North Carolina Tar Heels

[aTm]

Wasn't that back when kickball was supposed to be the next big thing in America? We're still waiting.

You're getting old. Soccer is a big thing in America. I regularly go to a sold out 22,000 seat stadium to watch soccer in downtown Houston. I would estimate that in the typical trip I see about 10 or 12 people out of the hundreds or more that I walk past, see in line at the beer stand, or waiting for the pisser that are over the age of 35. Almost always those people have young kids in tow, but kids are relatively rare too (about the same proportion as Astros games). The old people that are fictures in most pro stadiums aren't there, but that is likely to change. America age 20-35 watches soccer. It's not baseball, football, or basketball, but its a sport with a very large following and that following is very young.

[Jungle Rat]

So that's where the Mexicans hang out. Soccer is no bigger in America as when it was when I was 10. Quit lying to yourself.

[aTm]

The crowd is 50/50 hispanic vs white with probably a healthy dose of white-hispanic (basically the same racial mix as an Astros game). As you might expect there is a lack of "black guy" at the game.

[AlabamAlum]

I love soccer. I used to hate it. Years ago, a relative took me to see Blues-Gunners at Highbury while I was over visiting. The energy and fanaticism was similar to college ball. And we drank ourselves blind in a pub afterwards. Good times.

Learn the rules and the basic strategies and it is a fun sport.

[AlabamAlum]

My biggest complaint is the flopping, but hell, the NBA has its share, too.

[Jungle Rat]

It will never work here until you can cross check & fight.

[Jungle Rat]

And not just in the stands.

[AlabamAlum]

If the NFL keeps getting pussified, soccer will be a rougher sport.

[aTm]

You pick the one north american sport that is actually in danger of being surpassed in our lifetime to make that ridiculous point?

[AlabamAlum]

What?

[Bklyn]

He's talking to Rat (I think) and the hockey nod.

[AlabamAlum]

Don't cover for him, Bklyn. He's ON THE LIST!

[aTm]

You, sir, are no Jimmy W

[Jungle Rat]

You pick the one north american sport that is actually in danger of being surpassed in our lifetime to make that ridiculous point?

Looks like you got my point.

[aTm]

I have no idea what you think I "got"

[AlabamAlum]

Fire and wind come from the sky, from the gods of the sky. But Crom is your god, and he lives in the earth. Once, giants lived in the Earth, aTm. And in the darkness of chaos, they fooled Crom, and they took from him the enigma of steel. Crom was angered. And the Earth shook. Fire and wind struck down these giants, and they threw their bodies into the waters, but in their rage, the gods forgot the secret of steel and left it on the battlefield. We who found it are just men. Not gods. Not giants. Just men. The secret of steel has always carried with it a mystery. You must learn its riddle, aTm. You must learn its discipline. For no one - no one in this world can you trust. Not men, not women, not beasts.
[Points to sword]. This you can trust.

[aTm]

I think I already hate Eden Hazard just seeing him play this one game.

[T Dot O Dot]

the logistics involved with hockey are ridiculous

good ice isnt cheap, zambonis etc., every year there are more rinks closing up here

basketball & soccer require two things, a pair of sneakers per person & 1 ball

based on that alone I think soccer has a shot at surpassing hockey in the US, house league hockey for 1 growing kid is not cheap

that said, Hockey will always drive the bus in Canada. The amount of funding thrown at youth hockey here is ridiculous, back then there were no programs to keep kids on the ice because there was no shortage of parents willing to throw money at it

[AlabamAlum]

Soccer requires a well-manicured pitch.

[Bklyn]

Yeah...