Question about Europeans and football, soccer, whatever

[Lilly32]

OK so I always watch the World Cup and have been watching the Euro play. Why do all Europeans get so pumped up about soccer? I have been to 2 Super Bowls and they are boring compared to how much the fans in Europe seem to get into soccer matches. Everyone dresses up and is fighting fans from other countries. Also when they show live pictures from other countries where people are watching the games on jumbotrons, because they couldnt be there in person, its like a huge street party. That never happens in the US for any sport. Is it because ya'll only have 1 sport so everyone can just focus on that while the US is split b/t baseball, football, and basketball? Also how can we act like that for our sports? It just seems like we have no enthusiasm. Sure tailgating is fun but Id rather have riots and massive block parties with tens of thousands of people.

[Reg]

The NFL has been around less than 50 years.

These countries in Europe have existed for hundreds of years, often warred against each other, and have had rivalries for years. Shit's bound to get heated.

[Lilly32]

OK so since the NFL is our biggest sport how can we turn it into how soccer is for Europe? I mean the next game Im at should I just rip off my shirt and throw a chair at a guy wearing a jersey for the opposing team and see what happens?

[Reg]

Certain team match-ups do get pretty out of control in the NFL. I know when the Giants play the Jets or the Patriots, things get out of hand pretty damn quick. It's all about the rivalries. Super Bowls are usually tough to base off of because they are in a city where neither team is the home team. If I lived in Indianapolis and watched the Giants-Pats game, I probably wouldn't care too much.

[koodledrum]

Firstly, for many of us we have several sports (rugby tends to be the secondary sport here in Scotland for example) but football is the main sport & attracts most money.

As for why I still get pumped for games is simple enough for me to answer, my club is arguably the third most important thing in my life after my health & my family, there's also an element of "bragging rights" in a small country like Scotland where 2 teams dominate the game, if you win the derby it gives you something to noise up friends & colleagues for. I've never understood the argument "oh it's boring, nothing ever happens" as it's actually a pretty technical game a lot of the time, sure there's not a lot of scoring unless it's either a one sided game or a very poor game, that doesn't mean that what happens outside the penalty box is boring when it's about working into advantageous positions.

For the record my club is involved in one of the most notorious rivalries in sport (Old Firm game), I've never felt the need to rumble at the football, I'm well versed in banter between fans, but I can count on one hand the number of fights I've seen at games I've attended. It happens (Holland for example is supposedly pretty grim for violence) but the majority of matches are relatively peaceful & amicable, game gets played & everyone goes for a pint after the game.

[Lilly32]

Even after the Redsox finally won the World Series after like 80 years or something and got rid of the "curse of the Bambino" the parties I saw on the news and ESPN paled in comparison to some parties I have seen after euro football matches. I remember watching the World Cup when it was in Germany and it showed people watching the Fatherland play on giant screens and when they scored or won the streets went nuts. And baseball has a very long history. But I guess when its been taken over by the NFL as our number 1 sport maybe thats why. Like if we only had baseball and for some reason the Cubs finally won the World Series I could only imagine the aftermath.

But not even talking about international play just watching clubs in England and Spain. When they play each other it looks like the fans are more into it. Like Man U vs Chelsea and games like that. I guess our version of that would be Yankees vs Redsox or Cowboys vs Redskins. Maybe we are just lazy Americans lol. All I know is if I ever do make it to a World Cup im not cheering for the US team Im dressing up like the Germans and cheering with them lol. I still have a German name from my family so I might can pass off as one of them and just say I moved to the states when I was like 6-7 and thats why i cant speak German

[Reg]

Even after the Redsox finally won the World Series after like 80 years or something and got rid of the "curse of the Bambino" the parties I saw on the news and ESPN paled in comparison to some parties I have seen after euro football matches. I remember watching the World Cup when it was in Germany and it showed people watching the Fatherland play on giant screens and when they scored or won the streets went nuts. And baseball has a very long history. But I guess when its been taken over by the NFL as our number 1 sport maybe thats why. Like if we only had baseball and for some reason the Cubs finally won the World Series I could only imagine the aftermath.

Now I don't mean to nation bash since it's not my intention, but in Europe from what I have seen in videos the countries pretty much shut down to essentials during the World Cup lol In America, business kind of goes on as usual because the sport still isn't big here.

And I don't think ESPN and the news showed the big World Series parties after the Red Sox win lol The city blew up (figuratively) in certain parts.

[Totle]

With the exception of USA... soccer is THE sport for the entire world. Thus, there are whole nations competing against each other, and an ethnic pride and patriotism is brought to the games. It's not like baseball or football where at the end of the game, it's still US vs US.

Sure, you can argue about the states, but no one really cares. No one is going to say "I'm Californian" or "I'm a S. Dakotan", they're going to say, "I'm an American".

Imagine how pumped we get for the Olympics - because as a nation we are all pumped for our team. It's that same spirit that viewers and attendees bring to the stadiums for a soccer match.

