Comments on: From the New York Times archives: Soccer has always been unpopular http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/ Thu, 11 Mar 2010 16:27:44 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Jeff http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-83118 Jeff Fri, 16 Nov 2007 01:19:09 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-83118 Yes, baseball was different in 1915. Players beat each other up much more often. Which makes it no different from, say, your average Serie A tilt. :) I DVRd the Minnesota-Green Bay game last Sunday (unfortunately, I'm a Viking fan). Using the speed search to forward through replays and commercials, I watched the game in 45 minutes. All action? Not hardly. Yes, baseball was different in 1915. Players beat each other up much more often. Which makes it no different from, say, your average Serie A tilt. :)

I DVRd the Minnesota-Green Bay game last Sunday (unfortunately, I’m a Viking fan). Using the speed search to forward through replays and commercials, I watched the game in 45 minutes. All action? Not hardly.

]]> By: Josh http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82336 Josh Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:48:30 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82336 <i>“It’s not scientific enough” seems like the would-be participant’s equivalent to “it’s not you, it’s me”.</i> If you can't draw up plays and you can't spend time in between each of those plays dissecting why those plays didn't work, it isn't scientific, I guess. <i>Was baseball different in 1915?</i> The uniforms were better-looking. “It’s not scientific enough” seems like the would-be participant’s equivalent to “it’s not you, it’s me”.

If you can’t draw up plays and you can’t spend time in between each of those plays dissecting why those plays didn’t work, it isn’t scientific, I guess.

Was baseball different in 1915?

The uniforms were better-looking.

]]> By: Josh http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82335 Josh Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:47:24 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82335 Stupid, complicated metric system. I hate tenths... Stupid, complicated metric system. I hate tenths…

]]> By: Jeremy http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82334 Jeremy Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:46:21 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82334 What makes this article interesting to me is that it was a couple of decades before television -- the device that made American football the U.S. sports juggernaut that it is today. So, even before the "it doesn't translate well to TV" excuse, it seems that Americans weren't ready to adapt their tastes to soccer. Perhaps there's nothing more to it all than an impulse to cling to anything distinctively American. I mean, can we really expect soccer to survive in a country where the metric system can't? What makes this article interesting to me is that it was a couple of decades before television — the device that made American football the U.S. sports juggernaut that it is today. So, even before the “it doesn’t translate well to TV” excuse, it seems that Americans weren’t ready to adapt their tastes to soccer.

Perhaps there’s nothing more to it all than an impulse to cling to anything distinctively American. I mean, can we really expect soccer to survive in a country where the metric system can’t?

]]> By: Bryan http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82265 Bryan Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:10:20 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82265 Also, after reading the rest of the article: tame compared to baseball? For real? True, I have never discovered what is uniquely interesting about baseball, but with all of the time between every single pitch, during which players have ample opportunity to spit their chaw juices and adjust their cups, baseball might only be less tame than golf (good call there, Shane) or bowling. Was baseball different in 1915? Also, after reading the rest of the article: tame compared to baseball? For real? True, I have never discovered what is uniquely interesting about baseball, but with all of the time between every single pitch, during which players have ample opportunity to spit their chaw juices and adjust their cups, baseball might only be less tame than golf (good call there, Shane) or bowling.

Was baseball different in 1915?

]]> By: Bryan http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82251 Bryan Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:21:24 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82251 "Not scientific enough"? What would be higher on that scale? Billiards? Pole vaulting? Curling? I'm not mocking these other activities (too much), but I'm just trying to wrap my head around what makes a game "scientific". "It's not scientific enough" seems like the would-be participant's equivalent to "it's not you, it's me". “Not scientific enough”? What would be higher on that scale? Billiards? Pole vaulting? Curling? I’m not mocking these other activities (too much), but I’m just trying to wrap my head around what makes a game “scientific”.

“It’s not scientific enough” seems like the would-be participant’s equivalent to “it’s not you, it’s me”.

]]> By: Shane http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82050 Shane Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:17:15 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82050 Golf is too tame. Golf is too tame.

]]> By: Daily Dose 11.12.07 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/comment-page-1/#comment-82044 Daily Dose 11.12.07 - World Football - The Offside - Soccer News and Opinion from leagues around the world Mon, 12 Nov 2007 16:30:42 +0000 http://www.throughball.com/2007/11/12/from-the-new-york-times-archives-soccer-has-always-been-unpopular/#comment-82044 [...] Why soccer wasn’t popular in the US back in 1915 (ThroughBall) [...] [...] Why soccer wasn’t popular in the US back in 1915 (ThroughBall) [...]

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