Are y’all watching the World Cup? If not, why not?
I’m watching the World Cup. Many of you, I know, are not. I’m watching because international soccer is the one sport I follow for pleasure. (As opposed to following something so I can, you know, write about it.)
I’m not trying to convert anybody to anything here. You’re free to hate/ignore/lampoon the sport. But I am kind of curious: If you hate soccer, what is it you hate? The lack of scoring? The absence of timeouts? The lack of shoulder pads? The vuvuzelas?
(A word about the latter: Vuvuzelas are plastic horns that are blown during soccer games in South Africa, which is the site of this World Cup. They make quite the racket. Indeed, vuvuzelas have become the dominant story of the event to date: TV viewers are reaching for the mute button; the BBC is pondering a vuvuzela filter and FIFA president Sepp Blatter has come out foursquare behind the vuvuzelas.
(I’m agnostic on the issue, but I can tell you this: If you think the noise is oppressive on TV, try listening on radio. I did yesterday — all the games are on ESPN Radio and Sirius XM – and I could barely make out a word JP Dellacamera and Tommy Smyth were saying.)
But enough about vuvuzelas. I’m interested in your feelings on soccer itself. Are you so opposed to the sport you wouldn’t watch it if it were being staged in your den? (I know I feel that way about, say, Arena football.) Have you tried watching and were simply left cold?
Again, I’m not looking to mount a rebuttal. I’m just curious as to your feelings. And I thank you in advance.
But I would offer this programming note: Portugal and the Ivory Coast are playing at the moment, and one of the world’s most stylish players — Cristiano Ronaldo of the former — is at work. (The great Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast suffered a broken arm earlier this month and is, alas, on the bench.) And later today comes Brazil. And even if you hate soccer, you’ve got to like Brazil. Don’t you?
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220 comments Add your comment
Glitchy
June 15th, 2010
12:01 pm
Why am I not watching? Two words……
Nil – Nil.
F*FIFA
June 15th, 2010
12:04 pm
I’d rather manscape myself with a blowtorch that watch that mess.
Pi$$onaDawg
June 15th, 2010
12:05 pm
MATT R please don’t stop the clock. To watch a game go for 4 hours with no score will totally kill any chance of people watching it. I think most G.R.I.T.S should have to play soccer from 6th grade until graduation. The girls wouldn’t be fat and they would have nice legs. G.R.I.T.S are Girls Raised In The South for those that didn’t know.
wawel78
June 15th, 2010
12:06 pm
unfortunately work gets in the way
Otto
June 15th, 2010
12:06 pm
I agree NBA and arena Football bore me as their is to much scoring. The NFL has lost my attention thts to their QB/WR protection rules which also promote more scoring.
I love International Soccer and the Wolrd Cup is the top level of International Soccer. The strategy is great and points are special. The skill level used at this level is just amazing to someone who played the sport. It is not as easy as it looks.
If the sport comes down to who has the ball last as the sports mentioned above often do I could care less.
soccer
June 15th, 2010
12:08 pm
Would also point out that the first games in the group stages of world cup are typically low-scoring affairs because teams don’t want to give up the point that comes with a tie. A loss in the first game almost always results in a team not making it out of the group stage. In the second batch of games the scoring will improve.
meh
June 15th, 2010
12:09 pm
world cup can be great, i plan to keep watching, but these games have been horrific. ivory coast – portugal was supposed to be a great game, ended with a nice plump sum of 3 shots on goal. that mark, is why people aren’t watching soccer
Billy Peeler
June 15th, 2010
12:09 pm
I’m not watching the World Cup because:
1. It’s soccer…who gives a rip?
2. The crowd is filled with obnoxious fans whose idea of fun is blowing a plastic horn ALL the time, regardless of what happens on the field. I always thought those air-filled “bang sticks” were awful…but damned if these vuvuzelas ain’t the worst yet. Sounds like they’re playing the matches in the middle of a swarm of angry bees.
Can some soccer fan explain to me why there’s the “offside” rule? If a team is willing to play short-handed on defense…taking the risk in the hopes of picking up an easier goal if you steal the ball and can get it down field….why not let ‘em? After all, it’d be available to either team…and might actually liven up the game a little.
Otto
June 15th, 2010
12:09 pm
Jason, Soccer has tackles, shots, set plays (Corners/goals kicks/PKs) and amazing keepers a this level which make it very interesting if you know what is going on. I hear baseball is the same way but I never had interest to learn the sport.
Mark Bradley
June 15th, 2010
12:10 pm
Wow. I’m shocked. I just checked in after watching Portugal and the Ivory Coast play one of those dreaded nil-nil draws, and I expected maybe 20 responses. Thanks for caring — one way or the other.
