricket.

But, it's not like these are main line sports in this country. At least not like the main headers as far as ESPN is concerned.

Zara,

You're missing my point. The USA does not have a world-class soccer league. If it did, it would be "mainstream." For being crap, MLS does roughly as good as the NHL and the EPL gets better ratings on NBCSN than the NHL (and with terrible time slots, Sat/Sun mornings, weekday afternoons). You can't compare those other American leagues to MLS.

FWIW, on the Fox Sports website, "soccer" is at the "top" right next to NFL and MLB. To be honest, the reason its not on the top banner on ESPN is because they have very little soccer conten compared to Fox who is growing their soccer programming like crazy.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

I also find it fascinating that the U.S. Men can take on a team like Haiti and there be an actual concern for losing.

Yea, but Haiti's team is full of "ringers." Basically the whole team was born and raised outside of Haiti (mostly in Europe). They have Haitian parents and thus have Haitian citizenship. The USA has some of these types players as well.

The last time I saw Haiti a few years ago, they were all "true" Haitians and were not very good. Their new coach must have scouted Europe for players of Haitian descent. I find teams like this interesting though a lot don't like it. FWIW, Algeria's team that the US barely beat to get to the Round of 16 in 2010 and took Germany to extra time in 2014 are all French players who have Algerian parents.

Another interesting fact: Tiny Guam is making headlines in Asian World Cup Qualifying. Their team is all Americans, not good enough to make the USMNT but were either born in Guam while their military parents were stationed there or have a parent from Guam. The fathers of most of these players were US servicemen stationed in Guam where they met and had kids with a Guamese woman.

 

[Pitt79]

Truthfully, if some of our American elite athletes went towards soccer they would likely have more money than they could ever imagine in an International league.

But that's assuming they'd be good at it, just because LeBron dominates hoops or LeVeon Bell can run a football and catch it or Bryce Harper can slam balls a country mile, doesn't necessarilly mean they'd be that great at soccer? Look at when Jordan tried to play baseball? He did OK, better than the average human would, but he was still way near the bottom, not even close to the majors.

 

[Pitt79]

Zara,

....Fox who is growing their soccer programming like crazy.

Buy low, sell high! They are getting in at the ground floor of something that is growing. Smart move. Unless you like UFC they have hardly anything decent of their Fox Sports1.

 

[Pitt79]

Yea, but Haiti's team is full of "ringers." Basically the whole team was born and raised outside of Haiti (mostly in Europe). They have Haitian parents and thus have Haitian citizenship. The USA has some of these types players as well.

The last time I saw Haiti a few years ago, they were all "true" Haitians and were not very good. Their new coach must have scouted Europe for players of Haitian descent. I find teams like this interesting though a lot don't like it. FWIW, Algeria's team that the US barely beat to get to the Round of 16 in 2010 and took Germany to extra time in 2014 are all French players who have Algerian parents.

Another interesting fact: Tiny Guam is making headlines in Asian World Cup Qualifying. Their team is all Americans, not good enough to make the USMNT but were either born in Guam while their military parents were stationed there or have a parent from Guam. The fathers of most of these players were US servicemen stationed in Guam where they met and had kids with a Guamese woman.

Still, the nature of the sport is such that small countries can compete, a lot of these other teams like Honduras and Panama are mostly their "local guys" and they can hang with the USA. and of course the USA also has a ton of ringers on their team as well, many Germans born to US servicemen and German woman, there's easily 5-6 of those guys on the US team.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

In my opinion we should be better internationally on the Mens and Womens side. If individuals like Zara wanted to give soccer a legit chance, watching our US teams would certainly have him run the opposite way. They play an awful brand of soccer. It would be like someone wanting to give hockey a try and watching the New Jersey Devils of the 90's or the Kevin Constantine Penguin teams. For all of the money and the infrastructure, we underachieve with our international teams. The men should be capable of doing more than just a guaranteed top four finish in the Gold Cup. On the women's side one could say how can you be better than wold champs and a #1 world ranking. But other countries like Japan and France play the game like it should be played. When we tried to do that here, our players get the coaches fired. The end result is one world championship in 15 years despite having better players and a deeper pool. On the men's side, we have a coach who has a huge ego and wants everything to be about him. He'd rather hang out in Newport Beach than work hard to make the team better. He has his coaches run the training sessions and he doesn't know his players. Maybe that would work in Germany, but not here. No reason Ghana should be playing a better brand of soccer than we do. Anyone watch the game vs Haiti the other night? It was unwatchable, even for me. At least it was for the first 30 minutes until the intensity picked up due to the physical play on the field. And even then it certainly wasn't close to "the beautiful game". And we expect to grow the sport??

