Coin flip determines NCAA Men's College Cup

No, not a new idea. Just more debate after another unsatisfying outcome, just as happens on the BCS, health care, etc.

For regular-season games, no big deal. Shootouts work in that fashion in the NHL too, But the shootout, which everyone knows is a gimmick, is abandoned for the Stanley Cup playoffs. The fact that many soccer fans (of which I'm one) get so indignant (count me out here) when someone says PKs are a terrible way to decide a CHAMPIONSHIP match makes me believe they also know its a suck-dog way to decide a CHAMPIONSHIP.

And the comparisons are as just true and valid today as they were 15 years ago. The passage of time doesn't change the basic truth.

And rules can change. The NHL, for example, is far superior since the abolition of the red line opened up the ice more and made for a wide-open game. Where is it written that European and South American soccer fans don't want to see more goals, more wide-open games?

Put in a 35-yard line or a neutral zone in the middle half of the field and eliminate offside in that area. Cut the 18-yard box in half so the goalie can't range quite so far.

And yes, play until someone scores. Every team has plenty of substitutes, and soccer plays are suposed ot be the best-conditioned athletes in the world, no?

 

Yes, I am. That is the way the game is played, and goodness knows I've been through the wrong end of them thanks to my fellow countrymen that I should be baying for a change in format.

And did hockey make the nets bigger, or make a change to the offside rule I'm not aware of?

 

But even if you ignore the pissed-off purists, what would that change be?

 

And there we have it.

Ahem . . .

Soccer does not need to change its rules to get rednecks, xenophobes and scoring addicts in "That tharrrrr 'Merica!" to like it. Soccer is doing just fine, worldwide and within our borders. Soccer ratings stateside for Fox Soccer Channel games indicate there is a strong and loyal audience for the game in the United States. Attendance at meaningful national team games also indicates this.

The United States is already tops in ticket sales among foreign nations (meaning, not host South Africa) for the next World Cup, almost double those of second-place England. MLS doesn't get huge attendance, because the product isn't nearly as good as what people can see on their televisions from across the pond, and there is a legion of soccer fans who think a good take is "The Chelsea-Arsenal match was much more interesting to watch than New England-New York in MLS!"

And, for what it's worth: College soccer is ultimately meaningless and unimportant in the grand scheme of soccer in the United States. Players who spend more than a year or two in college will never see the national team field in a meaningful game. The best players go pro early, either here or abroad.

'Screaming that "Soccer isn't as popular in that tharrrrr 'Merica! hahaha!" is like us going abroad and asking why baseball isn't more popular. Who cares? The game has a strong foothold here, and that's frankly all we soccer geeks ever wanted: a chance to see pro teams in our own league, see our players develop, and see our national team in the World Cup every time out, with a chance to make some noise. Because that's what all but a select few soccer nations in the world have.

If you say "More scorin' will make me a soccer fan!" or "More winnin' will make me a soccer fan!" then honestly, you wouldn't be becoming a soccer fan. You'd be supportin' a team because they win, and because their scorin' gives you a reason to scream and get drunk.

 

A change -- whatever it may be -- to increase scoring.

 

Among other changes, the NHL eliminated the two-line pass rule. A beautiful thing.

 

But what rule would that equate to anything you can do in soccer? Put the old Subbuteo line across the field at the 30-yard mark so you can only be offside within it?

 

Only in our bogus college game are there unlimited substitutes. If each team was allowed to substitute to its heart's content, that would add another aspect to the sport's shameful opportunities for winning teams to waste time.

 

And in actuality, there are restrictions. You're only allowed to leave the game and re-enter once in the second half, and if you're subbed in the first, you're not allowed back in until after the halftime break.