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Doc wrote:It may be different elsewhere, but tradition, and those things that are thought of as "American" are pretty strong here, despite the continuous socialization/globalization going on in this country.

That opinion represents about 1/2 of the country, BTW.

In Florida, soccer has been popular for, oh, about 25-30 years. Not really a new "fad".

Soccer is:

Cheap

Good excercise

Cheap

Fun

Easy to coach

Less risk of injury

Cheap

Soccer is an incredibly aerobic sport, much more so than football, rugby, baseball, basketball, etc. with exception of tennis and swimming.

Tennis requires more skill to coach and more capital investment in the playing structure, and the same goes for swimming.

While I don't care for co-ed teams in any sport, they also exist in Pee-Wee football Tee-ball. In fact wrestling squads allow girls now, but that is because of that rediculous 85lb. weight class in high school wrestling.

As for it not being popular, look at any area that has a decent hispanic contingency. It has nothing to do with PC or "liberals" or "conservatives" just what the people want to watch and participate in.

The only people to blame for the downfall of sports is the American public. We continue to watch on TV and drive up the ratings. We continue to pay higher and higher prices to go to the game. We continue to buy apparel and memorabilia.


I also challenge any of you to take on my good friend from college that played soccer in just about any sport. Even at 30, he is still fast and agile. While in high school, he broke three opponent ankles while playing. The sport is for sissies about as much as hockey is.


So if the social climate of this country is all about playing a sport that isn't over-exposed by the media, and doesn't cost taxpayers as much to fund and support, I guess we should be up in arms?

LV wrote:1) Kill baseball in the US...check!

Maybe it's just because I'm in the NY area, where the Yankees are, and always have been, the toast of the town, but all this steroid nonsense seems to having no effect on people's interest in baseball. At all.

Hockey's problems with popularity, even before the strike, is that there is no poster-boy for the sport, at least not since Wayne Gretzky. In baseball, guys like Barry Bonds, Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Ivan Rodriguez, Albert Pujols, Carlos Beltran, etc., get presented to the public as the mega-stars of the game, and (particularly in the cases of Jeter and A-Rod) as wholesome, clean-cut individuals--good role models. It works for them.

Football (not soccer....football) is sacred throughout most of the US, I think. They have a unique formula going for them. They only have a 16 week season (plus playoffs), and only play 1 day a week. That has driven Americans into a frenzy, clamoring every week for Sunday to roll around, so they can sit down for three hours and watch the game.

Even basketball has the likes of LeBron James, or Shaquille O'Neal to present to the public. While they may not be as likeable (or good) as Michael Jordan was (which contributes to the decline of basketball), it's still someone the public can latch onto.

Hockey does not have that. Part of the reason for that is because hockey is filled with predominantly Eastern European players. It's hard to put someone as your poster boy to the American public, when people can barely pronounce the name, let alone spell it. They haven't had a figurehead since Gretzky retired, and they're paying for it.

I also agree with what Matthew Gilcrest said--Soccer is popular among kids today because it is cheap (lille equipment needed), involves lots of running around, and isn't complicated. While this may lead to an incredible boring game to watch, it's a lot of fun to play, especially for hyper as hell little kids.

Tim Murphy, who thinks hockey needs to do some MAJOR revamping in order to save their league.

Tim Murphy, who thinks hockey needs to do some MAJOR revamping in order to save their league.

Yeahh...like cancel the entire season because the owners and players can't agree over whose millons will go to whom.

I'm sorry, I can't relate.

Gotta get back to work... [/quote]

jlbreyer wrote:

Tim Murphy, who thinks hockey needs to do some MAJOR revamping in order to save their league.

Yeahh...like cancel the entire season because the owners and players can't agree over whose millons will go to whom.

I'm sorry, I can't relate.

Gotta get back to work...

My point about hockey needing to do some major revamping was more along the lines of finding a way to make the game more appealing to the masses. TexTuba put it very well, in saying, "As far as this hockey mess...who cares??" That's a large part of the problem; not enough. Players have become accostomed to having ridiculously large salaries, like other atheletes. The league just isn't doing the business to support those salaries (baseball, football, and even basketball, on the other hand, do...but that's a whole different discussion.) The players don't want a pay cut (who does?), the owners insist they can't afford to keep paying the same salaries they have been....hence the lockout, and cancelled season.

