Soccer Is Anti-American?

[Wolfeye]

Why? Because fat people can't play it as easily? Apparently, it somehow endorses socialism & is against individuality. How? By the parts where you work as a team or the ones where do things by yourself? I don't understand how soccer's supposed to be supportive of a hive-mind style of thinking, especially compared to football. In American football, there's a whole group of guys that are just there to collide with another group of guys on the other side. Either you have the teamwork angle, or you have the mindless front line that just goes to get smashed-into when when someone else tells them.

What about baseball? Team dynamics there, too. Hockey has very similar dynamics to soccer, nobody bitches about that.

[nicho12]

Why? Because fat people can't play it as easily? Apparently, it somehow endorses socialism & is against individuality. How? By the parts where you work as a team or the ones where do things by yourself? I don't understand how soccer's supposed to be supportive of a hive-mind style of thinking, especially compared to football. In American football, there's a whole group of guys that are just there to collide with another group of guys on the other side. Either you have the teamwork angle, or you have the mindless front line that just goes to get smashed-into when when someone else tells them.

What about baseball? Team dynamics there, too. Hockey has very similar dynamics to soccer, nobody bitches about that.

This is one of the things that make the rest of the world hate America, America tries to politicize everything, now they're trying to politicize Soccer, how low can you go, it's just a sport. Even if Soccer endorses socialism? so what, I've never seen a Hockey player playing by himself, or a basket ball player. No society can ever survive with extreme individualism or extreme collectivism, and that's why Americans are so socially inept and alienated, it's because they believe in extreme individualism where by no one else matters but one's self. That's why they can't find women or even make friends, the religion of individualism is so ingrained in them and they wonder why they're so unhappy. What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?

[Bao3niang]

Costa Rica knocked out mighty Italy this time. It's funny that the head coach of the US national soccer team is best buddies / rival with the head coach of the German team. Klinsmann was pretty well known back in Germany.

[S_Parc]

I've never seen a Hockey player playing by himself, or a basket ball player. No society can ever survive with extreme individualism or extreme collectivism

The defeat of LeBron James' Miami Heat to the team oriented Spurs was a sign that an individual superstar doesn't reign supreme in a team oriented basketball squad, where everyone shares the ball and plays defense as a unit.

The days of the individual superman, meaning the next *Michael Jordan*, is coming to an end in the NBA. Let's hope that the media doesn't try to force fit the title onto Durant or someone new, in the following years.

[zboy1]

Football's a great sport: it's fun to watch--especially when you're in a foreign country. ...

I used to be a huge soccer basher--and believed in the socialism and communist bullsh*t influence of the sport, but after living in the U.K. for a couple of years...I became a huge footie fan. It's just that the quality of soccer in the States is so poor compared to the professional European leagues, it's no wonder why the sport isn't as popular in the States, as it is in the rest of the world. ...

Another reason is that Americans are generally ignorant and xenophobic about the rest-of-the-world, so it's no surprise when Ann Coulter writes a column stating that "You're UnAmerican, if you like soccer."

[Wolfeye]

nicho12- Spot-on, man. There's a lot of truth to that. Always wondered what would be a good way to say that & that one hit it pretty good.

[johnnyderp]

I don't get this argument that liking soccer is an endorsement of socialism...

American sports are all centrally administered leagues with drafts and salary caps to even out the competition. Most soccer leagues around the world, especially in Europe, are based on free-market capitalism. I always laugh at this irony, that the so-called home of capitalism has endorsed a socialist approach to running their sports, while the so-called socialist Europeans have clearly adopted the capitalist model.

Americans aren't very self-aware while attacking others are they...

[Wolfeye]

There's so much in the way of proud failure in this country. I think it's that they really figure if they keep holding themselves in this high esteem, the situation will always match it. Like jumping off a building to make there be water under them instead of concrete. This linkage is not accurate. Not really a smart thing & I don't know that it's something thoroughly deduced- it might just be a kind of conclusion reached without really noticing the deduction. The type of thing that comes right before when someone says "Do you actually hear yourself when you talk?"

[hammanta]

I think America's big flaw with soccer is a couple things. For one, it is usually played in the spring when America's second (formerly first) favorite sport is played, baseball. Kids have to choose one or the other and growing up most parents want them to play America's past time.

Secondly, soccer is seen as not that manly as the other sports and doesn't rely solely on speed, strength, and size. Every time I see a player trip and fall, agonizing in pain only to get up a minute later, sprint down the field as soon as a ref calls a foul like nothing happened, I just shake my head. Granted NBA isn't far away in the drama department.

Back to the size thing, American's love anomalies. We wanna see the biggest, strongest, and fastest players. Its about being a manly man and short shorts and skimpy metro hair cuts just doesn't ooze enough manliness. Just look at how everyone is flipping out about a player biting another guy. That pales in comparison to hockey brawls or getting knocked out by a 6'4" 270lb linebacker.

Some positives of soccer I enjoy is the passion involved with it and the party atmosphere. Everytime I saw a pic of Rio I was in complete envy. I also like the team and strategic atmosphere that soccer encompasses. Along those lines, even though soccer is quite boring through most of the match, that moment when a goal happens is such a monumental moment. They celebrate and do crazy dances, they take their time and savor the moment. Basketball and baseball simply lack that grand moment, except for game winning shots and walk off homeruns.

[Wolfeye]

hammanta- Good points. I don't know about the manliness, though. There's a lot of anti-masculinity trends here. It's like any kind of manly traits are indicators of cruelty. A typical example is the idea of "strong equals mean." It seems pretty common to see someone as nuts if they're inclined toward countering someone that actually IS like that, too.

[Cornfed]

Why? Because fat people can't play it as easily? Apparently, it somehow endorses socialism & is against individuality. How?

Apart from the total insanity of this, the ironic thing is that Amerikan team sports were government sponsored from the beginning. This is clearly socialist, but it is the peculiar Amerikan form of socialism where things are funded at public expense as usual, but then a few already filthy rich private investors cream off all the profit. Here is an explanation of the NFL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpcudMkTsgI