Paul Daugherty: soccer is dum

Friday, February 09, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/09/sports/soccer/09soccer.html?_r=1&ref=sports&oref=slogin

another reason to dislike (or at least laugh at) futbol

21 Comments:

at 12:53 PM

Jason and Jill said...

Paul,

We've talked about this before. Why do you and all media types like to generalize any soccer problem out of Europe (or South America for that matter) as being a SOCCER problem. Did you ever think about the fact that there may be a EUROPEAN problem!?!? Millions upon millions of other people around the world play soccer without any problems. But when the crazy EUROPEANS go and do something stupid, it's suddenly soccer's fault.

Why isn't "basketball dum" when players go up into the stands to fight spectators or why isn't "football dum" when FSU and FIU get into a big brawl? I KNOW Americans aren't dum... it must be basketball and football's fault!!

Thanks for reverting,
Jason Hurley

at 1:18 PM

Anonymous said...

Paul,
y r u so hateful & ate up w/it soccer is kewl but bad behayvior sux, sport or no sport. Wud u dis BB if there fans trashed the nati?
Nuff sed

Biker Bob

at 2:38 PM

Anonymous said...

Another perfect application for the Jerk Line...

at 9:52 AM

Paul Daugherty said...

Nah. To compare soccer riots with a basketball player chasing a heckler is a little silly, don't you think? Call me the next time we clear out PBS while the Bengals play Pittsburgh. "Millions upon millions'' play soccer around the world "without any problem''? Really? Tell that to the Iraqi national team when Saddam's bro was in charge. And so on.

at 10:44 AM

Anonymous said...

Paul,

By your assessment, then what do we say about Baseball when Detriot was torched in 1984 when the Tigers won the World Series or about College Football when Columbus rioted when OSU beat Michigan a few years ago (they didn't have much trouble up there this year after the win, to be fair). The Italian Soccer situation is more like these examples. The violence that was happening was outside the stadium. The Police Officer that was killed was outside the stadium. Maybe US sports aren't as far off from this type of situation as you would believe. Just wait until a city with other tensions has something spark it into a riot.

at 1:30 PM

Anonymous said...

Paul,

I love soccer. I attend as many games as I can and have never acted out of line in any form. So what do you think of me? You must not think much of me because I like soccer, which you think is dumb. Am I dumb by association then Paul? Am I a hooligan by association? I want you to respond & tell me personally, in writing instead of saying "soccer is dum" to a faceless crowd of people.

at 10:33 PM

Anonymous said...

I think Paul makes a good point. There is a big difference between sports in Europe and sports here. In Europe, most of the fans are thugs, and the players are innocent bystanders. In the USA, most of the players are thugs, and the fans are innocent bystanders.

at 4:48 PM

Anonymous said...

Put Sadam's brother in charge of the Knickerbockers and see what happens the next time they play the Celtics. Silly arguement.
Paul your smarter than that.
The problems in Europe and South America stem more from social extremism than the sport. A classic case of cure the disease not the symptoms.

at 9:32 AM

Brad said...

Even hockey is better than soccer.

at 12:32 PM

Nathan said...

When was the last time professional sports in the U.S. had riots in the stands? Murder?

The first poster indicates this is a EUROPEAN problem, then he provides evidence for Paul and mentions that it is also a problem in South America.

Well, as you can see on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_riot it is a problem in parts of the Middle East and Asia too. Guess Paul wasn't really generalizing.

at 1:30 PM

Anonymous said...

"75% of the world loves soccer"

uhh, well 75% of the world can't come up with a way to govern themselves, get clean water, or purchase football pads or a baseball bat.

If I lived on a rocky dirt pitch, I would probably play soccer too - barefoot - and then throw rocks at other villagers.

at 2:48 AM

Anonymous said...

Here in AMERICA we kill innocents at shopping malls, shoot musicians on the street, shoot 80 year olds on Halloween after posing as trick or treaters, wrap 3 year olds in duct tape to die while we "party".....

Makes the problems of a few sports hooligans seem rather small and insignificant.

Hey Paul, pander to your demographics by picking the "low-hanging fruit" and bashing away. How about some similar simpleton rhetoric about fans of rap music, unruly teenagers at high school basketball events, large men with much hair and many tattoos who ride motorcycles, or college students "cutting loose" on spring break ?

Xenophobia isn't funny.

at 12:14 AM

Anonymous said...

Regarding soccer...a case can be made for xenophobia.

Stay true to your roots, watch real football. Oh yeah, America has the big bomb also. So stay loyal, Benedict.

at 3:00 AM

Anonymous said...

anon 12:14 - spoken like a true believer. Bet you watch NASCAR, bash NBA cuz its "not guys like us", bash women's sports, bash the "foreigners" taking over MLB... ad infinitum.

Buy a jingo !

at 2:10 PM

Anonymous said...

