(This is my first and probably last post about soccer, so don't worry.)
As we all know by now, David Beckham has signed with the LA Galaxy and will be playing his soccer in America for the rest of his career. I used this photo of Beckham in his prime at Manchester United because those days are behind him now. You don't have to be a genius to see that he wasn't altogether signed for his ability on the field. It's no secret that his form as a player as fallen. In 2006 we saw him dropped for the England squad and left on the bench at his current club, Real Madrid.
The MLS recently amended their salary cap rule to allow clubs to sign on "marquee" player for a salary high above the normal cap. This is widely known as the Beckham rule because the league wanted to attract big name players to the States to increase the popularity of American soccer, believing that one day, soccer will be on par with sports like football and baseball.
While I am a soccer fan and do believe that this signing of marquee players will raise interest in the sport, I am also a realist. Soccer will never be as popular as football or baseball. The game of soccer just doesn't gel with the way we Americans watch our sports. We like to see goals/touchdowns/homeruns and we view missed opportunities to score as failures. Soccer is full of low scores and missed shots and that's just the way the game works, which is exciting for the rest of the world, but it isn't blowing America's skirt up.
I'm excited that the MLS is trying to cultivate interest by bringing in big-name European players, but you're not going to convince people to watch soccer instead of football or baseball. At best, you'll convince the current soccer fans that the MLS is actually a pretty good league, because current fans of the game would take a European match over a MLS match any day.
Editor's Note: Ok, so I made a really long post about soccer, but at least it wasn't about the god awful And1 Mixtape circus that is the NBA.
22 comments:
nbas better than soccer at least
Shut up, Shane. Pro basketball sucks.
And use some punctuation, slacker.
I would rather have my eyes gouged out with a hot poker than watch an NBA game again.
...zzz...zzz....zzz...zzz...
Who is more athletic, David Beckham or any person that has ever played an organized game of basketball?
David Beckham. Soccer players run about 6 miles in a game, unless they're the goalkeeper.
I'm not saying basketball players aren't athletic. I'm saying pro basketball sucks. It's become all about "getting up" on somebody or dunking it "in someone's face." No one plays defense so the score is always 120-118.
I am going to have to side with Jack on this one. I played both sports and think that as far as athletic ability goes, the NBA players are far and above the best athletes in the world even though it is really hard to watch on tv.
On the professional level, I doubt the MLS will ever be on par with the NFL, MLB or NBA. But I'm willing to bet that more kids are playing soccer now than are playing baseball.
I love college basketball. It's the NBA I have a problem with.
I've watched about 50% of the Hawks games this year. They're one of the worst teams in the NBA. This comment contributed nothing.
Where does any MLS team get that kind of money??
Beckham is way more athletic than Shaq, but that's not the point.
Jack, you think golf is a great sport as do I, but not one golfer is considered as athletic as an NBA basketball player in your terms. The argument you attempt to make is simply a bad one. Golfers are great athletes because they have honed a physical skill to near perfection and compete against each other recognized and respected events.
Soccer is the world's most popular sport and I personally think it would be cool see the US become a top program so we can beat the shit out of the French.
Bryan, I just asked a question. That is all.
I've never heard of the Beckingham guy. Who is he again?
Who cares. I just want Georgia to win a national championship.
People in the NBA do play defense. It's just that many scorers in the NBA are unstoppable. The atmosphere of college makes it seem more intense and more meaningful than the NBA, but I gurantee the players in the NBA play just as hard on defense, not to mention that they are just better defenders. I am not going to say that the NBA is great. Pro football, MLB, college football, and college basketball are far more entertaining. The fact is that many people do not enjoy the NBA game. It does not appeal to them and when they're asked why they don't like it, they go with the response, " They don't play defense," because they've heard this somewhere before.
Also Shaq in his prime was more athletic than DB in his prime. Go watch his early NBA years or him in his college days. It's just that he plays a sport where it pays to bulk up and become a stronger man.
Agreed
Wheel chair basketball is more exciting and more physical than any soccer match.
Ok, but can we all agree that the playing of rap music during play is both unnecessary and annoying?
A lot of the shit they try to do in the NBA is totally unnecessary.
Do you think anyone in the NBA has gone through the rigors of RFI?
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