Pro Soccer vs. American Flag Football League

[fearsomefour]

Dive! Dive! Dive!

Is it better or worse than pro basketball?

I used to think that there were players known for it in hockey, but I never realized how prevalent this technique in other sports.

I think all three are WAY more fun to play than to watch. It's all of the detail and complexity of the game that draws me to football. In a casual sense, I don't mind watching soccer though, but indoor soccer is almost as bad as arena football to me.

At least in basketball is just faking a foul not faking an injury.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Soccer is a great sport with the most depth to it. If you don't know it you don't understand. NFL is of course a great fan sport because scoring still matters. Scoring in the NBA is nearly meaningless at an average of 4 to 5 points a minute. I love nearly all Pro sports, I don't consider flag football one. The rest of the world probably isn't wrong we just have short attention spans, low investment in the nuances as a whole, ( obviously not we who frequent forums) and a need for constant scoring stimulation.
At the end of the day you watch what you understand and enjoy, that is the best sport for you.

 

[rdlkgliders]

There are some great posts here. I like when people share well thought out takes instead of insults. I love sports, nearly all. World wide Soccer has incredible athletes, high level of physicality ( the flopping is unfortunate) and they play 90 minutes in a 100 minute period, pretty crazy considering football players play appx 30 minutes in 3 hours and that is split between O and D. All that said The NFL is just an amazing league with such a great balance of physicality, scoring and strategy.

 

[1maGoh]

Soccer is a great sport with the most depth to it. If you don't know it you don't understand. NFL is of course a great fan sport because scoring still matters. Scoring in the NBA is nearly meaningless at an average of 4 to 5 points a minute. I love nearly all Pro sports, I don't consider flag football one. The rest of the world probably isn't wrong we just have short attention spans, low investment in the nuances as a whole, ( obviously not we who frequent forums) and a need for constant scoring stimulation.
At the end of the day you watch what you understand and enjoy, that is the best sport for you.

Soccer suffers from the same problem as basketball, in my opinion, but for the opposite reason.

In basketball, as you stated scoring is meaningless. In that way, any 5 minute slice of the game except for the last 5 minutes is meaningless. In a vast majority of games, the first 3 quarters are meaningless.

Soccer is the same but because they score so few points. You can tune in at any point besides the last 5 minutes and you have absolutely no insight as to how the game will end.

I personally don't feel like football is the same. The score is a partial indicator of the flow and quality of the game.

 

[LesBaker]

Otherwise, it seems like a disorganized back and forth while kicking and passing a round ball...every once in awhile, there is a score.

It's difficult to win the game. That's part of the reason the entire world loves this sport.

is there any other sport in the world where this can happen?

Every sport.

Pro soccer....flag football.
Well, tackle football is turning into flag football.
Faking an injury is "part of the game" is soccer?
Soccer is for puss***.
Watched a little practice of a couple of summer flag football teams where I live and it was atrocious.
I will go for a walk or go fish.

Go fish.

Yeah, I've never found soccer to be very interesting.

Again, it's difficult.

It's the sport most like chess.

It isn't easy. Better while playing it versus watching it.

Our national equivalent to the biggest game in the world..............baseball.

Slow, often boring, low "scoring".

Overall I was never big on Soccer because they just don't score enough,

See above.

Soccer suffers from the same problem as basketball, in my opinion, but for the opposite reason.

In basketball, as you stated scoring is meaningless. In that way, any 5 minute slice of the game except for the last 5 minutes is meaningless. In a vast majority of games, the first 3 quarters are meaningless.

Soccer is the same but because they score so few points. You can tune in at any point besides the last 5 minutes and you have absolutely no insight as to how the game will end.

I personally don't feel like football is the same. The score is a partial indicator of the flow and quality of the game.

Yeah that's like the NLl and MLB combined.

Oh wait.......that would be every sport LOL.

Games decided late in the contest by small margins.