Also, vuvuzellas.

[Mandible]

Same reason why other people get riled up about other things - its a group mentality.

[Reg]

With the exception of USA... soccer is THE sport for the entire world. Thus, there are whole nations competing against each other, and an ethnic pride and patriotism is brought to the games. It's not like baseball or football where at the end of the game, it's still US vs US.

Sure, you can argue about the states, but no one really cares. No one is going to say "I'm Californian" or "I'm a S. Dakotan", they're going to say, "I'm an American".

Imagine how pumped we get for the Olympics - because as a nation we are all pumped for our team. It's that same spirit that viewers and attendees bring to the stadiums for a soccer match.

Also, vuvuzellas.

I don't think the US has been pumped for the Olympics since Dominique Moceanu lol We tried to get behind the whole Michael Phelps thing, but meh to swimming lol We're an odd lot here in the US, we get pumped for the strangest things.

[Saeran]

Football for most is a passion and the rivalry between clubs can be intense.Why more intense than the US - probably because it is the national sport and the US has NFL, NHL etc?

I was brought up by my Dad to support my club and his Dad by his Dad and so on - support over generations?

Apart from that it is hard to quantify.

I just hate Dingles... (If anyone knows what this means I will be impressed)

[Deleted]

If you think riots and "fans" of different teams/countries fighting with each other is a good part of football, you are completely dead wrong.

[Deleted]

OK so I always watch the World Cup and have been watching the Euro play. Why do all Europeans get so pumped up about soccer? I have been to 2 Super Bowls and they are boring compared to how much the fans in Europe seem to get into soccer matches. Everyone dresses up and is fighting fans from other countries. Also when they show live pictures from other countries where people are watching the games on jumbotrons, because they couldnt be there in person, its like a huge street party. That never happens in the US for any sport. Is it because ya'll only have 1 sport so everyone can just focus on that while the US is split b/t baseball, football, and basketball? Also how can we act like that for our sports? It just seems like we have no enthusiasm. Sure tailgating is fun but Id rather have riots and massive block parties with tens of thousands of people.

One explanation is football (soccer) is very popular in Europe - and in most parts of the world for that matter. Secondly, the rivalries between countries. A good example is what happened before the Poland - Russia match. Those countries have a history, hating each others' guts and hooligans reacted in the way they did. That rivalry also exists between clubs of the same country (Real Madrid - Barcelona, AC Milan - Inter Milano, and so on) so when the European Championship comes, it's only natural the rivalry goes on.

Although it doesn't happen in all countries, the riots are an ugly aspect in my opinion and tragedies have happened in the past due to unruly fans - see the Heysel tragedy in the 80's which lead to all English teams getting banned from all continental competitions for 5 years. This is UEFA's fault mostly for not taking enough measures. The way England dealt with hooligans after said ban is proof that this can be fixed, but UEFA has always been slow to react. One example that has nothing to do with hooligans, but shows the slow reaction is the goal line camera being available for the referee during the game, which UEFA refused to introduce. That simple solution could have avoided a lot of controversy (the '66 World Cup comes to mind, but there are plenty of more recent incidents that could've been cleared if the referee could see what actually happened). My guess is though that the controversy adds to the popularity of the sport and to said rivalries.

As for why this doesn't happen in the U.S., I'm not sure it's the right climate. Take the way fans are involved in soccer: in clubs like Barcelona, for example, fans have their say when the club president is elected (I believe they're called 'socios'). I don't know much about american football, but I never heard of fans being involved to this extent in the sport. It's not uncommon over here for a coach to be sacked because the fans ask for it (this also happens in Latin America). My point is that when you're so involved, you're more likely to gather in the streets to celebrate your team's win and do all those things you described earlier.

[Jackmoves]

There is very little violance between fans of different nations in the Euros, very little. It's just a big party. Club football can get violant sometimes though, but that is also a minority of the fans that are hooligans. In the euros, all people can party together wearing their national jersey without much problem or threat of violance.

Anyways I can't explain why football is such a big deal for us... it just is. No other sport comes close imo.

[Deleted]

One explanation is football (soccer) is very popular in Europe - and in most parts of the world for that matter. Secondly, the rivalries between countries. A good example is what happened before the Poland - Russia match. Those countries have a history, hating each others' guts and hooligans reacted in the way they did. That rivalry also exists between clubs of the same country (Real Madrid - Barcelona, AC Milan - Inter Milano, and so on) so when the European Championship comes, it's only natural the rivalry goes on.

<Snip>

As for why this doesn't happen in the U.S., I'm not sure it's the right climate. Take the way fans are involved in soccer: in clubs like Barcelona, for example, fans have their say when the club president is elected (I believe they're called 'socios'). I don't know much about american football, but I never heard of fans being involved to this extent in the sport. It's not uncommon over here for a coach to be sacked because the fans ask for it (this also happens in Latin America). My point is that when you're so involved, you're more likely to gather in the streets to celebrate your team's win and do all those things you described earlier.

