interesting read
- Thread starter outhereincali
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what makes soccer unique is that it is the only sport I know of that has its fans continually use every forum available to explain what a great sport it is.
So, it seems that based on this article and conversation that ESPN is losing a lot of money due to wire cutting and people moving away from traditional cable TV and watching sports on things like Roku and Sling (I use a friends cable log in to watch ESPN on Roku).
I think that the solution for ESPN may be to go after these streaming services and find ways to produce more income from them. Meaning, these cheap/free options we are enjoying now may not be cheap/free for much longer.
I think that the solution for ESPN may be to go after these streaming services and find ways to produce more income from them. Meaning, these cheap/free options we are enjoying now may not be cheap/free for much longer.
If you can do without sports and have decent internet options, you have a myriad of streaming options that in many cases blows cable out of the water. You can go bare bones and stick with a Netflix subscription for 10 bucks a month. That gets you quite a bit of quality content. Netflix is getting up there to where it's almost a must even if you do have cable. Or if you can't quite detach from all those channels that in reality you never watch you can go with something like playstation vue and get a bunch of channels for 40/month. VUE is structured like a more traditional cable setup, but it cuts down on costs because it's not offering a bunch of obscure channels, but still even then I think they should have more basic plans.
This would all be done via streaming so your internet has to be up to snuff.
Not the only one. Crossfit is the worst. Spend 5 minutes talking to most Crossfit dorks and they will talk about Crossfit for 4 minutes and 58 seconds. The only two seconds of silence you get is when they stop to take a breath.
I don't know why soccer guys try to justify the sport to other Americans. It's the #1 sport in the world, quit trying to sell it. It doesn't need American support, it's not some start up company.
Not trying to sell it...just giving my reasons as to why (1) it is growing in popularity in the US and (2) why it will continue to grow.
another nonsensical argument...
You can literally find the same thing on every major sport, on just about every major sports message board, lol. In no way did I try to tell you what a great sport it was...in fact I went out of my way to say that most people would continue to give the same excuses they always do as to why they don't watch. I offered an explanation as to why it is and will continue to grow. If you would like to debate that then fine, but don't make shit up because you don't like to hear about soccer.
Soccer can grow all it wants, but I'm not a fan and never will be. It's just boring to me. Watching the grass grow is more exciting to me than soccer.
Weevil...I was not referring to you but I suppose I could have. What I was talking about are the sports talk shows where I would listen to so many callers try and try to explain why soccer is such a great sport. In all fairness I have not listened to a soccer radio show, so the dynamic might be different there.
I do tend to agree with Bubba. Soccer doesnt need the USA one whit. It is unquestionably the number one sport in the world. I am ok with that I just get bored being told that over and over.
I do tend to agree with Bubba. Soccer doesnt need the USA one whit. It is unquestionably the number one sport in the world. I am ok with that I just get bored being told that over and over.
I've spent many a moon in Europe and especially England.....in that time I've taken in several matches because my friends there have season tickets and I can tell you this much:
Rugby is a sport of hooligans played by gentlemen.
Soccer is a sport of gentlemen played byy hooligans.
That's a direct quote from the owner of the Sale Sharks who LOVES soccer.....but prefers rugby.
Soccer is the diva of all diva sports. Prima donna delight. Players take dives and feign injury constantly. Some call it "gamesmanship" while others call it "being a pu$$y." I usually go with the latter.
Pure athleticism of soccer players is evident, but their physical prowess, speed and strength don't compare to other professional sports. I remember Wayne Rooney being touted in his early career as the fastest player on the planet. His 40 time was in the 4.55 range. Sure, that's fast by ordinary standards but there are 265 lb NFL linebackers that are faster. Think Wayne stands a chance against guys like that?
If you took guys like Deion sanders, randy moss, darrell green and the like and teach them from childhood how to play soccer, the rest of the world wouldn't stand a chance. Dana Leduke the old texas strength coach emphatically told me one day that the only reason the US doesn't win gold, silver and bronze in every summer Olympic sport is because you make more money in the NFL. True, many soccer players make more thann NFL guys, but it's their culture to play soccer.... not ours.
The best thing the rest of the world can do is not make soccer huge in the US....unless they don't want their wagon wrecked.
I am not a fan of soccer at all, but saying if you take person x and teach him soccer from birth then he would dominate is ridiculous. Everyone outside of America already plays soccer from birth. So just playing soccer a lot and being an elite athlete isn't going to guarantee that you develop the elite skill required to play professionally. Just like speed is god given, elite soccer skills are as well. The US is light years away from ever wrecking shop. Just from the standpoing that we would have to invest a ton at the youth level and completely restructure how youth sports are managed which is never going to happen. I do agree with you that culturally it's just not a fit here.
