Soccer...Most boring Sport Ever?

[SaveElmer]

C'mon...any sport where 0-0 ties are common....

:boring:

:hide:

[ForrestGump]

1. No way

You have obviously never seen cricket.

It makes even baseball seem exciting.

[Van23]

2. When You're A Hockey Fan Like Me..

any other sport is painfully slow by comparison.

[SaveElmer]

5. Hockey is great in person...

Not so good on TV...

[LisaM]

11. Hockey is fine on TV if you understand the game

I still can't get over the glowing puck! I remember all the hockey boards at the time: "Puck off!" "What the puck were you thinking?"

May I take a moment here to thank Gary Bettman for his efforts to ruin the game? I hope that the particular hell he ends up in is like one of the NASCAR towns he seems to love so much.

[SaveElmer]

12. Oh I understand it...grew up in MN watching the North Stars...

Went to one of Gump Worsley's last games!!!

On TV its hard to follow, and you don't get the sounds that makes a Hockey Game fun!

[smoogatz]

55. I went to an NHL game in Buffalo once

with one of my ex-GFs. Sabres vs the Rangers--Gretzky was playing for the Rangers that season, though he wasn't taking much ice time. Sabres' goalie was somebody famous, whose name I now forget--a Czech, I think. A low-scoring affair, but interesting nonetheless. What struck me: first, the utter silence in which the game is played when the home team has the puck (when the Rs had the puck, cheezey rock music playing at fairly high volume). Second, the speed. Those guys can really fucking skate. Amazing. Third, the fights. There were two major fights between what appeared to be the designated goons for each team. Both times, the referees actually skated away from the fight in progress and let it run its course for a minute or two (or three), until either one of the fighters had clearly gotten the worst of it (blood on the ice), or both were so tired that nothing much was happening anymore. Then the refs moved in and broke it up. Fascinating. Obviously everyone considered the fights to be an integral part of the game.

[Van23]

61. The Czech Goalie..

you're refering to is the greatest goaltender in the history of the game, Dominik "The Dominator" Hasek. He's playing for Detroit for what might be his final season.

[Van23]

59. I love it

either way. I go to Seattle Thunderbirds games all the time, and I watch my beloved Red Wings on the tube.

[Oeditpus Rex]

3. ...

:popcorn:

[mainegreen]

4. Curling is worse.

[tk2kewl]

34. I don't know why, but I love watching curling.

soccer, not so much

[LuLu550]

64. I'm with you I hate curling because it involves a broom

and I hate to clean house.

[dropkickpa]

6. weirdo

Soccer is awesome!

[SaveElmer]

7. Yeah...if

You are looking for a cure for insomnia!!! :-)

[ghostsofgiants]

8. I hate watching any sports, and hate playing most...

But soccer is fun to play.

[ForrestGump]

15. Also, without soccer, there would be no

soccer moms... :loveya:

[ghostsofgiants]

36. Haha, honestly, I could do without those.

Sports parents of any type irritate the shit out of me. (At least they're not hockey moms though.)

[Esra Star]

52. Yeah, that's the ticket. Crap to watch but fun to play.

Only unco's want to play sports where you can cheat and use your hands.
True ability is where you can only use your feet or head or other non-hand appendage.

edit: foot to hand (I am now eating the foot)

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. Absolutely not!! Basketball is the most boring.

:yawn:

[ForrestGump]

14. No

Watching MOST sports on TV, and sometimes even in person, is what's boring.

In other countries, many adults play sports. In the US, they mostly watch them on TV and sit there on the couch getting less and less athletic. Also always amazed me how men who are so stunningly ignorant about the world, or their own country, can recite baseball statistics from 1958.

[Rabrrrrrr]

17. The land where knowledge and information are feared and ridiculed,

unless it's knowledge of sports statistics or cars, then you're a fucking hero.

[LisaM]

42. And why is that? In the European cities I've been in, there are lots of places

where you can play sports, or even get a long enough break at lunch to go out and at least play some boule. There are parks galore. Here, where I work in Seattle, there is no park I can go to, hardly any public space at all, and most of my co-workers don't take an hour for lunch. It's the Puritan work "ethic" gone amok. I would dearly love for Seattle to have more public spaces, particularly where people work. I would use them.