Archie
June 15th, 2010
12:10 pm
I’m watching every bit that I can, it really is a great game to watch if you have enough perspective. ANY sport would be boring if you didn’t know anything about any of the players, didn’t know any story lines surrounding the game. For example, I can’t watch a baseball game if the Braves aren’t playing in it because, I try to watch college baseball but I just can’t do it. With football, there is so much in the news it’s easy to stay up to date on what’s going on, so there’s ALWAYS something interesting about each game. Without any of that perspective, it’s easy to say soccer is boring. However, I spend a lot of time watching English Premier League and I’ve followed the entire qualifying process for team USA, so there is a lot follow even if the games are slow.
GIVE ME A BREAK
June 15th, 2010
12:10 pm
The field is too big, the scores are too low. BORING.
Pi$$onaDawg
June 15th, 2010
12:10 pm
Dear POAD so you get a point in the World Cup, but you don’t get a point system like that in all regular soccer games and therefore you are wasting an afternoon. Hockey has that same crappy scoring system. Play until someone wins ie. Cricket. Play for 12 hours but somebody is going to be a winner.
soccer
June 15th, 2010
12:11 pm
Jason: Will the cross come in, will he beat him off the dribble, will he get his head on it, was the tackle fair, will the overlap result in a cross, there are things in soccer
Otto
June 15th, 2010
12:12 pm
Offsides is when a player on the offense is behind the last player (other than the keeper) in the defense when the ball is kicked to him. IMO it adds to the strategy as the defense wants to play up but they have to stay far enough back to keep up with speedy strikers,
Thenumber34
June 15th, 2010
12:16 pm
Any game that is allowed to end in a tie need not be played at all.
SC Ace
June 15th, 2010
12:17 pm
Offsides prevents cherry-picking, adds immensely to the strategy on both offense and defense. Timing matters, speed matters, defensive cohesion matters (this is why South Africa allowed a goal to Mexico, for example).
Bubba
June 15th, 2010
12:22 pm
UGA football is king with me, but you’ve got to appreciate the intensity and athleticism on display at the World Cup. It’s a great sport — and best of all, NO TIME OUTS!!
Driver 8
June 15th, 2010
12:32 pm
Soccer on the radio??!! Wow Mark, you are a fan!
I’ve been captivated by the hype and tried to watch it under the premise that any sport played at it’s highest level is compelling. There are inetresting moments to be sure, but after giving it an honest airing I find myself drifting off into something else and actually forgetting to come back to it. That tells me my time is better spent elsewhere.
Michael Scharff
June 15th, 2010
12:35 pm
I will be the first to admit that the players are gifted atheletes in tremendous condition. That said, I’m not a big fan of watching games on t.v. The halves are too long, and the low scoring affairs are very boring to me.
Braves Fan
June 15th, 2010
12:35 pm
One word: BORING
Billy Peeler
June 15th, 2010
12:37 pm
Otto, re. your note at 12:12….it seems to me that it LESSENS strategy. If the defense wants to play up, just do so…if “speedy strikers” get behind them, so what? They can’t do anything because of the offside rule.
Seems like it would INCREASE strategy if you toss out the offside rule. Then the defense has to choose between…do I play up, and have more players involved in the midfield action, or do I stay back to defend against a cherry-picker. And the offense has to choose between sending a snowbird up close to the goal and perhaps getting an easy score, or keeping him at midfield to help get the ball.
Just one man’s opinion…but it’d make both soccer and hockey (which has a similar rule) much more interesting and exciting if there were more scoring.
Silas Marner
June 15th, 2010
12:39 pm
I came to soccer late (just turned 60) but have become a real fan. World Cup is great fun with some truly exceptional athletes. and of cours, all the bizarro’s in the stands. I particularly like the announcers who aren’t afraid to tell the truth. As in, “that was just awful.” Or, “hew should be ashamed.”
Its a hoot!
Nick
June 15th, 2010
12:41 pm
Love football, play it when possible, love the chants, love the disses against (mainly) the referees.
Not watching the World Cup. Call me old fashioned, but I grew up watching football with the crowd being part of the game, and where players can verbally communicate for strategy’s sake. Now South Africans decided that the WHOLE world watches football the wrong way, and that THEIR way is the only way that the .. ahem.. Wooooorld-ah Cup should be watched. Meh… Can’t wait for the brazilian sambas.. those have beat and melody… and thus a cultural heritage beyond plastic horns made in China.
db
June 15th, 2010
12:43 pm
Heck yea. I am more involved in watching the USA and their group. There is some serious passion throughout the world when it comes to soccer. Go USA!
reality
June 15th, 2010
12:45 pm
No, because soccer is an awful and dreadful sport to watch. I would rather watch women’s golf, bowling, or darts then the world wide sport of the down trodden.
reality
June 15th, 2010
12:51 pm
I actually played soccer for about 5 or 6 years growing up, and it can actually be a fun game to PLAY. However watching the sport is quite possibly the most torturous affair I can think of doing as a means of leisure. I wouldn’t attend a soccer match if you paid me to do so.
