Sell soccer to me.

So the World Cup is coming up this year, does anyone on the boards watch? I tried watching it in 06, but just couldn't get into it. Nothing ever happened. At least with baseball there's a chance of scoring fairly regularly. With soccer, it just seems like 85 minutes of  midfield possession switching with 5 minutes of anything entertaining that I could just catch on a highlight reel. Someone sell this to me. I'd really like to get into it for some reason.

So the World Cup is coming up this year, does anyone on the boards watch? I tried watching it in 06, but just couldn't get into it. Nothing ever happened. At least with baseball there's a chance of scoring fairly regularly. With soccer, it just seems like 85 minutes of  midfield possession switching with 5 minutes of anything entertaining that I could just catch on a highlight reel. Someone sell this to me. I'd really like to get into it for some reason.

Liar, the last world cup was 4 years ago!

I think the best thing is to get with people that already watch it, see what they look for, and just get with friends that like watching it.  Playing soccer helps too...for me at least, get's you in the groove, how it feels to be on the field.

First problem right there. You're calling it soccer when it's called Football.
 
Second problem. You're expecting it to be like another sport, it's not Baseball and nothing like it. So don't expect it to be.
 
Third problem. It's fucking boring watching sports on TV no matter what sport it is. Period.
 
Seriously though, you're either into it or not. My suggestion would be to maybe place a bet on a team and make sure you watch every match they play. This will hopefully cause you to feel some passion as money is at stake on whether they win or lose.

i played football oh sorry i mean scoccer for over 5 years and loved it but watching it never really interested me mutch.
so cant really sell it unless you do this get together with a few friends who enjoy it and drink heavy alchohol makes everything better.
 
 
the off-site rule is for pussy's

It's shit, don't watch it.

SOCCER!  SOCCER!  GETCHUR SOCCER RIGHT HERE!  $5.00!!!  BUY 2, GET THE 3RD HALF OFF!!! 

I dunno, its hard to sell any 'sport' to a skeptic really.  Down here in NZ its all football (soccer) vs rugby. Rugby fans go on about how football is always so low scoring and that there's nothing more boring that watching 90 minutes and seeing no goals.  My counter to that is that rugby has gotten so safety concious in recent years that the 80 minutes of their games, about 20 minutes of that is down time where there's not actually any rugby being played.  Sure people score more often, but it gets to the point where tries are just expected rather than celebrated so much.
 
The thing that really gets me in football is the passion and the emotion of it.  Goals are massive, each one scored is something special and each one conceded is heart-wrenching.  Beyond that even though the game may not have high scores, it is very free flowing. There's rarely ever any down-time in a match, and when there is it's normally just fetch the ball and get back into it.  The biggest sell I can really throw out there is the atmosphere of attending a football match, you're not likely to get that so much watching the World Cup on TV - but when you are in a stadium that's full to capacity, and the whole pitch are singing and chanting in unison, its magical... I mean my sister has no interest in football itself but she went t o a match here in Wellington and was blown away by the atmosphere and the infectious enthusiasm that comes from so many people united in emotion.
 
So um yeah. You say you played soccer so you know the game - the draw of watching the world cup is that you're seeing the very best footballers in the world and marveling at their awesomeness.

It depends on a game, sometimes you just have to chance it.
When big teams clash there's a high chance they'll just have a boring game because both are scared of losing.
And if you want to make it more interesting the fail safe way is to throw a pound on a team before a game, then hope for the win because you'll make money from it.

Watching soccer's only really fun if you've played it, and know the ins and outs. Scoring isn't 100% of the fun of watching a game, really as well. Seeing a great goalie block a tricky shot's as much fun as seeing a great shot go in.  
 
It's very popular because of the simplicity of the rules, and how cheap it is to play, that's why almost every country has a soccer team, and it's about national pride more than anything. Tis why the world cup's more popular than the olympics. More accessible to play = more people caring about it, and will cheer their nation on. 

You have simply awakened my friend. Soccer is a game only Europeans and South Americans enjoy. In my eyes, its the shittiest sport. EVEN worse than hockey.
 
EDIT: It's called soccer people. Football is reserved for a real man's sport.

