Americans hate soccer with a passion. We will always insult it no matter what. We will always question the masculinity of the millions who play it and the billions who watch it, nothing will change that. We are superior because we are American, our sports are superior, foreign sports are inferior.
This is the mindset that no matter what you soccer fags will never change. America’s culture and sports dominate the world. Soccer is inferior, for weak people of lesser physical and mental stature to Americans. Soccer sucks
Soccer is the most effemanate, unmanly/unamerican, pansy foreigner thing ever as the great patriot Frank Hill said “Soccer was invented by European ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking.” No real man (ie. American white non-hispanic male) would ever dream of even thinking of soccer without telling others how much soccer sucks and how its a pansy sport played only in europe by sissy french and that its inherently more boring than real sports like baseball, football and nascar.
Sensible Non Racist Americans
· 10 months ago
youre a fucking cunt john. get the fuck out of here. douche bag.
rfinterference
· 10 months ago
Great interview. But Wells has one thing wrong - school yard games of American football are very active. No one bothers much with blocking, or with a running game. With most everyone running out for or covering the pass, it's every bit as active as football.
nick Bohnenkamp
· 10 months ago
good article. as an american, i understand exactly what he is talking about when mentioning the idiots that get cheap laughs by bashing soccer. i have had many debates with posters like john who just dont get it. as much as i want to argue everyone of his points, i will choose to ignore it.
The Gaffer
· 10 months ago
Many years ago I used to worry about the ignorant Americans and their distaste for soccer. During those times, they controlled the media and newspapers, so the soccer fans were the minority.
With how prevalent the Internet is and the abundance of satellite TV channels showing soccer games, I can afford to ignore the soccer haters. They're no longer in my way, and are laughable.
Cheers, The Gaffer
Dave Griffiths
· 10 months ago
originally from Ireland...been living in the states (kentucky) for nearly 20 years...came over on a soccer scholarship, played in college, coached in college, coached high school and club and now am a technical director at a large club in Kentucky...and i can tell you that there are a few major problems with the game here that make it nearly impossible for it to grow to a scale that most of us want it to get to and were discussed in this very good article 1. Too few teams in a geographic area...this applies to most cities in the US (i am sure that there are a few exceptions but I have not seen it in the Midwest Region we are part of)...back in Dublin I played U10 through U18 in the Dublin District Schoolboys leagues and each age group had a division of 14 or more teams and those divisions went from Div A to Div E or even F....so you had 14+ teams times 6 or seven different divisions in each age group!! All within easy driving distance... 2. At EVERY level in youth soccer in the US the kids play too many games in a short timeframe CLUB TEAMS play their seasons in our area March- May and will play between 25-30 games usually and play at LEAST 3 weekend games (if in a tournament that number can go to 5 games) they normally play at 8-10am....then again between 2-4pm Then they will play another game on Sunday at 10am and possibly at 3pm Now you can Imagine what kind of product these players are able to put on the table by the time they are playing their 4th (80 minute) game in 48 hours!! Injuries and burnout (especially with female players) are rife in the club game by the time these kids reach 13/14 years of age (high school playing days) HIGH SCHOOL teams play August-October and usually spend mid July -early August in Preseason which usually means running and fitness work...then proceed to play 20 regular season games in a 9 week window...then up to 8 more in a three week playoff schedule... All the while Practicing pretty much every day after school from Aug-October...(the better players then will link up with their Club teams who have a winter season which would comprise of a couple of tournaments in Florida or any warmer confines in the South USA. from NOV-DEC The general level of coaching in the High Schools and the general level of play is quite poor although there are exceptions to that in each major city....High School soccer is not for the purist fan of the game... But lets take a step back here...the AVERAGE american soccer player has now just completed his/her club season and high school season from March-October with one month (mid June to mid July) off and has played a total average of between 45 and 60 games in 7 months! NOW they will go from November to March and have little or NO games! They will play indoor and blast the ball off a wall until its time for the season to start up again. When they get to College its the same...Seasons crammed into Aug-October and then they are NOT ALLOWED by the NCAA to play again until a short window of friendlies in the spring March/April and then nothing but fitness workouts before they come back in for preseason in July!! ON TOP of all this...american soccer players in general 1. Don't Watch soccer on tv 2. Don't read about it in any local newspapers 3. Don't Hear about it on the news 4. Don't PLAY in their neighbourhoods 5. Don't have any heroes in the sport 6. Don't play soccer by themselves in the backyard
