Why do Americans hate football(soccer) so much?

[Omikron009]

Because they like boring, stupid sports instead of the only semi-watchable sport on Earth.

 

[DarthFennec]

I'm American, and Football is my favorite sport, except perhaps FRC cause watching robots built by High School students which play Football is just awesome. Anyway, I just refuse to call it soccer, and American Football or whatever you want to call it makes absolutely no sense.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

I think you're asking the wrong people, this is a forum for gamers.

 

[Swarley]

I find it quite boring, so little going on. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, I've just never really watched a match that I've enjoyed. Though I'm Canadian, so I guess this thread isn't about me.

football (american one) convays power, skill, energy, raw power, barreling past your opponents at break neck speed, over coming them one at a time. it's a endurence test, and conveys the American spirit perfectly.

Really, because it sounds like Rugby, but wait, you "tough" americans need to put 40 pounds of gear to play that one! (This is a joke, kind of)

 

[Low Key]

yea the whole Americans hate soccer/football is a massive generalization. I met a good amount of people here in Minnesota (a state on the border of Canada) that like soccer/football. but we do live in a country where the people that scream the loudest no matter if they are a minority will get the most attention because they are the ones that get turned into the stereotypes. and right now i bet there are Americans standing on their roofs naked screaming "I HATE SOCCER" and all the world dose is look at them and take notes.

Well, there are plenty of soccer fields here, that's for sure. I even met an Irish guy who who comes here to coach it in Eden Prairie. But I should clarify my post a little more. I don't hate soccer, I just find it incredibly boring to watch, which makes it even harder to get interested in. It does take a lot of stamina to play so that part I admire, but I hear the same gripes about my favorite sport, baseball, being boring. To each their own I say.

And to all of you non-Americans, have you ever thought that the only reason Americans pick on soccer so much is because you defend it like it's the best invention since the wheel? I know that's poor rationale for bashing it, but can't you guys just give it a rest and let people like what they want to like?

 

[manaman]

I find it quite boring, so little going on. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it, I've just never really watched a match that I've enjoyed. Though I'm Canadian, so I guess this thread isn't about me.

football (american one) convays power, skill, energy, raw power, barreling past your opponents at break neck speed, over coming them one at a time. it's a endurence test, and conveys the American spirit perfectly.

Really, because it sounds like Rugby, but wait, you "tough" americans need to put 40 pounds of gear to play that one! (This is a joke, kind of)

I don't know how many times I have read, in this thread, that Rugby is just American Football without pads. I have to tell you that it's completely false. While American Football gets it's name, and origins from Rugby football, just like soccer gets its origins from Associated football. (seriously soccer originated as a term for football in Britain).

It's not like you don't need that gear either. I still managed to break my collarbone with that gear on playing football.

 

[rekabdarb]

all that work... for 1 point? shit in football (american) at least you get 6 points.

And us americans love to see numbers appear

 

[Hexenwolf]

For the most part Americans don't hate soccer. Most of them are indifferent, and a few of them really love it, but there's almost no one that just flat out hates it.

 

[aPod]

I flippin love soccer. I wasn't into it in school but now thats a huge regret i have. This world cup was amazing and as sad as I am that we're out i think Ghana is a great team and i'll be rooting for them now to take it all!

 

[Goldeneye1989]

Americans have money to spend on more expensive sports that's why. Soccer is most popular with countries that can't afford things like shoulder pads and Ice skating rinks.

Uh. Looks at the Soccer players salaries,
Lul wut

 

[Vuljatar]

This has probably been done to death, but I couldn't find it.

So what is with all the hate for the World Cup?

I honestly can't understand it. I certainly prefer other sports over it, but I don't get the rabid rage over it that I see a lot of Americans have.

Well, for this world cup I've got one word for you: Vuvuzela.

As for the sport, I hate soccer for several reasons. It's boring, the refs don't use instant replay to make tough calls (and therefore make far more mistakes than is forgivable), and the number 1 reason that I hate soccer is the fact that being able to convincingly fake an injury is more important than being able to play soccer.

