On our trip to Brazil we were lucky to be able to take in a soccer game. I’m not a huge fan of soccer, I think it is pretty boring to watch. I like to play it, but in my opinion there is very little action, not a lot of strategy, and too many players roll on the ground as if they have just suffered a career ending injury. Never mind that after they roll around and grimace they get up and run around as if nothing happened. I’m not looking to start a fight, I know soccer is “the world’s” sport, but it just does not do much for me.
Baseball games just ooze with strategy. When you look at a baseball score board it’s common to see batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, RBI’s, home runs, singles, doubles, triples, along with the pitchers strikes, balls, total pitches made, and pitch speed. You are literally overwhelmed with information and any number of things can happen each time the pitcher rears back and lets it rip.
In a soccer game you have only two things on the score board: goals, of which there are very, very, very few and time elapsed. What else are you going to put up there? Perhaps how many times a particular player kicks with each foot? In soccer possession is most often messy with teams constantly turning over the ball and goal keepers kicking the ball great distances with no discernible strategy other than a vague hope that his team will gain possession when the ball drops from the sky. And if a game ends in a tie they settle it with penalty kicks – how random is that? You struggle for almost two hours as a team and can’t even score enough to win and then you tee up the ball for individuals to start firing it at the goal keeper in a Mano e Mano type format? I’m sorry, it makes no logical sense to me. Why transform a team game into the ultimate game of one on one? In my opinion, if it’s a team sport you have to keep playing as a team until there is a winner.
However, I do love cultural experiences and a soccer game is a cultural experience. We attended a game at one of the most famous stadiums in the world – Maracana Stadium. It is interesting to note that the stadium was built to hold 100,000 people, but when Brazil met Uruguay in the World Cup in 1950 they jammed 200,000 people into the stadium. Overcrowding is just one hazard you face at a soccer game we found out. Take a look at this picture . . .
Legions of fans of both teams light fireworks in what has to be one of the most unsafe things you could possibly do in a crowded stadium. I can’t imagine how many people end up with serious burns during games. This practice also fills the stadium with smoke which obscures you view of the game . . .
I guess maybe I’m just a wet blanket. I will say that the fans put American sports fans to shame. Well over an hour before kick off fans were chanting, singing, and waving flags with fervor unseen in all but maybe the most intense playoff games in American Professional sports leagues. And this fervor is not aided by alcohol. Alcohol is not sold in the stadium, but me thinks that if someone can smuggle burning hot fireworks into a game, they probably end up smuggling a bit of alcohol as well. And then there is the incredibly safe practice of letting children stand on the seats . . .
In the end I am just a random observer who I am sure will be shouted down by ardent soccer supporters. It was a fun cultural experience, but soccer for me will continue to be something that garners a bit of interest every four years when the World Cup occurs.
[...] Brazilian Soccer2008-08-06 10:13:43Rbi’S, home runs, singles, doubles, triples, along with the pitche [...]
I am not a sports person myself though I remember having fun playing Baseball when I was kid. Soccer game is not my favorite also but I know many people enjoy that sport. honestly I want to experience the thrill of watching a soccer game. It’s different when you are actually there.
Remember when ….youth soccer was such an important of your life (and our life as well) –many fond memories —-playing was so much more in the moment -VITAL —than the eventual score outcome —Boise, Id was paritically memorbile for your acheivement of making it to Regional finals and the trip/fun/pictures of your team.
I guess your comment about playing (In the Moment) –covers it all; but very fond memories of how at the moment –you and We were TOTALLY immersed in the Soccer Experience!!!!
Fond Memories – Unrealized ….but Acedmic Deams Realized…
Love, Mom
I think I got an ulcer from the intense rage boiling within me over how you belittled such an enthralling sport that is enjoyed not for numbers, but for the passion and ballet. Its know as the beautiful game.
Haha, but its ok, fair dues to you my friend, each to his own and certainly Americans will never understand it, especially since they still insist of calling it that other silly name. Its FOOTBALL!! ^_^
Anyway, thanks for at least trying it out. Now i have to go release that pent up anger in the nearest Football match….”grrr, watch out Chelsea fans!!”
You are completely correct, your experience would have been the same if you had went to a Golf Tournament. Soccer is like a crossword, fun if you are the player but not to exciting to watch. Not likely to catch on as a spectator sport any time soon here in the USA..
Yes you are a wet blanket. How can you say soccer (football to the rest of the world) is more boring than baseball?? Baseball commentators often switch off and talk about completely irrelevant stuff because they are so bored watching a pitcher throw yet another ‘ball’. And where is the drama in basketball? Team A scores, Team B scores, team A scores, Team B scores ad nauseam for an hour. In soccer one moment in the final seconds can make all the difference.
And if that really was a comment from your Mom, she is completely illiterate.