 

[recruitsreadtheseboards]

Like I said, hockey's popularity in Pittsburgh is kind of a fluke, it's not like it's a sport WE played as a people growing up. My point just being, it's inconsistant when these hockey fans say they don't like soccer becaue they "never played it growing up", while they also never played hockey. I know a lot of kids play hockey in the Pittsburgh area now, but did anybody play it in the '70s? I don't remember there being any youth hockey, just like there was no youth soccer back then.

How old are you? I grew up playing the sport. A lot of kids did. And more kids now play hockey than many other sports. And to the chagrin of many, more local kids the past few years have been drafted by the NHL than NBA, MLB and yes, even the NFL.

Hockey is here to stay. You have had the Mario generation, now the Crosby/Malkin generation. That is a pretty damn strong foothold. That is how things happen. It is why women's soccer will grow significantly here by the success not just of the US team, but Meghan Klingenberg. This "I didn't grow up with it" stuff with hockey is now BS unless you are over 60. Or maybe you live in one of these failing mill towns where the incomes are low, the education is low, and then, I wonder how you even found yourself logging into a site like this?

 

[Fk_Pitt]

which is why SMF's point is dead on. When I watch Lionel Messi play, one other athlete comes to mind--Mario Lemieux. Mario put pittsburgh hockey on the map and it grew here exponentially. Pittsburgh is one of the NHLs best markets. If Messi were here in his prime, Soccer in Pittsburgh would be Portland or Seattle.

 

[Pitt79]

How old are you? I grew up playing the sport. A lot of kids did. And more kids now play hockey than many other sports. And to the chagrin of many, more local kids the past few years have been drafted by the NHL than NBA, MLB and yes, even the NFL.

Hockey is here to stay. You have had the Mario generation, now the Crosby/Malkin generation. That is a pretty damn strong foothold. That is how things happen. It is why women's soccer will grow significantly here by the success not just of the US team, but Meghan Klingenberg. This "I didn't grow up with it" stuff with hockey is now BS unless you are over 60. Or maybe you live in one of these failing mill towns where the incomes are low, the education is low, and then, I wonder how you even found yourself logging into a site like this?

I'm 56, and I did grow up in a "failing mill town" very near Pittsburgh, and growing up, I had friends and relatives in Pittsburgh my age and nobody I knew of was into hockey, nobody near where I grew up played hockey, there was no hockey, no teams, no leagues, no rinks... and in the 60s and 70s, even into the 80s those towns weren't failing, they where bustling and vibrant with activity, but there was no hockey anywhere, nobody paid attention to the Penguins either until maybe the late 80s.

So what is your age? I'm not making anything up, just my anecdotal experience! I didn't live in a ghetto near a meth lab, my area was mainstream and prosperous at the time, and there was absolutely no hockey anywhere. Look, I'm not against hockey, I'm a solid Penguin fan watch as many games as I can, just never played the game, because where I grew up NOBODY DID.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

In my opinion we should be better internationally on the Mens and Womens side. If individuals like Zara wanted to give soccer a legit chance, watching our US teams would certainly have him run the opposite way. They play an awful brand of soccer. It would be like someone wanting to give hockey a try and watching the New Jersey Devils of the 90's or the Kevin Constantine Penguin teams. For all of the money and the infrastructure, we underachieve with our international teams. The men should be capable of doing more than just a guaranteed top four finish in the Gold Cup. On the women's side one could say how can you be better than wold champs and a #1 world ranking. But other countries like Japan and France play the game like it should be played. When we tried to do that here, our players get the coaches fired. The end result is one world championship in 15 years despite having better players and a deeper pool. On the men's side, we have a coach who has a huge ego and wants everything to be about him. He'd rather hang out in Newport Beach than work hard to make the team better. He has his coaches run the training sessions and he doesn't know his players. Maybe that would work in Germany, but not here. No reason Ghana should be playing a better brand of soccer than we do. Anyone watch the game vs Haiti the other night? It was unwatchable, even for me. At least it was for the first 30 minutes until the intensity picked up due to the physical play on the field. And even then it certainly wasn't close to "the beautiful game". And we expect to grow the sport??