But they DO... 1. Bounce a soccerball like a basketball when standing on a floor 2. Watch College American Football and College Basketball 3. Play pickup basketball/throwball games a lot in the summer 4. Get their heroes from number 2 above 5. Read all about these sports and hear all about these sports every day 6 WILL throw a basketball at a net 12 feet above them for 45 mins to pass the time but will not dribble or kick a ball at a goal 12 feet away from them for 45 mins
There are a lot of great things about US soccer and it DOES continue to grow...there are some amazing players at the youth level that I believe are as good if not better than european players their age and level....BUT....what I have outlined above are ,I BELIEVE, some of the major reasons why American kids do not have the same PASSION for the game that will turn them into PROFESSIONALS of the SPORT...You can have all the talent you want...but if you dont have the PASSION then you will not make it in ANY PROFESSION The odds are stacked against them BUT as they grow up and raise families THEY will put soccer in the spotlight and THEIR kids will find ways to be passionate about the sport My son is 10 next month...and because I have no interest in american sports he only watches football....he checks BBC Sport/101 Goals/EPL talk every day for football news he watches and DVRs FSC and Setanta games from England Italy and Argentina He supports Man Utd (I went thru the 70/80's when we were crap so he doesnt know how lucky he is) Inter milan and Boca Jnrs...He idolizes Ronaldo, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Sir Alex, Jose and Georgie Best. He is a fan of the game because thats what his dad is...we don't slag on American sports, we just have no interest in them....but we love football and we live in big basketball country...but we have to work hard to find our football...I look forward to the day when it is a lot easier to find....but its a hell of a lot better than it was in 1990 when I arrived here. Football in the US will grow, but I see it growing slowly and can see the USA becoming a stronger nation at this game by 2018 World Cup...it is going to take 2 more World Cup rotations to make up the gaps they have right now with the world powers at the game.
Stan
· 10 months ago
I have been a coach and parent in the Dallas area for over 25 years. We have a great soccer community that allows players to participate year round, even in the extreme hot and cold seasons due to multiple indoor facilities. The early influence of English soccer due to the old NASL Dallas Tornadoes has been supplemented by the large influx of Hispanic people in the last 20 years. The result is a culturally diverse game that crosses ethnic, color and financial backgrounds. I have had one son graduate college while playing soccer in the Ivy and currently have another playing in the ACC. I cannot imagine a better area to have raised children. While it may not match the professional acadamies of Europe they touched the ball everyday, were exposed to great coaches and played on multipe teams with very diverse styles all the way from indoor hispanic leagues to playing with the US Youth National teams. My family watches European football weekly and our conversations generally cover the top European games over the NFL or NBA. Walk in any shopping mall in Dallas and you will American kids wearing an Man U, Barcelona or Chivas jersey. There should be great expectations for soccer in this country due to the continued migration of Hispanics into the US (Texas and California- two of the most populated states will be predominantly Hispanic within 20 years). That coupled with with the already strong youth programs established in most major cities will see a continued growth in popularity of the sport. For a moment of venting, it is almost comical to see the generally under-educated, right winged Republican right, panic seeing their world collapse with a black president, and new soccer teams both recreational and professional proliferate in their insular backwoods world such as John. My son's college soccer team plays in front of crowds that surpass the crowd of my college football division II university. Times are changing.
