Breathtaking U.S. College Sports Story

[dgs49]

I awoke to find, buried in a "miscellaneous" column at the back of the Sports section, the following news about the NCAA championship match of a "major college sport":

http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story ... ampionship

I’ve been hearing literally for decades the myth that the Era of Soccer is dawning in the U.S. “Millions of American kids are playing! They follow the sport internationally! When they grow up, they will be as enthusiastic about college and professional soccer as most Americans are today about FOOTBALL!”

Ba. Fucking. Loney.

This was the NCAA championship, and I would venture to say that it wasn’t even on the radar screen of 99% of the American males who look first to the Sports Section when they start reading the newspaper every morning. And given that this is a Monday morning when the news is dominated by reporting of pro football games, the NCAA Championship warranted about as much “sports” attention as Lindsey Vonn catching a cold. I’m surprised that the story in our local rag even got a headline (total about 4 column inches).

And dare I point out that judging from this story (and this story alone), it looks like the college sport is dominated by invading foreigners…Nikita Kotlov, Eriq Zavaleta, Tomas Gomez, Luis Soffner. Probably guys who couldn’t make their neighborhood “football” team in Carpatho-Armenia, so they decided to come to America and be college superstars, and get a free education in the bargain.

Soccer – an amazingly stupid sport to start with – is just as irrelevant in the U.S. today as it was a generation ago, when it was supposedly going to rise – “…by the time these kids are old enough to purchase season tickets…” - to be comparable with other major sports like…I don’t know… women’s semi-pro football?

The truly amazing thing about soccer (“football”) is its popularity outside the U.S. How boring life must be when people have to generate enthusiasm for a sport in which you are generally prohibited from using your hands. A sport in which the higher the level of competition, the fewer points are scored. Indeed, in most World Cup matches, there is only 60-90 seconds of actual play time when anything could conceivably happen that would affect the outcome of the game. The rest of the time is spent with the players passing the ball around 50-100 meters away from the goal.

The only thing that keeps the fans in the stands is the remote possibility that something interesting might happen while they out using the toilet facilities. A “highlight reel” of the entire World Cup wouldn’t require more than five minutes of airtime.

I understand that soccer is fun to play. But the key question is, compared to what? Basketball, hockey, touch football, softball, golf, tennis, bowling, hunting, fishing, and riding a bike ALL provide much greater enjoyment per unit of time.

Ultimately, I can’t imagine why anyone would actually play it unless there was absolutely NOTHING else to do, and I’d personally rather get a root canal than have to watch an entire match. How long are they, 8 hours? Maybe it only seems that long.

[Joe Guy]

I agree.

Why would anyone watch a game that involves a bunch of guys trying to score a goal while another group attempts to stop them?

Strange foreign concept.

[MajGenl.Meade]

How boring life must be when people have to generate enthusiasm for a sport in which you are generally prohibited from using your hands.

How quaint an admission. I imagine you find life supremely self-interesting.

[Long Run]

That was a good rant. On the merits, soccer has come a long way in the U.S. in terms of being a spectator sport, and continues to gain ground and is maybe the 5th most popular sport. Being from our culture, though, It is clearly a less interesting sport than American football or basketball, and even our own slow-moving sport of baseball. While soccer will of has probably surpassed hockey, NASCAR and some other second tier sports, and it may one day challenge baseball in the U.S., I doubt it will ever come close to basketball, let alone football. But then again, who would have guessed at the downward trend of baseball or the demise of boxing. It is possible football will suffer the same fate, though there are no signs of that occurring now.

[dgs49]

Check your numbers, long run. Auto racing is second only to football as a spectator sport.

Aside from a miniscule group of enthusiasts in the cities where MLS (or whatever it's called now) has franchises, nobody knows or cares about it. A good crowd is 17 thousand. Largely because it is dominated by foreigners who are generally has-beens from other countries.

[Gob]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_in_ ... ted_States

[Lord Jim]

I’ve been hearing literally for decades the myth that the Era of Soccer is dawning in the U.S. “Millions of American kids are playing! They follow the sport internationally! When they grow up, they will be as enthusiastic about college and professional soccer as most Americans are today about FOOTBALL!”

I remember explaining this before at the CSB...

Soccer leagues have been popular in this country since I was a little kid back in the mid 60s....(they still are; Jimmy's cousin who's two years older than he is on one, and we'll probably get him in one too...it's great exercise for kids, and the rules are very easy to learn)

And as Dave pointed out, the theory behind this was that as kids played soccer, (just like as they played baseball, or football, or basketball) they would develop an affinity for the sport, and as adults pay to watch it as spectators....

This has failed utterly, and the reason isn't because soccer is inherently boring...(though we can argue that point)

But because it is commercially unviable, given the way it's structured, vis a vis other major American sports...

A truly talented athlete in the US, who may have played soccer as a child, (or even in High School) is naturally going to gravitate towards one of the Big Three sports in this country when he reaches the college level....

Because that's where the money is....(One can scarcely blame them; if you can sign a contract with The Miami Dolphins for 2 million a year plus a signing bonus, or sign a contract with The Fort Lauderdale Strikers for $130,000 a year, which would you pick?)

It's a very easy to explain cycle:

Because soccer plays 90 minutes with no "time outs" (only 15 minutes between "halfs") there is no time for commercials...

Without time for commercials, there is no opportunity to raise the sort of advertising revenue that would make it attractive to either the major networks, or to top tier athletes in this country....

Without top tier athletes, (though a couple of stunts have been pulled by bringing well known international soccer stars to play in the US...Pele a couple of decades ago, and another guy recently who's name escapes me...a single individual star does not a league make) and without ongoing network exposure, soccer will never gain a national following in this country...

