2014 WORLD CUP - SOCCER IS GHEY PART DOIS.

[InternetApex]

I was always interested in the fans' behavio(u)r but that wasn't enough to draw me in. What finally did it for me was the skill of the players. I don't really understand the sport - I only played a couple years as a kid - but when I see them move the ball around in ways that defy gravity and physics I begin to understand the allure. The intensity of the championship and the fact that these guys are playing for their countries is beyond fascinating.

[Tinker to Evers to Chance]

[Powdered Toast Man]

I'm an idiot. This tournament is awesome.

I still find it terrible. But I'm American, so I can be excused.

[Tonker]

I was always interested in the fans' behavio(u)r but that wasn't enough to draw me in. What finally did it for me was the skill of the players. I don't really understand the sport - I only played a couple years as a kid - but when I see them move the ball around in ways that defy gravity and physics I begin to understand the allure. The intensity of the championship and the fact that these guys are playing for their countries is beyond fascinating.

It's a funny thing.  Although you Americans are naturally very patriotic, turning out for your country seems to play a much less important role in the life of your professional team-sports players - I guess because opportunities are few and far between (if they exist at all), or happen during the professional season.  For many football (or rugby, or cricket, or...) players, representing their country at the World Cup is the pinnacle of their careers.

[Quality Start Machine]

I was always interested in the fans' behavio(u)r but that wasn't enough to draw me in. What finally did it for me was the skill of the players. I don't really understand the sport - I only played a couple years as a kid - but when I see them move the ball around in ways that defy gravity and physics I begin to understand the allure. The intensity of the championship and the fact that these guys are playing for their countries is beyond fascinating.

It's a funny thing.  Although you Americans are naturally very patriotic, turning out for your country seems to play a much less important role in the life of your professional team-sports players - I guess because opportunities are few and far between (if they exist at all), or happen during the professional season.  For many football (or rugby, or cricket, or...) players, representing their country at the World Cup is the pinnacle of their careers.

Aside from hockey, there is really no other tangible World Championship...The World Baseball Classic is kind of a snooze, Olympic basketball is whoever can be arsed to give up their summer off, and there aren't even enough decent non-American football players to field a team that could beat a decent Division III team.

[SKO]

I was always interested in the fans' behavio(u)r but that wasn't enough to draw me in. What finally did it for me was the skill of the players. I don't really understand the sport - I only played a couple years as a kid - but when I see them move the ball around in ways that defy gravity and physics I begin to understand the allure. The intensity of the championship and the fact that these guys are playing for their countries is beyond fascinating.

It's a funny thing.  Although you Americans are naturally very patriotic, turning out for your country seems to play a much less important role in the life of your professional team-sports players - I guess because opportunities are few and far between (if they exist at all), or happen during the professional season.  For many football (or rugby, or cricket, or...) players, representing their country at the World Cup is the pinnacle of their careers.

America is very big geographically and because of that it is has a history of regionalism that influences our sporting interests more than anything. It would have been very hard for us to develop international sporting rivalries in the 19th century  because of the distances involved, but we sure as hell could develop north vs. south, Texas vs. Oklahoma, etc. That's why there's so much emphasis on college sports rivalries, which are still the oldest and most powerful rivalries in American sports, in my opinion.

Then you add that our two most popular sports historically (baseball) and currently (football, by a wide margin) have never really taken off internationally and yeah, it's hard for us to muster the kind of hate we're capable of bringing towards each other to the international stage. It's a shame really, because I'd love to have the world see that we can hate with the best of them. We have a deep, rich tradition of hate. We had a Civil War one time that is probably better than anything your people have ever done.

[InternetApex]

I was always interested in the fans' behavio(u)r but that wasn't enough to draw me in. What finally did it for me was the skill of the players. I don't really understand the sport - I only played a couple years as a kid - but when I see them move the ball around in ways that defy gravity and physics I begin to understand the allure. The intensity of the championship and the fact that these guys are playing for their countries is beyond fascinating.