Pretty much this.. Football is popular in Europe, it was 'invented' at the right time, just as England/Britain and the rest of Europe had their empires. The right climate for it to be shipped out and it grew around the world.
There was a good debate on something called "the world football phone in" a year or so about this.. The sport is huge in South America because they brought it over, where as the US, Rugby is much more popular (American Football) because that was what was being played at the time back in old blighty.

The whole thing goes back generations, peoples parents took them and their parents before them etc.. So its bred in the culture. It also has ALOT of money involved (i mean the World Cup made stupid amounts for FIFA and each club in the EPL get £40million a year and yet they still have cash to spare).
If its Internationals or just local clubs, it always means something more than just being a game, it means bragging rights (football is so much more than just a game, its a religion to some people)!

The biggest reason why it is so massively popular is that the rules are so simple. Two goals (nets, jumpers, sticks) and a ball are all you need to play! You can play it on the beach or in an office ...

Alot of the recent racism and rioting is very disturbing however... Alot of Europe is about where England was 20 years ago in terms of the racism (not everywhere but the whole chanting etc), hopefully it will go away, but it will take alot of effort on UEFA's part.

One final thing, the German world cup was very important to Germany for unification.

[Zelk]

I think the problem you have in America is that your sports seem to be designed for advertisement. NFL has 2 min breaks every other minute of play. As far as I'm concerned NFL is un-watchable. Thankfully rugby and football have 40 and 45 min halves respectively.

People take a huge amount of pride in their club and country when it comes to sports. In Newcastle football is a religion, and St. James's Park is the Cathedral. We don't have riots over football, Sometimes supporters can clash before or after matches but rarely something serious happens. That is honestly just another weird American Stereotype. ("British" accent always makes me laugh.) Footballers are huge celebrities over here, if you go to a school and ask the kids to name the English Captain they will tell you, ask them for the Queen's Surname and they'll stare at you blankly.

[Deleted]

I think the problem you have in America is that your sports seem to be designed for advertisement. NFL has 2 min breaks every other minute of play. As far as I'm concerned NFL is un-watchable. Thankfully rugby and football have 40 and 45 min halves respectively.

This.

All off your sports are structured around having maximum number of commercials during the game. Although i love watching NBA, most of the times i fall asleep during timeouts, it kinda kills fans passion.

Football on the other hand, has 45mins of mostly uninterrupted play followed by 10 min break during which you have a drink, toilet break and gather up some strength for second half.

[Butler to Baby Sloths]

I think the problem you have in America is that your sports seem to be designed for advertisement. NFL has 2 min breaks every other minute of play. As far as I'm concerned NFL is un-watchable. Thankfully rugby and football have 40 and 45 min halves respectively.

I noticed this when I watched the super bowl this spring. It seemed like there was more time out than there was actual sports being played. It seemed like the sports was a backdrop to a massive advertising campaign. We don't get that over here, the FA cup final, the DFB pokal final, or any other football association cup final or competition final that is shown on commercial TV has 4 minutes of adverts every 15 minutes, then you have the first half of the match, 5 minutes of adverts, 8 minutes of comments, 2 minutes of adverts, then 45 minutes of solid football. If the match is on public funded TV stations like the BBC, ARD/ZDF etc then there are hardly any adverts at all, you might see a 5 second "this event is sponsored by [insert brand here]" announcement but that is all (because they aren't allowed to air commercials).

[Jibjabb]

If you think riots and "fans" of different teams/countries fighting with each other is a good part of football, you are completely dead wrong.

Thats what Im thinking. Why on Earth do you want the riots and fighting for USA sports? Like wth is wrong with you? You should be proud that USA has less of it. When we do get it its very embarassing and sad, like what happened to the guy at the Giants/Dodgers game. The closest thing I see to riot style sporting events here are Cubs vs White Sox games as the stadium is split with fans there is a ton of trash talk and a ton of drunk fans which obviously leads to idiots fighting each other.

[Kivana]

I tried watching American Football on late night telly once (im in England btw). The commentators were hyper, the announcer was hyper so i thought it was a safe bet. Oh boy was i disappointed.

It was the most boring shit i have ever seen. Ref stopping the game every 5-30 seconds because the guy with the ball fell over his own feet. Timeouts for no apparent reason.
So i asked a friend if it got any faster or more entertaining and all i got was a flat 'NO'.

Football (soccer) is faster, needs more skill and even though i cba with matches outside of the Euros/World Cup, more entertaining.

American Football MIGHT have been different before the marketing execs got their pie stained hands on it and players commanded super huge pay packets for doing fuckall, but from the little i have seen and heard, it is total shit. Yes football players 'salaries' are stupidly huge too, but lets be honest that they actually have skill to somewhat back that up.