 

[1maGoh]

It's difficult to win the game. That's part of the reason the entire world loves this sport.



Every sport.



Go fish.



Again, it's difficult.

It's the sport most like chess.

It isn't easy. Better while playing it versus watching it.

Our national equivalent to the biggest game in the world..............baseball.

Slow, often boring, low "scoring".



See above.



Yeah that's like the NLl and MLB combined.

Oh wait.......that would be every sport LOL.

Games decided late in the contest by small margins.

What I meant was, a 0-0 or 1-0 score at any point in a soccer match indicates nothing. It's par for the course. Watching 5 minutes of a soccer game will show you a bunch of people kicking a ball around getting nowhere. If the game were shortened down to 5 minutes, most games would end exactly the same as they do playing for 90 minutes.

14-14 at the beginning of the second quarter has a totally different meaning than 14-14 half way through the fourth quarter. Watching football for 5 minutes of actual play will likely show points being scored. Those points are meaningful. Shortening a football game would result in less meaningful play.

And soccer isn't the game most closely resembling chess. Chess is a largely static game of moves and counter moves, patterns, and thinking. I am interested in how you think the two are similar, though.

 

[rdlkgliders]

It's difficult to win the game.

It's the sport most like chess.

It isn't easy. Better while playing it versus watching it.

Our national equivalent to the biggest game in the world..............baseball.

Slow, often boring, low "scoring".

Great points les, it is so difficult to translate to others the nuances of Soccer. You have 1 v 1 with larger number battles when the game transitions into the attacking 3rd as well as team tactics, Overloads switching etc... most people think playing back to the keeper is a form of defeat whereas ( in some situations it is ) Often though it is a restart or a switch that can start an advantage due to sucking in a defender to challenge a keeper and begin an outnumbered attack. Explaining the nuances is like trying to translate wisdom to a pre teen. LOL, I really think if people were to learn the depth they may find it more interesting especially guys like @jrry32 and the rest who know how to break down a prospect and absorb all the nuances that make them boom or bust... It is a 90 minute fluid chess match with individual battles, positional battles and team philosophies always in play.

 

[jrry32]

Great points les, it is so difficult to translate to others the nuances of Soccer. You have 1 v 1 with larger number battles when the game transitions into the attacking 3rd as well as well as team tactics, Overloads switching etc... most people think playing back to the keeper is a form of defeat whereas ( in some situations it is ) Often though it is a restart or a switch that can start an advantage due to sucking in a defender to challenge a keeper and begin an outnumbered attack. Explaining the nuances is like trying to translate wisdom to a pre teen. LOL, I really think if people were to learn the depth they may find it more interesting especially guys like @jrry32 and the rest who know how to brake down a prospect and absorb all the nuances that make them boom or bust... It is a 90 minute fluid chess match with individual battles, positional battles and team philosophies always in play.

You're probably right, but it's not my cup of tea. I tolerate flopping in basketball because there's a lot of scoring. I can't tolerate a low-scoring, non-contact sport with a lot of flopping.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Every sport

How so?

.

 

[rdlkgliders]

@jrry32 I hear you to each his own. You could not be more wrong about non contact though. It is far more physical than any American sport other than Football and Hockey. Basketball isn't close. You would get kicked out of the NBA for things that Soccer players get away with.

 

[1maGoh]

@jrry32 I hear you to each his own. You could not be more wrong about non contact though. It is far more physical than any American sport other than Football and Hockey. Basketball isn't close. You would get kicked out of the NBA for things that Soccer players get away with.

Although I have only watched a handful of soccer games in my life, I can't even begin to think that someone actually believes that's true. I took a class from an English guy once and even he complained about how wimpy the pros are because they barely touch each other and cry any time someone invades their personal space. Granted that's only one English guy...

