What’s the big deal with soccer?
Published on Thu, Jul 15, 2010 by John PierreRead More The Constant Curmudgeon
What is it? Soccer? Football? It's confusing to me. In some countries it's soccer and others it's football. Even though it could reasonably be dubbed "head ball" when you consider the number of times a calloused head is employed to re-direct the travel of the ball.
To some of us it's boring. For two 45 minute "halves" young men (there are women's divisions too), running at top speed without a break, except when some nasty old foul is committed, keep kicking the ball up and down the field and, more often than not, without scoring.
The few times I've watched as long as I could stand, the occasional penalty and related referee signal keeps me wondering if he's signaling to watch out for overhead seagull activity or saying "naughty naughty" to one of the players.
One kind of penalty requires that the referee must extend both arms parallel to the field of play while another might require that his hand be raised above his head and must remain there until a "free kick" has been completed.
Then there are yellow and red "cards" shown to the offending player.
If he gets a yellow one, that's tantamount to the "naughty naughty" type of penalty.
If he is shown a red one ... that indicates a dire penalty such as a knee to the groin or "fetching an opponent one upside the head." That player is often ejected and told to get outta town on the noon train.
Please don't get me wrong soccer moms. I think the game is fantastic for young people both from the standpoint of learning about competition and getting them interested in something other than their iPod.
It's the professional matches that I find hard to tolerate.
The part that really gets me is the lack of scoring. Many times the whole 90 minutes can go by with either no scores or possibly one or two. Some players make multi millions per year.
Good thing they're not paid by the number of goals they produce. When the rare point is scored, the scoring team goes bananas. Jumping on each other's shoulders and raising a fist of victory.
An Australian I once knew demeaned America's brand of football where physical activity of a play may take only seconds on the game clock followed by 40 seconds before the next play must get underway whereas the Australian version of "football" is constant physical activity with only a rare penalty break.
At least I can follow American football ... I have no idea what's happening in the Australian version.
The sad part of professional soccer is that, after the game, horrendous crimes are sometimes committed by fans.
Cars are turned over, buildings burned and, all too often, lives are lost.
I can't picture any competitive sport being that all-important to our way of life. Although... I have to admit there were times when I hoped Denver would be buried under 42 feet of snow.
To some of us it's boring. For two 45 minute "halves" young men (there are women's divisions too), running at top speed without a break, except when some nasty old foul is committed, keep kicking the ball up and down the field and, more often than not, without scoring.
The few times I've watched as long as I could stand, the occasional penalty and related referee signal keeps me wondering if he's signaling to watch out for overhead seagull activity or saying "naughty naughty" to one of the players.
One kind of penalty requires that the referee must extend both arms parallel to the field of play while another might require that his hand be raised above his head and must remain there until a "free kick" has been completed.
Then there are yellow and red "cards" shown to the offending player.
If he gets a yellow one, that's tantamount to the "naughty naughty" type of penalty.
If he is shown a red one ... that indicates a dire penalty such as a knee to the groin or "fetching an opponent one upside the head." That player is often ejected and told to get outta town on the noon train.
Please don't get me wrong soccer moms. I think the game is fantastic for young people both from the standpoint of learning about competition and getting them interested in something other than their iPod.
It's the professional matches that I find hard to tolerate.
The part that really gets me is the lack of scoring. Many times the whole 90 minutes can go by with either no scores or possibly one or two. Some players make multi millions per year.
Good thing they're not paid by the number of goals they produce. When the rare point is scored, the scoring team goes bananas. Jumping on each other's shoulders and raising a fist of victory.
An Australian I once knew demeaned America's brand of football where physical activity of a play may take only seconds on the game clock followed by 40 seconds before the next play must get underway whereas the Australian version of "football" is constant physical activity with only a rare penalty break.
At least I can follow American football ... I have no idea what's happening in the Australian version.
The sad part of professional soccer is that, after the game, horrendous crimes are sometimes committed by fans.
Cars are turned over, buildings burned and, all too often, lives are lost.
I can't picture any competitive sport being that all-important to our way of life. Although... I have to admit there were times when I hoped Denver would be buried under 42 feet of snow.