Earthrhino's Speculation Place

[earthrhino]

The World Cup.

I don't care for hockey, I don't care for the Olympics, and I don't really care for soccer. But, I always get drawn into the Stanley Cup finals when there's an elimination game and Olympic hockey medal games and I always get sucked into the "Best of the World" drama and contrasting cultural flavors of events like the Olympics and the World Cup once they get going. Plus they are usually going on when nothing else of interest is, so they win my viewing by default. I also find it very cool to travel to some other country and see the genuine interest in locals over matches outside of the World Cup.

With all that said, here is what really annoys me about soccer.

I can't stand the fake injuries. I say that realizing that players do sometimes get serious injuries, but if you watch a whole match, you'd think half the players end up in intensive care every match the way they roll around on the ground after practically any physical contact (or near contact). They want to draw a red card or a free kick from the ref who may not have actually witnessed the act, I get that. It's just annoying and makes you think when a guy actually does break his arm or pulls a hamstring that he's just putting on a show like a professional wrestler. It's also annoying to me because I see these kinds of theatrics seeping into the NBA, college basketball and even football as those players try to earn a flagrant foul or ejection against the opposition. Penalizing floppers is the only way to stop this, I guess.

I also find the substitutions in soccer to be annoying. Why can't it be more like hockey? Let them do it on the fly and multiple times. How incredibly boring it must be to live the life of a guy on the bench of a soccer team. A team is allowed like two subs a game? And most don't happen until the second half? Ugh, boring.

People always complain about the low scoring, but watching a match that's high scoring and one-sided is worse by far. Germany winning 4-0 against Australia was unwatchable. I don't see anything that can be done about that, but eliminating offsides calls might help. This goes for hockey, too. I can only imagine how freaking cool hockey would be without offside penalties. It would become one of the most exciting sports out there with multiple one on one fastbreaks and breakaways.

The other odd thing about soccer that just cannot be fixed is this: when you watch any other sport, even if you're not a fan, you can easily, often instantly, recognize who is the best player in the game and maybe the best player in the sport. Even your wife or mom or infant child could recognize that Michael Jordan was better than most, that guys that hit like Pujols are rare, Peyton Mannings are different, etc., etc. Even hockey's best score seemingly every game or do something that shows you they are superior. You watch soccer and you listen to the announcers tell you who the best player is, or you see these guys on a commercial doing amazing things, but then the game comes around and everything these guys do that's special seems to be all subtlety and nuance. Obviously, the other teams prevent the best from taking over and this might open up opportunities for the rest of the team that might not otherwise be there, but as a casual viewer, this is boring.

On another note, I do feel sorry for England's goalie. If things were reversed and the US goalie screwed up like that, few people, I suspect even real fans, would even care all that much. We might even find it humorous and make the guy a celebrity. Oh, well. Such is the story of soccer in this world. I'm glad I'm in a country that doesn't care that much about it.