Check Your Blood Pressure Before!!!

[Deuce]

I found this and my blood pressure went thru the roof so if you are concerned about your blood pressure do not read this!

Soccer for Suckers! published in the Salt Lake City Weekly

Dave Checketts’ Major League Soccer franchise Real Salt Lake, will stimulate Salt Lakers only slightly more than your usual dose of sleeping pills.

[Czar Jake]

absolutely ludicrous. This article is so ignorant and dumb that I can't even think of what I would say to the dude if I wrote him.

nice find, Deuce 🙄 :D

[montgjules]

Actually, the guy sounds like kind of a closet soccer fan. I loved the quote, "Soccer is not a life or death issue... it's much more important than that.."

Sounds like he just knows that soccer in America is NOT the football of the rest of the world... He brought up the exact point my friend brought up when I tried to talk him into going to games: "What, they score like once during the game if you're lucky." I tried to tell him that in football when you score seven points, that doesn't mean you've just seen seven different touchdowns, and if you think about how many TIMES you score in football, it's not all that different, but anyway.... (Basketball loses all interest to me because people score every .5 nanoseconds, so who cares?)

Anyway, he's just one bitter old man. (Probably 23) It wasn't as bad as that other article...

(Oh, and p.s. my blood pressure was 160/100 this morning before I read this, so who cares? It's already sky high.)

[bordelais7]

What a moron. Not even worth a response, even though he provided an email address.

As to jules' note about football scoring vs. futbol scoring, oddly enough I did a little analysis a couple of weeks ago, solely to demonstrate a point to my dad and uncle, who were mocking my brothers for watching a soccer game which ended 2-0. I thought I'd share:

I decided to compare NFL scoring to MLS scoring, which my dad and uncle said "wouldn't even be close, no matter how you look at it". I used the most recent season for both leagues.

The average number of goals per game per team in MLS last season was 1.3066.
The average running time of an MLS game is 108 minutes
The average number of goals (or scores) per hour per team: 0.7259

The average number of points scored per team in the NFL last season was 301.9. I picked Tampa Bay to use as a sample, who scored 302 points.
Tampa Bay averaged 2.3125 touchdowns per game
Tampa Bay averaged 0.9375 field goals per game
The average running time of an NFL game is 189 minutes
Average scores/hour (FGs and TDs combined): 1.0317
Average scores/hour attributing 1/2 score to FGs: 0.8829

So much for "not even close." Of course you already knew this.

Even though it's interesting data, I don't like to use it to explain "why I like soccer", because it really has nothing to do with why I like it. It does, however, come in handy whenever someone says that "watching soccer is like watching paint dry. No one ever scores."

Based on the data, my conclusion as to how to make soccer more interesting for people is this: Extend the game to 4 15-minute quarters, let the players rest every 15 seconds for a good 30 seconds or so, and we're set.

[Czar Jake]

That is some brilliant mathematical analysis, Bordelais! I hope you don't mind if I use that too next time somebody says soccer is boring.

[Rover]

Along those same lines, my son did a study of soccer, football, and baseball to see what percentage of actual gametime do you see any real play, not counting halftime. Not suprisingly, baseball was less than 5% (even with pitches included), and football was lucky to break 15%. Soccer was 90%.

This is no surprise to soccer fans, but on the many occasions I've discussed soccer with the uninitiated or uniformed, they are surprised by these stats. They're even more surprised when I tell them that no less than 8 of the 11 players who start the game will play the whole game (OK, barring injuries or sending off), and that if a player is red carded the team plays one down. This never fails change perspectives.

Those who find soccer dull don't know what to look for. Of course, that's the same for any sport. And if your intitiation to soccer is at your kid's rec game, as opposed to, say, Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Nou Camp, then you won't make any association of excitement with the game.

I still advise to ignore people like the author of this article. Yes, they can influence opinion. So can we. We can make help make an RSL game the place to be by our involvement, attendance, and by having a good time. The team will do the rest.

[Czar Jake]

Originally Posted by Rover

Those who find soccer dull don't know what to look for. Of course, that's the same for any sport.

Exactly. I love soccer and don't find it boring at all. Same with baseball. That's another one that people say is boring to watch, but if you know the game and understand what you are watching, there is nothing boring about it. No different than soccer.

[Loyal1]

I don't know, I think the article was as much a stab at the bean counters as anything. That and the daily paper reading, minivan driving, time to stroll the kiddie league sideline, cheer when you're told to, ugly american.

Maybe an underlying message is: hey you kill-joys! Is it April yet?!?

[SoccerPrime]

updates:
http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2005/lttr_2005-02-10.cfm