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Football In the US

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Zola said:
Agreed, this is turning a little RAWKish,

"I'm a better fan than you"

'no I'M a real fan'

'No listen, I am the best fan'
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If you think that's what I've written, either in this thread or anywhere else, then you might want to go back and read the relevant posts properly.

Neither I nor George Mills have ever claimed to have been a "better" fan, read my post again and you'll see that I'm not asking for respect, that what I did was my choice, and if I was skint it was because of the lifestyle I was living.

In fact the "better fan argument" was pursued by BavarianAfrican, who appears to honestly believe that someone someone getting up at 2:00 am or 3:00 am to watch some sh*tty stream is worthy of "respect" an "admiration". If you agree with that, well ok, everyone's entitled to their opinion, even if that opinion - in the opinion of my good self, is utter bullsh*t.

But do me a favour, go back and read this thread again - the off topic posts, not the posts relevaant to US football, and then maybe you can explain exactly how you come to the conclusion that this place is getting like RAWK.

I'll try to make it easy for you. What you're inferring:

"I'm a better fan than you"

"No you're not. I'm a better fan"

The actual debate:

BavarianAfrican: "Overseas fans are worthy of respect for getting up at 2:00 to watch a sh*tty stream"

Me; "No they're not. When I went to away matches it wasn't for "respect" either, it was my choice".

No mention of "better" there. Hitchiking is arguably more arduous than getting up in the middle of the night, but so what?: It was my choice. Something I wanted to do. I don't ask for respect, and I'm f**ked if I'm going to respect someone just for getting up to watch the TV. Hitchhiking to aways is also something I've' been talking about in the Vintage section, again not so show how great a fan I was, but because there were, I think, some genuinely amusing and interesting incidents.

I could go on, but f**k me this is getting ridiculous. If you still think this is "RAWK like" and about whose the better fan, then you clearly have a problem with comprehension and understanding what's in front of you.

 
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ps sorry if i made your blood pressure rise there, I might have struck a nerve, I was only messing :)

 
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Jezz said:
That's brilliant! Amazing how devoted you are to get up in the early hours of the night to hitchhike to away places.

I'm a foreigner who gets up at the early hours of the morning to watch Chelsea. In the old days I could only listen to the radio to hear what was happening at the game but with the luxury of television these days, it's easy to get up and watch the game these days except for work days which can be a killer admittedly. 

I'm not interested in 'respect', but I'm just more motivated by wanting to support the team and actually follow them live. 
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Exactly where I am too.  Used to travel to the bridge from Scotland a few times (from an Island), and then I lived in Wiltshire for a while so I was able to get a train in and watch the Chels a few times too...much easier then.

The stuff people like Lofty have done is truly amazing...

Now, I get up whenever the games are on (4am or whenever) and enjoy watching as "live" as I possibly can.  Under no circumstance do I believe this should earn me respoct, and there is no way I'm looking for that.  I just enjoy the thrill of getting up (sometimes not sleeping) to watch Chelsea play live.  

 
Ok, now that all that old fanny is out of the way, I'll try to get back to the original purpose of this thread, which had little or nothing to do fans in the US or anywhere else watching Premiership football on TV, and to which the question of who is the best supporter is entirely irrelant, but about the MLS, football in the US played by Americans and watched by Americans, both live and on TV.

A US football thread should also include references to women's football, which I understand has taken off over there to a far greater extent than in the UK. Comments would therefore be welcome.

On the one hand, I wish the MLS all the best, with the proviso that if the game does come anywhere near fulfilling its potential in the States, that it doesn't succumb to the pressure to fit in with TV schedules, to include a similar amount of commercial breaks as in American Football, a game which is after all tailor made for TV.

Among my worst footballing nightmares is the possibility that the MLS or a subsequent US "soccer" league, will bow down to the massively powerful American TV networks, introducing an ever increasing number of commercial breaks. It could never happen, you say. Well it could... there's also the FIFA factor to consider, don't forget. Anything for an easy million or three.

Nightmare did I say? Well of course it is, but the fact is that voices have been raised asking about the possibiity of just that, enabling more frequent breaks, in order to avoid waitng for an entire ninety minutes plus stoppage time before the next batch of commercials.

Say for the sake of arguement that this does take off. You'd then be left with a "US-Style Soccer"that could either eventually fade away as a result overwhelming competition from more traditional sports, or less likely perhaps, it'll become another American style sport alongside baseball, basketball and gridiron football.

Or.. going back to the FIFA factor, the new style "soccer" complete with TV friendly commercial breaks could be gradually promoted. Starting with the 39th game perhaps. And if that proves a success, meaning not whether the fans are in favour, but whether enough profit is made, with the promise of even more profit to come. Then there'll be no stopping them. Just look at the Qatar World Cup. Nothing in this world is going to convince me that this is taking place for any reason other than financial. f**k the fans, and the players. Qatar have got the dosh. Oodles of it.

Needless to say, I hope from the bottom of my heart that this litte nightmare scenario of "US-Style Soccer" never, ever gets off the ground. But it's worth mentioning all the same, if as I wrote above, only as a proviso to any hopes of success for football in the USA.

 
Football in the US will never take off country wide because the naturalised Americans will always stick to the core sports , as stated before.

Football in the US appeals to the immigrants more - primarily South Americans. I've often debated this subject with American colleagues and they just don't get a sport where the play is continuous for 45 minutes with such low scores. They want fanfare, lots of action and breaks to eat the next hotdog.

It's a pity because can you just imagine how much it would be taken to another level if they did adopt it completely ?

 
Crem said:
Football in the US will never take off country wide because the naturalised Americans will always stick to the core sports , as stated before.

Football in the US appeals to the immigrants more - primarily South Americans. I've often debated this subject with American colleagues and they just don't get a sport where the play is continuous for 45 minutes with such low scores. They want fanfare, lots of action and breaks to eat the next hotdog.

It's a pity because can you just imagine how much it would be taken to another level if they did adopt it completely ?
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But "naturalized Americans"  ARE immigrants who have assumed American nationality.

 
Which is much more likely to be football rather than American sports which by and large aren't played widely anywhere else.

 
..and of course there is the problem that native Americans means the very original inhabitants, which is what we used to call Red Indians in the old days.

to be clear - naturalized Americans are those who have entered the country and been granted citizenship.  Their children are then born with American citizenship automatically.

So, I don't know what the people Crem is referring to should be called ...suggestions on a postcard, please.  But NOT from Zola who seems to be reverting to a teenage phase!

 
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