Pros & Cons of Soccer

With the World Cup rapping up this weekend, I thought I would take a look at the pros and cons of Soccer. Now I've never been the biggest Soccer fan. I've enjoyed the World Cup because I love countries against countries and the event only takes place every four years. That's one of the reasons why I love the Olympics. It only takes place every four years. There are other reason's though to love Soccer and reason's why I hate Soccer.

Pro, Announcers- Ian Darke has reached Gus Johnson's level of love here in the states. Darke brings everything you want from your announcers. He brings passion, energy, and emotion to every match he calls. Darke and the rest of announcers (Alexi Lalas excluded) have made the World Cup ten times more enjoyable.

Con, Soccer Terms- I hate the terms Nil, Pitch, and equalizer. I especially hate the term, match. When I think of the word match and sports, I think of a boxing match, wrestling match, and tennis match. A match is between two individuals. Soccer is a team sport so they play a game. Also is there a more snobbish word that equalizer? When I hear people say equalizer, I imagine them smoking a cigarette and drinking a $400 dollar bottle of wine.

Pro, Length of Games- I love the fact that normally soccer games don't last much longer than two hours. What other sporting events can we name that don't last over two hours? Soccer games last two hours maybe two and half hours if they go to overtime. They're short and sweet.

Con, How Time is Kept- It's ridiculous that a referee keeps time with a stop watch. They're not running the 40-yard dash out there.

Pro, No TV-Timeouts- The NFL drives me nuts with the TV-timeouts. Nothing is more appalling than the NFL taking a timeout after a touchdown is scored then taking a timeout after the kickoff. Thankfully you don't have that soccer. In fact the only time a game goes to commercial during a soccer game is during halftime. I love that.

Con, Soccer Fans- And I thought Yankee fans were condescending douchebags. Have you ever met a Soccer fan? They wear scarfs and drink at pubs. And if you don't call the field a "pitch" they let you hear about it. They're rude, mean, and blunt. Also they make a Philadelphia sports riot look like a walk in the park.

Con, Stoppage Time- Getting back to the point of the referee using a stop watch to keep time, nothing is more ridiculous that stoppage time. After each game the referee decides how much time was used for substitutions, injury, and other factors of the game to decide how much stoppage time at the end of the half's. So the refs are basically estimating how stoppage time there will be at the end of each half. Tremendous!

Con, Too Much Power For Officials- We complain all the time about the officials here in the states, but damn the officials in soccer have way too much power in my opinion. With the power to control the clock and add to the fact there isn't instant reply like there is in football and basketball and you have a toxic situation.

Con, Players Faking Injuries to Milk The Clock- This all goes back to the players not knowing how much time is left in the game, but players faking injuries to milk the clock is disgusting. There is flopping in the NBA, but a call is not made every time a player flops. In soccer a player flops on the ground and is carried off the field on a WWII stretcher reach the sidelines and hop off of the stretcher like everything is fine. I don't respect this about the sport.

Con, Penalty Kicks- The World Cup in my opinion is like one big playoff. Then why the hell can games end on penalty kicks? Hockey has penalty shots at the end of regular season games, which I hate but accept, but hockey doesn't use penalty shots at the end of playoff games. It's absurd that a game's outcome at the World Cup can be determined by penalty kicks. That's like determining the outcome of a World Series game with Home Run Derby or the Super Bowl with a Punt, Pass, and Kick competition. If a regular soccer game wants to end with penalty kicks that's fine, but not at the World Cup.

At the end of the day I respect the World Cup and it's meaning, but still have little respect for the actual sport. I love the little nuances such as no TV-timeouts and the announcers, but I hate stoppage time, penalty kicks, and the referee's influence. The World Cup is enjoyable to watch every four years, but don't expect me to watch a MLS game or a EPL game. And yes I called it a game, fuck off Soccer fans.