It's a funny thing.  Although you Americans are naturally very patriotic, turning out for your country seems to play a much less important role in the life of your professional team-sports players - I guess because opportunities are few and far between (if they exist at all), or happen during the professional season.  For many football (or rugby, or cricket, or...) players, representing their country at the World Cup is the pinnacle of their careers.

Aside from hockey, there is really no other tangible World Championship...The World Baseball Classic is kind of a snooze, Olympic basketball is whoever can be arsed to give up their summer off, and there aren't even enough decent non-American football players to field a team that could beat a decent Division III team.

I think there's an attitude that if the rest of the world is any good at any sport we care about they should head to the US and prove it. Why should we take the game to them? Hockey isn't really our sport, but we're in that sport.

[Quality Start Machine]

I think there's an attitude that if the rest of the world is any good at any sport we care about they should head to the US and prove it. Why should we take the game to them? Hockey isn't really our sport, but we're in that sport.

USA Hockey medals enough in world-class competition (World Junior, Olympics, etc) to where we're actually a force.

Of course, the fact that hockey's "World Championship" happens at the exact same time as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ensuring that only NHL players from shitty teams play, doesn't help. They've tried doing a World Cup a couple times. It might pick up more traction if the NHL balks at shutting down for 2 weeks in 2018 for the Olympics again.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

Then you add that our two most popular sports historically (baseball) and currently (football, by a wide margin) have never really taken off internationally...

Football, yeah.

Baseball, only if by "internationally" you mean "in Europe". Which, to be fair, is probably all that would matter to most Americans, particularly back in its heyday as the National Pastime.

And, in any case, MLB still utterly dominates the sport on the international stage to an extent that I don't think any one club soccer league does.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

I think there's an attitude that if the rest of the world is any good at any sport we care about they should head to the US and prove it. Why should we take the game to them? Hockey isn't really our sport, but we're in that sport.

USA Hockey medals enough in world-class competition (World Junior, Olympics, etc) to where we're actually a force.

Of course, the fact that hockey's "World Championship" happens at the exact same time as the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ensuring that only NHL players from shitty teams play, doesn't help. They've tried doing a World Cup a couple times. It might pick up more traction if the NHL balks at shutting down for 2 weeks in 2018 for the Olympics again.

And we basically own the IIHF U18s. Which, you know, tend to coincide with the CHL playoffs, so the Canadians don't generally field anything resembling their best squadron, but whatever. ISA all the way!

[SKO]

I've done some historical research at the request of a friend who wanted a historically appropriate way to taunt Ghana and I would suggest for all of you that "we have the stool" would seem to work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Stool

[Quality Start Machine]

I've done some historical research at the request of a friend who wanted a historically appropriate way to taunt Ghana and I would suggest for all of you that "we have the stool" would seem to work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Stool

"We have indoor plumbing" might also work.

[SKO]

I've done some historical research at the request of a friend who wanted a historically appropriate way to taunt Ghana and I would suggest for all of you that "we have the stool" would seem to work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Stool

"We have indoor plumbing" might also work.

Why go so pedestrian when you can mock something sacred to many of their people And bring up the worst excesses of colonialism? You think too small.

[J. Walter Weatherman]

I've done some historical research at the request of a friend who wanted a historically appropriate way to taunt Ghana and I would suggest for all of you that "we have the stool" would seem to work: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Stool

"We have indoor plumbing" might also work.

Intrepid Reader: IAN

"The Taliban called..."

[Slaky]

I was always interested in the fans' behavio(u)r but that wasn't enough to draw me in. What finally did it for me was the skill of the players. I don't really understand the sport - I only played a couple years as a kid - but when I see them move the ball around in ways that defy gravity and physics I begin to understand the allure. The intensity of the championship and the fact that these guys are playing for their countries is beyond fascinating.

All of that works.