Calling BS

I understand what he's saying. We say it on The Soccer Thread too. But MLS is supported. Supported quite well. He makes it sound like every soccer fan in the nation is tuned into FSC on Saturday morning, but ignoring the MLS on Saturday night.

 

Call me crazy, I thought it was a good column.

 

Unrelated issues.

 

The strawman part isn't fans who like higher levels of soccer but are unimpressed with MLS. Guilty as charged. I just think it's the nature of the sport that it's only entertaining at the highest levels. I've never once denied it.

But the idea that soccer fans "heap scorn up the heaten..." and all that blahity blah is just him creating strawmen to beat up, just like most of the column was.

 

I call BS on any SportsJournalists.com poster who brings the "you post anonymously, so your opinion is useless" bullshit into the argument. Don't like anonymous posts? You're in the wrong place, bubba.

 

I call BS on hack columnists who compensate for other shortcomings by bashing women's sports. Ballard auditioning for the next FSR opening or something?

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything. And I don't think Ballard, or any columnist, is infallible. I just strongly, strongly dislike message boards on which people can anonymously rip other people. It's also why I really don't like blogs or any of the other anonymous crap the Internet allows these days. Everyone's less accountable and more disillusioned, thinking their opinions are valid just because someone else, also anonymous, agrees with them.

Done with that schpeel. All that said, for the most part I enjoy my time on here.

And I thought it was a good column, too.

 

But I think he has a point that there is still euro-snobbery in this country when it comes to soccer. Look at places like FC Dallas and Colorado, both of which have massive youth soccer cultures and soccer-specific stadiums, and yet rank 13th and 14th in average attendence last season.

The only reason MLS attendance didn't go down as much as MLB's is because of the massive bump Seattle gave to the average. New York and New England were both down over 20%, Chicago, with a damn good team and its own stadium, was down 13.8%.

 

So true:

"Let's not limit this to the big three sports, though. To those soccer aficionados who follow the Premier League and obsess about the World Cup draw and heap scorn upon the heathen who keep the "beautiful game" from flourishing in the U.S., I call b.s. Because, guess what: If you want soccer to succeed in this country, you have to actually, you know, support it. And that means attending MLS games, or at least watching them. So just own up to it already—you love soccer ... just not all soccer. There, now don't you feel better?"

Soccer snobs need to accept the idea that they will never get the game to flourish in the US by jamming it down our throats. It seems like they need to redefine their idea of "flourish". Right now their definition seems to be filled stadiums and high TV ratings.
Live and let live. If you like the sport great but accept the idea that their are others who would rather stick needles in their eyes for 2 hours than watch a soccer match.

 

Who? Where? Where are all these roving bands of soccer fans demanding that everyone else watch with them?

 

Where are people encountering these soccer snobs jamming the game down our throats? I read about them in columns all the time, but I've never actually met one.

I'm a soccer fan. Have been for decades. Don't give a single shit if other people like it or not. I'd say that describes close to 100% of the soccer fans I know.

And on the whole "Euro-snob" thing: can someone explain to be why I have some obligation to watch the MLS on TV? I would be happy to support an MLS team in my city, but we don't have one. So, sorry, but if my TV choice is between a Serie A match, a Premiership match, or Chivas USA vs. Houston, I ain't watching Chivas.

 

Even if we used our real names, how would you know we were really doing so?