Dynamo 2008 Season Thread

KJ3 · #1 07-23-2008, 07:46 AM

no offense meant but how do you guys watch soccer? i've tried, i really have, it's just so agonizingly dull for me. that and hockey. i assume the game atmosphere is different than the t.v. viewing....still, i can't imagine a soccer match would peak my interest very much higher than it does anyway regardless of venue.

what is it? what draws you guys in?

papabear · #2 07-23-2008, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KJ3

no offense meant but how do you guys watch soccer? i've tried, i really have, it's just so agonizingly dull for me. that and hockey. i assume the game atmosphere is different than the t.v. viewing....still, i can't imagine a soccer match would peak my interest very much higher than it does anyway regardless of venue.

what is it? what draws you guys in?

I'm not really a hockey fan, but they aren't bad in person. As far as soccer I think it helps if you have played the game. Things that look simple on TV take on a lot more meaning if you have some idea how difficult a play it was...even if it didn't amount to anything. Either way, it's something i think you have to learn to appreciate. The chess match is much easier to see in a football game. In soccer everything is always in motion, and once you learn to appreciate all the little things going on and the strategies at play it really is an amazing game. Scoring chances are so rare that when your team does score, or even creates an opportunity to score, it is that much more exciting. If you really think about it, there are plenty of games in the NFL that end 21-14 or 14-10. That's really not much more scoring than 2-1 soccer game.

Of course I also love to watch a "boring" pitching duel in baseball, or low scoring defensive football games.

One thing I really like is that it's 45+ minutes, plus some injury time, a 15 minute break....and then another 45+ minutes and your done. No commercial breaks. No timeouts to ice the kicker, or to draw up a new play. Just play.

I played Soccer most of my life, but I honestly didn't watch much soccer until the Dynamo came to town. It had to do more with just not having a rooting interest in a team than not liking it. I would watch the World Cup when it rolled around or any US national team match, but I never bothered trying to find a place to watch the EPL or anything like that.

Now that the Dynamo are here I keep up with MLS more, but still rarely watch a MLS game unless the Dynamo are playing...or it's late in the season and the outcome affects the dynamo standing.

I still can't get into any of the foreign leagues. I will watch international matches/tournaments though. The Euro Cup was great this year. I also work for a German company so I'm going to have to listen to them talk about it all anyway. It is kind of fun to root against the Germans so I can give them a hard time when they lose too.

It really comes down to what you get used too. Most of the Europeans(there are a few big fans though) I work with have a hard time understanding how I watch "american football". There argument always come down to "it's a few seconds of play, and then everyone just stands around for thirty seconds". I tell them the same thing, if you learn a little about the game and understand what's going on then you would understand the excitement that can build up while you are watching them stand around.

there's stuff that annoys me about soccer....all the diving, complaining to the ref, acting like you have been shot and then popping up a minute late. Sometimes teams are just content to get a tie to advance in a tournament and they just fall back into shell and do everything possible to slow down the game with no interest in actually attacking. I still enjoy it though....if it's not a good match, I just turn it off just like I do for any other sport.

KJ3 · #3 07-23-2008, 12:53 PM

i have played soccer competitively and i couldn't tell you the first thing about soccer strategy unless the first thing is "score a goal". maybe i'm just missing it but it doesn't seem to be very apparent. i mean 90% of the game is trying to kick the ball around the other guy, oh he got it, now he's trying to kick the ball around the other guy, another intercepted pass....it's more fun to play than to watch, that's for sure.

amount of scoring per game never made a sport any more or less interesting than i already found it. honestly, i'm built like you-i love defense in any sport football, basketball...baseball defense isn't quite what i picture when i say defense but highlight reels are sweet. being at a football game, hollering for the defense to shut it down pumps me up. seriously, i'm typing harder just thinking about it....

the one thing you mentioned that i totally find awesome is the unstopped play. not really possible for baseball or football, though teams are guilty of milking breaks and pauses in-game.

it's harder to access than our other sports, i find it boring, i have no idea where to begin following how a particular team like the dynamo navigates through different leagues, or how their players can have several allegiances and i know next to nothing about soccer specifically or in general. however, if i come across a game i'll watch it for about 10 minutes until i have to do something else.

Keith · #4 07-23-2008, 02:37 PM

I pretty much echo papabear's post on his sentiments which make soccer not only watchable, but enjoyable.

I will say too - - not to slam the Dynamo since they're the shizz of the MLS and all - - but watching North (and Central) American pro soccer is like watching a minor league sport on the global level. It can be thoroughly entertaining (I actually love to go to minor league hockey games when I can), but you're not watching the game at its highest level.

papabear · #5 07-23-2008, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

It can be thoroughly entertaining (I actually love to go to minor league hockey games when I can), but you're not watching the game at its highest level.

I completely agree. MLS is like NFL Europe or AA baseball...I just can't get into any of the european leagues. As more MLS players (specifically ex Dynamo players) move up to the big leagues I'll probably pay a little more attention. It wouldn't surprise me to see Holden getting serious interest....especially if he does well in the Olympics.

KJ3 · #6 07-24-2008, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith

I pretty much echo papabear's post on his sentiments which make soccer not only watchable, but enjoyable.

I will say too - - not to slam the Dynamo since they're the shizz of the MLS and all - - but watching North (and Central) American pro soccer is like watching a minor league sport on the global level. It can be thoroughly entertaining (I actually love to go to minor league hockey games when I can), but you're not watching the game at its highest level.

funny you say that because i don't really watch the AA/AAA baseball games that come on OR college football. occasionally i might, especially if the football game is matched up to be a good game but not all that often.

papabear · #7 07-24-2008, 04:17 PM

Looks like Kinnear is getting that new forward he wants...sounds like Ngwenya 2.0.

http://blogs.chron.com/soccer/archiv...aim_for_1.html

Keith · #8 07-24-2008, 10:10 PM

There's some untapped potential here. Far from a complete player, but the Dynamo need finishers. I like his size, too, if he learns to use it.

Here's his goal against the Dynamo earlier this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpmAYvC2MXU

And another goal he had for the Quakes earlier.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdRya0ZGheQ

I think the Dynamo gave up a first round pick for him, which I know is nothing like a first rounder in the NFL... but there's talent available in the first round. I give Dom the benefit of the doubt here though.