I don't know a lot about "soccer", but I would like to put forth a movement in the U.S. to make the name of the sport "futbol". As a country in the Americas, and one that celebrates football, to me it just makes sense. And it should have the slight differentiation between the two pronunciations. As a side ammendment, I submit that if your baseball team has a majority of Spanish speaking players, then they are playing "beisbol".
Responsibility 1 doesnt sit well with me. Yeah, I really wish I could support my local team, but fact of the matter is, the MLS, while improving, is still dull and about the quality of the English League 1 (ie. third tier). Yes, in Europe, even those lower tier clubs have devoted fan bases, but there are also essentially no other sports options in Europe. I'm not going to waste my time on bad American soccer as long as there are good baseball, football and basketball games going on in my city. I still much prefer going to a bar at 10 in the morning on a Saturday to watch the Premier League or Serie A, then paying $30 to go see an MLS game.
#9.....Really? That sucks. Does that happen in Europe too? Australia? Beckham and the Galaxy came here late last year, and got 80,000 for a match gainst Sydney FC. But I can't think of any regular occurences of gouging. Internationals cost more, particularly World Cup qualifiers, but then they could fill the stadium three times over for those. In fact, I can take my two kids to an A-League game, with good seats, and free public transport, for under $50 Australian. It's even cheaper with season tickets. I go to the Swans (AFL), too, and prices are OK there, too. I have been gouged at an AFL finals match in Brisbane, but then we beat them after the siren so it felt worth it.
Re: price gouging, for the Red Bulls/Galaxy game last week I believe the cheapest seats were selling for about $40 as opposed to $22 at regular price. One thing I'll give the Red Bull FO credit for though is giving season ticket holders an opportunity to purchase extra tickets (no matter the quantity) at the group rate. So the cheapest seats could be had for $14.
Thanks, owlhouse and goddam. Scalpers usually demand a premium, of course, but gouging at the ticket window just sucks. Also, thanks for the post, goddam. I enjoyed reading both articles.
Interesting stuff. I've always been a big fan of soccer, but never found it on TV or been good at keeping up with the European leagues. Really do like the articles though, great post.
On no. 9, there's a tedious counter-response related to the origins of the game and the gentleman/players arguments of the 1880s. Anyway. I'm not going to waste my time on bad American soccer as long as there are good baseball, football and basketball games going on in my city. There is likely a high-school or college team in your vicinity that plays well for its level, at a time that doesn't clash with the matches from across the pond. Go and check it out. You'll find that you don't make the same subconscious comparisons between, say, MLS and the big European leagues, and you'll enjoy it more as a result. And 'tiering' is the polite name in most top-tier leagues for the common practice of having to pay extra because of the pack of arseholes, whiners and prancing tits who make up the away side.
