Everything Soccer

[ACamp1900]

Btw, kids knowing these teams is so strange to me.... growing up in the 80s you barely knew international squads, I didn't know who the hell Man U or Madrid were until late high school...

 

[fightingirish26]

Btw, kids knowing these teams is so strange to me.... growing up in the 80s you barely knew international squads, I didn't know who the hell Man U or Madrid were until late high school...

fifa, man. crazy to think how a video game has aided the growth of a sport in this country, sounds contradictory, doesn't it?

 

[GowerND11]

fifa, man. crazy to think how a video game has aided the growth of a sport in this country, sounds contradictory, doesn't it?

Agreed. Playing FIFA in college with my buddies really got me hooked. Plus the World Cup helped. Found out about Arsenal playing FIFA. My friends would use Man U and Chelsea, so I wanted to find another team in England that was relatively equal in ratings.

 

[ACamp1900]

haha,... this stuff does taint the game for real... The Neymar's of the world piss me off, especially when they really don't need to fake the funk.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fjr6xpxH5Qg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[dublinirish]

Agreed. Playing FIFA in college with my buddies really got me hooked. Plus the World Cup helped. Found out about Arsenal playing FIFA. My friends would use Man U and Chelsea, so I wanted to find another team in England that was relatively equal in ratings.

I played tackle football in Ireland and the majority of the team got their first exposure to the sport from Madden lol. Funny as heck sometimes hearing American friends speak about their Chelsea or Man City fandom and I'm there thinking were they fans of City when they were down in the old 2nd division or Chelsea fans when Gavin Peacock was their goal machine Everybody got to start somewhere though, i grew up in an era where everybody was a United or Liverpool fan and there were very few fans of other teams knocking about (except Celtic, but most folks had a fav EPL team + Celtic as "their teams")

 

[ACamp1900]

I played tackle football in Ireland and the majority of the team got their first exposure to the sport from Madden lol.

Madden make you a Packer fan??? Were you ever into Irish leagues or teams? (soccer)

Funny as heck sometimes hearing American friends speak about their Chelsea or Man City fandom and I'm there thinking were they fans of City when they were down in the old 2nd division or Chelsea fans when Gavin Peacock was their goal machine

No, they weren't.

i grew up in an era where everybody was a United or Liverpool fan

So like, any year before oil barons bought Chelsea and City????

and there were very few fans of other teams knocking about (except Celtic, but most folks had a fav EPL team + Celtic as "their teams")

Magpies and Hoops or GTFO.

 

[NorthDakota]

fifa, man. crazy to think how a video game has aided the growth of a sport in this country, sounds contradictory, doesn't it?

It's great. Old men love bitching up here about how they've been hearing soccer is going to be big for the last 40 years, well that time is really close.

Fifa has been instrumental.

 

[Emcee77]

I agree. FIFA has definitely been instrumental, and the booming EPL TV ratings show that the growth in popularity of soccer fandom is happening for real now.

Your old men are not wrong though; people have been saying for 40 years that soccer is the next big thing, as the kids who played growing up become adults. But the fact that people played as kids never translated into real, commercial fandom because there was just no real way to follow soccer in the States. Now, in the Internet age and the age of 50 sports channels per cable package (including NBCSN and FS1 and FS2, etc.), it's much easier to follow soccer, and people are taking advantage.

But I'm not saying the expanded access is the only factor. I agree with many of you that FIFA is critical. It is the link between kid fandom (i.e. liking to play soccer) and adult fandom (lifelong interest in following the game). I played FIFA as a kid, which bred familiarity with European leagues and competitions, and then when I outgrew video games, what I had learned about European leagues and competitions from playing FIFA gave me an entree into following the game in a more mature way.

That's been my theory, anyway.

 

[NDohio]

I agree. FIFA has definitely been instrumental, and the booming EPL TV ratings show that the growth in popularity of soccer fandom is happening for real now.

Your old men are not wrong though; people have been saying for 40 years that soccer is the next big thing, as the kids who played growing up become adults. But the fact that people played as kids never translated into real, commercial fandom because there was just no real way to follow soccer in the States. Now, in the Internet age and the age of 50 sports channels per cable package (including NBCSN and FS1 and FS2, etc.), it's much easier to follow soccer, and people are taking advantage.

But I'm not saying the expanded access is the only factor. I agree with many of you that FIFA is critical. It is the link between kid fandom (i.e. liking to play soccer) and adult fandom (lifelong interest in following the game). I played FIFA as a kid, which bred familiarity with European leagues and competitions, and then when I outgrew video games, what I had learned about European leagues and competitions from playing FIFA gave me an entree into following the game in a more mature way.

That's been my theory, anyway.

Does that happen?

 

[ACamp1900]

Does that happen?

Apparently only for the super cultured and mature... like a Master's of Ceremony.