" First problem right there. You're calling it soccer when it's called Football.  Second problem. You're expecting it to be like another sport, it's not Baseball and nothing like it. So don't expect it to be.  Third problem. It's fucking boring watching sports on TV no matter what sport it is. Period. Seriously though, you're either into it or not. My suggestion would be to maybe place a bet on a team and make sure you watch every match they play. This will hopefully cause you to feel some passion as money is at stake on whether they win or lose. "

I frankly love Soccer (Football if you must insist although Association Football is it's real name whereas Gridiron Football is "American Football") and am entranced by it every time.  It also helps that my parents are Romanian immigrants so the sport was pretty much all around me.  Great fun on dusty streets to pass the time and spout some salty language.
 
Nothing of what happens on the screen matters unless you actually understand the strategy of the sport.  Positions and their importance, what each player is doing, and the various strategies and moves that players do as a team is fascinating.  Besides it's a fluid sport.  Like other pitch-based sports (Hockey, Rugby, Football), it's dynamic.  Baseball is a very individualistic sport where your role as a player is to just do your job very well over and over again.  In Soccer, the sport is dynamic and players have to adapt to their situation on the field.
 
Second the game very much relies on the circumstances around the game.  The politics and nationalities of the players are what adds meaning to who is playing where and against whom.  This is the appeal to European football and why it's the center of the soccer world.  That is where the reputation and the money is and there's a multi-billion dollar industry around buying and trading players.  Besides I find it fascinating to note the origins of players (nationality and which clubs they play for) and how that contributes to the game.
 
There's my sell.  If you're not into it, it's because you never had cause to be interested in it.  I personally can't stand baseball nor basketball because I'm not good at those sports and I was never exposed them at home.

the best thing about soccer is the intensity of just getting one goal and the fact a game can go 0-0

" @Clinkz: But Hockey is the greatest sport. "

The world cup isn't about the spectacle like American sports such as football and basketball where you have commercial breaks and scantily clad cheerleaders. It's about the game. The beauty of the game lies in its improvisational and spontaneous nature.  
You can't sit down and tune in the TV to soccer and expect upwards of 2 or 3 goals in a game. Plus, if you watch with a group of friends who are really into the game you may find yourself getting sucked into it as well. I have friends that don't know a single thing about soccer (one of them asked me to explain the offside rule to them) but when we all get together and watch a game in which the USA (I'm American, if you couldn't already tell by my use of the word 'soccer') is playing some tried and tested European nation we're all glued to the TV and we all yell like drunken fools if Clint Dempsey or Landen Donovan launches a ball over the cross-bar from point-blank. 
 
Just try watching a game with a group of friends and see if you like it.

GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! GOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!! GOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Soccer (football) is the best sport to watch in my opinion.  Yeah sure, there are not a lot of goals, thats what makes it exciting. You get excited when there are opportunities. you get excited by the creativity players show, and their determination. An exciting game can have no goals, but many opportunities and still be amazing. Sports like basketball are not exciting, since they are so oversaturated with goals. A goal is so pointless in bball, but so precious in soccer. Thats why its the best sport, imho.

If football hasn't got you by now, then maybe it's just not for you. 
 
Here in England, football is the most talked about thing in the country, it is practically every males passion, it's unavoidable. If you really want to get into football then you need to surround yourself with football fans, as it's just as much about debating, about personalities in the sport and rivalries as it about the matches themselves. 
 
If you lived in the UK, convincing you that football is the greatest thing in existence would be easy.

I can get why someone would be a fan of soccer. What I can't get is why fans get into such a fervor that they would riot and physically harm each other over the game. Other sports sometimes have that problem, but it seems like you hear about sports riots most often with soccer....and Red Sox/Patriots fans.

I think one of the best things about Soccer is being at the game. I have season tickets to the Sounders and the atmosphere can be numbing at times. And that is taking into account my frequent AMERICAN Football games at Qwest Field (I'd like to see any other NFL fan base hit 134 decibels. That's right. Suck it.). And unlike other mainstream sports, goal scoring is so infrequent that when it does finally happen its such a fantastic outpouring of emotion, where everyone is just happy and excited. I love both games like they were my own children, and I recommend you go to a soccer game if you can (ideally one in a city that actually supports the sport. In the states, that appears to be Columbus, Seattle, Houston and Philadelphia.) 
 
Also, I do love Football and Baseball, but those sports in comparison have nearly no real action compared to Soccer. The average amount of actual play in Football is about 20 minutes. Baseball must be even less. 