Spoiler

And there's another gif I couldn't find, where some douchebag gets hit in the hip with the ball and falls to the ground clutching his face and writhing in "agony".

 

[Shock and Awe]

Most Americans don't hate it, they just like other sports more. Personally I think it is more fun to watch(and play) than either Baseball or Football(handegg) solely because it is far more dynamic. The ball is constantly going up and down the field unlike the slow crawl of football or the turn taking of baseball.

 

[Falcon123]

Maybe it's because the United States has never had a real star or ever been very good. We get owned every year by countries that are so much smaller than us (Ghana! Really? We have 300 Million + in our country and we can't find 11 players who are good enough to beat Ghana?!?). If we spent the time actually training soccer players instead of turning anyone with natural athletic talent into a baseball, football, or basketball star, we might have enough talent on the team to inspire some fandom, but as long as we lose to countries the average American would deem inferior in most ways (again, GHANA?!?), no one will be able to sell the sport when we already dominate in most other sports about which we currently care.

But then again Ghana are a nation that is passionate about football. It would have been depressing to see a nation that cares so much go out as opposed to a nation that treats football so casually. Also, it would have been depressing for the final African team in the first African world cup to go out to a nation that, overall doesn't care. Overall, the team that deserved it won. I understand that that wasn't your original point but I needed to say it somewhere.

Also basically no one is willing to watch a game that is tactical enough that there is the possibility of a draw

I totally agree that Ghana was more deserving to win, and honestly, as an American, I'm kind of glad they did for all the reasons you listed, but my point was that it shouldn't happen. Logistically, there should be enough good soccer players in America to beat just about anybody, just by using statistical probabilities that complete freaks of nature with more athletic talent in their pinky than most of us have in our entire bodies would be here. I mean, we're talented in literally everything else (we have a competitive curling team when the Olympics come around; you can't possibly tell me that curling is so much more interesting to the average American than soccer that there are more curling stars in this country ), so we should have a talented soccer team. But we just don't. Weak strikers + weak defense = round of 16 exit, regardless of our goalie or midfielders (Donovan is awesome, but he's imported from Scotland so he barely counts).

When we field a good team that can legitimately compete with the rest of the world (and it honestly shouldn't be this hard...), soccer will sell here. Until then, we'll write it off as "that European sport no real American cares about".

 

[Falcon123]

Oh, and while I remember this, many hate soccer because the referees are worse than they are in most American sports. I mean, just in the games I've watched in the last five days there have been 4 goals called back for offsides that weren't there, 1 that was clearly offsides and counted anyway, and 1 that crossed the goalline but apparently the refs just didn't like England and refused to count it (seriously, I don't usually insult refs because I see it as an excuse (and because I am a soccer ref in a league near my house), but they have been godawful in this tournament. No one who watch the U.S.-Slovenia or U.S.-Algeria games can deny this). And what's FIFA's response? They refuse to make a statement or apology (even umpires, the most stubborn of American refs, admit when the goofed up, like when Galarraga's no hitter was taken away), and they refuse to even consider adding replay technology to fix these issues. That arrogance not only hits hard with American stereotypes of Europeans (not me personally, but we all know they're there), but also makes us resent the sport that screwed us over twice in this tournament.

So, to somewhat amend my earlier statement, when we field a good team that can legitimately compete with the rest of the world AND FIFA is willing to admit to its own fallibility (an apology would be huge to the majority of us. It's not that bad, FIFA, I swear you'll survive an apology), then soccer will sell here. Until then, I doubt it.

 

[Deofuta]

Don't hate it, why hate a sport? Not like we are bolted to our chairs, requiring to watch it. Personally I love American Football better. My friend is a soccer fanatic though, and has had NE Revolution tickets for the past 20 years or something. Less popular = less expensive, so it seems like the soccer fans win in the end.