So until and unless soccer can figure out a way to make time for hawking beer, razor blades, and tires, it will never be anything but a poor fifth (at best) to the NFL, MLB, the NBA, and even the NHL in the US.

[Crackpot]

Soccer has been gaining in popularity. I know more than a few people that make a point to watch the World Cup. That being said regular league play hardly makes a blip.

[Gob]

But because it is commercially unviable, given the way it's structured, vis a vis other major American sports...

A truly talented athlete in the US, who may have played soccer as a child, (or even in High School) is naturally going to gravitate towards one of the Big Three sports in this country when he reaches the college level....

Because that's where the money is....(One can scarcely blame them; if you can sign a contract with The Miami Dolphins for 2 million a year plus a signing bonus, or sign a contract with The Fort Lauderdale Strikers for $130,000 a year, which would you pick?)

It's a very easy to explain cycle:

Because soccer plays 90 minutes with no "time outs" (only 15 minutes between "halfs") there is no time for commercials...

Without time for commercials, there is no opportunity to raise the sort of advertising revenue that would make it attractive to either the major networks, or to top tier athletes in this country....

.

It's the American way!!!

1. Lionel Messi
2012 Earnings: €33 Million (£27.5m)
2011 Earnings: €31 Million
Net worth: $110 Million – (estimated)

2. David Beckham
2012 Earnings: €31.5 Million (£26.2m)
2011 Earnings: €19 million
Net worth: £160 Million or $260m – As of May 2012, according to the Sunday Times UK Rich List

3. Cristiano Ronaldo
2012 Earnings: €29.2 Million (£24.3m)
2011 Earnings: €27.5 million
Net worth: $160 Million – (estimated)
Current Club:Real Madrid

4. Samuel Eto’o
2012 Earnings:€23.3 Million (£19.4m)
2011 Earnings: €13 Million
Net worth: $50 Million – (estimated)
Current Club: FC Anzhi Makhachkala

5. Wayne Rooney
2012 Earnings:€20.6 Million (£17.2m)
2011 Earnings: €20.7 million
Net worth: £45 Million or $72m – As of May 2012, according to the Sunday Times UK Rich List
Current Club: Manchester United

6. Sergio Aguero
2012 Earnings: €18.8 Million (£15.7m)
Net worth: £37 million or $59m – As of May 2011, according to the Sunday Times UK Rich List
Current Club: Manchester City


7. Yaya Touré
2012 Earnings: €17.6 Million (£14.7m)
2011 Earnings: €13.8 Million
Net Worth: £12 Million or $19m – As of May 2012, according to Sunday Times UK Rich List
Current Club: Manchester City

So that neatly discounts your points Jim. Not only are there HUGE wages to be earned in soccer, but there is also huge money to be made in soccer promotion.

The attention span of the average American, who cannot focus on a game for more than two minutes without having a mind cleansing advert break, or a marching sousaphone band , cheerleader display, and song from Meatloaf, must be to blame.

[Long Run]

Good point, Gob. And one of those dudes plays most of his soccer here in the U.S. now. While Jim points out a challenge for making money on soccer, the advertisers are well up to figuring out how to do so, with scrolling ads, sponsored by segments, stadium signage, etc.

[Lord Jim]

Well, I'll believe that soccer has truly caught on in this country at a professional level, when I see municipalities competing with each other to set up sweetheart deals with the franchise owners for the creation of "soccer stadiums"....

Most of the teams in the "North American Soccer League" play in venues that a MLB Triple A Baseball Team wouldn't play in....

[Lord Jim]

I know more than a few people that make a point to watch the World Cup.

And besides that, how many watch it CP?

I've found the last two rounds (four years apart) quite exciting; I have in fact, seen exciting soccer games...there is such a thing as an "exciting soccer game"....(as opposed to an "exciting cricket game".... while one may exist in theory, there is no referent in actual human experience...)

But watching a few games, four years apart, is not enough to sustain ongoing interest in a professional sport....

[Lord Jim]

Check your numbers, long run. Auto racing is second only to football as a spectator sport.

For what it's worth, I don't understand that either....

Maybe it's just because I'm not that in to cars, but the whole NASCAR "sport of watching cars go 'round and 'round in circles" is no more appealing to me than a cricket match.....

[Gob]

as opposed to an "exciting cricket game".... while one may exist in theory, there is no referent in actual human experience...)

Oh a large portion of the world's population will disagree with you on that Jim. How can a game which is scored in the hundreds of runs, be any way less exciting that baseball, in which two or three are the norm?

[Lord Jim]

How can a game which is scored in the hundreds of runs

Yes, that is an interesting question...

How can a game in which almost nothing ever happens, result in scores like "432-140"?

That's puzzled me...

I believe I have the explanation...

They simply make it up....

After they've stood around doing nothing for a day (or two, or three, or four) they simply pull numbers out of a hat, and announce that as the score....

(Don't worry; your secret's safe with me.... )

[dales]

My grandson had a choice between soccer (which is a VERY popular in Pleasanton) and little league.

He chose little league.

Soccer is unAmerican.

[Gob]

Soccer is unAmerican.

I knew I liked it for a reason!!

[Lord Jim]

No Dale, soccer is wonderful exercise for small children....

Baseball's a little too complicated for a five year old, but a five year old can play soccer...

(Once they reach seven or eight, they can play baseball....)

[Lord Jim]

Oh a large portion of the world's population will disagree with you on that Jim.

Well then, "a large portion of the world's population" would be wrong....

Wouldn't be the first time....

[Gob]

Jim one day i'll take you to a one day test, and treat you to a sporting spectacle which will put all your parochial sports in the shade.