Frank Deford, USA-Today and others sound off about soccer

On a board for sports journalists, I won't irritate you all with what I have thought about Mr. deford's work over the last decade. When I was a kid, he was amazing, as shown in any number of sports journalism anthologies. Let's just say I think he's seen better days, especially as much of his work now consists of lauding old-school athletes he identifies as "friends" and pining for an age long past. Yes, I know he has done more than most people will ever do in this business.

So these quotes (from a USA Today story) don't surprise me. In a way, they're hilarious. VERY old-school sounding, and not in a good way. The story was actually quite interesting, with views from all sides. 

“Soccer in America has had every chance. We reject soccer, that’s
fair to say,” says sports pundit Frank Deford, who is happy to lay
out the reasons soccer causes him to hold his nose.
“There’s not enough scoring, and ties make no sense,” Deford
says.
But Deford isn’t finished. “There’s really a lack of proficiency
in the game. God didn’t intend for us to use our feet and our
heads. Though what soccer players do with their feet and their
heads is extraordinary, it is in the same way that spinning plates
is extraordinary.”
And don’t get him started on soccer’s offside rule, which prevents
attacking players from standing any closer to the opposing goal
than the other team’s last defender.
“That’s simply un-American,” Deford says. “We’re all about
forward, forward, forward, in sports and in our society. From the
19th century onward, we have not taken to soccer. It’s almost as
if it’s not in our DNA to like it.”
“Kids in this country may grow up playing soccer, but most seem to
stop playing it fairly early in life because they lose interest,”
Deford says. “In the end, that proves that it’s a game that’s not
to the taste of our top athletes.”

Edit: Merged redundent topics, changed thread title

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

What the hell does that mean? So, we aren't meant to run? All this story does is make him sound like an uneducated idiot, who has no tolerance for any sports but baseball, basketball and football. Also, I know hockey is a Canadian sport, but apparently Americans hate that as well because of the offsides call.

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Not to start anything here, but exactly which of Mr. Deford's remarks offend you? Which assertion is inaccurate, within the range of personal opinion? And in what way do his thoughts, or his presentation of them, differ from those of any number of other "why the US doesn't love soccer" pieces?

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

the offsides in hockey makes a lot more sense than the offsides in soccer

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Frank didn't have to get all pretentious to say what most of America thinks:

Soccer. Sucks.

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Again, perhaps an ignorant question, but wasn't the offsides rule put in place to keep teams from just leaving some guy in front of the goal for the entire game?  

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

I like soccer, but some of his quotes weren't so bad. It's what he believes.

Can't knock a man for what he believes.

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

"Soccer in American has had every chance. We reject soccer"



That pretty much sums it up - Americans have rejected mens soccer time and time again.

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Hope you're not talking to me. I never said I was "offended" by anything he said. Call it "amusement."

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Then which did you find "amusing," and why?

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Frank Deford is saying what people have said for years and years. And years.

The one thing I'ven't heard anyone complain about is how ridiculous it is that the howling player who gets fouled (after taking a dive) isn't always the one that takes the penalty kick. That's as retarded as sending Kobe to the line when Shaq gets fouled in the paint.

 

Re: Frank Deford sounds off about soccer

Can't we just take this thread and the other soccer bashing thread, roll them into a big tidy ball and
DELETE THE GODDAMN THREAD NOW!.

This is so fucking tiresome and some of you are starting to sound like trained chimps.

So you don't like/understand/appreciate soccer. Who cares?

Go watch NASCAR or WWE or Ultimate Fighting and leave the rest of the world alone.

Jesus, this is becoming a joke.