I should probably stop professing my love for this show, but he nailed it.
Again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6z7-u7 ... e=youtu.be

Olbermann.
Again.
This is spot-on.

Stop it with the British sounding vocabulary ("kit", "pitch", "nil", etc). It's a jersey...and a field.....and a shutout.
Stop it with the dumb/imitating MLS team names (FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake, Chivas, etc)
And for the love of all things darkside....stop trying to cram it down people's throats who just simply don't care.

I tried to watch that game today. I honestly gave it the college try. It was on in my house the entire time. Even after one team scored...twice...in OT. It's just.....not........that entertaining for 90% of the time. Nothing.....happens.....even when something is 'happening'.

It is intense in short spurts, but ugh....thank god the "acting like I just got shot" wasn't that prevalent today.
That should have been Keith's #8 point: "Get up, shut up, and keep playing".

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Couldn't the same things be said about NASCAR?

I have enjoyed watching the games in the WC.

I am going to try and catch some of the Premier League.

My opinion of the sport has changed.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Yes. Absolutely.
See you at the watch party for the next race in Soldier Field. Bring your scarf. Dress like Wonder Woman.

BTW, I learned a new chant that some trust fund baby dressed like Teddy Roosevelt recited in a bar in Brazil. You must learn it.
'I BELIEVE IN FUEL MILEAGE"!!

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I didn't see any of the soccer commentary, but I will agree that I love Olbermann... 10x better than SportsCenter for me. Although I could see that some people might not like him. I also love Norm Macdonald, and see similarities between the two.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

I would totally watch Norm doing sports high lites and joking around with sports personalities.

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Did you see his short-lived show on Comedy Central? It was a delight.

e.g., http://youtu.be/PMDiRN0SpOQ?t=16s

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Now that we have switched to a Norm Macdonald thread, he is doing a youtube show which I really enjoy... here's the most recent with Bob Saget -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peDLWyH ... vW2L4BT2bW

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

Norm Mac is great.

Soccer sucks & can go away for another 4 years.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

To catch on, get more guys that look like Eugene Levy!

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."

this i agree with. Real Salt Lake and Sporting Kansas City is laughable.



i wish more brits would tell goodell the same thing about our game.

In soccer's defense, there is somewhat of a chess match aspect that you have to focus on; otherwise, you just end up caring about the end product (goals) and will be bored to tears. Even in hockey, if one team is playing a trap defense, you get bored to tears just focusing on goals.

My biggest problem is not with soccer but with the World Cup itself. I thoroughly enjoy watching most of the leagues, MLS being a notable exception. I think most of my distaste is with the over-amplification of supposed conspiracies. When I hear the coach of the US saying that he is not happy with a referee selection for a game, it just furthers the stereotype of the World Cup games being fixed, which I know they are not. The NBA has this same image problem with a lot of people.

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i actually enjoyed the excitement at the end of yesterdays game, and i have no history with soccer at all. i will say this about it - until they get someone to work a clock and do away with "stoppage time" it will never be taken seriously. is it too hard to stop the clock at a whistle when someone is rolling around on the ground acting to kill time and then start it again when they realize the theatrics dont work anymore? also, i dont get why a goalie is allowed to take 90 seconds to collect the ball, put it on the ground, and kick it. way too much bullshit time is allowed. any sport where a referee can just decide its over...........NOW! without an official timekeeper is a joke. in the US we are trying to add replay technology to our sports to make them better and more accurate and the rest of the world hasnt ever heard of a stopwatch? please.

Baseball and Football have literally nothing happening 90% of the time.

I think you cracked the case... soccer would be popular in the US if they could just fix the clock and goalies kicking the ball off the ground.

The rolling around in injury is way too much.
The player gangbang of the ref when a card is given is dumb.
The playing for penalty kicks in the "playoffs" is so so stupid.
Lack of playoffs is even stupider.
There are generally like 20 combined shots on goal tops.
Everyone is taking their sweet ass time.
Lack of scoring leads to no end of game tense moments. Ex: 9th inning walk-off, 2-minute drill, 6-5 in hockey etc

Soccer is fun to play but awful to watch

Soccer won't be popular here for some pretty simple reasons.

1) The best leagues are not here and won't ever be here. It works out well as a reason to get drunk on a Saturday morning though.
2) American football is undoubtedly more exciting. Basketball and hockey are undoubtedly more exciting. Baseball "should" be more exciting but they have some of the same problems with pace of play.
3) We aren't that good at it, and we never will be. That is what most of the "charm" of this team is. We are underdogs and we aren't normally in that situation. We were completely outclassed in three out of four games we played. We finished 1-2-1, with the tie being the only real game we looked like the better team.
4) Soccer can't wrap us up in nationalistic flag waving all the time. Maybe if the EPL had a team in New York City and Chicago they could.
5) The Olympics effect. We consume sports and then forget about them very quickly. In August, soccer won't exist here.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Make changes to the rules (like hockey did) to make it higher scoring.


That is the ONLY way.


And even then it will be a niche.