I don't want to spin this off into a USMNT debate but the bottom line is that our players aren't technical enough, not skilled enough, or quite simply just not good enough. And no, they're not better than Ghana even though we beat them last summer. We can talk all day as to why this is but it comes down to our players not growing up playing soccer at high enough levels and not playing "backyard soccer" or street soccer or pickup soccer at the local park. Our soccer infrastructure has improved immensely but not until you go to your local park and see a few pickup soccer games going on, we'll never have a legit chance to win the World Cup. You have to play soccer every day as a young player. Its an extremely difficult sport to master. Its not like basketball or football where you can be 7'0 and only been playing for 3 years and get drafted in the lottery.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

And you just touched an issue that we can go back and forth for a hundred more posts. I agree with you.

But it reminds of a a thread from several years ago in which Simmerdunna (remember him?) insisted that he can walk on to a soccer pitch today and be the best player on the field even though he never played the game in his life. It was a typical macho anti-soccer mindset that frankly exists with so many. But you are right. Kids growing up here need to dedicate themselves to the sport at a young age (8-9years old) and never stop playing. Anything less than that and the player is way behind the 8ball. Certainly there are exceptions to the rule, but kids need to be playing non stop over the course of a decade before they graduate HS. And only then it's through their club teams--which is 100% supervised and rarely is there an opportunity to hone their creative abilities.

 

[Pitt79]

From my observations, I don't see kids playing sponteaneous pick up games anywhere anymore! How often do you drive by a park and see a pickup football or baseball game going on? I mean unsupervised, like where kids just show up and play? Sometimes I do see it, but it's very rare. I'm shocked and do a double take when I see it! I figure they are mostly at home, sitting in the dark playing PS4 or watching Netflix!

Sometimes I see pickup basketball, if they haven't taken to hoops off the backboards to stop kids from congregating! LOL! In my area, the pickup sport I see most in public spaces is soccer actually, and it's usually Hispanics or Caribbean types, most of them adults.

 

[Sean Miller Fan]

From my observations, I don't see kids playing sponteaneous pick up games anywhere anymore! How often do you drive by a park and see a pickup football or baseball game going on? I mean unsupervised, like where kids just show up and play? Sometimes I do see it, but it's very rare. I'm shocked and do a double take when I see it! I figure they are mostly at home, sitting in the dark playing PS4 or watching Netflix!

Sometimes I see pickup basketball, if they haven't taken to hoops off the backboards to stop kids from congregating! LOL! In my area, the pickup sport I see most in public spaces is soccer actually, and it's usually Hispanics or Caribbean types, most of them adults.

You are right and its one reasons Americans are making up less and less of an MLB roster. Dominicans, for example, still play pick-up baseball, stickball, "caps," etc. Its almost amazing to see. That's where they hone their skills. American kids might play baseball 90 days/year (more in the south and west). Dominicans are playing 300+ days per year, mostly on their own, unsupervised. You might have an 8 year old trying to hit off of a 15 year old in a pick-up game. Do ya think that might make that 8 year old better down the road?

The newer generation, you are right, is more likely to play Call of Duty than pick-up basketball or pick-up football. However, it wont affect those sports much because there isn't a lot of foreign competition.

Soccer is the hardest game to "master" and requires the most amount of hours put into to "master." Baseball is probably 2nd followed by hockey, basketball, then football. Unless you are playing soccer every single day, your dream of playing in the EPL isnt going to come true.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

Actually Simmer's comments were even funnier than that. He insisted that him and a bunch of guys who had never played soccer before actually DID play against the team at his high school, a team that either won or came close to winning a state championship, and that they actually DID destroy them. It was the most absurd thing he ever posted, and seeing as to how he was convinced at one point that an absolute stiff in Casin Diggs was going to play in the NBA that's saying a lot.

