Why the hell is soccer so popular?

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astralusion

Senior member
Nov 19, 2004
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you can have a pickup game of soccer...when was the last time you had a pickup game of baseball...maybe catch...and with football, maybe a pickup game...of sorts...but something like soccer you can have 3 v3 or something...just less minimum equipment needed, so it's easier for kids to play...
 

skace

Lifer
Jan 23, 2001
14,488
7
81
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I used to play soccer, but then I got into football. I find football much more exciting because it's more physical. I've found that skinny dweebs like soccer because they have no upper body strength and can only kick.

"Skinny Dweebs" are about as good at soccer as fat kids are at football. They can grasp the sport and survive in some rec league, but that is the end of their career. I am assuming you never went past a rec league in soccer if that is your mentality, because you would have been torn up in anything competitive with that attitude.
 

Garet Jax

Diamond Member
Feb 21, 2000
6,369
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Bunch of reasons:

1) Requires no money to play. Children all over the world play with no shoes and without a proper ball.
2) Can be played on almost any surface in almost any size area.
3) Can be played by any number of players greater than 2.
4) Requires little or no skill to start and have fun.
5) Played by almost every country around the world so you can go everywhere and find someone to play with.
6) Can be played by people of all ages and sizes on the same field effectively (ie no inherent advantage in being tall, bif or strong).
 

HumblePie

Lifer
Oct 30, 2000
14,665
440
126
Okay, simple...

Can you play football by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play basketball by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play tennisl by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play baseball by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play <insert any sport besides soccer> by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play SOCCER by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? Yes!!!

That's it. It takes the least amount of players, time, commitment, equipment, and money to have fun with. By no means does that make you a master at the sport, but it is the simplest game PERIOD to play. It is also the most complicated too if you are looking to master the sport in a competitive team field.

Look, anyone with 2 legs and a ball can hop right in and play the game. It allows kids of all shapes, sizes, talent, and backgrounds to play and have fun. It can be the safest or one of the more dangerous team play games (I consider rugby a tad more dangerous team game but not by much).

For those reasons alone that should prove why it's popular in any context.

 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
Originally posted by: HumblePie
Okay, simple...

Can you play football by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play basketball by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play tennisl by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play baseball by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play <insert any sport besides soccer> by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? No.

Can you play SOCCER by yourself, butt nekkid and nothing else around, with just a ball? Yes!!!

That's it. It takes the least amount of players, time, commitment, equipment, and money to have fun with. By no means does that make you a master at the sport, but it is the simplest game PERIOD to play. It is also the most complicated too if you are looking to master the sport in a competitive team field.

Look, anyone with 2 legs and a ball can hop right in and play the game. It allows kids of all shapes, sizes, talent, and backgrounds to play and have fun. It can be the safest or one of the more dangerous team play games (I consider rugby a tad more dangerous team game but not by much).

For those reasons alone that should prove why it's popular in any context.


why cant I play basketball or football with nothing but a ball?
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Originally posted by: Homerboy
why cant I play basketball or football with nothing but a ball?
Yes, I've heard that playing basketball without a hoop is VERY exciting.
 

OffTopic1

Golden Member
Feb 12, 2004
1,764
0
0
Originally posted by: miri
You need to be European or South American to understand. I was in Spain when the local team from Sevilla won the national championship and that city went crazy.
You mean outside of North America.
 

neilm

Golden Member
Aug 25, 2002
1,108
0
0
Anyone arguing soccer's not physical, then what about Baseball? are you even near your opponent? or Basketball with the no-contact rules? or American Football with their ton of padding, helmet, jock strap, gumshield, kneepads...? Anyway, soccer requires alot of fitness to last the 90min duration, not to mention skill to give out precise passes, and taking it round players. Professional level is a very high standard, each piece of possesion is crucial in a match, tactics is also key for a winning side.

So all in all, you are entertained throught the match without timeouts, or being obsorbed by advertisements every minute, and is the most played sport in the world.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I used to play soccer, but then I got into football. I find football much more exciting because it's more physical. I've found that skinny dweebs like soccer because they have no upper body strength and can only kick.
Flexing your ePenis?