The only way someone can like soccer is by playing it. Actually playing it, which not that many people have in the States, sure some when they're kids, but that's not real football.   
 
Personally I'd rather play it myself rather than watch it, the World Cup is fun though.

Hockey is the greatest sport in the world. Period. WOot. 
 
But soccer is still awesome. Trying watching some EPL highlights or the Champions League (Barcelona winkwink)

" Hockey is the greatest sport in the world. Period. WOot.   But soccer is still awesome. Trying watching some EPL highlights or the Champions League (Barcelona winkwink) "

"

The only way someone can like soccer is by playing it. Actually playing it, which not that many people have in the States, sure some when they're kids, but that's not real football.   
 
Personally I'd rather play it myself rather than watch it, the World Cup is fun though.

"

I have to laugh when people insist on calling it 'soccer'. Its football, deal with it (because hey, we actually use our feet to move the ball! American Handball on the other hand...) And if I had to sell it to you, well: unless you have a serious fetish for overbearing crowds, bodily violence, elbows and pies in the face, riots, an almost Nazi like approach to supporting a team and of course sheer bloody boredom then I really wouldnt have to sell it would I?

It´s my country most popular sport and I still don´t enjoy it, I prefer watching Tennis but if I had to choose a team based game I would go for football anyday (what you are calling soccer)

Football, no it's not soccer, is the worlds greatest sport. Try buy Fifa 10, that could slowly help you know the different teams and so on.
 
@Tuffgong: Couldn't have said it any better ^^
 
Oh, and now when we are at it.. Messi Messi Messi!  :D

" @Hamz said:

" First problem right there. You're calling it soccer when it's called Football.  Second problem. You're expecting it to be like another sport, it's not Baseball and nothing like it. So don't expect it to be.  Third problem. It's fucking boring watching sports on TV no matter what sport it is. Period. Seriously though, you're either into it or not. My suggestion would be to maybe place a bet on a team and make sure you watch every match they play. This will hopefully cause you to feel some passion as money is at stake on whether they win or lose. "

All valid points(Except it's called Soccer), going to see a hockey game with front row seats is nothing like watching on TV. Sadly, I'm not a betting man so I guess I'll just try to watch in a big group and see if their enthusiasm rubs off. "

" @Wes899 said:

" @Hamz said:

" First problem right there. You're calling it soccer when it's called Football.  Second problem. You're expecting it to be like another sport, it's not Baseball and nothing like it. So don't expect it to be.  Third problem. It's fucking boring watching sports on TV no matter what sport it is. Period. Seriously though, you're either into it or not. My suggestion would be to maybe place a bet on a team and make sure you watch every match they play. This will hopefully cause you to feel some passion as money is at stake on whether they win or lose. "

All valid points(Except it's called Soccer), going to see a hockey game with front row seats is nothing like watching on TV. Sadly, I'm not a betting man so I guess I'll just try to watch in a big group and see if their enthusiasm rubs off. "

    
It's called Football.  "

Last post, I promise. 
 
Watch the European Champions League. For me, it's even better then the World Cup and often produces some of the best games in the sport.

" You have simply awakened my friend. Soccer is a game only Europeans and South Americans enjoy. In my eyes, its the shittiest sport. EVEN worse than hockey.  EDIT: It's called soccer people. Football is reserved for a real man's sport. "

Football is a way of life for the entire world, it just seems the US wants be all cool and stick to there quarters and not half's, but don't worry its growing in popularity over there.

Frank Lampard one of the best midfielder's in the world, 153 goals and counting

Football is rubbish.
 
Most people who like it are morons.
 
It turns you into a moron (myself included).
 
If you choose to follow a terrible underachieving side like Spurs (like myself), all you get is horrifically pointless emotional pain.
 
If you choose to follow a successful side like United or Chelsea, then you have no soul and what's the point?
 
If you watch any football team, just watch Barcelona because when they play, boy, do they play. Ignore the fact that they're successful (that said, it's Real Madrid who are 1st right now).  In fact, La Liga's better than the English Premiership because even the small teams try to play football, rather than hoof it like Bolton or Blackburn.
 
Alternatively, if you want a touch of class, watch cricket.

Watch Rugby instead.

" @NukeSpoon:Hahaha you lost to Pompy the other night  "