The Beckham effect was also very minimal in terms of attendance. Galaxy attendance sky-rocketed for a couple of seasons, but has leveled off since to around 20k and the 15 road matches aren't really enough to skew attendance numbers that greatly. Also, the final attendance numbers are below the 17k referenced earlier, but still represent a 4% overall increase from last season according to this SoccerAmerica article. There are a few teams that have dipped in attendance, but those are fairly explainable as several of those clubs blew this season (New England, DC United, Toronto, Chivas USA) or had a capacity change (Kansas City) . FC Dallas is a bit harder to explain as they had a 19 match unbeaten streak and are loaded with young talent. Their location, however, is terrrrrrrrrrible for attendance as it is so far outside of Dallas and was just poorly planned for the target market.
Baseball does not suck! Its America's past time. Soccer on the other hand, well, I'd rather watch paint dry.
I don't care if it's America's past time or not, it's just as boring as soccer to me. I think you can safely rule me out as one of those American's that don't like soccer cause "it ain't Amurrican!". I don't care what's American and what's not.
Hey Wheels do you remember when soccer was listed under "more sports" on the ESPN homepage? Those were the days...
I love it when soccer fans try to convince normal people that soccer is somehow interesting. I love it. I laugh at them the same way I would laugh at people if they tried to tell me that dog shit pizza was the best thing on earth. If you like it, fine. Just don't try and brainwash the rest of us. Maybe the government is full of soccer fans, they are trying to turn us into a third world country. That would make it more likely that soccer would succeed here.
Why do people always have to bring up politics? "Maybe the government is full of football fans", "Only liberals play soccer". Shit gets old fast. Nobody gives a shit that you're a Republican. Go back to your NRA meeting. On the note of soccer, who cares if it's dying in the States? I don't get up early on the weekends to watch some shitty MLS game, I get up to watch my Arsenal. If I didn't have an attachment to a club in soccer, I would of grown bored of the sport a long time ago.
What gave you that idea? Real Salt Lake? Seattle Sounders FC? Ugh. I have a lot of friends who love the Sounders, and I went to a playoff game last year... I got bored and was just thinking about how I'd pretty much wasted $50. A couple of changes I'd implement: -- Stop the clock after violations and out-of bounds. The "Extra time" thing is silly and always seems arbitrary. -- Allow unlimited substitutions. Right now it's admirable that players have to run for 90 minutes, but I'd rather have hockey-like waves of fresh legs who can constantly sprint and pressure the ball than guys who (no matter how well conditioned) have to pace themselves. -- If you leave the field--due to injury or substitution--you have to sit out for X number of game minutes (2? 3?). Because there are unlimited substitutions, guys who are legitimately fouled and flopping around on the field after can leave the pitch without leaving their team a man down, but they will have to take some time to recover... that should cut down on the amount of acting that goes on in an effort to draw a card. It still might not be interesting enough for me to watch, but it would be a start. Ed O.
I like watching soccer, and I like to play it, but in America, it's really just a sport for short white guys who aren't good enough or big enough to play football, basketball, or even baseball. On a related note, a good friend of mine coached Darwin Barney through U-14 in the Westside Metro club. I remember Darwin as by far the best U-14 player on that team, and possibly in the entire city. Problem was, he was just a great athlete, so he quit soccer, stuck with baseball, and ended up playing 2B for the Chicago Cubs this year. Had baseball not been an option, Barney would have likely been a player worthy of national consideration, and according to my soccer junkie friend, one of the better mid-fielders to come out of the Portland area in the past 10 years. Instead, he was a rookie struggling to find his groove in MLB. I just can't take American soccer seriously because all of the real athletes are playing in other sports. Imagine Mike Vick as a mid-fielder, or LeBron James as a keeper, or Steven Jackson as a fullback.
hell as someone who has been watching Division 2 soccer in the US for the last few years, I just cant wait to see the first through ball that connects