It appears as though the owners and players will reach an agreement by next season. That only solves half the problem. The larger problem is going to be getting asses in the seats, which is going to be made even more difficult because of the lockout.

Hence...hockey needs to seriously revamp the way the game itself is played, to make it more exciting and appealing to a large audience.

TexTuba wrote:In Texas, football is king. So to hear about this hockey mess, all I can say is who cares.

A few of us used to pretend to care about hockey.

Rick "who played in the pep band for the Houston Aeros, WHA World Champions, ca. 1974, but who didn't watch much of the actual hockey at those games" Denney

Rick Denney wrote: Rick "who played in the pep band for the Houston Aeros, WHA World Champions, ca. 1974, but who didn't watch much of the actual hockey at those games" Denney

Gosh, Rick! I didn't know you had such strong playing credentials. Not that I think you play as poorly as you try to portray yourself, either.

Doc wrote:The money involved seems to have changed the players attitudes over the years, and the overall atmosphere of the game. It is no longer about the game, it is about the money.

That killed it for me. The strike in the late 70's/early 80's (I don't remember). Following that baseball was never on in my house. Dad just wanted nothing to do with it, and with only one TV... I never got into playing it either, though several friends tried.

Could it be that baseball, at its slow pace, is too boring to capture their attention?

It sure doesn't help. Then again, I still find baseball boring, even live. Basketball/socker, while not slow like baseball, I don't care for either. I like the Football pace. A few seconds of quick action, and time to think about what happend/what to do next. Baseball has too much tinking and not enough action, basketball/soccer not time to think.

Can't watch much hockey around here - it isn't on TV.

It's there, just not the TLAs. ESPN carries some games, and you can get the NHL package on satellite anywhere. The regional sports networks carry some, though I don't know which.
I remember FOX tried NHL, jazzing it up (highlight the puck ), but that didn't work well.

TubaRay wrote:Gosh, Rick! I didn't know you had such strong playing credentials. Not that I think you play as poorly as you try to portray yourself, either.

Playing credentials? Playing in the Aeros Pep Band is playing credentials? Hot damn!

I woulda thought it was something that, you know, paid, like playing in the TubaMeisters.

(As to how I portray myself, if someone hears me and is pleasantly surprised, then I will have portrayed myself correctly. That's not an easy mark to hit.)

Rick "whose prime qualification in both cases was availability" Denney

Actually, I found basketball very enjoyable tonight.

Virginia Tech-67 Duke-65 Go Hokies!!!!!!


heads

Will wrote:Actually, I found basketball very enjoyable tonight.

Virginia Tech-67 Duke-65 Go Hokies!!!!!!

Well, there is certainly no shortage of basketball these days.

TMurphy wrote:

LV wrote:1) Kill baseball in the US...check!

Maybe it's just because I'm in the NY area, where the Yankees are, and always have been, the toast of the town,

GO RED SOX!!

MA

Have you ever heard the old joke about hockey?

"I went to a fight last night and a hockey game broke out!"

The violence and the acceptance of fighting in the sport is what I never liked. I have gone to maybe 5 minor league hockey games in my life and 3 of them had bench clearing brawls that stopped that game for about 20 minutes. what is the sense of that?

ken "who cares?" k

MaryAnn wrote:

TMurphy wrote:

LV wrote:1) Kill baseball in the US...check!

Maybe it's just because I'm in the NY area, where the Yankees are, and always have been, the toast of the town,

GO RED SOX!!

MA

Grrrr.......

Just counting the days to the season opener...and looking forward to attending my first game of the year (and, just so Bloke knows, I always sit in the bleachers, where tickets only cost $12, and I never buy anything other than 1 soda.)

Tim "eager to hear Bob Shepard say those magic words: 'Welcome to Yankee Stadium'" Murphy

I was pulling hard for the Cubs to beat the Marlins 2 years ago to make the world series. I woud've gladly had the Yankees lose, just to see the Cubs win before the Red Sox. Unfortunately, that can never be...sigh.