 

[Emcee77]

Lol. Well, I don't know. I should clarify that it's not that I don't WANT to play FIFA any more. It's that I just always feel like I should be doing something more productive.

I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

 

[ACamp1900]

Lol. Well, I don't know. I should clarify that it's not that I don't WANT to play FIFA any more. It's that I just always feel like I should be doing something more productive.

I'm not sure if that's better or worse.

I do things that are productive in part so I'll have teh ability to do things like play FIFA... lol

 

[ACamp1900]

 

[notredomer23]

Pulisic should have had an assist today but Castro wiffed. Crazy that our boy was starting at Real Madrid

 

[ACamp1900]

Won the group.

 

[dublinirish]

Madden make you a Packer fan??? Were you ever into Irish leagues or teams? (soccer)

aha i actually first got into american football watching a weekly highlights show called "Blitz" on Channel 4. It was hosted by Gary Imlach, a guy known for covering US sports on British TV. Favre was in his pomp back then so I jumped on dat bandwagon lol. Nowadays I live in Detroit though so I am a little partial to the Lions.

When i was in college i went along many times to watch my school play in the Irish Premier Division (University College Dublin). The league is semi-pro but tonight Dundalk FC are playing in their final group game of Europa League and are on the brink of qualifying for the knock outs. The standard of the Irish league is improving but England is still where all the young talent goes at 15/16 years of age.

My first soccer memory is Italia 1990 when Ireland got to quarter finals but lost out to the hosts. I can remember the 2nd round penalty shootout win vs Romania and the celebrations that followed. I was six years old I've always been an Irish national team fan even though i never had a favourite EPL team like most of my friends would have. I was more into other sports like Rugby and Gaelic football when I was younger. Really happy with the direction the national team is going right now, Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane are definitely the right guys for the job and we are back where we should be after some terrible footballing years under Giovanni Trappatoni.

 

[ACamp1900]

Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane are definitely the right guys for the job and we are back where we should be after some terrible footballing years under Giovanni Trappatoni.

I think I may have heard of those two........

 

[IrishLion]

UC releases Nippert Stadium renderings

FC Cincinnati getting those MLS dimensions put in at Nippert! (some UC folk are not pleased, but the actual important people are cool with it)

Now they just gotta convince Don Garber that using Nippert for the foreseeable future is a viable option for an MLS club, which it most definitely is.

 

[ACamp1900]

NYC just got Sean Johnson... good for him, he was being wasted in Chicago.

 

[GowerND11]

Finally, after 6 years of finding ways to bungle finishing 1st in the group, Arsenal wins it. Just like Arsenal to do it the year Bayern finishes second, and OF COURSE we draw them...

 

[ACamp1900]

Benfica is a good club, could be a a tough one but I would take Dortmund to win it all things considered...

 

[Emcee77]

Finally, after 6 years of finding ways to bungle finishing 1st in the group, Arsenal wins it. Just like Arsenal to do it the year Bayern finishes second, and OF COURSE we draw them...

Could be worse, could have been Barca again ...

I think Arsenal has a decent chance against Bayern, if they can catch them full strength and on one of their good days. Can't have important players injured. (Btw, bummer they are without Mustafi for 3 weeks. He has been a rock.)

Benfica is a good club, could be a a tough one but I would take Dortmund to win it all things considered...

Yep, I agree. It's a tough matchup but still, Dortmund has to consider that a favorable draw

 

[GowerND11]

Could be worse, could have been Barca again ...

I think Arsenal has a decent chance against Bayern, if they can catch them full strength and on one of their good days. Can't have important players injured. (Btw, bummer they are without Mustafi for 3 weeks. He has been a rock.)



Yep, I agree. It's a tough matchup but still, Dortmund has to consider that a favorable draw

I agree. This is the year that lines up best for Arsenal against Bayern. Plus it's the finally 16. Not like there's really easy matchups.

Mustafi being out will be tough. Gabriel seems to be playing better. Maybe that stint at RB has helped him.

 

[notredomer23]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Sliding down the Premier League table before Christmas like... <a href="https://t.co/Jl6bdZYZj7">pic.twitter.com/Jl6bdZYZj7</a></p>— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) <a href="https://twitter.com/br_uk/status/810553557589979136">December 18, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

sorry gooners, had to.

 

[GowerND11]

Figures we get through November without the typical problems, only for them to happen in December...

 

[fightingirish26]

Julian Green to Stuttgart

 

[Cackalacky]

#YNWA

 

[NorthDakota]

#YNWA

Who on earth are these guys....grinding results out? Lol love it.

Chelsea can't possibly keep it up.

 

[ACamp1900]

#YNWA

My. Man.

Bury those Hun bast-.... oh you meant the other ones....

 

[Cackalacky]

My. Man.

Bury those Hun bast-.... oh you meant the other ones....

Lmao. You are the best my man.