It's as predictable as rainbows after rain. Someone writes a "Soccer's going to make it" article and someone has to come back with "No, it's not". Someone always wants the last word.
I don't really care. I'm not much of a prognosticator of popularity, trendiness or what's "in".
I just know what I like.
15 comments:
Blahblahblah...
It's like when soccer fans in our little cocoon argue about whether or not Beasley is a key component of the US nats or as useful as useful as light beer with a meal at Claim Jumper.
Dog chasing tail.
Don't lose your lunch cuz until (if) it actually happens, we'll keep going in circles.
Agreed, stupid story. Thankfully, the 'will soccer last' subplot for any and all footy coverage seems to be fading away. There are lots of us who know what we like.
But I don't get the Seattle headline.
Hattiesburg is in Mississippi, last I checked.
Any soccer fan would have a lot to enjoy up here in the PacNW.
Oooh, a Claim Jumper was right near where I went to college. It's the perfect restaurant for that stage of life's metabolism.
The original first link (No, it's not) was a Seattle article contradicting an earlier Seattle article. I just added my link to that piece, which had me saying I might move to Seattle. I was joking a little, but that's what the reference was. The final link was more of a "one more example of the old argument" thing.
Please move.
The writer slammed both footie and my home town of Tacoma! The hell with em!
Seattle is the enemy.
Rose City Till' I die.
No seriously, I have serious concerns about the Sounders. As much as I root for the Timbers, the Sounders just don't draw well at all at that cavernous stadium. The Portland Timbers supporters outnumber them 2 to 1 at Sounders vs. Timbers games at Qwest Field. And we are to believe they will be packing the lower level just because it is MLS.
The Sounders consistently are winning but people don't seem to care that much. The Mariners play across the frickin' street for crying out loud, even though they suck now, they still draw amazing numbers especially when the bandwagon teams like Yanks, Sox come to town.
For those that have never been to Seattle, the city is a sports town but definitely with bandwagon tendencies. For big events, the place rocks but for MLS maybe, maybe not?
I am sure people will point to Brazil vs. Canada and other exhibition matches. Well let me just tell folks that tons of people from Portland, Vancouver, Salem, Yakima, Everett, Bellingham, Tri-Cities and places in between made that trip and packed Qwest.
I am pretty sure Oregonians or folks in E. Washington and C. Washington will not be doing the 3-4 hour drive to see the Real Salt Lakes of the world or the Wiz', and certainly not when they have the Timbers now and with then coming to MLS in the near future.
BBSC
"But the soccer 'boom' in America, which was already supposed to have arrived at least a dozen times over the past 20 years, isn't coming on any faster now than the metric system."
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I agree with this statement from the author. Everyone always talks about the potential market for soccer in America but it never materializes and if it wasn't for Phil Anschutz, there would be no significant professional soccer presence in the U.S.
Seriously, don't leave, Andrea.
I won't have anyone to pick on.
...and if it wasn't for Lamar Hunt...
...and if it wasn't for Phil Knight...
...and if it wasn't for Beckham's popularity...
...and if it wasn't for girly men who hate contact and just want to jog around all day...
The majority of America enjoys plenty of things that are boring, inane, and downright horrendous to watch. Baseball, NASCAR, Reality TV, and E! are all examples that shit attracts flies.
Who care's if MLS doesn't attact 6 million TV viewers and a 60,000+ sized crowd to every match. The attendance is growing fine, the play on the field is improving, and the national product is getting better by leaps and bounds. Therefore who cares?
This is like someone arguing that reading classical works of literature is worthless because everyone reads US Weekly or People. They're not mutually exclusive, folks. No sport needs to die for soccer to succeed.
It's actually the incessant coverage of the NFL and MLB that turns me off, to be honest. The coverage makes it seem like a religion more than entertainment.
Soccer is drawing bigger participation numbers among the youth of America than Baseball, and while their leagues flounder, soccer continues to explode. TV broadcasting rights, jersey sponsorship and and a burgeoning youth market will continue to boost the profile of the MLS in this country and it may not happen in 1 year, 5 years or 10, but it will happen. We Americans are too quick to trash anything that doesn't happen immediately. Have some faith and patience, folks. It's coming.
ya know what is funny to me, (other than the fact that I can name every foreign player who came to MLS to play and could easily tell the guy in the last article that the Crew are from Columbus)it's that Arena football gets none of the shit that soccer gets. That league hasn't been around much longer but it gets showered with comemricals and network TV timeslots on the weekends and yet MLS kicks the shit out of it in terms of attendance and profitability.
I'm really starting to become convinced that some people genuinely think that liking soccer is anti-American like not jokingly. I really now believe that some people think it should be considered treason to like the game. It's crazy.
perhaps cultural treason
This topic makes me sleepy, like, instantly.
And after I yawn, I wonder why "soccer in America" has to be the MLS. If I can watch club teams/national teams from all over the world on T.V., the internets, and/or in person here in L.A. why doesn't that count towards soccer's popularity? Of course, according to the dude in Seattle, neither the Japanese or the Mexicans or the All Nation's people care about soccer either.
But I think this week we've learned that it's not soccer that sucks, it's Seattle.
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