"Soccer" in America

[sabres32]

First off I feel almost guilty calling it soccer but theres only one football in America, and its the greatest sport alive. however, i totally wish soccer was more popular in America. One person that makes it possible for me to follow soccer is ESPN analyst Bob Levy. This guy is great and I love his coverage of huge soccer events such as the World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2012. To the day and as crazy as this sounds, when he covered the last Womens World Cup I was so in to it. No disrespect to women but I cant watch ANY sports women play, except soccer. Shout out to Abby Wambach lol!!! anyways i just watched some of the Russia vs. Czech Republic game and I realized I'm actually becoming a fan of soccer. I guess I could follow the MLS but it doesnt have the same culture as soccer in Europe or anywhere else in the world. This leads me to a question...in this operation sports forum are the majority of you from America or outside of the states? Im really curious because I have alot of questions about soccer and I know this is a video game forum, but this is the only connection I have with soccer fans. All I know is come 7:00Pm eastern time my eyes will be glued on the TV for the United States world cup qualifying match. Cant wait to see some action. Huge shout out to Landon Donavan, Clint Dempsey and Tim Howard.

[Maxflier]

I am American.
I grew up loving American football and (ignorantly) hating soccer. Now I do not even care about American football in the slightest anymore and am a big fan of soccer.
I know what you mean regarding the MLS, I can't be bothered to watch it because the other soccer leagues around the world are so great.

[kg54mvp1]

American!
the thing is, because there is no MLS team in minneapolis, I can't really attatch to a team, especially because it is not on TV that much for me. I am a huge USA national team fan. It is so fun to watch, and the nice thing is that the games are spread out so nicely that I never miss one, unlike some other sports.

I do feel guilty calling it soccer too at times, but I have been saying it all my life so I don't think about it too much.

I do wish soccer was more popular here, the world cup will help, especially with the rise of the usmnt, but it's a bummer that I can't get any of my buddies to watch any of the games or follow them for that matter.

[kg54mvp1]

If only Fifa 12 could update the american kits too!!

[jyoung]

MLS games are just painful to watch. The crowds and overall level of play pale in comparison to the European leagues and events.

Maybe I would feel differently if there was a local MLS team, but the league is pretty much unwatchable for me.

That said, I follow all the major European games and tournaments that are televised here in the U.S.A. The TV coverage of soccer in America has improved leaps and bounds in the last 5 to 10 years.

[sabres32]

yes the World Cup will help but soon after its over it seems the buzz dies quickly. To many Americans view soccer as a "weak" sport and they only get that idea because to many soccer players go down when us Americans are used to seeing huge guys kill eachother in pads. Theres no comparison for my love to football and hockey but ill take soccer any day over basketball and baseball. one dream of mine is to attend a Barclays Premiere League game OR i want to go to West Ham and sing "Blowing bubbles" with them haha.

[jyoung]

Today we've had three non-World Cup soccer games in one day televised on ESPN.

Not ESPN2, not ESPN3, but the main ESPN.

That would have been unthinkable 10 years ago.

[UK0wnag3]

I find it funny how this site is made up of a lot of Americans who discovered soccer later in life after prioritising other sports.

For me, it's the other way around. Being English, I was brought up with football (soccer) and played it and watched it from an early age. And then after going to America on holiday five or six years ago I became a huge fan of NFL and MLB.