Football is for losers. Morons with short attention spans. 5 seconds of action followed by two minutes of advertisements.

Half of the players on a football team have no athletic ability. Their only redeeming quality that gets them a spot on the team is size.
 

Homerboy

Lifer
Mar 1, 2000
30,890
5,001
126
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: Homerboy
why cant I play basketball or football with nothing but a ball?
Yes, I've heard that playing basketball without a hoop is VERY exciting.


And soccer without a goal? Sure I can kick the ball around all over... but I can dribble a basketball around too can't I? Or run/kick/throw a football. You think NBA players (guards) got good by just shooting the ball into a hoop over and over? HELL NO. They dribbled their basketballs everywhere they went.

This argument sucks


 

Toasthead

Diamond Member
Aug 27, 2001
6,621
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0
its cheap to play. you dont need expensive equipment or a ton of skill to play.
 

HumblePie

Lifer
Oct 30, 2000
14,665
440
126
Originally posted by: Homerboy
why cant I play basketball or football with nothing but a ball?

Because to play basket ball you need to be able to move the ball, as in dribble. Which requires a hard surface to bang the ball against. So if you are in a grassy field, you can't play basket ball. If you want to have a goal for basketball to keep track of points, you need a basket or hoop of some sort. With soccer you can use an imaginary line anywhere and if the ball crosses it then you score.

With football, all you can do is run with the ball... which you can run without a ball and that sport is called running. Gee golly whillerkers. to play foot ball, you need another person to at least throw the ball to and yet another to move the ball around and that person needs someone to throw the ball to. So you need 4 people to play football. Hence, you can't play football by yourself or it can't be considered football.

 

Juno

Lifer
Jul 3, 2004
12,574
0
76
i grew up playing soccer because i came from asian side where soccer was so popular at that time.
 

fallenangel99

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2001
1,721
1
81
Because soccer is a physically demanding sport? Compare soccer players and football/baseball players.

Football players - take a break every 2 minutes to puff up

Baseball players - stand around and chew on tobacco all game


Pro soccer athletes probably run more than 5 miles A GAME. Not only that, only 3 players can be substituted the ENTIRE game, meaning 8 players will play the WHOLE game with only a halftime break.
 

91TTZ

Lifer
Jan 31, 2005
14,374
1
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Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I used to play soccer, but then I got into football. I find football much more exciting because it's more physical. I've found that skinny dweebs like soccer because they have no upper body strength and can only kick.
Flexing your ePenis?

Football is for losers. Morons with short attention spans. 5 seconds of action followed by two minutes of advertisements.

Half of the players on a football team have no athletic ability. Their only redeeming quality that gets them a spot on the team is size.

That is just garbage. First of all, there are no advertisements when you play football on a team, unless you're on a college/pro team.

Secondly, football players are much more athletic than soccer players. Anyone can run. But can you run, get tackled, then get back up and do it again? I guarantee that a soccer player would be broken by the end of the game.

Like I said, I've played soccer and I'll still play soccer, but it doesn't compare to football. I'll do both, let's see a soccer player do both. They'll lack the required muscularity to take hard hits in football.
 

TheAdvocate

Platinum Member
Mar 7, 2005
2,561
7
81
Soccer (short for "Assoc", which were the original, Associated Football rules), is popular because it is a very accessible game, as several have pointed out. You don't have to be particularly tall or strong, but speed and endurance (far more common attributes) are very beneficial. It's also economically accessible. All you need is a ball and throw down a couple of markers for goals (most pickup games involve a couple of shoes or stick for goals and all shots on goal have to be low to the ground - which, coincidentally, is the hardest shot for a keeper to stop). And logisticly, only basketball requries as few people to play.

I have played all my life, and I love the game because I finally understood it. It's fluid, and high paced, and surprisingly brutal. However, it does not mesh with american broadcasting standards. The cameras are way too far from the field to show the agility and skill of the players, or a zoom in removes your ability to see a play develop since a simple, lightly kicked pass can go 30 yards into open field. Additionally, it does not contain the commercial breaks that the broadcasters are comfortable with, and more importantly, it does not have a series of successive, clearly defined successes and failures like american football has, to keep the short attention span american public engaged.

cliff notes: incredible game to play. boring to watch on american TV.
 