DHD
June 15th, 2010
12:52 pm
I would rather hear Celine Dion in concert.
Paul in RDU
June 15th, 2010
12:52 pm
Delbert D – Leicester City eh? As a native of Liverpool and a life-long Everton supporter I would like to thank you for selling us Gary Lineker when he was coming into his prime. My dad never forgave the Everton management for selling Lineker to Barcelona.
gcs
June 15th, 2010
12:53 pm
1. Are we really supposed to get excited about a tie??? Two words: “Bud Selig”.
2. If a team is up 3-0 at any point in the game, it’s basically over.
3. Crybaby theatrics – these guys whine and moan like little 2-year olds. When they are “injured” (real or not) they lie on the ground like they have been paralyzed.
4. Scoring theatrics – I know it is rare that a person actually gets the ball in the goal in soccer but they act like the biggest idiots after scoring. I don’t appreciate that kind of grandstanding. Do that in other sports and the next pitch, tackle, block attempt or check is at your head.
5. Portugal vs. Ivory Coast. Most Americans couldn’t find these countries on a map, much less have feelings either way about them. In regards to your buddy Ronaldo, see #3.
6. What is the point of blowing a vuvuzela? Are they supposed to rattle the goalie? If so, why blow them the whole game? It’s idiotic and juvenile. Continuously blow one at an American football game for two and a half hours and see where it ends up at the end of the game.
7. Soccer is just plain lame. Anybody can play – athletic talent not necessary. If you can stand and move one leg forward then you are eligible to play. Why do you think every little kid in the country plays? Because it’s easy and takes minimal intelligence.
.
Paul in RDU
June 15th, 2010
12:53 pm
Mark – I would have thought that having the vuvuzelas blaring made listening to Tommy “ol onion bag” Smythe and his partner bareable
Steve
June 15th, 2010
12:54 pm
Cant stand the horns. They are not making it very fan friendly.
CraZyTRaDeMaN
June 15th, 2010
12:54 pm
For all of you that are not watching you are missing out big time. It only takes me about 5 minutes of hearing that buzzing noise and seeing the same thing over and over to fall asleep. Its a early afternoon cant miss TV. MAN I’ve had some of the best naps that i’ve had in a long time over the past few days. Its better than the naps I get when watching NASCAR.
AppalachiaBrave
June 15th, 2010
12:57 pm
No, I am not watching. Too boring. And those horns are tooo loud.
Boses
June 15th, 2010
1:00 pm
Yes I’m watching it. I should be working, but it is so much fun to watch. This World Cup has actually made me stop obsessing about the DAWGS.
Cracker Jacket
June 15th, 2010
1:04 pm
Yellow Jackets need those buzzing horns! Can’t watch soccer because of that noise on TV but it might be cool at a football game!
DawginJax
June 15th, 2010
1:05 pm
I like to watch big-time soccer (World Cup, Confederations Cup, Champions League, Euro, and the big Premier League matches every once in a while), but admit that I don’t watch M.L.S. or even the Premier League on a regular basis. I absolutely love the World Cup, though. There is no sport in this world that showcases the pride and passion of its fans or contains more drama more so than World Cup soccer, and that includes SEC (American) football, which I love more than just about anything. The haters are either 1) ignorant of the sport and try to get into the World Cup but just don’t understand it enough to enjoy it; or 2) are dumb hick rednecks who think that somehow their masculinity is at risk if they like a sport that is king in Europe (and everywhere else in the world).
Most of the comments hating on soccer do not offer any rationale as to why they don’t like it – just that they don’t, and the ones that do are mistaken. Take Jason, who commented at 12:00. He thinks soccer consists of just passing the ball back and forth and taking only a few shots on goal per game, with a whole lot of nothing going on in between. Meanwhile, he likes 10-7 football games, because third downs get converted, turnovers occur, long returns, etc. between scores. The same things happen in soccer – corner kicks and other set pieces, turnovers, breakaways, red cards, etc. Just because there are not a whole lot of goals does not mean its not exciting – just the opposite. Its the drama and anticipation caused by the rarity of a goal that makes soccer so interesting. Absence makes the heart grow fonder.
P.S. About the vuvuzelas – I hate the vuvuzelas because they drown out the crowd noise, which is the best part of international soccer, especially the World Cup, although the noise itself I’ve found myself to forget about five minutes into the match.
IlliniBrave
June 15th, 2010
1:06 pm
@Red-State Bluelander: A retort to your ridiculous argument:
A.) It is boring.
I actually find it incredibly exciting – far more than watching golf or NASCAR or even your beloved hockey.
