Post by FortySixandTwo on May 19, 2014 22:38:05 GMT -8
I always jokingly announce the next Portland Timbers game in competitive practice, or the day of; and encourage people to watch. People, you should give the MLS a try. They just signed a big deal with NBC and FOX, so you will start to see more games on than just the match of the week on ESPN. This year, you will also be able to see, arguably, the most anticipated match for free; streaming on the MLS home page.
I grew up loving the NFL and football, just like most Americans. I played it through out my youth and high school years. I kinda watched the World Cup in 2006, cared a little more in 2010, and started seriously watching soccer in 2011. I think if the World Cup piques your interest, you should seriously check out the MLS more. The league is getting better and better, and I honestly like watching a random MLS game than any NFL game not directly involving the Seahawks. I understand I am not going to convert people, and I don't really want any played our snarky comments. Just find the team closest to you and check them out.
Here's why;
- League parity. Because how the league set is up, team revenue is not solely driven by market share and viewership. That means great parity, and strong competition. Most teams have one guy you might recognize from a national team, one or two young players on the verge of being something special, and eight to seven guys who work for a living. For the guys who work for a living, this means you have to give a shit, you can't take games off. MLS games rarely feel like the players are phoning in a half.
- 90+ minutes of action. What is lame about the NFL is that you sit and watch 3 plus hours of fucking advertisements for about 20 minutes of content. Broadcasting has just gotten increasingly worse. If you are a casual football fan, you probably don't give a shit. But if you care about offensive/defensive packages and watching routes; you will probably love soccer. Soccer promises 90 minutes of play to watch positions, plays, and routes/moves develop leading to a score. It is not always as intense as the NFL, but if you geek out on the technical side; you'll really enjoy it.
- Home field advantage. Most people feel NFL refs are trash. MLS refs are trash at a point of hilarity in comparison. Imagine having NFL refs have to continually make 90 minutes of true playing time calls with zero stoppage and no instant reply. Shit is fucking hard, yo. As a result, you don't have asshole NBA refs deciding games about whether shit was a block or a charge. As a result, away teams win on the road a lot more. There isn't that 78% home field advantage that causes teams to phone shit in.
- The game is ugly and beautiful. An oft heard complaint about soccer is flopping. Honestly, the NBA is just about as worse now. The difference lies in the inability of refs to stop play and review calls, and the lack of homerism to certain players. In soccer, people can flop and the ref can call it or miss it. A Play can slap a ball with their hand, in the penalty box, to prevent a goal (A NY player did this a year ago) and the ref can miss it. The game is subjective and it isn't fair. Unlike baseball, your stats aren't strongly correlated to your success. You can dominate possession and hit all your shots off the post. A team can be down a man and pull out a win. The old time officiating of the game can break your heart and make you love it as your team gets away with something. Soccer is closer to the game of life now than the NFL is.
- Superstars aren't given preferential treatment. Lebron never gets called for his awful travels. Payton Manning pretty much telling the refs when to call roughing the passer. Superstars in the MLS pretty much have their backs against the wall. People are going to fuck you up to make sure you don't pull off beautiful shit. If you look any team's top salaried players, or superstars; they are usually the folks leading the league in being fouled and taken down: while being less likely to get prefential calls. The better you are in the MLS, the more chances some dude is going to take you out from behind because his coach told him to.
- Price of admission. Once again, the MLS is the NFL or NBA forty years ago. This is a working man's league. At most venues you can get a great seat in a stadium and a couple beers for what it would cost you to get the shittiest seat in any NFL/NBA stadium.
Caveats;
- I also love hockey, but it is in the same boat. Unless you grew up with it, somebody is going to have to explain to you what is really going on; or you are going to have to read about it. It is not the orgy of offensive that the NFL and NBA or. You are going to have to understand concepts and strategy. To watch position changes and the growth and development of a play through passing. Understand the gain of momentum and failure of defensive pick ups. Those make the goals much more exciting, to see and understand why they are happening. Otherwise, you are going to get less bang for your buck than the NFL/NBA. There isn't a OMG TOUCHDOWN every 2 minutes and nobody is inexplicably draining a three every 30 seconds.
- You have to like defense as much as offense. My biggest NFL complaint is they have made disadvantaged defense so much, it is truly a secondary objective in the modern league. It's all about retarded shoot outs, because that grabs fucking casuals more. I think next year the NFL might impose a rule that all DBs have to play with one hand behind their backs, and the South Park's scastafootball league will gain popularity. I LOVE watching old NFL games that were essentially slug fests deciding upon by sheer will of the players. Most MLS games today are those same, old school battles of will.
In summation, if the upcoming world cup grabs your interest at all this year; please give the MLS a try where you can see many of those same players less than four years apart.