ART
· 10 months ago
Steven, I can't tell you how many times I have made these exact same points to anyone who will listen. I am a long time American supporter of soccer, and I think you've been reading my mind all this time. Thank you for expressing it in such a well-written, intelligent manner.
Chuck Smith
· 10 months ago
A good interview... aside from the language.
I do have a couple of questions, being your everyday average soccer hating right-wing idiot American .
Why do so many people seem to hate Beckham and why does every European assume that all Americans hate soccer?
I grew up loving basketball and football as most American kids do but I have always hated baseball. Suprisingly to me and appalling to many of my friends, I now will often chose to watch an EPL game over an NCAA Basketball game. American football still rules when the right teams are playing. I'm sorry.
My kids play and I coach. We have season tickets to FC Dallas now, solely because I wanted to see Baeckham play. My 6 year old has a Beckham jersey. Both boys have ManU and Inter Milan jerseys. I am certain that I am not alone in this regard.
Beckham's presense in MLS and my children's participation at the youth level has made a legitimate fan of the game out of me. Again, I am certain that I am not alone.
Soccer will never rise to the level of the NFL, NBA or MLB in this country but with over 300 million people it doesn't have to in order to be successful. More people will attend/watch those leagues and more kids will spontantiously play those games in the school yard for years to come but the seeds of soccer have been planted and the roots are becoming well set. It is only a matter of time before the grass begins to green.
I often read various opions that lament about the US game being too structured and that games are not played just for fun. Unfortunately, this is true of virtually all sports and just old fashion 'play' in general. You won't catch kids playing football or baseball in the yard or at the park the way we did as kids anymore. A 3v3 basketball game is even hard to get organized in many neighborhoods anymore. Even an old fashioned game of hide and seek or kick the can (I'm dating myself) is nearly gone. Play Station and the internet rule the day now. Our society has just become that way, for better or for worse.
The American sporting landscape will be far different for soccer 1-2-3 generations from now than it is today for many reasons but some patient support from England and other soccer crazed nations would help expedite this transition.
Palmettosoccer
· 10 months ago
The United States' soccer culture is vastly underestimated, perhaps because much of it flies below the radar of the media. However, in my home state of South Carolina, kids play club soccer year during fall and spring season and fill in the gaps with indoor soccer, futsal, and 3 v 3. Perhaps they are not playing in neighborhood pickup games, but when our club sponsored weekly futsal sessions, without coaches, permanent teams, or posted results during the winter break, about 50 kids signed up to play. These kids know EPL and Serie A teams, and follow their seasons. Outstanding talent is displayed regularly. Adults play regularly in organized leagues and weekly pick up games. Is there room for improvement? Sure, but by following the establishment sports media in this country, you will not get an accurate picture of U.S. soccer.
John Pepple
· 10 months ago
Is there a left-right split in soccer here in the U.S? I've often looked for it, but haven't really found it. Compare the bumper stickers of the cars at a soccer game with the cars at a Whole Foods store. There's no overlap. The people I see at soccer games here in the U.S. -- and I started going to games in 1976 -- seem very middle of the road to me. Plus, there's an entire educational movement -- multiculturalism -- which is leftist and is devoted to getting Americans to be more respectful of other cultures. So far, none of their efforts include getting Americans to be more respectful of soccer. If neo-cons attack soccer, then most leftists, especially the older ones, just don't care.
There is a generational split, however. If you were born in, say, 1950, then you almost certainly are not a soccer fan, but if you were born in 1960, you might be a fan, and the chances go up for every decade after that.
All Comments
Americans hate soccer with a passion. We will always insult it no matter what. We will always question the masculinity of the millions who play it and the billions who watch it, nothing will change that. We are superior because we are American, our sports are superior, foreign sports are inferior.