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So my mind may be getting old but I do remember having this conversation years back.
NBA players (who play the entire game) run about 2.75 to 3 miles per game depending on pace obviously. Db's run around 1.75 to 2.25 miles. Obviously more running in college than the NFL due to offensive styles. Soccer players run between 6.5 and 7 miles per game. Far and away more running.
But then there's this: field hockey.
It's is commonly thought that the greatest college field hockey player of all time was this dude, pretty big dude in fact, he was 6'2 and weighed 235 pounds. Field hockey players run between 5.75 and 6 miles per match. This big dude, hauling around all this muscle was named Jim Brown.
Now, call me cray cray, but I'm pretty sure ol' jim could have made that last mile with little effort. Speed, agility, lightening footwork, Jim Brown had all these tools. Methinks there are more NFL guys like jim brown than there are soccer players like Wayne rooney.
I don't know anything about field hockey or how that translates to soccer. You think there are a lot of guys like Jim Brown? A top 10 athlete that America has ever produced. In terms of athleticism there are a lot more Jim Browns than Wayne Rooneys? Jim Brown's athleticism relative to the rest of the field is not something that is reproduced. Regardless soccer is a lot less about elite athleticism and a lot more about elite skill. You seem to think that anyone can just learn the skill with training to play at an elite level which is ridiculous. That's just as ridiculous as someone thinking that anyone can train to run a 4.3 forty.
Also your mileages are off. You are using the high end for NBA (players that play the whole game) and NFL, but the low end for soccer. The high end for Soccer is 9-10 miles a game.
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an interesting side note.....the most valuable pro sports team in the world are not from the NFL or Baseball in the USA....they are soccer teams. You would have to put the Dallas Cowboys, New York Yankees, and the Lakers together to try and add up to Real Madrid and I still dont think it makes it. The top soccer teams are valued in the billions.
1 Real Madrid Football
Spain 3.26
2 Dallas Cowboys American football
United States 3.2
New York Yankees Baseball
United States
4 Barcelona Football
Spain 3.16
5 Manchester United Football
England 3.1
6 Los Angeles Lakers Basketball
United States 2.6
New England Patriots American football
United States
8 New York Knicks Basketball
United States 2.5
9 Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball
United States 2.4
Washington Redskins American football
United States
Here is what I can find on 2015. I must have misread Cowboys as #1 in America as #1 overall, but still at the top they are comparable.
2 Dallas Cowboys American football
New York Yankees Baseball
4 Barcelona Football
5 Manchester United Football
6 Los Angeles Lakers Basketball
New England Patriots American football
8 New York Knicks Basketball
9 Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball
Washington Redskins American football
Here is what I can find on 2015. I must have misread Cowboys as #1 in America as #1 overall, but still at the top they are comparable.
Oh look, I'm driving to houston and scrolling through the satellite radio and stop on espnxtra and guess what we are talking about?
Gronk being a white party animal while Ezekial Elliott being a black thug who likes to party like Gronk but because he's black, he's labeled a thug........ the only people I've ever heard call Elliott a thug is espn.....
Old horn, are you old enough to remember the early days of pro football in Texas? In the early 60's the Cowboys and the Texans( KC Chiefs for you whippersnappers) frequently struggled to get 20,000 fans /game. Lamar Hunt was losing a million dollars/year. H.L. was asked about this. He said, well in a hundred years or so, he'll have a problem. Of course, Lamar's heirs have a much bigger asset in the Chiefs than in Lamar's share of the oil. Was it Clint Murchison or Tex Schram who wrote years later that when the Browns played the Cowboys in 1964 they only drew 30,000 fans? Art Modell read that and said " Clint only paid me for 15!" I think there were 30,000 there, but only 15,000 paid. Both teams had huddle clubs for us youths. For $1. you got a tshirt, an end zone ticket, and a bag of junk. The Cowboys pulled up the chicken wire on xtra points and field goals, but if Lamar thought there weren't enough balls going into the end zone, they would punt a ball into each end zone. Those fans were a
pretty rough guys. Not many college grads (or undergrads).
