My Take on why The Beautiful Game is not accepted in Good Ol' USA

Hello All (well probably just Marco),
I'm going to get on my soapbox and tell everyone my opionions on why soccer (The Beautiful Game) has not succeeded in the USA. My first statement will not be an opinion but a question. How the hell is soccer not more popular in this country?? It is the most played sport for children in the USA and its the most played sport in the world. As stated before in this blog, the main reason is money. Once these kids that grew up playing soccer get to their teens and they see NBA teenagers, NFL and MLB players making millions upon millions they quickly change their minds. And money is what is ruining sports today. But thats another subject for another day.

And thats another problem. This country is too saturated with too many sports. Hate to say it but I'm kind of glad hockey isn't around anymore (especially after they took our beloved Hartford Whalers from us). Maybe soccer can fill that void left by hockey. Dont get me wrong. I follow just about every sport there is and I enjoy trying to play as many as a I can (or at least used to) but soccer by far is a superior sport to them all. I have this argument all the time with hard-heading Americans. They think that soccer players are a bunch of pansies that fall down every time they get touched. Yes, lately it seems that more players are taking dives but I guess that is in the same strategy as a basketball player standing under the hoop and flopping for a charge.

Anyways back to my point. Soccer is one of very few sports where they're continuously in motion, running for 90 mins. Baseball you stop every half inning, football you stop after ever play, basketball has TV timeouts every 4 mins. To be a soccer player you have to be a true athelete. Also, every player on the field has to be on the same page. In soccer you need 11 quarterbacks out there not just one. You're playing on the fly, there are no set plays (except for dead ball situations) Soccer is as mental as it is physical. I could go on and on about the great attributes of this game.

Another big reason soccer hasn't made it here is that America is obsessed with the long ball. Everyone wants big scores. No one can appreciate the beauty and suspense of a 1-0 game or a 0-0 tie.

I'm glad to see things like the ChampionWorld Series of Soccer showcasing the world's best teams. More things like this need to happen. I think the USA needs to promote and advertise more. But of course that means more money and since we already have 3 major sports leagues, the NHL if it ever comes back, NASCAR (which I dont consider a sport) Let me go on a tangent here. So millions of rednecks, er, I mean people, would rather watch a bunch of cars go in a circle than watch a true sport like soccer. Thats why the rest of the world laughs at us. I just dont get it. I hope things change in the near future and we find some more Freddy Adus to take US soccer to a whole new level and we can have a league here like Italy or England or Spain.

Ranting & Raving

Did you know that there were 23 games played today? Why can't they have a station dedicated to soccer? Like they do for Golf. I know why, we live in America where the media doesn't care about soccer because football, basketball, & baseball is so much better. That was sarcastic. Why a Golf channel then? Because the fat & rich people of America play Golf so they watch Golf, so Golf companies advertise their products, in turn paying for commercials and so there's a Golf channel for it. Baseball is boring. I actually feel asleep at a game once. Maybe the steroid use is a good thing. It produces more offense. At least American football doesn't have steroid use, yeah right. Football players athletes? Most are just big and stupid and they can crack he in half, so if you ever meet me be nice to me. A few are true athletes like Michael Vick. Imagine him playing soccer? How awesome do you think he could be. Basketball players are way too young to be getting paid that much money. They get so much money they don't know what to do with it. Look at Jayson Williams who bought a gun, he thought it would be fun. Well how much fun is it that he accidentally shot and killed some poor old man trying to make a living as a limo driver. Ron Artest should have been a boxer if he wanted to fight. And all the other fighters in the league that are out to prove their toughness. Last time I checked you don't need to be big, bad, and strong to make a basket. I have to admit though, college basketball is fun. The fans, students not alumni, get into it and cheer not stop during the game. They storm the court when there's an upset. You know why college basketball is good? Because they are still kids just playing the game for the love of the it. But that's where they start to see the real America and a few of them take the perks and get in trouble. A few more are involved with point shaving. I know, I know the soccer world isn't perfect. Take the 2002 World Cup. There were tons of rumors that FIFA wanted the "little teams" to produce a few upsets. It's there way of getting the rest of the world excited about soccer. Well nothing was confirmed but rumors are started for a reason. How else would you explain a team like South Korea, who automatically qualified which means they were limited in their game experience. But they reached the semi-finals. Was it pure passion on the part of the players? Maybe they didn't stop running during the whole month. Or was there a little help for the refs? Who by the way are employed by F.I.F.A. Let's see what's going on in Germany right now? The refs are corrupt. I knew they were blind and dumb but corrupt too. If it can happen at the club level in Germany it could happen on the International level like a World Cup. It probably can happen at any level in any game. I guess I'm just sick of these professional athletes that are superstars and it's sad because they once were kids playing, just playing, having a great time playing their game. Then comes the corporate world and their $$$$$$ We'll give you x amount of money. Why do they give these guys so much money when most of them would play for free? I have been playing for free my whole life. I plan on playing until I can't walk or until I die, which ever comes first. Anyway back to my point. These people who pay these athletes aren't dump, they know it takes money to make money. They invest on an athlete to attract fans, sell merchandise etc. In a perfect world all sporting events would be like Mystery Alaska, the athletes are happy to play and so they play. The fans love to watch so they watch. ALL FOR FREE. Everyone has fun and there's no corruption. I really hope they have soccer in heaven or else I'm not going. So when these investors don't get what they want what do they do? They pay a ref to do this or that and they gamble, Pete Rose, a great baseball player. He loved the game so much that he became a manager to stay involved. But like I said before "baseball is boring". So to spice things up he starts to gamble on the games. Oh my god I can rant & rave about how much these gifted and talented athletes are a bunch of greedy bastards. Because the people who hire them are a bunch of greedy bastards and the damn athletes are influenced and changed and in turn corrupted.

What do you think?

My Favorite Soccer Links - vol 1

The first edition of my favorite soccer links. Someday I'll create a web site nicely organized with all the soccer links that are out there. So here's 5 that you can start with. Hopefully you have already been to them.

1 - World Cup - The official World Cup site! If you don't already know about this site then your not a true soccer fan like me.

2 - UEFA - Europe's football site. The best football is played in Europe so then why not check out the site that has all the latest news, stats, etc.. The site covers UEFA Cup, Champions League, and EURO Cup the best but also has some other stuff too.

3 - LiveScore - Has live scores of all soccer games being played. Ever know about a game and just can't find it on the TV or Radio? But you need to know up to the minute results. Well this site delivers just that.

4 - FIFA - The World's Soccer Governing Body. This to me makes more sense than the UN.

5 - My Indoor Team - This may not be important to you, but it is to me. This is my indoor team, we are trying to defend our title and win the league again.

Do you have any links that are worth mentioning? I know I missed some good sites out there, because the web is FULL of soccer sites. In all different languages too - because it's truly the world's sport. Maybe I'll add your link to my next edition of Favorite Links.

Soccer Calcio Futbol

Welcome to SCF!
This blog is dedicated to the world's game, Soccer, Calcio, Futbol, or what ever you call it.
I personally am a fan of the Italian league, I also follow the Champions League and the UEFA cup.
On the national level the World Cup is definitely the king of all tournaments, competitions & events of any sport. The 2006 tournament should be a great one. The hosts, Germany, will be a tough team to beat. The Brazilians are always strong. I hope the little nations do well again and create havoc for the giants. Hopefully we'll see Freddy Adu's talent, he's supposed to be the next great player. The Italians make me cry every 4 years :( so I'm not going to even talk about them. As you can see I love this sport and could basically talk about it forever. I hope you enjoy this blog and visit often and of course your views & opinions are always welcomed. - Forza Italia!