The CheckerBoard

That was good stuff!!

Huge goalkeeping late. I was having El Salvador (?) flashbacks the last 5-8 minutes.

VICTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1-0

Did I see that right? 1st EVER?!!! HUGE!

Big question: can anyone tell me, did the Mexican National Team have the same starters as in the Olympics? If so, that is quite a turnaround. Wouldn't doubt they are tired.

I know it's a big deal for the U.S. considering we never win in Mexico. Are we still eligible for World Cup '14 play? I thought someone told me we weren't and that really bummed me out.

No the olympics are for the under 23 team. These are the senior--elite players.
What makes it even more impressive was that the U.S. had a couple big players out

Lets address the flopping first.

That goes on everywhere.

NBA: Ever see Paul Pierce, James Harden, or Dwayne Wade play???

nfl: How about any punter or kicker that gets within 3 feet of them? How about qb's? How about defenders during a 2 minute drill? Deon Grant immediately comes to mind.

MLB: how about Players acting like they got hit by the ball?

Now you say scoring/action? Well as far as action its continuous. No commercial breaks no timeouts.

scoring the average soccer game is about 3-2. Or in football that'd be 21 to 14 or what we like to call an old fashioned smash mouth football game! Fact is in soccer its 90 minutes to get that score. In baseball you get a similar score but in 4 hours of time.

The biggest mistake I often see is a person tuning into international soccer expecting to be blown away and that's simply not the case. Like the old saying goes you can't win the world cup in the first round but you can certainly lose it.

International soccer is defensive and a slow build up.

If you have any interest in soccer watch club soccer. Its free flowing and a faster build up of play. I recommend the EPL due to lack of a language barrier but the Spanish league is great for tremendous action and a fast pace.

It's ok to not like soccer it's not for everyone. Some people need commercial breaks

I don't watch a lot footy... for the reasons outlined in the first post... but the flopping... I have to say those examples you listed happen very infrequently during the course of any of those game you mentioned.

But since you mentioned it... I don't like it when it happens in the other sports... Point being however, it doesn't make up a HUGE portion of the game/sports you mentioned... where it does in footy.

Plus there's no "magical" fix it spray brought on the field or court in the sports you listed.. and sprayed on the flopped and supposedly injured player body part....give me a break. If that's not the worst example of Drama Queen I don't know what is...

As for the scoring comparison and the commercial breaks... I don't follow you... at all... I do hate the amount of time it takes modern college/pro football with all the tv timeouts and commercial... its terrible....and baseball... ehhhh even worse.... but hey... I appreciate the points you brought up...

These are the same things / defenses that always get brought up in the arguements when people say they don't like soccer and the response is always the same... and doesn't make much sense.

Again just my opininon... and hoped to hear some thing that would pursuede me to see the glass half full.

There is plenty of scoring both tries and kicked goals in rugby....also no breaks / commercial or otherwise.... more importantly there is no "magical spray"... and the ref has to be addressed by "Sir" and there is no back talking or chatter what so ever....
The games go 80 minutes... and the talent level needed for different positions is very diverse. Plus... EVERYONE that is on the field is INVOLVED in all Play.

You don't have a goalie sitting around... or fullback sitting around like you do in footy.

I know the international and pro levels are much different and active. But again... IM talking about soccer vs rugby in AMERICA and at lower levels... IT sucks.

personally Im glad to see 11yr and over.. even 9yr and older Rugby leages poping up in and around metropolitian cities... if they are properly coached... the kids absolutely LOVE IT....

why...

Because it's not size specific like Football, Basketball... baseball somewhat. EVERYBODY plays and is involved in the action at all times.. .unlike soccer

And most importantly.. it teaches manners and respect (addressing the ref as Sir is only one thing... many others I can list) of the other team and the officials... it punishes bad behavior to the contrary.

Hahaha what exactly were you hoping to hear??? Sounds like your mind is already made up. I'm not trying to "pursuede" any one to like soccer.

If your looking for reasons why Rugby isn't more popular I would have to guess American football kills much of a chance of it ever picking up here. Although different not many moms are gonna send their son's to play rugby vs American football.

good point about only eight teams winning it....but what about other than world cup... world championships or other....? just curious.

did you play soccer as a kid?

i played one year when i was seven... and hated it. never played again. was too small to play football so played tennis and basketball through high school. when i finally grew and filled out some i found rugby in college. too late to be any good on a major level but continued to play on and off for 15 years. so no im not a politician but i can comprehend that just because a team makes a tournament doesnt mean they are great or even good. if you watch the play like i mentioned our talent and skill level in rugby is where you see the deficiency... or as i call it sucking.

i guess i fell we suck in soccer...and you dont... thats fine agree to disagree. but at the very least why isnt USA better... when every kid is thrown into as a youngster and as a country they thow tons of money into the sport...they prop up this MLS game with quit a bit of money as well... for what? over the last 30 years ive seen very little return on investment.

i had several friends that played soccer their whole child hood that were big enough and athletic enough to play other sports...but didnt.... one reason or another too many to go into.

soccer and rugby are similar in one way... you have to ...usually...play from an early age if you want to good or elite and play on a national stage or internationally.

i think as a country we are more athletic than others and especially better at hand eye coordinated sports.... i just wonder what it would have been like if the push 30 or 40 years ago to play cricket or rugby would have netted now... i think the results would have produced more.

yet every kid plays soccer at one time or another...because its easy to throw a bunch of kids on a field and let them run around kicking something. sure lots like me end up hating it and moving on but there is alot of others that stick with it and dont make it. again a couple friends of mine who played soccer their whole live then found rugby after college.... could have easily played internationally had they learned rugby earlier. just a fact that i have seen first hand and wondered about ever since.

and btw the other post where having moms let their kids play football before rugby.... maybe if pushed rugby as hard as soccer more people would understand the sport more... and how their are less head injuries and severe injuries as a whole in the game of rugby... again i can speak from personal experience that i can count on two hands how many concussions ive seen playing , watching and practices in btween in 15 years of rugby...which is a drop in the bucket no... olympic swimming pool compared to football for one week much less a season.

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