Soccer really sucks, doesn't it?

[Wezil]

So what is the punishment for one yellow card?

You took exception to my "warning" comment.

[Kitschum]

I took exception to your "just a warning" comment, which implies a yellow card is not a big deal, which it clearly is. It will affect that player's actions during the rest of the match and in coming matches (if he knows what's best for him). It's also different from a verbal telling off which might also happen but isn't regulated.

Unless you're being obtuse or feel like arguing the semantics of "punishment", which is not a technical term.

[C0ckney]

The reason baseball isn't everywhere in Europe is football was already entrenched, aqnd the British spread it long ago. It's already established, as crap as it is. It's all you guys know and are used to.

Plus, Baseball is even more dull than Football.

Basketball is fun just to shoot hoops with friends, it's ****ing awful to watch.

i'm sorry asher but that's a load of rubbish. there were games that people played before football, and when a better game came along people stopped playing those games and played football instead. football has not been replaced in the same way, because it has a strong appeal. stronger than anything that has come along since.

[Asher]

i'm sorry asher but that's a load of rubbish. there were games that people played before football, and when a better game came along people stopped playing those games and played football instead. football has not been replaced in the same way, because it has a strong appeal. stronger than anything that has come along since.

But that's simply not true. Football/soccer was never entrenched in North American culture. We all know exactly what football is and how to play it, but it's nowhere near being a top sport out here.

If Football was simply all about the appeal, we'd be all over it here. Fact is, we don't see the appeal (by and large).

We have our sports we've played for centuries, you have yours. The countries that played soccer 100 years ago play soccer now...the countries that paid hockey 100 years ago play hockey now. There's no ****ing way soccer will ever replace hockey in Canada. Or even come remotely close to it in terms of popularity.

So obviously it's more than just "strong appeal". It's the fact that modern sporting culture has created tremendous amounts of inertia for the poor man's game, so you guys keep playing it. When every ****ing kid plays soccer/football, you play soccer/football too, in general. When every kid plays it and every kid watches it, every kid continues to play/watch it. There's strong social dynamics here well beyond "strong appeal"...it plays into groupthink and societal inertia very well.

[Hauldren Collider]

Not gonna read 7 pages of trolling and counter trolling but just gonna say that EVERYONE in school on friday was watching the world cup. The principal was in his office, watching the world cup. The teachers didn't teach class, we just watched the world cup.

[Al B. Sure!]

I don't know, Asher. Many sports are relatively new. Baseball dates back to the mid-19th century but has only developed its modern form since the very end of the 19th century. Men's Football and basketball were late 19th century/early 20th century inventions but their early forms resembled nothing like the modern games and they didn't become similar to the modern games until the 1940's or so.

(and this whole football thing is getting confusing. Let's just call American/Canadian Football 'Men's football' to be clear)

[Al B. Sure!]

Not gonna read 7 pages of trolling and counter trolling but just gonna say that EVERYONE in school on friday was watching the world cup. The principal was in his office, watching the world cup. The teachers didn't teach class, we just watched the world cup.

Way to go #1 high school in the country!

[KrazyHorse]

That's because you go to some eurotrash wannabe school.

[Al B. Sure!]

By the way, fun fact that I picked up somewhere... in an early version of baseball, you could tag out a runner by hitting him with the ball (as in throwing it at him)! How's that for a boring game!

[Hauldren Collider]

That's because you go to some eurotrash wannabe school.

It's actually more because the school year basically ended for us when AP weeks ended. I'm taking several AP classes and there's nothing left to teach so the teachers let us goof off.

[Asher]

I don't know, Asher. Many sports are relatively new. Baseball dates back to the mid-19th century but has only developed its modern form since the very end of the 19th century. Men's Football and basketball were late 19th century/early 20th century inventions but their early forms resembled nothing like the modern games and they didn't become similar to the modern games until the 1940's or so.

(and this whole football thing is getting confusing. Let's just call American/Canadian Football 'Men's football' to be clear)

The New World has New Sports.

People in the Old World play the old sports of the past, not modern ones.

They mistake their sports for better ones, just 'cause they don't know better.

[C0ckney]

well as has been pointed out, it doesn't appeal to people in north america, only people in the rest of the world. it's the most popular team game, by a long way. of course different games will appeal to people of different cultures, it's just that football appeals to more.

modern sporting culture (games on TV, professionalism etc.) is a fairly recent invention. i can think of at least two occasions when there were large numbers of north americans in europe prior to this, their games didn't catch on then. they didn't really catch on in south america, despite lots of north americas being there over the years.

[Asher]

well as has been pointed out, it doesn't appeal to people in north america, only people in the rest of the world.

Yes, and I'm explaining why. People in North America came from the old world, it's wrong to assume they're just different kinds of people.

It's because football/soccer preceded the other games in the "old world", while it did not in the "new world". It's not that the appeal of SOCCER, per se, is stronger...it's that the appeal of playing the game everyone's been playing for years.

The same reason baseball/american football/basketball/hockey hasn't displaced soccer in the old countries is the exact same reason soccer hasn't displaced baseball/american football/basketball/hockey here. It's societal inertia.

[Wezil]

I took exception to your "just a warning" comment, which implies a yellow card is not a big deal, which it clearly is. It will affect that player's actions during the rest of the match and in coming matches (if he knows what's best for him). It's also different from a verbal telling off which might also happen but isn't regulated.

Unless you're being obtuse or feel like arguing the semantics of "punishment", which is not a technical term.

I didn't say it wasn't a big deal, I said it was a warning, not a punishment.

Call it semantics if you want but you have confirmed there is no actual punishment accompanying the yellow card. It is indeed a "warning".

[Bosh]

As far as soccer not catching on in North America I think a big part of it is the gap between the average age of people playing sports and the average age of people watching sports on TV. At least in New England, soccer is very popular to actually play (maybe tied with basket ball) and once we have a few decades for the current younger generations to get old enough to sit on their ass all day watching ESPN I think we'll eventually see soccer gradually rising to the 3rd or so most watched sport in America.