dtheriault

When I watch sports I want to see the best.

When I watch college sports or even high school sports I get a chance to sometimes see someone who will eventually be "the best."

When I watch the WNBA I see people playing that could get beat by a good high school all-star team.

Same problem with soccer on american TV. I've always thought soccer was really boring to watch. I'll watch the World Cup (great), but watching MLS or the Mexican league on spanish TV is usually a tedious experience.

The other day I finally watched Premier League soccer from England. Holy Shet! It was great. I said "why isn't this on regular tv more often?"

If soccer fans really want Americans to embrace the sport they need to quit exposing Americans to second tier athletes in the MLS and start exposing Americans to the level of soccer that's played in the various Premier leagues in Europe.

__________________
"Remember, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." -Homer

Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword?

Spartak

Yep, that's pretty much it.

MLS is seen as the washup/neverwas league. Arsenal's Sol Campbell said he was keen to play in the MLS when he turns 35, that says it all right there.

The 500k/year price cap thing pretty much assures mediocrity, even small european leagues can easily match that.

Although I did watch the MLS Cup and thought it was played to a good standard, I just didn't like the way the commentators justified it as "WOW the most high scoring MLS cup final EVER" (the score was 4-2), soccer shouldn't be sold on its scoring.

__________________
I can read your mind... looking at you... I can read your mind...

kutulu

That reeks of chauvanism. It reminds me of watching women's tennis with my Dad while he talks about how he could beat most of them. Whatever.

Although I'm no fan of the WNBA (or basketball at all) I highly doubt that a good all-star team could take a WNBA team. That's like saying most regular people could take any WNBA player in a 1 on 1 game. Sure they would get their asses kicked by most college teams but they should be given their due respect.

The WNBA's main problem is that for the most part pro sports are done by men for men. Most guys are way too "macho" to watch women's sports. The market is also saturated with sports as it is.

The main problem with soccer is that it's a mainly defense oriented game with little contact. Similar to the NHL, you never know when someone is going to score and there is a lot of luck (good and bad) involved with scoring. The NHL gets around this problem by making it a contact-oriented sport.

A lot of similarities to baseball can be seen here. Personally, I love baseball but a lot of people find it boring because in an ideal game scoring is kept to a minimum. Most casual fans would rather see an 10-8 slugfest at Coor's Field than a 1-0 pitcher's duel between two staff aces. IMO, in a 10-8 game even if you win you still played like shit.

sixate

Maybe so, but I'll bet the the McDonald's All American team would smoke any WNBA team, and also their All Stars. I just don't think that most people understand the huge differences between the male and female athlete. Men have such a huge advantage in size, strength, and athletic ability that it's not even fair.

dtheriault

I'm not saying most regular people could take on a WNBA team. I'm saying a "good" high school all-star team as in most of the team will be playing in the NBA one day. The main issue would be height and strength.

When I watch a sport I need it to appear close to the best possible. The lack of dunking in the WNBA prohibits that. The WNBA already uses a smaller ball, so why not a shorter rim. Just subtract the difference between the average height in men and women (probably 5 inches) and all of a sudden you have the occasional power get the fans off their seats dunk.

I really like watching women's volleyball- it's fast and they spike it hard just like the guys, I'm enjoying watching Michelle Wei in golf and I actually prefer women's tennis because there's more volleying back and forth instead of 130mph serves.

I was just making a point by using the WNBA- my main point was that we in America are treated to 2nd rate soccer on TV and people wonder why Americans don't like soccer. If I had to watch only Euro league American Football I wouldn't like football either.

__________________
"Remember, it takes two to lie. One to lie and one to listen." -Homer

Unless you are the freakin Highlander, what is the point in learning how to fight with a sword?

War316

It's funny i was never able to watch soccer very much until i witnessed the fun it can be in a pub outside the united states.

I was in Germany for business and one night we decided to go to O'Reily's pub in Heidleburg, Germany for dinner and they ended up showing the Holland match during the Euro-Cup on the big screen.

Well to make a long story short we made friends with the group routing for Holland and had a very good time hanging out watching the game and drinking the local brew.

Now granted here in the states soccer isn't the biggest sport in the world, but if you find a group at a pub by all means stay and join them. I have already received emails from those guys asking me if and when i'm going back for a visit to Germany. I'll be leaving July 26th for 3 weeks.

Cheers

__________________
Good Times