I play softball and it's a huge commitment to be able to find a place to play. If you want to reserve a field on weekends or in the evening to practice, they charge you $40 an hour. Seriously. That's IF there's an available field. Many softball fields have been turned over to soccer, or the soccer people use them anyway and rip them up (which probably means there are not enough soccer fields either). Our particular field is given over to Little League until the middle of June. We pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars to play, and we only get something like six games for it. It's one thing to want to play sports. It's another thing to have a community with a good enough parks system to support that. I envy how it is in Europe.

[BlueJazz]

58. Ditto on that...and the fucking "playoffs" last longer than .....

....most democracies.

[LisaM]

10. As my dad puts it

It's like watching hockey on a huge, slow rink.

[northzax]

13. so what you are saying

is that the only thing you care about is scoring?

and by the way, 0-0 ties are remarkably uncommon at the highest stages of the game, for a sport in which this is possible.

take the last full week of the Premiership. (Feb 3) there were 9 games played on the 2nd and 3rd. All but one had more than one goal scored. Sure, there isn't as much scoring as say, basketball, but who cares? think of it this way. in a game in which goals are so precious, one mistake, by anyone on your team, at any time, can cost you the game. you make a mistake five minutes into a basketball game, and no one remembers. American leagues have basically taken defense out of sport (the NBA and NFL certainly write their rules to favour the offense, footie is much more even between the two.

and yes, teams that aren't as good can stall and stall and stall, and hope for a good decision. how is that different than watching a lesser basketball team try to stall a better one? same difference, a boring game.

[SaveElmer]

16. Anticipation is the key....

The vast majority of a Soccer game is played at a position where you just know there will be no scoring...

In every exciting sport, there is always the possibility of a score at any given moment...even slower sports like Baseball...any pitch could result in something exciting...so there is always the anticipation...

Soccer...sorry...you just don't get that!

btw: I think pro basketball is boring...too much scoring...not exciting till the last couple minutes...

But not as bad as soccer!

[northzax]

21. so yes, scoring is everything

or the anticipation of scoring, at least. interesting. so football is only interesting when the offense is in the red zone? I mean there really isn't much of an anticipation of scoring when you are on your own 30, right? and if you say a defensive score, well, that works in soccer as well.

[SaveElmer]

27. Not true...

Always the possibility of an interception return for a touchdown, or a breakout run, or an across the middle pass and breakaway...

How many time have you seen someone score a goal in soccer from midfield..


And yes, scoring is the point of popular sport...

[northzax]

38. the midfield is one pass away

but it's ok, you simply don't get it. don't worry about it.

[ForrestGump]

26. Does THIS happen in basketball?

If that's not excitement, well...I don't know what is.

[LisaM]

20. Me? No. I'm a defense girl myself, for all sports

I would prefer a 1-0 baseball game, 3-0 football game, for example, to any other scores. I even like NBA games to come in under 100 points per team. However, scoring aside, soccer is way slower than hockey.

I've tried to watch soccer, but it strikes me as a sport that's more fun because of WHO is playing it, rather than WHAT is being played. When the World Cup came to the US in 1994, I had one of the best times of my life at an Irish bar, watching Ireland beat Italy. But the fun mostly came because I felt so Irish and had a good time waiting for the clock to run out, rather than any other part.

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. I've never understood

equating scoring with action. :shrug:

[SaveElmer]

29. Anticipation of scoring...

Something that the vast majority of a soccer game doesn't really have....

[ForrestGump]

32. Also something that the vast majority of

my interactions with women do not really have...

[underpants]

19. I love the whole atmosphere and the athleticism required

Not boring at all but then I played when I was a kid and in high school

[LisaM]

23. Ack!!!! "Athleticism"!!!! Is that really a word?

I hear it all the time, but I think it's made up.

[underpants]

39. Yes

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/athleticism

[LisaM]

40. Aha! Aha! It IS a word

but it doesn't mean someone's a great athlete - it means that they have energy and are exuberant.

I've always liked you, Underpants, and now I like you even more - you've proved that it is a word, but that sportscasters are mis-using it!!!!!! thanks!

[dropkickpa]

35. ding ding ding

Most americans have very little clue as to what they are looking at when watching soccer unless they've played it, which I think is partly why it is "boring" to them. Boring sounds better than "I don't get it". Where we learn all the rules in the NFL early on and are subjected to all the hype, other countries learn soccer and hype that up.

I'm an ex-soccer jock and now a soccer mom. I also ref a lot of games in the neighborhood league.

The most boring sport to watch on TV? Golf. Seriously, 90% of the time you can't even see where the ball is!

