Steve- while the original thread was designed to celebrate the world's
biggest sports tournament, I'll dive in and contest your remarks which
downplay the sport...
First, the sheer amount of kids playing in the US is noteworthy- it ain't going
away. Next, the WC's purpose isn't to grow the sport, it's to crown a world
champion. The sport is growing just fine on it's own, whether casual US
fans want it or not...
Regarding "boredom", I can't identify with that comment at all. Soccer is a
sport of surpassing beauty and skill, and is rarely "boring". The NFL, on the
other hand, is BO-RING. Tons of pregame blather, commercials, time outs,
overly long halftimes, and utterly colorless play that goes on for 3 1/2
hours ( I love the endless debate among announcers as they try to
parse whether some luckless WR "made a football move" as he crossed the
goal line- riveting stuff!) Golf? BORING. I'm sure you've heard people claim
they don't understand soccer, which is hilarious as it's painfully simple. If
we understand baseball and it's gazillion rules, we can understand soccer
and it's 17 Laws...
Regarding flopping, couldn't agree more. Keep in mind there are players
who don't do it, and a gender (female) that generally is too proud to do it.
Just like I root for Tom Brady to get drilled inot next year because of his
relentless chiseling and whining, I root against the play actors who flop.
It's okay to do that
So, back to the point of the thread. Can't wait to see how the round of 16
plays out, the US could have done a lot worse than Netherlands!
Trent King