Yet ANOTHER Reason to Dislike the Game of Soccer, aka Football

    For many years--at least since the 1990s--I have observed and concluded that the game of soccer, or more popularly known worldwide as football, has poor rules or standards practiced that make it unfair, uncool (for most Americans, anyways), and not good enough for much consumption as a good enough sport compared to others that we watch and enjoy. I can explain these issues, and I will below.

    However, I have decided as of tonight, that there is yet another glaring thing about this sport that is not fair and is inherently wrong about it: fouls. I will break that down, for your convenience.

    But first, my older griefs, in no particular order:

    1.     Offsides. Dumb. It credits a lazy or poor defense for getting away with goals taken/made and subsequently erases/nullifies that the offense has earned these goals by being better. Dumb, dumb, and makes the game more boring than it should be. Poorly organized, poorly executed. Wrong and awful, way too much. Americans like me hate this rule.

    I have talked to Germans who say we need this rule to keep the game fair, organized, or whatever, but I am sorry: this from a country that brought us two world wars. Thankfully the good guys won. Sorry, no offense, I love almost all Germans, but offsides is not a very well thought out rule, nor fair, nor fun. Pardon; I know lots of other sports with smarter and fairer rules, and they do not infuriate me so.

     2. Losing players to red cards. What? Going down a man or two? What? I could see maybe not letting that player stay in the game, but taking players out and changing the numbers for egregious fouls. Not American, not really cool. Hockey will penalize players for minutes at a time, but that sport is also not very American. Save that for another day.

    3. Losing minutes while the ball is being reset, or after a goal celebration, or while guys are injured. Stupid, wasteful, and not accountable. Stoppage time? I hate it. Real sports that Americans loves time their games better. See American football and basketball. The clock is well kept. Soccer is sloppy and aggravating.

    4. Okay, I have come to final complaint that I have been developing for years, but it is crystalized tonight: fouls disparity. Tonight, a Tuesday, I tracked my Indiana Hoosier men's soccer squad, which is struggling so far this year, admittedly, compete at home against local college Evansville. But year in, year out, since the late 1970s, Indiana is one of the top programs in the country. No one has won more championships than them since 1975, and no one in collegiate division one soccer for men has ever been to more College Cups, which is the Final Four.

    Evansville committed 24 fouls, while IU tacked up only 6. Four to one! That is a lot of fouls. A terrible disparity. But the Aces tie the game late and come away with a non-loss. Would this happen in any other sport? I do not think so.

    No. Indiana should have had some penalty kicks or something better (not remove an opponent from the game, no), but a tie with such a disparity of fouls is wrong. If the goalie can block the penalties, fine. IU should have been allowed more chances to score based on all the opponents poor play.

    Un-American, dare I say.

    Not good enough. This sport needs some changes.

    I will still root for IU and the national teams of the U.S., men and women. My BYU girls are really good, too.

    But, I can hate the parameters, and hope for better.

    I said it.

    Go Hoosiers! Go Cougars! Go USA. Make this crazy and unfair game a little better for me by winning by these wayward standards.

    Blogged it...