 

[Pitt79]

Dominicans, for example, still play pick-up baseball, stickball, "caps," etc. Its almost amazing to see. That's where they hone their skills.
The newer generation, you are right, is more likely to play Call of Duty than pick-up basketball or pick-up football. However, it wont affect those sports much because there isn't a lot of foreign competition.

Have you been to DR? Driven through rural areas? I have. Damn some people still live in grass huts! I doubt there's much Call of Duty being played in some of those places, you drive by and it's 90 degrees and humid and they are on these massed up fields playing ball, half the team doesn't even have gloves or shoes.

As for basketball, there's enough popularity in pick up games to keep American kids playing, in fact the problem is the Euros have the structure and fundamanetals and the Americans too much creativity! Football? Nobody ever played real football in the pick up sense anyways! Football is a sport that America will always dominate, will never go truly global and may even die out (as we know it) eventually, even here.

 

[Fk_Pitt]

Actually Simmer's comments were even funnier than that. He insisted that him and a bunch of guys who had never played soccer before actually DID play against the team at his high school, a team that either won or came close to winning a state championship, and that they actually DID destroy them. It was the most absurd thing he ever posted, and seeing as to how he was convinced at one point that an absolute stiff in Casin Diggs was going to play in the NBA that's saying a lot.

Agh! He did say that. Your memory is better than mine and as I read your post I almost spit my coke all over my phone! Good ol Simmer. That was hilarious.

If you've ever been to State Cup at Slippery Rock, you are obviously familiar of the four fields adjacent to the road. Years ago I remember four girls games being played at once and a carload of losers came flying down the road and were yelling "turf fairies" toward the girls. I found it comical and ignorant at the same time. But Simmerdunna came to mind for some reason when it happened. I know he wasn't driving the car, but it wouldn't surprise me if he were in a car somewhere in Arizona with his JV team, they'd be doing the same thing.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

In my opinion we should be better internationally on the Mens and Womens side.

One of the reasons I am excited for the combined North America - South America tournament next year is that I really think that one of the things that holds the US back in international play is the overwhelming lack of quality in CONCACAF. Other than Mexico and Costa Rica the US is typically miles and miles ahead of the rest of the field. And while playing countries like Germany and the Netherlands in friendlies is great, the intensity level and the quality of play just don't rise up in a friendly the same way they do in a world cup qualifier or should (but don't for the US) in the confederation championship tournament.

To see what I am saying, look at the US's recent results against the other teams playing in the Copa Oro. While Mexico leads the all time series against the US, over the last 15 years it's actually 13-5-5 (all records listed in the traditional soccer style of wins-draws- losses) in favor of the US. The series with Costa Rica is 13-5-13 all time, and it's pretty close to even recently too. Now lets look at the rest of the field.

Against El Salvador the US is 17-4-0 all time. El Salvador has never beaten the US.
Against Haiti the US is 3-2-0 since 1976 (we really don't play them often).
Against Guatemala, Guatemala actually won the first three times the teams played. Since then the US is 14-6-0 against them.
Against Honduras the US is 12-1-2 since 2002.
Against Jamaica the US is 13-8-1 all time. That's a lot of ties, but it's still only one Jamaica win in 22 games.
Against Cuba the US is 8-1-1 all time, and the Cuba win was in 1947.
Against Canada the US is 11-5-0 since 1991.
Against Panama the US is 11-3-1 all time.
Against Trinidad and Tobago the US is 17-3-3 all time and 11-1-1 since 1994.

So add up all those "all time"s and "since"s and you get that in those 137 games the US has won 100, tied 31 and lost 6 of them. The fact is that the minnows of CONCACAF don't challenge the US (or Mexico for that matter) on any sort of regular basis. And it's hard to get better when you are generally so much better than your opponents.

By the way, great comeback tonight for T&T against Mexico. From 2-0 down to 3-2 up in the span of about 12 minutes. Now lets see if they can hold on.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

By the way, great comeback tonight for T&T against Mexico. From 2-0 down to 3-2 up in the span of about 12 minutes. Now lets see if they can hold on.

And the answer is no, they can't.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

And as soon as I post that T&T bags a goal in the 94th minute to tie the game and win the group.

T&T: They're dyn-o-mite.