1 Real Madrid FootballSpain 3.26
2 Dallas Cowboys American footballUnited States 3.2
New York Yankees BaseballUnited States
4 Barcelona FootballSpain 3.16
5 Manchester United FootballEngland 3.1
6 Los Angeles Lakers BasketballUnited States 2.6
New England Patriots American footballUnited States
8 New York Knicks BasketballUnited States 2.5
9 Los Angeles Dodgers BaseballUnited States 2.4
Washington Redskins American footballUnited States
Here is what I can find on 2015. I must have misread Cowboys as #1 in America as #1 overall, but still at the top they are comparable.
I'll fix it for you
Here are the 10 most valuable sports franchises in the world, according to Forbes:
- 1. Dallas Cowboys, $4 billion
- 2. Real Madrid, $3.7 billion
- 3. FC Barcelona, $3.6 billion
- 4. New York Yankees, $3.4 billion
- 5. Manchester United, $3.3 billion
- 6. New England Patriots, $3.2 billion
- 7. New York Knicks, $3 billion
- 8. Washington Redskins, $2.9 billion
- 9. New York Giants, $2.8 billion
- 10. Los Angeles Lakers, $2.7 billion
Elite soccer skills are God-given?! 
Wow! All those decades spent practicing by Messi, Cristiano, Luis Suarez, Neymar, etc. There was a gene for all that. No need to practice for 2 decades growing up, and then additional time spent with the ball as a pro. We just needed a DNA test. Compare your genes to Pele & Maradona. You've either got it or you don't.
Genes certainly help with speed, height, stride length, and so on, but ball-handling skills have to be practiced over and over, consistently and diligently, as you perfect them over the years. It doesn't just happen like beard growth does.
Wow! All those decades spent practicing by Messi, Cristiano, Luis Suarez, Neymar, etc. There was a gene for all that. No need to practice for 2 decades growing up, and then additional time spent with the ball as a pro. We just needed a DNA test. Compare your genes to Pele & Maradona. You've either got it or you don't.
Genes certainly help with speed, height, stride length, and so on, but ball-handling skills have to be practiced over and over, consistently and diligently, as you perfect them over the years. It doesn't just happen like beard growth does.
Thanks. My kids are always on Netflix in addition to cable. I've just never taken the time to really research what everything is and what it offers.
How about Curling? Every time I see it on tv I find myself watching it. They have had a series on since January called Curling Night in America. Last night was the only night I caught it though. I guess I like it due to its similarities to shuffleboard.
Just fyi-- canadian men USED to tell their women they played in a "community" hockey league much like many dudes in America play in softball leagues etc-- and then women started finding out their "men" were in fact joining curling associations.
Canadian women mocked their significant others and in many cases broke up with them because curling is seen as a pansy sport in canada.
Elite soccer skills are God-given?!
Wow! All those decades spent practicing by Messi, Cristiano, Luis Suarez, Neymar, etc. There was a gene for all that. No need to practice for 2 decades growing up, and then additional time spent with the ball as a pro. We just needed a DNA test. Compare your genes to Pele & Maradona. You've either got it or you don't.
Genes certainly help with speed, height, stride length, and so on, but ball-handling skills have to be practiced over and over, consistently and diligently, as you perfect them over the years. It doesn't just happen like beard growth does.
Obviously you have to practice. All of it you have to practice. No matter what genes you have you aren't going to run a 4.3 forty if you don't do speed training. My point was it's not just a matter of logging hours. There are heights to abilities that not just anyone can reach by practicing.
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Netflix is great. A lot of content, it's just different than what you are used to. There are a lot of great shows on there, and a lot of older shows that maybe you missed when they originally aired. Plus binge watching TV shows is such a better experience imo. You don't feel overly invested and watching episodes closer together (rather than 1 a week, and months between seasons) you pick up more on the subtlety (if there is any)Amazon prime also has some good content. Both are okay for finding a movie and every once in awhile a really good movie will be available, but for the most part the movies aren't going to be blockbusters or name brand. More indie small budget stuff, but it's not like cable (outside of HBO and such) offer great movie options. There are a lot of streaming services options that can completely destroy cable in everything outside of sports. That is really all the traditional cable has left for now.
If you know people get a Kodi box they are jail breaking firesticks and putting tons of content on there. You can get every movie pretty much known to man whether it be new releases as in theaters or older movies. You can also get Netflix on there and vudu and cable channels. Every sporting event (yes bell curling) and every paper view event for FREE. You can even record and have playback once a show has started. I have one that I got for 65 dollars one time payment. I have the mini tv box jail broken that is better then the firestick and with a better processor. All you need is a good Internet connection wifi or ethernet and an hdmi cord. You can also unplug it and take it with you anywhere you want.
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