Finally, if you think soccer is dumb, look at league attendance for some of the clubs. The Seattle Sounders, for instance, are currently 5th all time in average attendance over ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTING TEAM EVENTS EVER.
I grew up loving the NFL and football, just like most Americans. I played it through out my youth and high school years. I kinda watched the World Cup in 2006, cared a little more in 2010, and started seriously watching soccer in 2011. I think if the World Cup piques your interest, you should seriously check out the MLS more. The league is getting better and better, and I honestly like watching a random MLS game than any NFL game not directly involving the Seahawks. I understand I am not going to convert people, and I don't really want any played our snarky comments. Just find the team closest to you and check them out.
Here's why;
- League parity. Because how the league set is up, team revenue is not solely driven by market share and viewership. That means great parity, and strong competition. Most teams have one guy you might recognize from a national team, one or two young players on the verge of being something special, and eight to seven guys who work for a living. For the guys who work for a living, this means you have to give a shit, you can't take games off. MLS games rarely feel like the players are phoning in a half.
- 90+ minutes of action. What is lame about the NFL is that you sit and watch 3 plus hours of fucking advertisements for about 20 minutes of content. Broadcasting has just gotten increasingly worse. If you are a casual football fan, you probably don't give a shit. But if you care about offensive/defensive packages and watching routes; you will probably love soccer. Soccer promises 90 minutes of play to watch positions, plays, and routes/moves develop leading to a score. It is not always as intense as the NFL, but if you geek out on the technical side; you'll really enjoy it.
- Home field advantage. Most people feel NFL refs are trash. MLS refs are trash at a point of hilarity in comparison. Imagine having NFL refs have to continually make 90 minutes of true playing time calls with zero stoppage and no instant reply. Shit is fucking hard, yo. As a result, you don't have asshole NBA refs deciding games about whether shit was a block or a charge. As a result, away teams win on the road a lot more. There isn't that 78% home field advantage that causes teams to phone shit in.
- The game is ugly and beautiful. An oft heard complaint about soccer is flopping. Honestly, the NBA is just about as worse now. The difference lies in the inability of refs to stop play and review calls, and the lack of homerism to certain players. In soccer, people can flop and the ref can call it or miss it. A Play can slap a ball with their hand, in the penalty box, to prevent a goal (A NY player did this a year ago) and the ref can miss it. The game is subjective and it isn't fair. Unlike baseball, your stats aren't strongly correlated to your success. You can dominate possession and hit all your shots off the post. A team can be down a man and pull out a win. The old time officiating of the game can break your heart and make you love it as your team gets away with something. Soccer is closer to the game of life now than the NFL is.
- Superstars aren't given preferential treatment. Lebron never gets called for his awful travels. Payton Manning pretty much telling the refs when to call roughing the passer. Superstars in the MLS pretty much have their backs against the wall. People are going to fuck you up to make sure you don't pull off beautiful shit. If you look any team's top salaried players, or superstars; they are usually the folks leading the league in being fouled and taken down: while being less likely to get prefential calls. The better you are in the MLS, the more chances some dude is going to take you out from behind because his coach told him to.
- Price of admission. Once again, the MLS is the NFL or NBA forty years ago. This is a working man's league. At most venues you can get a great seat in a stadium and a couple beers for what it would cost you to get the shittiest seat in any NFL/NBA stadium.
Caveats;
- I also love hockey, but it is in the same boat. Unless you grew up with it, somebody is going to have to explain to you what is really going on; or you are going to have to read about it. It is not the orgy of offensive that the NFL and NBA or. You are going to have to understand concepts and strategy. To watch position changes and the growth and development of a play through passing. Understand the gain of momentum and failure of defensive pick ups. Those make the goals much more exciting, to see and understand why they are happening. Otherwise, you are going to get less bang for your buck than the NFL/NBA. There isn't a OMG TOUCHDOWN every 2 minutes and nobody is inexplicably draining a three every 30 seconds.
- You have to like defense as much as offense. My biggest NFL complaint is they have made disadvantaged defense so much, it is truly a secondary objective in the modern league. It's all about retarded shoot outs, because that grabs fucking casuals more. I think next year the NFL might impose a rule that all DBs have to play with one hand behind their backs, and the South Park's scastafootball league will gain popularity. I LOVE watching old NFL games that were essentially slug fests deciding upon by sheer will of the players. Most MLS games today are those same, old school battles of will.
In summation, if the upcoming world cup grabs your interest at all this year; please give the MLS a try where you can see many of those same players less than four years apart.
Finally, if you think soccer is dumb, look at league attendance for some of the clubs. The Seattle Sounders, for instance, are currently 5th all time in average attendance over ALL PROFESSIONAL SPORTING TEAM EVENTS EVER.
