Panthers should sign Tim Howard

[Toundra]

Most of America...

 

20 years ago

 

 

How many latinos are living in USA?

52 millions? you have 52 millions of fans already.

Not bad this is much more than us.

[csx]

20 years ago

 

 

How many latinos are living in USA?

52 millions? you have 52 millions of fans already.

Not bad this is much more than us.

 

There is a weird American thing to downplay and disparage the sport. I think that sports fans think it's the edgy thing to do. I don't really understand it but it's a thing. I'm not a big fan but I could certainly find myself more into it than baseball or basketball.

[Razeyfingers]

Didn't Tony Meola try out for an NFL team in the mid 90s?  I don't think that worked out well for him.

 

didnt remember that, good call

 

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/19/sports/pro-football-meola-to-kick-for-the-jets.html

 

 

it was only for kicking though.

[thunderraiden]

A lot of kickers come from soccer. I know that barth in Tampa got poached from my high schools soccer team to kick for our football team. I think it worked out well for him haha. Oh and Tim can kick for us too:

[fieryprophet]

Soccer is going to be a major sport in this country sooner rather than later, the money is there and growing. And we have room, our sports obsession is practically unlimited. The rest of the world is already resigned to the fact that we will be a future force. Now we just have to get football exported at a better rate, which is hard because it's so expensive to play.

[Keith Moons Liver]

Every world cup we hear about how soccer is taking america by storm, how it's the new big sport, blah blah. Then 3 months after the world up everyone forgets about it again. 

[fieryprophet]

Every world cup we hear about how soccer is taking america by storm, how it's the new big sport, blah blah. Then 3 months after the world up everyone forgets about it again.

Just because ESPN forgets about it doesn't mean the rest of the country does.

[RelaxImaPro]

After tuning into this World Cup I've come to the conclusion that I'd rather watch soccer than baseball, hockey, nascar, or wrasslin'.

[MtnJax]

today, I bought my tickets for the Liverpool/AC Milan game at BOA on August 2nd. my first pro game, even though i've followed soccer since I was a kid and played until HS.

 

Like it was said above, just because ESPN forgets about it, doesn't mean the rest of the country will

[iamhubby1]

Soccer fans always say soccer is ready to take off. But it never does. Sorry, but it is still going to take years for it to become main stream. If it ever does.

It is worse than watching flies fu(k. Boring as all get out. 90 minutes of action for a half dozen plays. Figure out a way to make it more exciting, then maybe it will take off.

That, and no one knows when the damm game is going to end. I mean, who keeps the clock? Does anyone? Do they just add some time to make the fans hang around that much longer?

[panthers55]

Soccer fans always say soccer is ready to take off. But it never does. Sorry, but it is still going to take years for it to become main stream. If it ever does.

It is worse than watching flies fu(k. Boring as all get out. 90 minutes of action for a half dozen plays. Figure out a way to make it more exciting, then maybe it will take off.

That, and no one knows when the damm game is going to end. I mean, who keeps the clock? Does anyone? Do they just add some time to make the fans hang around that much longer?

The difference is that soccer has only been a major sport in the USA for 20 years.  Compare that to over 100 years for baseball and 80 years for football.  When I went to school we didn't even have a soccer team and in my college it was a club sport and no scholarships were offered.  

 

Soccer is growing because more programs are starting and more kids are playing which then builds fans through them and their parents.  My wife has watched a ton of soccer games this year because my son plays.  She rarely goes to the Panthers although we have PSLs.  People who find soccer boring do so because they can't appreciate the nuances of the game and have no idea what they are watching.  Much like someone who has never played football or hockey are baffled by all the rules.

 

As for how long the game last it is 90 minutes with extra time added for injury and deliberate delays since the clock keep running.  Now we are in the round of 16 in the world cup they break ties with 2 extra periods of 15 minutes and a penalty shootout if they are still tied.  That is easier to figure out than sudden death overtime or in baseball where you play and play until someone wins.

 

Here you go, read this and you might enjoy the game more.

 

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/the-basics-of-soccers-world-cup.seriesId-322601.html

 

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/questions-americans-2014-fifa-world-cup-embarrassed/story?id=24192796

[C47]

Soccer fans always say soccer is ready to take off. But it never does. Sorry, but it is still going to take years for it to become main stream. If it ever does.

It is worse than watching flies fu(k. Boring as all get out. 90 minutes of action for a half dozen plays. Figure out a way to make it more exciting, then maybe it will take off.

That, and no one knows when the damm game is going to end. I mean, who keeps the clock? Does anyone? Do they just add some time to make the fans hang around that much longer?

 

Yet still better than Nascar and Baseball. Completely idiotic comment btw....

 

 

Soccers growth problem is that American's find it hard to develop a rooting interest. Clearly Americans will watch the sport in droves IF they have the vested interest in it. It's easy to rally around American pride and patriotism. Much harder to find a reason to support a European club week in and week out through a long club season. For the mainstream, it probably will be more of a "check in every now and then" kind of sport. However, I do think the World Cup has created some new fans, who will watch EPL, Bundesliga, Champions League etc to try and follow some of the young talent on this squad. 

 

Just my two pennies

[Jangler]

 

 

[fieryprophet]

Yet still better than Nascar and Baseball. Completely idiotic comment btw....

 

 

Soccers growth problem is that American's find it hard to develop a rooting interest. Clearly Americans will watch the sport in droves IF they have the vested interest in it. It's easy to rally around American pride and patriotism. Much harder to find a reason to support a European club week in and week out through a long club season. For the mainstream, it probably will be more of a "check in every now and then" kind of sport. However, I do think the World Cup has created some new fans, who will watch EPL, Bundesliga, Champions League etc to try and follow some of the young talent on this squad. 

 

Just my two pennies

 

MLS is steadily improving as well.