Official FIFA South Africa World Cup Thread

[WashingtonCoug]

Lol, a "thriving professional league?" Two of the league's teams turned a profit last year. Three teams turned a profit the year before. The MLS actually is managed as well as one could reasonably expect, but it certainly isn't thriving. Until the MLS is a destination for the best players while they're in their prime, Americans will continue to ignore it. The problem is, the league can't afford to pay these type of players the money they can get in Europe, but without these players, the MLS can't make the money. It's a catch 22.

The MLS has already been around for close to 15 years and only two of the teams are making money?

Soccer isn't new in this country. Kids were playing it like crazy when I was a kid back in the 80s. I'm sure kids up to 12 are really interested in soccer, then they become like the rest of us who only pay attention once every four years (kind of like the Olympics). The US had a professional league back in the 70s that attracted more stars at the end of their careers than this one does and that didn't work. Soccer has been the next biggest thing for close to 40 years.

Very, very few of the superior athletes in this country play soccer. They all play one of the three big sports.

Only two teams make a profit? That sounds like the NBA.

[DU Ute]

Addio, Italia.

[MarkGrace]

France and Italy out. Crazy.

[il Padrino Ute]

Defending champs and runner-up both eliminated. Wow.

Italy deserves to go home and it's always good when France loses.

[hostile]

Defending champs and runner-up both eliminated. Wow.

Italy deserves to go home and it's always good when France loses.

I don't know if France lost so much as they gave up - maybe it's in their genes?

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I don't think it's arrogant for me at least because I have suggestions to improve other sports, as well. Baseball needs to cut the time between pitches dramatically. Basketball needs to address the foul/free throw issue. Nothing is more boring than watching a free throw fest. NBA has basically become unwatchable for me, and basketball was my love as a youth.

It doesn't matter if it's World Cup or EPL, soccer still has the same problems: lack of scoring and bad officiating easily has ability to dictate outcome of game.

Soccer's not the ugly chick. Soccer's a hot chick who just needs a nose job.

Soccer isn't the biggest sport in India and Pakistan. It also isn't the biggest sport in Australia. As far as I can tell, it's not the biggest sport in Japan or China. These aren't insignificant countries. Between the US, Australia, Japan, China, India and Pakistan (probably add countries like Bangladesh in here), you're probably talking about half of the world's population.

Soccer has an opportunity to succeed in the US because the NBA and MLB, IMO, are both suffering. The NBA has become unwatchable for many former fans who still love college basketball. The reasons for this range from shitty reffing (and teams adjusting to it) to players being too big, fast and strong for the size of the court. MLB is becoming irrelevant in large parts of the country and in certain populations of the country. 5-10 franchises could be shut down and no one would care.

I looked at the Bundesliga final standing from last year and the best team in the league, Bayern Munich, barely averaged over two goals a game. The worst team in the league averaged about one goal a game. The average score was something around 2-1. This is an improvement over what we're seeing in the World Cup. 2-1 translates into roughly a 20-10 score in football.

But I still stand by my argument that a sport in which the world championship has been decided by penalty kicks in three of the past five World Cups, simply has to change. Why they don't do sudden death over time and let these guys play until someone scores is beyond me.

[falafel]

Soccer isn't the biggest sport in India and Pakistan. It also isn't the biggest sport in Australia. As far as I can tell, it's not the biggest sport in Japan or China. These aren't insignificant countries. Between the US, Australia, Japan, China, India and Pakistan (probably add countries like Bangladesh in here), you're probably talking about half of the world's population.

But I still stand by my argument that a sport in which the world championship has been decided by penalty kicks in three of the past five World Cups, simply has to change. Why they don't do sudden death over time and let these guys play until someone scores is beyond me.

You're not seriously disputing that soccer is by far the #1 most popular sport worldwide, are you?

In soccer, the rarity of scoring provides for much more excitement when it actually happens. It makes the games much more tense, which makes the goals themselves more pleasing.