[borlis]

22. I vote for golf.

Most.Boring.Evah.

[Radical Activist]

24. Golf is not a sport.

But it is amazingly boring to watch.
The same things are true for cars going in circles.

[Tektonik]

25. NASCAR by far

seconded by golf

[Little Wing]

28. Meh. Formula1 is now more boring than NASCAR

In F1, the only passes occur during pitstops, it's pathetic. I might catch a few races this year to see how Kimi does in a car that doesn't explode when he's in the lead, but otherwise I'm not interested.

[unpossibles]

30. have you never seen a baseball game? n/t

[Awsi Dooger]

53. Baseball is by far the most boring

Not remotely close. It's a simpleton sport where basically nothing happens and what does happen is concentrated is a very small area between only three people. That's how it survives and is even praised. Fans who have no clue how to watch and analyze a football game with linemen impacting how every play evolves can easily focus on a pitched ball, a catcher and batter. That's all they need to know so they leave contented. In the rare instances the ball is actually put into play they can shift focus to a specific spot and again that's all they need to know. It's exactly the equivalent of fans who watch the ball in a football game and miss everything else, but stroll out of the stadium convinced they watched the game. In soccer and basketball you similarly need to watch the activity away from the ball to understand the sport, so that's why those sports are absurdly listed as boring. You can watch the matchup between two guys all game long during a soccer match and it's anything but boring regardless of the score. Like the situation with Zidane in the World Cup final last year. That had been building all game.

[skypilot]

31. Seems pretty boring to me.

I always assumed that's why they let them fight.

[edbermac]

33. Regular yes; World Cup no.

Go figure.

[Shell Beau]

37. Nah!! I find it exciting! What I do find boring as hell is watching golf!!!

Golf is fun to play, but it is a total bore to watch!

[Redstone]

41. Yes.

Redstone

[Zavulon]

43. I voted yes, but after a second thought I'd have said curling is worse. (NT)

[calico1]

44. It is mesmerizing...

compared to Cricket. Have you ever seen that?

[philosophie_en_rose]

45. Clearly, you have never observed curling.

At least soccer involves eye candy in short shorts. :)

[jakefrep]

46. Not by a long shot....

...not as long as NASCAR and figure skating are in existence.

[Gato Moteado]

47. never saw madrid vs barcelona i guess

nt

[China_cat]

48. One word

Golf.

[Threedifferentones]

49. Why does a sport need constant scoring to be exciitng?

Most Americans have no appreciation for the game...if you understand how hard it is to get that perfect touch on the ball WITH YOUR FOOT while sprinting full speed, and how precise the players have to be in their positioning and timing without a coach telling them what to do during the game, it is alot more exciting.

Also, alot of the MLS teams kinda blow, you really need to watch European soccer to see true pros.

I used to think American football was the most boring game in the world, because my father is an Anglophile and always told me it was boring compared to soccer. Then I started going to UT Knoxville, where of course football is THE sport, and played a few American football video games. That (finally) gave me a basic understanding of how the various positions work in different formations, and I now appreciate both "football" games about equally.

My point is that the sports we watch frequently are the sports we enjoy most, and it seems like many Americans have never really given "soccer" a chance.

[SaveElmer]

51. There has to be tha anticipation that a score...

Could occur at any time...a sense you rarely have during a soccer game...

[Broken_Hero]

50. Nope,

Golf is...:D

[smoogatz]

54. Soccer would be a lot more interesting if the players were armed.

But so would most sports, I guess.

[SPKrazy]

56. No Way d00d!

Soccer rawks!

It's fun, it is fast, it requires a lot of teamwork, it teaches good sportsmanship, and it is great to watch.

:woohoo:

[LeftyMom]

57. It's boring, but some of the players are hot.

Sorta like baseball, only the seconds long stretches of action are even less frequent.

[MrSlayer]

60. Yes. The crowd is far more interesting than the game.

The chanting, the drinking, the fistfights and riots are way more interesting than the game.

[Little Wing]

62. make it more interesting

[T_i_B]

63. Baseball is WAAAAAAAY more boring!

No wonder channel 5 has it on late night as an insommnia cure!

Personally I've been busy this week going round Colchester gloating over my team (Sheffield Wednesday) beating Colchester United 2-0 at Hillsborough. :-)

[zanne]

65. Not according to Monty Python...

Here's a game between the ancient Greeks and German philosophers. http://youtube.com/watch?v=xrShK-NVMIU