GoingUp

Lifer
Jul 31, 2002
16,720
1
71
Originally posted by: Citrix
Originally posted by: miri
You need to be European or South American to understand. I was in Spain when the local team from Sevilla won the national championship and that city went crazy.

I was in Germany when the Germans won the world cup in 1989. you want to see a county i mean whole country go nuts?... that was crazy. germans were drunk for weeks after that.

You must know something that I dont, because there was no World Cup in 1989. There was however a WC in 1990, which they beat argentina in 1-0.
 

fallenangel99

Golden Member
Aug 8, 2001
1,721
1
81
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I used to play soccer, but then I got into football. I find football much more exciting because it's more physical. I've found that skinny dweebs like soccer because they have no upper body strength and can only kick.
Flexing your ePenis?

Football is for losers. Morons with short attention spans. 5 seconds of action followed by two minutes of advertisements.

Half of the players on a football team have no athletic ability. Their only redeeming quality that gets them a spot on the team is size.

That is just garbage. First of all, there are no advertisements when you play football on a team, unless you're on a college/pro team.

Secondly, football players are much more athletic than soccer players. Anyone can run. But can you run, get tackled, then get back up and do it again? I guarantee that a soccer player would be broken by the end of the game.

Like I said, I've played soccer and I'll still play soccer, but it doesn't compare to football. I'll do both, let's see a soccer player do both. They'll lack the required muscularity to take hard hits in football.

Soccer players will just outlast football players. A football player needs oxygen after a 100 yd run - a soccer player will not.

See if a 300 lb guy can catch up to a 180 lb 4.3speed/40 yd soccer guy.
 

BoberFett

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
37,562
9
81
Originally posted by: Homerboy
Originally posted by: BoberFett
Originally posted by: Homerboy
why cant I play basketball or football with nothing but a ball?
Yes, I've heard that playing basketball without a hoop is VERY exciting.


And soccer without a goal? Sure I can kick the ball around all over... but I can dribble a basketball around too can't I? Or run/kick/throw a football. You think NBA players (guards) got good by just shooting the ball into a hoop over and over? HELL NO. They dribbled their basketballs everywhere they went.

This argument sucks
I think what you meant to say was "I'm stupid." but since you're stupid, I'll forgive your deficient thought process.

Soccer doesn't require a goal. A goal is just an imaginary line. You don't need a net.

Dribbling a basketball, I always thought that there was more to do than dribble. I guess all of that shooting they do on TV is just for dramatic effect.

And unless you can kick and throw a football to yourself, it's not going to be a very exciting game.
 

Andres3605

Senior member
Nov 14, 2004
927
0
71
soccer is a sport with no equipment needed just a ball, and you can play it with 8 people, just making small goals with rocks or backpacks :D, its pretty fun when you practice
 

CRXican

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2004
9,062
1
0
It's easy to point out the stupidity of just about any sport. The point is each one is fun to play for different reasons depending on who you ask.

I never understood the appeal of soccer however. Why run around for 90min and score maybe 1 time, that is LAME. Especially considering how HUGE the freaking goals are.
 

TheAdvocate

Platinum Member
Mar 7, 2005
2,561
7
81
Originally posted by: 91TTZ
Secondly, football players are much more athletic than soccer players. Anyone can run. But can you run, get tackled, then get back up and do it again? I guarantee that a soccer player would be broken by the end of the game.

Football players wear pads. Soccer players don't, yet they get tackled and undercut in ways that are major penalties (clipping, chop blocks, etc) in football where the players are protected by pads. Take your argument and come back as a rugby fan and I'll listen.

I've played both sports. They are both heavy contact. I've gotten hurt much worse playing soccer (flipped over in mid air by opposing player and almost broke back, got kicked in head when I fell near ball) than I did playing football (broken knuckles and slightly cracked rib on tackles). I got back up from those two football tackles. The times I got hurt in soccer I almost didnt make it back. And I'm ignoring the dozens of shin, ligament & knee injuries I've suffered.