It cracks me up at how many zeeks there are out there...I can actually HEAR the blood boiling in your veins and the venom spewing from your sorry asses! Doc writes his deal about soccer, and apologists for soccer want to whine and cry like stuck pigs...jason, biker bob, desmith, randy, and all you anonymice, here's a hint...take a chill. Relax. Coast a bit...it'll do wonders for your blood pressure! (But then again, I won't be able to laugh at your angry, whining, vitriolic comebacks...oh nevermind...keep crying!) :)

at 10:13 PM

Anonymous said...

hey anon 2:10 BP 120 over 68 here. Just sick of simple-minded cliches and ostrich group-think by Doc and others regarding soccer and soccer fans. If it was meant to be tonque in cheek or funny, it wasn't. If it was meant to be serious, well, I guess I can relax, considering the source.

Thanks for your attempt to keep open minded discourse in the closet. Just curious. do you laugh at racist, sexist, religious, ethnic stereotyping or homophobic attempts at humor as well ??

at 3:17 PM

Anonymous said...

Regardless of anything else soccer is boring and dum. And for the most part the US soccer player is someone who isn't good enough to play football, or there a mama's boy that isn't allowed to play!

at 12:17 AM

Anonymous said...

Hey 3:17 anon.
Brian McMride, Clint Dempsey, Carlos Boconegra, Tim Howard, and many others, including two of my nephews and 3 nieces, would gladly disagree with your ignorant myopia.

Can't wait for your opinions on male gymnasts, figure skaters, archers, volleyball players, lacrosse players, rowers, or cheerleaders.

at 3:26 PM

Anonymous said...

Many of the comments left here show exactly what is wrong with our country. We...generalization...are selfish, ignorant, arrogant, naive, and closed off to the rest of the world. It's people like this that give the rest of us Americans a bad name around the world. Soccer is the worlds game, it always has, its bigger than any "American" sport every will be. The rest of world has accepted our sports with curiosity and excitement, we may not have to like the world's game, but could we put aside our arrogance for once to respect it. As for soccer players not being able to play football, that just might be the "Dumest" comment on here.

at 11:10 PM

Anonymous said...

Dear Paul,

As a huge sports fan and college soccer player it is mind-boggling to think that there are a damaging group of adults in America who constantly degrade soccer. The disrespect is unbelievable for a whole set of athletes and especially Southwestern Ohio kids who make up one of the biggest soccer communities in the nation. It is even more disturbing to think that the prejudice shown towards soccer in the states is linked to people's prejudices about other nations around the world. How often soccer is told to boys that it is a "sissy" sport meaning for many boys that you will be classified as gay or weak by playing it. I am the product of a University of Cincinnati football and baseball playing grandfather, and a UC soccer playing father. I played every sport; Midland baseball for a while when I was younger, varsity basketball in high school, ran track in junior high, and played a year of football in junior high. All this while still playing soccer and never having made my mind up to concentrate on soccer till my junior year in high school. Never once was I degraded by my grandfather who never played soccer or two other uncles who played college football. They never played soccer and did not enjoy it as much as my dad and I but they respected my ability as a soccer player and as a total athlete. I started at tailback and strong safety having never played team football before. I started at guard for the varsity basketball team and was an all-state soccer player. Playing college soccer there are numerous guys on my team that did the same. Six foot three, two hundred twenty pound guys that are just as good at other sports as they are at soccer. The next time you look at a soccer player please look at him as an athlete and not some kid playing a sport that you do not care about. Not saying you have to like soccer, but give these people credit and respect that you would give another athlete.

As far as the foreign climate of the game, say what you want about riots, hooliganism etc., until you see a World Cup match or a game in England, do not group the world's dirty laundry into one big pile. There is more energy and enthusiasm than in any NFL, NBA, MLB, or NCAA games. Many of these countries have political problems that unfortunately come to the fore at soccer matches making everyone in this country shake their heads in disgust and think that it was soccer fault. I've been to the World Cup and I've been to England and Norway and seen matches that go off without a hitch. Stop taking the easy road and finding out everything bad that goes on in the sport because if you do that then investigate all the corruption that has gone on in the history of U.S. athletics and compare the two and you will find many similar events. Soccer is a game for all races, gender, ethnicities, religions, shapes and sizes. No sport is more available to anyone around the world.

I am asking that people dig a little deeper inside themselves and come out of the dark to respect the kids who work their tails off to get better at soccer just like the other athletes do in basketball, baseball and so on. I was one of these kids and I hope that adults let their kids choose whatever sport without hesitation or condemnation.

at 11:59 AM

Anonymous said...

as an european i am fascinated by the way many yanks bash football. why? it is done with so much bitterness, cynism and hate. i really dont understand it.
most reasons the bashers give as of why football sucks are just silly and yes ....ignorant.
and i must admit it annoys the crap out of me. i have done a lot of reading about football-haters and one thing always struck me as funny. its always one-sided. i dont hate american football, as do most of my friends. we know about it and have seen a few games. but we never felt the need to bash it. why should we? what i have noticed is that almost always its americans that start with `soccer sucks`ect. and then you get a reaction from the other side who love football. football to some americans seems to be a danger of some kind. some forgein threat? why shouldnt you just ignore it like we do with your american football. i still respect it, i dont like it but i never really felt the urge to bash it.

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Friday, February 09, 2007

soccer is dum

21 Comments: