What makes this piece bad, Vol 1: Ann Coulter on soccer

Nobody does that to people who say "Soccer isn't my thing." But the morons who say the sort of brain-dead stuff like in Coulter's column do get that.

 

Coulter's column is idiotic, but there are a lot of soccer fans who freak out if you tell them you don't like soccer.

 

No. There are some. Just like there are some women's basketball fans who try to make it sound like the NBA when you say you don't like the WNBA. At one point, I think there were more fans like that. In the last decade or so, from what I've seen, soccer fans have been happy to think of their sport as more of a niche thing, like hockey.

 

That's just not true.

I'm speaking from almost four decades of quietly trying to ignore soccer, hockey, most college sports, and the Olympics.

 

No, they freak out when you say "I don't like soccer because it sucks." Same reaction you'd get if you told some people "I don't like football (or basketball or hockey or NASCAR) because it sucks."

Don't like a sport? Fine. But don't attack it and be shocked when they respond in kind.

 

"I don't like [whatever sport] because I think it's stupid" should be a perfectly acceptable answer for all sports.

 

I think the freak out is caused when people say they don't like soccer because it's a. boring; b. slow; c. not enough scoring

I admire their dedication.

 

I think NASCAR fans like it if you're not a fan of their favorite sport. I kind of think hockey fans are the same way.

I find baseball incredibly boring. I'd rather watch soccer.

 

I used to be like that for both sports. These days, meh, I don't care as much. People can like or not like what they want, it's no skin off my nose.

My attitude toward soccer has changed too. I still don't go for it, but I'm not going to slag it or try to diminish other people's excitement.

 

If Rachel Maddow had written the piece it would have drawn
great praise.

 

Which makes them different than fans of others sports?

Tell a college football fan their game sucks.

 

Soccer fans are a lot more fragile when it comes to criticism of
their sport.