(06-18-2018 03:33 PM)VA49er Wrote:  

(06-18-2018 03:29 PM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(06-18-2018 03:17 PM)aTxTIGER Wrote:  

(06-18-2018 03:12 PM)Tiger1983 Wrote:  

(06-18-2018 02:18 PM)nomad2u2001 Wrote:  The youth participation was usually very brief, not well coached, and not coupled with any soccer you could watch on tv. Even though they participated, it was likely that the coaches of the time didn't watch soccer either.

Add to that, the fact that Americans had been particularly hostile toward the thought of soccer for generations. Didn't just not like it, but would go out of their way to let you know they don't like it (an example being the amount of people who've come in the various soccer threads just to say how "boring" it is). Over the years Americans have softened to the game and will continue to do so. That's already a huge improvement.

If so, then the youth participation figures often trotted out to support the notion that most Americans care about soccer or a strong indicator of its future popularity should be discounted. I have heard the same point since the 1970’s and it has yet to produce the predicted bonanza.

I think the “hostility” you mentioned is a reaction to some soccer evangelists’ belief that Americans [b]should like soccer[/b] and if they don’t it is due to ignorance or stupidity. They completely resist (like hidebound traditionalists) making the game more appealing by improving scoring opportunities just like football, basketball, and baseball have done over the years.

Those people exist more in the mythology* than in real life. In actuality, most "why dont American's like soccer" discussions are started by people who dont like soccer but have nothing better to do with their lives. 99% of American soccer fans just want to watch the sport and to have those I mentioned earlier to just **** off.

Me, personally, I just want to enjoy the sport I've loved my entire life with people who also like the sport. And as far as people who dont like the sport? I dont care. I don't like cargo shorts but I dont go around telling people that like cargo shorts that I dont like their clothes.


*-yes there is 1% who is nuts.

It is a recurring theme on the few occasions soccer is discussed on sports radio in town, although they do not talk much about soccer because most of their listeners do not care. And in this very thread the “ignorant” notion was employed.

Nevertheless, I was disturbed when I saw America did not earn a WC spot. I hate seeing my country fail in anything - especially when Iceland (!!) can do it.

You keep mentioning Iceland. Iceland is a good team and just tied Argentina. Heck, if the US did make it to the WC I'd bet on Iceland to beat us.

Iceland’s population is less than Wichita, KS. If they can make it to the WC, then the USA (a weathy, diverse, and 3rd most populated country in the world) should make it too. The USA, despite proclamations we are turning into a soccer loving nation, is actually regressing on the international stage. Our best athletes and best coaching minds go into other sports. The main root cause is most Americans do not care about soccer. I do not understand the difficulty in acknowledging it.