I know enough basics to watch a game and have a general idea of whats going on however I don't understand the finer points of the game so I admit it i cannot appreciate a 0-0 game. Now hockey, 0-0 goalie battle? Sign me the fuck up but I get the game, I understand a lot of the complexities to the game. So I can appreciate a defensive struggle in a hockey game. But yeah soccer show me the offense and being a fat dumb american (I said it not you) I need to see some god damn patriotic offense.
HA! I hear ya. And I do hate soccer fans that hold an elitist view of their fan-dom, where soccer is superior and more intellectual, blah blah. But what is true is we as a culture, are not patient people. We dont want to sit in our seats or have to pay attention to the whole of the game to enjoy it. We need the breaks in action. For example, my father, I asked him why he didnt like hockey, when he was a HUGE basketball athlete and fan his whole life and both sports are incredibly similar.
"Because in hockey, I cant even look away! At any second they may score."
Hockey as well is a bit of Theater of Chance as well.
Soccer, ironically, is just like this. You cant look away. Contrary to popular belief, soccer like hockey, can change in one shift, or in soccer, one well placed long ball. Now, with the NHL around, the most of my time was spent watching hockey, arguably a sport I understand less since I never played any type of truly competitive hockey at any level. With soccer, I was a Ref qualified to do college matches as long as a player since the age of 6 until my late teens in competitive play. But given the choice, I will watch hockey, so I dont want to come off as a snotty nose-lifter as a soccer fan.
US culture tends to hold a... very short attention span. When I watch a soccer match, like in hockey, I am immersed for every game I watch. Some are better than others. Each match though has its own highs and lows and impossible to predict, like hockey.
Take last week... Manchester United (best team in Premier, top 5 in world) is playing Reading (always last or next to last) in Premier league play. United has already qualified for their Champions spot so all the A players are playing for them. Redding... doesnt really HAVE an A or B team. Redding has NEVER beaten ManU in over 100 years of the league. Never beaten them. This would be like Hawks playing Hogs.
They start the match. Redding strikes first with a goal in the 7th minute. WHAT!!! Well NOW I am into it. But ManU always gives up the first goal and they usually turn it on once they are losing. Here is true as well, they equalize in the 15th minute. 1 - 1. In the 17th minute, ManU gets a penalty and easily makes it 2 - 1 and true to form, he goes United...
BUT WAIT! 2 minutes later, Redding strikes back and ties it up! UNHEARD OF! Rarely does ManU concede 2 goals... and in less than 20 minutes? Redding goes on and scored AGAIN in less than 4 minutes. 3 - 2 Redding... ManU gets mad though and with the 2 of the best players in the world, pocket 3 and 4 for United, 4 - 3 ManU in under 40 minutes. ManU went on to win as expected.
But in the Theater of Chance, who knows? That is part of the fun... To see a controlled match, to work for a goal, then to see it go is just incredible. But that is not a mentality of US culture. In soccer, you commonly hear: "Did they win?" "No, but they played incredible football." The play is just as important as the finish.
For me? I dont like modern basketball. 3pt shot line, and I swear we are not far from a 4pt one...
No team play, everything is man to man (to the point zone D is penalized!). But old school basketball is boring to the masses. We dont want to see a team move the ball with 5 passes before a smart shot, we want some massive man barreling down the lane with some behind the back dunk.
It is just too bad... and the same thing I say to sports fans that dont like hockey... Once you get to know the sport, you have little choice but to love it. I feel that way about soccer too.
