TMS wrote:Childs2Dudley wrote:TMS wrote:no penalty??? wtf!
What play are you referring to? The one where Altidore missed while falling down? That wasn't a penalty.
he fell because the guy pushed him down from behind.
There was no push, Altidore lost his balance while battling with another player. No penalty there. It was the correct call.
Now Ghana take the lead. Damnit.
Childs2Dudley wrote:TMS wrote:Childs2Dudley wrote:TMS wrote:no penalty??? wtf!
What play are you referring to? The one where Altidore missed while falling down? That wasn't a penalty.
he fell because the guy pushed him down from behind.
There was no push, Altidore lost his balance while battling with another player. No penalty there. It was the correct call.
Now Ghana take the lead. Damnit.
+1 No penalty... damn that was some bad defending!!!
need another miracle goal here... looking pretty grim.
what happened to the attacking offense from the 2nd half?
another Academy Award winner
wow, almost another miracle.
ugh... losing 2-1 twice in 1 day...
Dayyyyyyuuuummmmm.
can't keep losing games that we are supposed to win.
Findley and Dempsey both had opportunities that theyhad to convert.
Back to not caring about soccer until 2014, wish it could have lasted another few days
Im no soccer expert, never will be, but i do live in the US, and i do know our best athletes do not grow up playing soccer. In these other countries, they do. Thats a disadvantage we will never fully be able to overcome. Period. Its just how it is. Until we see a day when most of our kids grow up with dreams of leading our country to a gold in soccer (which will never happen) we'll never close the gap. Our kids grow up dreaming of playing real football, they grow up dreaming about playing hoops, or baseball. Its big in the suburbs with rich kids. Who played soccer growing up in your high school? The kids whos parents wouldn't allow them to play football, and the kids who sucked at hoops, largely because those kids were like 5'3" 115 lbs soaking wet. With how little people here care about this sport, its pretty cool that they could at least make the final 16. Our best athletes are chasing fame in the bigger and more popular sports. In these other countries, soccer is the popular sport
if European, South American & Asian countries are able to bridge the gap & beat the US at their own games in hoops & baseball during international play, then the US should one day be able to do the same for soccer.
TMS wrote:if European, South American & Asian countries are able to bridge the gap & beat the US at their own games in hoops & baseball during international play, then the US should one day be able to do the same for soccer.
Sports like baseball are bigger in these south american countries as well as Japan than soccer is here. And basketball is more popular in many countries than soccer is here. Still though, we do remain dominant in hoops. Since we've gone to pros we've won gold in 4 of the 5 olympics, and finished with bronze in the one we didn't win (thanks Larry Brown). No country quite dominates soccer like that
KnicksSince88 wrote:TMS wrote:if European, South American & Asian countries are able to bridge the gap & beat the US at their own games in hoops & baseball during international play, then the US should one day be able to do the same for soccer.
Sports like baseball are bigger in these south american countries as well as Japan than soccer is here. And basketball is more popular in many countries than soccer is here. Still though, we do remain dominant in hoops. Since we've gone to pros we've won gold in 4 of the 5 olympics, and finished with bronze in the one we didn't win (thanks Larry Brown). No country quite dominates soccer like that
the US also has a much larger pool of population to draw from than a lot of these smaller countries... i agree with u that baseball & hoops is a lot more popular in European, South American & Asian countries compared to soccer's popularity stateside, but all of those countries have had to start from a huge disadvantage yet were still able to develop the talent in those sports to compete with the US in international play today... those sports gaining in popularity in those countries have everything to do with marketing... kids see athletes celebrated by the media & grow up wanting to emulate them... soccer isn't popular in the States because sports marketers & corporate sponsors spend all of their money glamorizing athletes in other sports in this country.
& to anyone who wants to use the "soccer is largely a sport that requires monetary investment to develop young talent" excuse, that hasn't stopped young athletes in other more impoverished nations from growing into superstars in other sports.
TMS wrote:KnicksSince88 wrote:TMS wrote:if European, South American & Asian countries are able to bridge the gap & beat the US at their own games in hoops & baseball during international play, then the US should one day be able to do the same for soccer.
Sports like baseball are bigger in these south american countries as well as Japan than soccer is here. And basketball is more popular in many countries than soccer is here. Still though, we do remain dominant in hoops. Since we've gone to pros we've won gold in 4 of the 5 olympics, and finished with bronze in the one we didn't win (thanks Larry Brown). No country quite dominates soccer like that
the US also has a much larger pool of population to draw from than a lot of these smaller countries... i agree with u that baseball & hoops is a lot more popular in European, South American & Asian countries compared to soccer's popularity stateside, but all of those countries have had to start from a huge disadvantage yet were still able to develop the talent in those sports to compete with the US in international play today... those sports gaining in popularity in those countries have everything to do with marketing... kids see athletes celebrated by the media & grow up wanting to emulate them... soccer isn't popular in the States because sports marketers & corporate sponsors spend all of their money glamorizing athletes in other sports in this country.
& to anyone who wants to use the "soccer is largely a sport that requires monetary investment to develop young talent" excuse, that hasn't stopped young athletes in other more impoverished nations from growing into superstars in other sports.
usa has many sports entertainment options for fans, and routes to play diff things. when your best route to play elite soccer is to go out of the usa, that doesnt help.
when your best route to play elite soccer is to go out of the usa, that doesnt help.
you can say the same for baseball & hoops players in every other country.
TMS wrote:when your best route to play elite soccer is to go out of the usa, that doesnt help.
you can say the same for baseball & hoops players in every other country.
as the exposure of american sports gets out (or perhaps the elite players), it seems to influence some of those folks... in terms of soccer, it has a long ways to go to get to that level here. there is no elite soccer league here. the exposure of top players just doesnt happen as it does in other parts of the world. elite soccer players can elicit quite a few "who dats" to various american sports fans. there isnt much room with the nfl pushing itself worldwide and year round, mlb having a long season, nba/nhl, etc... do you wanna be like mike? or do you wanna be like rooney/pele/henry/(pick your top guy)? id wager most american kids wont know who the soccer guy is, and will know the "local" talent.
Lets just put it this way. I consider myself a massive sports fan. Even the sports i don't follow, like hockey, just by virtue of watching television and simply existing, i can name a good deal of players. When it came to this US soccer team, when this thing started, i could name one player (Donovan). After watching a few games i can name like 3 or 4. I don't think im in the minority on this. In fact i think i could now name more guys on this team with my 3 or 4, than 99% of our population
u guys are pretty much reiterating the point i made earlier about marketing being the main reason why you don't see soccer as popular in this country as sports like baseball & basketball have become in other countries... it's all about media exposure... if the networks aren't showing it & the sponsors aren't promoting it, the chances of the sport gaining in popularity are nonexistent.
i refrained from this cuz i dont wanna get into sport holy wars... im not trying to insight one either.
i brought up name recognition in the context of how it may influence folks picking up the sport, not to poop on elite soccer talent.
some folks i do know who dont like soccer view it as "alien"... i think the "its not our sport" has influenced them in that regard. im not sure if those folks will ever like it, nor should it matter. hence why i dont like where this may be going... this hasnt gone well on some other boards of soccer vs sport X.
i wasn't making any reference to the elite soccer talent issue... i personally think soccer players are some of the most gifted athletes in any sport... the endurance & will power it takes to run around non stop for 2 stretches of 45 minute halves is mindboggling to me, much less having the concentration & dexterity to dribble a soccer ball with your feet while you're doing it... i'd be winded just running from 1 end of the field to the other.
