Beware The Haters

Great response comments, truly. The last one is *really* good.

The photo of Jim Rome is especially appropriate. He really is the posterboy for soccer-hating journalists. For a while I wondered if it was just his schtick, but the more I listened to him (I used to live in San Diego and followed the sports station where got started, XTRA-AM 690), the more I realized what a dufus he is. He’s talented as an on-air personality, this is true. Which just proves that that kind of talent does not equate to intelligence.

But your comments are great, and reflect my change in thinking over the years as my passion for soccer developed. There’s no reason to apologize for the game.

There is no way to force someone to appreciate something: they need to choose to do that on their own. I enjoy it, and that’s good enough for me. More and more people in this country are finding this out for themselves, too.

The big problem is: many times USA believes they are ‘the world’. The rest of us are just visiting or something. They call World Championship their own leagues.

These football haters are like KKK members, complete ignorants. They will never see the simplicity of the sport. They will never comprehend that a football match is not only about scoring, but it is about dribling, passing, team spirit and joy. To me these haters are still sleeping, while we are wide awake in the real world.

Someday North America will hatch the egg and see the beauty of the world around it.

Its just like Matrix!!!

Some Americans already swallowed the red pill and they know what the real world is about.

KKK and ’soccer’ haters keep swallowing the blue pill. It’s a matter of choice, like Rick said,

Maybe these sportscasters should get down to a kid’s level, because there are plenty of kids playing across the U.S. Last time I looked a whole bunch of colleges also have it in their programs. These guys either are unable to get a feel for the playing of the sport(isn’t it natural to just kick a ball around) or are carrying on an anti-soccer agenda.

I agree. It’s at least partially motivated by a fear that the sports these guys love and understand could one day be superceded by soccer. This article points to Marvelle Wynne as an example of a kid with a family tradition of baseball who has turned to soccer (Wynne was selected no.1 by New York in this years MLS draft).

[...] Don’t be a player hater (USA Blog) [...]

Good post, Daryl. The US anti-soccer attitude runs deep and wide. Politicians used to deride it as Communist earlier in the 20th century. And Euler’s right, there is a strain of US thought that diminishes the positions and interests of the rest of the world.

As for soccer-haters…their loss. We’re in the later rounds of the Copa Libertadores and the Champions League, with the World Cup less that two months away. It would suck not to be jazzed right now.

My position is that I think most of the sports media figures that hate soccer are annoying on just about anything else I like as well, but unfortunately, some are actually respected.

It doesn’t really bother me all that much–sure, I want to win more fans to soccer, but I’m not going to go apopleptic and try to convince people that it’s better than every other sport. That’s just being as annoying as the soccer-haters.

What strikes me most about the real hard-core haters–Rome, Deford, etc.–is how insecure they seem to be. Rome is pure shtick, but whenever Deford puts down soccer, he always has to say that the “American sports” (soccer’s been around in the US longer than basketball has, alright) are more complex, yada yada yada. It’s like he has to convince himself why he believes that way.

But we shouldn’t waste all our time on the haters. Life’s too short, and there’s too much soccer to enjoy. And if someone that hasn’t cared about soccer all that much couldn’t get excited about the US beating Portugal in 2002, they’ll never come around.

Liked your post Evan. I saw a TV show on E! (Entertainment TV) a few years ago in which they ranked the MLS as number 3 or 4 in the list of shows people would be most embarassed to admit watching.

I was pissed, upset, saddened and what else what not – but I guess the media bias against soccer is very strong. However over the last few years, I don’t know if its just me, but the people I’ve met over my travels (I’m a consultant) seem to have more and more knowledge about soccer here.

Slowly they *will* figure out that 32 teams in the Fifa WC chosen from 6 billion people over the world are more competitive and a bigger show than than 32 teams in the NFL chosen from 300 million ppl in USA.

first, I understand the game, it’s so simple that you can train monkeys to play it properly, you don’t require special abilities to play it, any dumbass can kick a ball

second, baseball, nascar AND soccer are DEADLY BORING, actually, watching sports is boring and pointless, even playing videogames involves more action

third, I am not american, and where I’m from, it’s a national sport, an that fact doesn’t make it any less shitty

fourth, I guess is tough, not the game itself, but the aftermatch fan brawl is really something, is the only thing about socer that I like to watch

fifth, one goal is too many, soccer is for suckers and must cease to exist