This is the mindset that no matter what you soccer fags will never change. America’s culture and sports dominate the world. Soccer is inferior, for weak people of lesser physical and mental stature to Americans. Soccer sucks
Soccer is the most effemanate, unmanly/unamerican, pansy foreigner thing ever as the great patriot Frank Hill said “Soccer was invented by European ladies to keep them busy while their husbands did the cooking.” No real man (ie. American white non-hispanic male) would ever dream of even thinking of soccer without telling others how much soccer sucks and how its a pansy sport played only in europe by sissy french and that its inherently more boring than real sports like baseball, football and nascar.
With how prevalent the Internet is and the abundance of satellite TV channels showing soccer games, I can afford to ignore the soccer haters. They're no longer in my way, and are laughable.
Cheers,
The Gaffer
1. Too few teams in a geographic area...this applies to most cities in the US (i am sure that there are a few exceptions but I have not seen it in the Midwest Region we are part of)...back in Dublin I played U10 through U18 in the Dublin District Schoolboys leagues and each age group had a division of 14 or more teams and those divisions went from Div A to Div E or even F....so you had 14+ teams times 6 or seven different divisions in each age group!! All within easy driving distance...
2. At EVERY level in youth soccer in the US the kids play too many games in a short timeframe
CLUB TEAMS play their seasons in our area March- May and will play between 25-30 games usually and play at LEAST 3 weekend games (if in a tournament that number can go to 5 games) they normally play at 8-10am....then again between 2-4pm
Then they will play another game on Sunday at 10am and possibly at 3pm
Now you can Imagine what kind of product these players are able to put on the table by the time they are playing their 4th (80 minute) game in 48 hours!!
Injuries and burnout (especially with female players) are rife in the club game by the time these kids reach 13/14 years of age (high school playing days)
HIGH SCHOOL teams play August-October and usually spend mid July -early August in Preseason which usually means running and fitness work...then proceed to play 20 regular season games in a 9 week window...then up to 8 more in a three week playoff schedule...
All the while Practicing pretty much every day after school from Aug-October...(the better players then will link up with their Club teams who have a winter season which would comprise of a couple of tournaments in Florida or any warmer confines in the South USA. from NOV-DEC
The general level of coaching in the High Schools and the general level of play is quite poor although there are exceptions to that in each major city....High School soccer is not for the purist fan of the game...
But lets take a step back here...the AVERAGE american soccer player has now just completed his/her club season and high school season from March-October with one month (mid June to mid July) off and has played a total average of between 45 and 60 games in 7 months!
NOW they will go from November to March and have little or NO games! They will play indoor and blast the ball off a wall until its time for the season to start up again.
When they get to College its the same...Seasons crammed into Aug-October and then they are NOT ALLOWED by the NCAA to play again until a short window of friendlies in the spring March/April and then nothing but fitness workouts before they come back in for preseason in July!!
ON TOP of all this...american soccer players in general
1. Don't Watch soccer on tv
2. Don't read about it in any local newspapers
3. Don't Hear about it on the news
4. Don't PLAY in their neighbourhoods
5. Don't have any heroes in the sport
6. Don't play soccer by themselves in the backyard
But they DO...
1. Bounce a soccerball like a basketball when standing on a floor
2. Watch College American Football and College Basketball
3. Play pickup basketball/throwball games a lot in the summer
4. Get their heroes from number 2 above
5. Read all about these sports and hear all about these sports every day
6 WILL throw a basketball at a net 12 feet above them for 45 mins to pass the time
but will not dribble or kick a ball at a goal 12 feet away from them for 45 mins
There are a lot of great things about US soccer and it DOES continue to grow...there are some amazing players at the youth level that I believe are as good if not better than european players their age and level....BUT....what I have outlined above are ,I BELIEVE, some of the major reasons why American kids do not have the same PASSION for the game that will turn them into PROFESSIONALS of the SPORT...You can have all the talent you want...but if you dont have the PASSION then you will not make it in ANY PROFESSION
The odds are stacked against them BUT as they grow up and raise families THEY will put soccer in the spotlight and THEIR kids will find ways to be passionate about the sport
My son is 10 next month...and because I have no interest in american sports he only watches football....he checks BBC Sport/101 Goals/EPL talk every day for football news
he watches and DVRs FSC and Setanta games from England Italy and Argentina
He supports Man Utd (I went thru the 70/80's when we were crap so he doesnt know how lucky he is) Inter milan and Boca Jnrs...He idolizes Ronaldo, Messi, Ibrahimovic, Sir Alex, Jose and Georgie Best. He is a fan of the game because thats what his dad is...we don't slag on American sports, we just have no interest in them....but we love football and we live in big basketball country...but we have to work hard to find our football...I look forward to the day when it is a lot easier to find....but its a hell of a lot better than it was in 1990 when I arrived here.