Also, it seems like Rugby and American Football have two different concepts when it comes to tackling. With Rugby it is more of a drag to the ground movement, and AF has a more direct impact based play. Am I wrong in this statement?

Also x 2: Would it be defying the tenets of soccer to add in some instant replay option for the ref's? Some of the calls I have seen have been really unforgivable.

 

[The Diabolical Biz]

I totally agree that Ghana was more deserving to win, and honestly, as an American, I'm kind of glad they did for all the reasons you listed, but my point was that it shouldn't happen. Logistically, there should be enough good soccer players in America to beat just about anybody, just by using statistical probabilities that complete freaks of nature with more athletic talent in their pinky than most of us have in our entire bodies would be here. I mean, we're talented in literally everything else (we have a competitive curling team when the Olympics come around; you can't possibly tell me that curling is so much more interesting to the average American than soccer that there are more curling stars in this country ), so we should have a talented soccer team. But we just don't. Weak strikers + weak defense = round of 16 exit, regardless of our goalie or midfielders (Donovan is awesome, but he's imported from Scotland so he barely counts).

When we field a good team that can legitimately compete with the rest of the world (and it honestly shouldn't be this hard...), soccer will sell here. Until then, we'll write it off as "that European sport no real American cares about".

Well, maybe America got beaten by Ghana because they're more passionate about the game, in that there eeryone plays it all the time, and as such there are far more players who can actually exercise their potential. It's quite possible that in America, quite a lot of potentially talented football players are lost to other, more popular, more exposed sports? Anyway, that's just my opinion...

 

[Marowit]

I actually prefer Soccer to both Baseball and Football - both of which I find terribly boring.

But I also grew up playing hockey/lacrosse which are both more like Soccer than baseball or football. Personally I think it's just that Baseball and football are both entrenched as "American Pastimes," and really nothing more complicated than that. Sure there is the argument that Soccer is more of a slow building sport, and Americans don't have the attention span for that but then why isn't Rugby more popular then? No, I just think it's that people are more invested in their local baseball/football team, and that's for no other reason than tradition.

Just look at how many people tuned in to the US World Cup games and really enjoyed them - I know I don't follow the MLS (soccer league here), but after watching the World Cup I'm going to give it a shot if I can find it on TV/Online

 

[Spinozaad]

I haven't read any posts but the first page, but... As a European this is my fifty (fitty!) cents:

Any American who thinks "soccer" is boring because:
A) nothing happens
B) it's not violent

Should get his head checked, because, well... I'm not saying he's retarded (that would be flaming, after all), but because his or her eyes might not function, because...
A) It's 90 minutes of non-stop action, unlike handegg, in which 80% of the time is used up by buffed up dudes in space marine armour doing absolutely nothing.
B) Baseball and basketball are popular True American (tm) sports, and they have even less violence!

So, yeah. Suck it? Something like that. Clockwork Orange won! Woo!

 

[Tranka Verrane]

They don't.
I've met a lot of americans on these forums who were pretty passionate about soccer.
But, hell, even if you're right, most Europeans dislike American football also, so the door swings both ways.

No, we just call it rugby and play it without padding. Also, this isn't a USA and Europe thing, this is a USA and rest of the world thing.

For the record, I'm not particularly interested in fottball of any flavour. But I'm gay.

They also play it without anyone strong of fast enough to play American Football.

It also doesn't help that there is more acting and delaying through injury in a single game of soccer than in the last decade of American Football. We might stop the clock for a bit, but at least the only people we have in the game that fall over and act like they're hurt whenever someone looks at them cross-eyed are the kickers, and we usually get them from soccer teams.

Football (soccer)is the non-contact variant of the game. You can't have a go at people for complainig about injuries in it, it isn't the point.

As for not having anyone strong or fast enough....

Hahahahhahahhahahhahahahhahahahahhaha

I will take that comment with me to the pub for my welsh friend to take home with him. Very, very funny, thank you.