 

[rdlkgliders]

@1maGoh Unless you play both competitively I guess it can be argued. The NBA has no back to basket play to speak of or boxing out to speak of anymore it has become a 3pt league. In soccer the physicality is very present on set pieces where players get physically thrown to the ground and punched in the back of the head even at the youth level....I am not talking AYSO. You could not do things that happen in every game without being ejected and suspended in the NBA. To call soccer non contact like jrry did is ignorant or just a lack of any sort of beginner knowledge of the sport,

 

[Akrasian]

@1maGoh Unless you play both competitively I guess it can be argued. The NBA has no back to basket play to speak of or boxing out to speak of anymore it has become a 3pt league. In soccer the physicality is very present on set pieces where players get physically thrown to the ground and punched in the back of the head even at the youth level....I am not talking AYSO. You could not do things that happen in every game without being ejected and suspended in the NBA. To call soccer non contact like jrry did is ignorant or just a lack of any sort of beginner knowledge of the sport,

Well, this is an American Football board. With the possible exception of NHL, rugby, and actual combat sports, other sports are barely contact compared to what happens in NFL games. Soccer contact is just not even close to the same. Nothing wrong with that, just a fact.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Well, this is an American Football board. With the possible exception of NHL, rugby, and actual combat sports, other sports are barely contact compared to what happens in NFL games. Soccer contact is just not even close to the same. Nothing wrong with that, just a fact.

Agreed and not argued, in fact stated. This is a thread on a football board and multiple takes and input is what makes them interesting. If it doesn't suit you or when it doesn't me. I read something else

 

[jrry32]

@jrry32 I hear you to each his own. You could not be more wrong about non contact though. It is far more physical than any American sport other than Football and Hockey. Basketball isn't close. You would get kicked out of the NBA for things that Soccer players get away with.

I watched much of the world cup. Those guys went down and rolled around like they were dying from the slightest bit of contact. Obviously, they were exaggerating to get calls, and there was some physicality that went unnoticed in the crowds (ex. during corner kicks). However, contact is far more apart of basketball than it is soccer. Basketball is far more physical. Neither is a "contact sport" in my book, but contact is a much bigger part of basketball.

 

[jrry32]

@1maGoh Unless you play both competitively I guess it can be argued. The NBA has no back to basket play to speak of or boxing out to speak of anymore it has become a 3pt league. In soccer the physicality is very present on set pieces where players get physically thrown to the ground and punched in the back of the head even at the youth level....I am not talking AYSO. You could not do things that happen in every game without being ejected and suspended in the NBA. To call soccer non contact like jrry did is ignorant or just a lack of any sort of beginner knowledge of the sport,

I played soccer when I was younger. I've also played basketball. It's not even close which sport is more physical. Anyone who has had to defend a bigger dude in basketball knows how physical (and dirty) the game can get. It's also ironic that you're saying I'm ignorant while you're claiming that nobody boxes out or posts people up in basketball anymore.

 

[rdlkgliders]

@jrry32 I am not saying you are ignorant, I wouldn't say that. I am saying that calling a contact sport non contact is an ignorant statement "lacking knowledge or awareness". I added you due to your deeper investigation into things you enjoy. Due to head injuries etc.. playing soccer at a recreational or AYSO level really isn't getting your feet wet. They have to many protective measures that keep the physicality of the sport when played at a higher level out. In soccer you also macth up against bigger players certainly not a basketball only encounter. Of course people still box out but the 3 has added a softer dimension to the game with the big men shooting from outside and the game being more about the 3. The 3 also creates longer rebounds which has reduced the physicality. These are points that I have heard emphasized by NBA players of the past. Either way we like what we like. I like the big 4 soccer and more and soccer certainly is a contact sport.

 

[PressureD41]

I for one really enjoy "Soccer", the set pieces and corners are a thing of beauty. Now if we could get the Ports to stop diving. I give all my port chops some heat on that. I skipped school to watch the Mother Nation (England) play. Finally the next few cups I hope to throw down some bangers & mash and plenty of beers w/ the hope of winning it all