how can you be a fan of this sport?

[zagosh]

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IMO, it's all about going to a game.

on a nice day, there's very little that's better than going to the ballpark with good freinds, lazily watching the game as you while away the afternoon eating hotdogs and drinking beer in the sun.

...and then...

...the sharp crack of the bat hitting a ball just right interrupts your conversation- it's a particularly singular sound... the ball sails over the fence... all of the sudden, you're on your feet, clapping and screaming like a mainiac, giving high fives to strangers...

then it's back to your beer and stadium food for a couple more innings... maybe some freshly opened peanuts that you just found in the empty seat beside you, like a glistening gift from god , dropping the shells under your seat... the green grass... the community feeling that comes with sharing conversation with strangers that you do not know at all, but you do know that you have at least one thing in common...

...and then...

...once in a while, something truly amazing can happen... if you ever get to watch a pitcher work a no-hitter into the seventh or beyond, or you ever get to see a guy win a game in the bottom of the ninth... you'll be hooked. there is no other sport that is capable of attaining the level of tension and relaese that base ball can... waiting for the pitch, with the game on the line, the batter has lasers for eyes, concentrating inhumanly hard, waiting to try to hit a round ball with a round bat as a professional trys to throw it past him at 100MPH. he knows that he will fail 70% of the time or more, but the game is on the line, the crowd leans foward en masse...

the tension builds and falls like waves on a beach with each pitch. higher... higher... and in an instant (actually about 7/10ths of a sec).. it's either over or it's not... he's a hero or the goat...

baseball: its all about teamwork, but there is nothing as essential within it as the one-on-one confrontation as the pitcher trys to gun down yet another batter... it's a perfect metaphor for anything you'd like: it's life, it's death, it's democracy and brotherhod and rugged individualism, it's futility and suffering; it's glorious redemption and rebirth...

I could go on like this for hours. you should go to a game.

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[Blarg]

I agree that the way they changed the rules in soccer a few years ago was a bad idea. To me, it's a huge slap in the face to the sport and adds a large element of the ridiculous. Deciding tied games on penalty kicks seems to make a mockery of the skills and efforts of the teams. It's about as close to flipping a coin as you can get, and has no place in a sport.

[Gin 'n Tonic]

Coming, as I do, from England, I do agree that soccer is overrated. Because the scoring opportunities are so few, the impact of poor refereeing and especially offside decisions have a disproportionate impact on the outcome of the game. The goalkeepers are overprotected, and increasingly pernikety rules on tackling have not helped either.

IMHO the best balanced and 'purest' of the team games is Aussie Rules - and it's not even close. Pacey, skilful and incredibly tough, if this game got a foothold in the UK/US it would Rule. If there's a fight on the pitch, the commentators just stop talking about the match and segue into fight commentary mode - awesome!

The one that I can't understand ANYONE wanting to watch is Basketball - URGH! Squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, plop. Foul, plop, plop. Squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, plop. Squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, plop. Squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, plop. Foul, plop, plop. Squeaky, squeaky, squeaky, plop..... repeat ad nauseam.

[jakethebake]

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YOu just gotta know what to be watching for.

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I only have one life. I can't spend all of it waiting for someone to score a [censored] goal.

[mason55]

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opened peanuts that you just found in the empty seat beside you, like a glistening gift from god

[/ QUOTE ]

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Good catch

[zaxx19]

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If there's a fight on the pitch, the commentators just stop talking about the match and segue into fight commentary mode - awesome!


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How is this different than say...HOCKEY.

[mason55]

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How is this different than say...HOCKEY.

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Hockey? What's that?

[Voltron87]

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Best soccer game that I've ever seen was Ireland-Germany a few World Cups ago.

The Irish were really dominating the whole time, but the Germans ended up scoring a goal sometime near the end of the first half or the start of the second.

After that goal, the germans went into defensive mode, and weren't really taking any chances with their win. The Irish were playing their hearts out, but it's kinda tough to get by like 5 defenders and 4 midfielders helping them out.

The British announcers were talking about the discipline of the German squad and how "Soccer is a game of 90 minutes and in the end the Germans win."

In injury time (the clock doesn't stop for injuries, but continues after normal time has elapsed, weird, I know), the Irish broke through the defense and scored a goal and it was just awesome.

Anyways, the game ended in a tie, but it was SO worth seeing. The stadium just errupted. I even jumped off the couch and yelled, and my roommate came upstairs to see what the hell was going on.

Awesome game.

Believe it or not, I actually meet soccer fans all the time who specifically remember that game.

--Dave.

Soccer's not really about scoring goals (though scoring goals is pretty cool). It's more about the strategy of the game and the little plays that lead up to the goals.

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That was a beautiful game. I went completely nuts when we scored in stoppage time.

[Voltron87]

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3) Don't award penalty kicks in situations where a goal might not have been scored (if not for the infraction).

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I think this is a very bad idea. The penalty kick forces defenders to defend properly, as opposed to many midfielder's version of defense, which is that if the guy gets past you you trip him.

[smudgex68]

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Standard answer from defenders of Sports That Suck (tm

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Well let's use statistics:

Number of people in the world - approx 6 billion
Number of people watch/support/play football - approx 5.95 billion
Number of people who watch/support/play baseball - 316 (and sometimes some of their friends to be polite)