You can't be serious about sudden death. You're the guy bemoaning a sport that can go 90s minutes without a goal and you want them to let that go on indefinitely? You've got your wires crossed here friend.

[Flystripper]

The NBA has become unwatchable for many former fans who still love college basketball. The reasons for this range from shitty reffing (and teams adjusting to it) to players being too big, fast and strong for the size of the court.

You do know that ratings and attendance are up in the NBA, right? I don't think the NBA is struggling at all. In fact, it is more healthy today than it has been in years. The most recent finals had TV ratings that have not been achieved since Jordan's bulls.

[il Padrino Ute]

I don't know if France lost so much as they gave up - maybe it's in their genes?

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Ok, now you've earned a

The 1994 final was mesmerizing, and the penalty kicks only confirmed the on field result that would've happned had they kept playing. The Italian players were falling down with massive leg cramps, R. Baggio was ineffective, and the Brazilians were clearly in better shape. Whether by penalty kicks or another 90 mins, the Cariocas would've won.

It was a great game of two great teams, one in much better shape than the other. I'd prefer if you just went on your way; you've become the Rosebud of soccer threads.

Sorry Wuap, if you can't effectively argue against my point, then I'm sticking around. If Brazil was truly wearing them down, then Brazil should have been able to win without having to go to penalty kicks (where the Italy's relative level of fatigue would have played almost no role in their ability to kick a ball less than 10 yards into a goal). If what you're saying is accurate, then the flow of the game itself should have worked in Brazil's favor. The problem in soccer, as I mentioned above, is the sheer amount of ties that occur. It's compounded by resorting to penalty kicks.

In 2006, the Italian goalie literally guessed right one more time than the French goalie. Ending the world championship like this is akin to the NBA engaging in a game of H O R S E or free throw shooting contest if the game ends in a tie.

What's funny about soccer fans is their complete inability to recognize flaws in the game. Ending a game on penalty kicks is utterly ludicrous.

[DU Ute]

You do know that ratings and attendance are up in the NBA, right? I don't think the NBA is struggling at all. In fact, it is more healthy today than it has been in years.

The same goes for MLB

[Color Me Badd Fan]

You do know that ratings and attendance are up in the NBA, right? I don't think the NBA is struggling at all. In fact, it is more healthy today than it has been in years. The most recent finals had TV ratings that have not been achieved since Jordan's bulls.

The average Nielsen rating was a 10.9. Game 7 probably got much bigger ratings than this average though. I don't doubt that Game 7 was the most watched NBA Finals game since Jordan was in the league. But it was only the second Game 7 in the Finals since Jordan left. And the other Game 7 involved the Pistons and San Antonio (not a pleasant series for any casual basketball fan to watch).

But to put that into perspective, every single Finals from 1982 through 2001 scored a bigger average than this last Finals. And this last Finals had a lot going for it. Kobe Bryant, one of the top 3 stars in the league, was playing in it. LA is the second largest media market in the country. It was rematch between the world champion and the team that beat them two years prior. There's a ton of history between LA and Boston. Still it achieved an average rating lower than any Finals from 82 through 01. BTW, 2004 achieved an average rating of 11.5.

The quality of play in that Game 7 probably didn't win back too many casual fans to the NBA.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The same goes for MLB

Really?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...tendance_N.htm

According to this article, attendance dropped 6.9% last year.

[falafel]

What's funny about soccer fans is their complete inability to recognize flaws in the game. Ending a game on penalty kicks is utterly ludicrous.

I think its exciting. And you're an idiot if you think all a goalie has to do block a PK is guess correctly. Showing your ignorance again.

[DU Ute]

Really?

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseb...tendance_N.htm

According to this article, attendance dropped 6.9% last year.

Just a one year fluctuation. Attendance for this past decade was up almost 25% over the 90's. Using this type of logic, BYU should be in the PAC10 ahead of Utah because they had a better record last year, and everyone knows how ridiculous that sounds.