Bored By Beckham

Because soccer is a great game to play. And you may not get millions of viewers tuning into MLS, but you do get them tuning into the Mexican League on Univision, Telefutura and Galavision, and the plethora of other leagues that get coverage from Fox Soccer Channel, Goltv and Setanta Sports.

Soccer of any kind, with the exception being if the U.S. makes the World Cup final, is not going to touch NFL ratings in my lifetime, or even ever. But, MLS soccer on ESPN2 is currently drawing at a higher rate than the NHL was on Versus during the regular season. As far as the hierarchy of leagues are concerned, it's a much more valid comparison.

 

I don't think soccer translates well onto TV. The angles that you need to make sure you don't miss a pass don't allow the cameras to zoom in close.

 

That was your 12,000th post?

 

The NHL on NBC would be a more valid comparison, given that Versus isn't offered by many cable providers and when it is offered, it's often only on higher tiers, unlike ESPN and ESPN2 which tend to be on basic.

 

I don't believe in milestone posts.

 

I don't believe in soccer, though I do think it deserves to be called football.

 

I have Versus, ESPN and ESPN2 in that order in a row on my basic cable.

If you want, I'll give you Telefutura/Univision's ratings for the Gold Cup against NBC's Stanley Cup.

 

You soccer apoligists amaze me. Your fervor has no bounds. Now you are clarifying a negative column. You need to take a step back and watch yoursleves.

 

I'm well-aware of what they are, and comparing ESPN's MLS to NBC's NHL would show the more watching the MLS.

But the fact of the matter is that while you've got Versus on basic, most places don't and therefore it's not a fair comparison.

 

I'm not clarifying anything.

He's off point on a lot of things he's saying. Does he point out the ticket and jersey sales in the column, or the numbers of fans that showed up to his introduction? Does he even have a clue that Beckham was still under contract with Real Madrid, which prevented him from joining his new one earlier?

As I said, Plaschke is pretty much always better than this. And it's a shame.

 

Besides the knock of being a "communist sport" that many old coaches in the States can recite to you, the fact that it's defense-oriented is the first thing that comes to mind.

Hockey isn't embraced the way American football or basketball is. Note that rules changes for American football usually favor offense. Note that the NBA is being bad-mouthed, in part, because the quality of offense (i.e., scores) has declined.

Casual fans don't tend to have much patience for 1-0 games unless they understand what they're watching. Because many people claim to be baseball fans - and think they know baseball - they can tolerate a 1-0 pitcher's duel. But a soccer match with great possession, a few set pieces that just miss their mark and a few nice saves that ends 1-0 or even 0-0 doesn't go over well with anyone but the hardcore fans. Much of the same thing can be said for ice hockey.

 

the single thing that drives non soccer fans nuts are those dives players take to draw penalties.