Football in the US will grow, but I see it growing slowly and can see the USA becoming a stronger nation at this game by 2018 World Cup...it is going to take 2 more World Cup rotations to make up the gaps they have right now with the world powers at the game.
I have had one son graduate college while playing soccer in the Ivy and currently have another playing in the ACC. I cannot imagine a better area to have raised children. While it may not match the professional acadamies of Europe they touched the ball everyday, were exposed to great coaches and played on multipe teams with very diverse styles all the way from indoor hispanic leagues to playing with the US Youth National teams. My family watches European football weekly and our conversations generally cover the top European games over the NFL or NBA. Walk in any shopping mall in Dallas and you will American kids wearing an Man U, Barcelona or Chivas jersey. There should be great expectations for soccer in this country due to the continued migration of Hispanics into the US (Texas and California- two of the most populated states will be predominantly Hispanic within 20 years). That coupled with with the already strong youth programs established in most major cities will see a continued growth in popularity of the sport.
For a moment of venting, it is almost comical to see the generally under-educated, right winged Republican right, panic seeing their world collapse with a black president, and new soccer teams both recreational and professional proliferate in their insular backwoods world such as John. My son's college soccer team plays in front of crowds that surpass the crowd of my college football division II university. Times are changing.
I do have a couple of questions, being your everyday average soccer hating right-wing idiot American .
Why do so many people seem to hate Beckham and why does every European assume that all Americans hate soccer?
I grew up loving basketball and football as most American kids do but I have always hated baseball. Suprisingly to me and appalling to many of my friends, I now will often chose to watch an EPL game over an NCAA Basketball game. American football still rules when the right teams are playing. I'm sorry.
My kids play and I coach. We have season tickets to FC Dallas now, solely because I wanted to see Baeckham play. My 6 year old has a Beckham jersey. Both boys have ManU and Inter Milan jerseys. I am certain that I am not alone in this regard.
Beckham's presense in MLS and my children's participation at the youth level has made a legitimate fan of the game out of me. Again, I am certain that I am not alone.
Soccer will never rise to the level of the NFL, NBA or MLB in this country but with over 300 million people it doesn't have to in order to be successful. More people will attend/watch those leagues and more kids will spontantiously play those games in the school yard for years to come but the seeds of soccer have been planted and the roots are becoming well set. It is only a matter of time before the grass begins to green.
I often read various opions that lament about the US game being too structured and that games are not played just for fun. Unfortunately, this is true of virtually all sports and just old fashion 'play' in general. You won't catch kids playing football or baseball in the yard or at the park the way we did as kids anymore. A 3v3 basketball game is even hard to get organized in many neighborhoods anymore. Even an old fashioned game of hide and seek or kick the can (I'm dating myself) is nearly gone. Play Station and the internet rule the day now. Our society has just become that way, for better or for worse.
The American sporting landscape will be far different for soccer 1-2-3 generations from now than it is today for many reasons but some patient support from England and other soccer crazed nations would help expedite this transition.
There is a generational split, however. If you were born in, say, 1950, then you almost certainly are not a soccer fan, but if you were born in 1960, you might be a fan, and the chances go up for every decade after that.