B.) It is for simple-minded, third-world simpletons who aren’t smart enough to be playing baseball.
Interesting. I have four degrees, and most of my friends who love soccer are also well-educated.
C.) Liberals like it.
I’m extremely conservative – and so are most of my anti-Obama friends who I watch soccer with.
D.) International Soccer has “Jeff Schultz” written all over it. (It’s FAB-U-LOUS!!!!)
For the record – Schultz has written passionately against MLS coming to Atlanta.
E.) Bear Bryant wouldn’t waste his time on it.
Can’t say what the Bear would think, but rednecks from Bama generally suck at soccer!
F.) Watching Braves Baseball Goes Better with Hot Wings.
Actually, the Buffalo Wild Wings up here are jammed with soccer fans for big games like the Champions League finals or the World Cup!
G.) It isn’t Hockey.
And thank God it isn’t!!! I’ve been to three Trashers games and those guys are perhaps the sorriest bunch of clowns that I’ve ever seen represent our great state of Georgia. I hope to God that they are shipped up to Canada where they belong!
Diving in the Box
June 15th, 2010
1:06 pm
Gary Lineker, my all time favorite England player. Never forget his Golden Boot performance in ‘86. Man, that also just reminded me of Maradona… Doh!
BTW, why is Rooney such a cry-caby?
Trey
June 15th, 2010
1:10 pm
Watching but this WC is so far a letdown compared to others. Not sure if it’s the ball or just lack of good players. To the idiot who said getting kicked in the shin doesn’t hurt. Care to let me give you a kick there? I guarantee you will fall to the ground. With that said, there are the fakers ala floppers like you had in the nba. They should be yellow and then red carded if they do it more than once.
gdawginkalamazoo
June 15th, 2010
1:10 pm
Mark, admit it. Sure you started watching the Ivory Coast v Protugal game but you fell asleep and had a great nap. When you awoke you thought hey I better change shirts because I have a big drool stain from my nap, then I will check on the blog. Come on admit it!
JPW
June 15th, 2010
1:10 pm
Watching as much of it as I can. Love the World Cup. Having played soccer for going on 30 years now, and comparing that to playing just about every other sport growing up, I laugh when people say the best athletes aren’t playing soccer. When you look at somebody like Prince Fielder and place him against Oguchi Onyewu, it’s no contest who the better athlete is.
Soccer truly is the beautiful game. Too many Americans are close-minded to the sport, and that’s all right. I don’t particularly care if this country embraces it or not.
sleeze
June 15th, 2010
1:11 pm
There’s no football and basketball’s almost over. Might as well watch the World Cup because the alternative is too horrible to think about – having to read Mark Bradley’s blog every day.
Bob
June 15th, 2010
1:13 pm
I enjoy the world cup. It’s different and there’s not much else going on this time of the year. Looking forward to it coming back to the US. I went back in 94.
Robert
June 15th, 2010
1:13 pm
Too many people in the South are narrow minded and ignorant of things other than college football, NASCAR and Braves baseball. I’m from Atlanta, so don’t think that I don’t know my own hometown. Soccer is an amazing sport to watch one you understand the nuances of the game, just like baseball. Both sports CAN be boring, but most of the time they aren’t. Just give it a chance. Watch it with no pre-conceived ideas or feelings. You’ll like it.
FutbolDawg
June 15th, 2010
1:14 pm
Love the game and almost everything about it. There are plenty of outlets (Fox Soccer Channel, Gol TV, internet, etc) to satisfy my desire. Really tired of the people who complain non-stop regarding their dislike of the game…..don’t like it? Don’t watch!!! Baseball & NASCAR are on too!!!
MikeR
June 15th, 2010
1:21 pm
MLB is the only sport that matters. Willie Mays never played soccer.
James
June 15th, 2010
1:22 pm
Mark,
I’ll admit, I only watch a few soccer matches a year. It is a very cool sport though, and it is obvious why so many countries LOVE ‘football’. As for the world cup, I am totally into it. I mean, I would imagine a lot of Americans treat this like the Olympics: who follows track and field year round? But everyone can get on it for the Olympics. I know some real soccer fans who are offended by that, but I find it exciting!
Dr Philistine
June 15th, 2010
1:23 pm
To complain that soccer is boring because there’s not enough scoring is akin to complaining about NASCAR because they only turn left. It’s an important element of the game that scoring be difficult; that’s what makes goals great.
StingerSplash
June 15th, 2010
1:28 pm
The three great televised sporting event naps are:
1) Golf nap. Can’t beat a good golf nap. And I love golf. But man, a non-major on TV on a weekend afternoon … that’s good napping.
2) NASCAR nap. Maybe it’s the constant engine drone that lends itself to white noise, like when a vacuum cleaner is running.
3) Soccer nap. A hard, deep sleep, almost Rip Van Winkle like in effect.