I love soccer but I can do without all the diving and flops. Unfortunately FIFA makes baseball look reactionary so I am not sure we are going to see some major changes soon.

If people don't like soccer because they feel it is boring, fine. I don't want to convert you.

Regarding stoppage time, MLS tried a running clock where time was kept on the scoreboard and it was such a raging success that MLS went back to how the rest of the world does it. I don't think it is a big problem but if turns off some fans for becoming fans of the sport, then again fine.

I diasagree that there are no tense moments in soccer, because goals are hard to come by that means every foray down the field could mean something.

But again I know longer care if people don't like the sport. Of course I do find it funny on some of the peripheral items people complain about soccer, like the names. Yeah, like American teams don't have silly names. Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, they came to the NFL the same year boy, how inspiring. Did the same person pick out the names, how original. And regarding using British terms, we say 15-love for tennis, and we don't call it hockey jerseys, there called sweaters. So soccer is not the only sport with it's own slang.

I think soccer is in a good place right now, it's popularity has grown, but it is still unpopular enough where I can take off work to watch the World Cup and not worry about other coworkers looking for the same benefit. The soccer craze will die down but there will still be some soccer going on this summer, like in early August when I will be among 100,000 fans at the Big House to watch Man U and Real Madrid. I will still try to watch the Cubs, and get ready for the Bears and Hawks, but I still have the Premier League to look forward to.

Ha, when soccer fans don't feel the need to pay money to watch 2 European teams missing half their starters play a meaningless friendly in another state, that will be a good sign for the sport

Love is from French, "l'oeuf." You know, like saying "goose-egg" for zero. And besides, love-15-30-40-deuce-ad-game is a scoring system that's been pretty much codified worldwide by now. It's not slang. On the other hand, there's no reason to call zero "nil" in soccer if we don't use "nil" for anything else in American English, which most of us do not.

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We should Americanize it and call it Zilch in soccer.

Why can't we just say zero or nothing like we do in everything else. I like soccer, but I hate the stupid affectations. How do the American soccer zealots reconcile their scarves and pitches and tra-la-las with their passion for American soccer? Like, if you really have your heart set that much on wearing a scarf and singing Gilbert & Sullivan tunes, why don't you just be a fan of English soccer instead?

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Let midgets play soccer. You would watch it all day to just see those little bastards run around all day.

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Soccer isnt popular here because they cant sell commercials. Not to go all JORR here but I dont think its a coincidence that football has become the most popular game. The networks can make the most money from it so they ram it down our throats until we love it. That and the gambling/fantasy aspect of course.

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I'm going to hate going full-on Bernstein here, but until the "USMNT" actually can get guys like the Belgian who came in in extra time and changed the pace of the game, the "USMNT" isn't going to attract any attention.

Now before anyone notes that the guy was fresh (& apparently something of an underacheiver), he still ran over, through & around any defender....and with the ball. Our 1-2-1 team played with little rhythm, flow, fluidity, passion, etc., especially after the first few minutes of the Ghana match.

Hell it'd be nice to watch a US team that actually make passes and develop a flow for the game. It looked more like a Punt, Pass & Kick contest when "we" actually had possession. Soccer/Football w/o Johnny Manziel, Darren Sproles or Jacoby Ellsbury types just aren't watchable imo.

Go Brazil!

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

It's really the best point out there RR. THe top athletes in the US dont play soccer. Not to say that the team isnt full of excellent athletes but its all the difference between a guy playing football at Idaho State and Ohio State. Sure they are both probably great athletes but only one is elite.

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great points, e.

hank, i think there is a huge fallacy in that argument and i see a lot of americans making it. the average soccer player is 5'9" 170 pounds. do those sound like guys that could play in the NFL or the NBA? is there an assumption that there aren't guys as big as NFL players in other parts of the world? i'd like to know what europeans think of their basketball players and leagues and if they treat those leagues the way we think of the MLS.

now, either there's a major steroid issue in our country (no!!! it can't be) or athletes in other parts of the world would rather play rugby than our football if they happen to weigh in at 300 pounds and can dominate a combine. or, they wind up trying to be olympians. i don't know, but i don't think clint dempsey is a soccer player because he wasn't good enough to excel at another sport. he just isn't physically there. nor do i think tim howard could've been a major basketball star but he chose soccer. and i don't think lebron would've been a great soccer player but instead chose the NBA. i don't think it works that cut and dry.

however, the MLS is growing...and the talent pool is going to have to increase to sustain it. but as it stands, i think its popularity is a bit bigger than the naysayers want to believe. it's not a great product at all but that doesn't mean it's totally doomed.

In fairness Zack, Sproles is only about 5'8" / 180, Manziel is 5'10 / 195 and Ellsbury is...I don't know, but he fits the smaller, quick & powerful mold I was shooting for. Take away the year round bulking up of American sports and they'd fit perfectly imo.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

i don't think that was their dilemma when they chose their sport. sproles would've made a great midfielder, no doubt...but compared to what we have, i don't think we are missing out that much by letting these other guys choose the NFL, et al