Soccer really sucks, doesn't it?

[Wezil]

Additional factor - It's a simple game that requires no more than a pair of shoes to play. Peasants everywhere can enjoy it.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Though it's more fun if you have a ball. Using an imaginary one always leads to arguments.

[Wezil]

Meh, anything can be kicked.

[Wezil]

One ball is a heck of a lot easier to round up than 20 baseball gloves or 20 pair of skates...

[C0ckney]

an excellent point. it's a democractic game which can be enjoyed by people of all social classes.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

an excellent point. it's a democractic game which can be enjoyed by people of all social classes.

And yet it wasn't that way in Britain. It was always the commoner's game, shunned by the upper classes.

The game that genuinely did ignore class barriers was cricket.

[C0ckney]

that's true, but it's a different story elsewhere in the world.

i have fond memories of playing cricket on the street growing up in southall.

[Wezil]

an excellent point. it's a democractic game which can be enjoyed by people of all social classes.

I'm not trashing the game. I said earlier I personally find it boring as all **** but I accept this is a personal opinion as the game is obviously hugely popular elsewhere.

I was just adding what I think is a legit reason why this is so.

[Solomwi]

FACT: BASKETBALL IOS THE WORST AMERICAN SPORT

You are misinformed, my transvestite Argintinian friend

QFT. Basketball is just boring, as 90% or so of the apparent action simply doesn't matter to the outcome. I'd much rather watch a soccer game where each possession has the potential to determine the game than a basketball game where that's the case only in the last minute or so.

[Al B. Sure!]

The problem with basketball is it's a constant back and forth racking up relatively unconsequential points until the last few minutes and then all the fouling that takes place leads to a boring end game of free throws. Basketball is very fun to play but not a good sport to watch.

And I suspect basketball and baseball are much more popular internationally than some of you are giving credit for. Baseball is a national obsession in Japan, S. Korea, and the Caribbean nations particularly Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Basketball is also very popular internationally (look at how many teams compete in the olympics for example). Spain, Argentina, and Lithuania have some very dominating basketball squads.

[Al B. Sure!]

Cockney:

There's no flair and skill and moments of individual brilliance in football? What have you seen? I sure as hell saw little flair and skill and moments of individual brilliance in that France/Uruguay game.

Just a random week's highlights from last season. Really watch it and I dare you to say there were no moments of individual brilliance.

[Drake Tungsten]

ask yourselves this, why do you think football is the most popular game on the planet, and american sports are popular in err...america. there's a reason for it.

Yes, there is a reason, the same reason why America is the greatest, richest and most powerful country on the planet, while most of the rest of the world is made up of pathetic fallen powers and third-world ****holes whose only hope for international greatness comes from playing a ****ty sport once every four years. The reason is that Americans are simply smarter, stronger and better than the rest of you, and our superior sports are evidence of that.

Please note that China, the only country that might be able to compete with America in the future, also does not like soccer; an American sport (basketball) is the most popular there.

[Al B. Sure!]

How popular is soccer in Russia? Basketball and hockey I imagine are more popular.

[Drake Tungsten]

Russia has also become more interested in soccer the farther and farther it slips from its glory days as a world power.

[Al B. Sure!]

Interesting and compelling theory, Drake.