Should we take a stand against soccer?

[Ironmonger]

You can add Simon Hill to that list as well.
An upstart Pommy who thinks he can tell us Aussies what sport to follow to the extent where he denegrates rival codes.
He slammed footy once for not being a true football code because you bounce and handle the ball.
It's this attitude that has turned me right off soccer.

Do you have a link to that article, Fitzcray? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

 

[loki04]

So AFL has relevance in World News?

When broadcasting to AUSTRALIA yes it does, why mention it at all if it's irrelevant to the target audience. They try to make it look like the big bad Aussie Rules game...

 

[Underdog]

When broadcasting to AUSTRALIA yes it does, why mention it at all if it's irrelevant to the target audience. They try to make it look like the big bad Aussie Rules game...

In the same sense that the News report on movie stars without ever reviewing their movies. The people themselves have a place in Australia's culture regardless of what they do.

 

[Ironmonger]

To me, it seems like there's a lot of assertions being thrown around by both sides of this argument about how they're being mistreated by the media. It seems pretty rare, though, for people actually to provide a link to a genuinely biased article.

I suggest that if you can't support your allegations with evidence then its probably not worth posting.

 

[King Of The Hille]

There is no doubt they are after our territory and I've heard Robert Walls mention before that we should do everything in our power to ensure that soccer does not flourish.

In what ways could we do this taking into consideration they may be in for a windfall of government dollars over the next few years.

Soccer is the world game, and believe it or not Blatter doesnt give a rats ass whether or not soccer kicks on here.

Obcourse Rober Walls is scared that the most popular game in the world will take over a one state minnow sport such as AFL....

 

[Tigerdrive]

More sarcasm, how about providing something worthwhile??

Its pretty simple really, dont like the sport, ignore it.

I dont like League, I dont particularly like American Football either. I just dont watch them, I dont post threads calling on people to 'take a stand' against them...

Sick of this 'us against them' attitude.

Great point .

 

[Dimenhydrinate]

Read any article by Michael Lynch or Michael Cockerill

You can add Simon Hill to that list as well.

... So, you're complaining that soccer journos are talking positively about soccer?

 

[belfast_bomber]

By the way , I watch the SBS . You know , the stuff in between the soccer .

Careful now, you'll be after outing yourself as one of them fois gras-munching sophisticates.

I agree with the Chunkster. This "us and them" attitude is a joke.

Soccer fans, I've had it up to here with this "world game" business. It doesn't help anyone, this line of argument. Just feeds the "defenders of the faith"'s martyrdom complex.

Soccer and Aussie Rules are both great games. Of course they can co-exist.

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

Do you have a link to that article, Fitzcray? I can't seem to find it anywhere.

Yeah, I'd love to see evidence of this article that he keeps banging on about... I've not seen any sign of it myself either!

 

[bedford]

Soccer is a bigger threat to cricket at grass roots level. They have people working away at councils trying to take grounds off cricket, this is because these rats want all soccer in this country played in summer so they don't have to compete against our game. Personally i love EPL but the stuff here is crap.

 

[invinciBlues]

Yeah, I'd love to see evidence of this article that he keeps banging on about... I've not seen any sign of it myself either!

No doubt Sweeney have already done a survey on said article's existence

 

[Wonaeamirri33]

You mean the reputable survey which is conducted annually and is readily available online? Or the article which, thus far, there is no evidence of at all...?

 

[finders]

You mean the reputable survey which is conducted annually and is readily available online? Or the article which, thus far, there is no evidence of at all...?

The way the D League crowds are dropping this year I would be very worried if I was Lowey as it looks just like another NSL failure looming.

 

[mustapha]

You mean the reputable survey which is conducted annually and is readily available online? Or the article which, thus far, there is no evidence of at all...?

The article does exist. I remember reading it recently so I'm sure that someone will find it. Articles by Hill, Cockerill and Craig Foster are often biased in favour of soccer and dismissive of local sports like Aussie Rules but for every one of these guys there are 10 AFL and NRL journalists writing rubbish about soccer. It has been like that since the influx of European migrants in the 50s.

 

[jiphoc]

Soccer is a bigger threat to cricket at grass roots level. They have people working away at councils trying to take grounds off cricket, this is because these rats want all soccer in this country played in summer so they don't have to compete against our game. Personally i love EPL but the stuff here is crap.

Not at junior level it is not. I have been part of 2 clubs in the last 5 years (cricket) and at both clubs they are really struggling for grounds. Not because they are been taken away, just because of the sheer number of kids wanting to play the game.

Cricket and football are a tradition here and are here to stay. Soccer is a sport which will ALWAYS play second fiddle to the other two. Soccer is only big here once in every 4 years when the world cup or world cup qualifiers come around. Outside of those times it is relatively small in comparison to other sports. For all those throwing stats around remember that stats can be turned in any direction you want

 

[cos789]

Soccer is a bigger threat to cricket at grass roots level. They have people working away at councils trying to take grounds off cricket, this is because these rats want all soccer in this country played in summer so they don't have to compete against our game. Personally i love EPL but the stuff here is crap.

Interesting that Aussie Rules is more effective use of grounds .
44 people on an oval . That would require two pitches for soccer .

.

 

[Hicham]

and believe it or not Blatter doesnt give a rats ass whether or not soccer kicks on here.

True and this is often overlooked. Australia is viewed as small fry in Soccer circles and probably rightly so.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Interesting that Aussie Rules is more effective use of grounds .
44 people on an oval . That would require two pitches for soccer .

.

Two soccer pitches are of relatively equal size to a football oval. 11 a side in soccer, plus five subs = 16 per team x 2 for two teams = 32 players per game on two pitches = 64 players for the same amount of space as an oval.

 

[zachary]

... So, you're complaining that soccer journos are talking positively about soccer?

Yes , we have a right to expect journalists to be objective, not zealots spruiking their cause. Compare soccer reporting with that of any other sport in this country - eg rugby union, which is copping a walloping from most of its commentators at the moment. Soccer journalists sound like they are selling Amway. Or Scientology.

 

[Charliie82]

As long as Soccer is a summer sport it does not compete directly with AFL, therefore we do not have to worry about it. I would be more worried about the survival of domestic cricket as it competes directly with Soccer.

 

[mustapha]

Yes , we have a right to expect journalists to be objective, not zealots spruiking their cause. Compare soccer reporting with that of any other sport in this country - eg rugby union, which is copping a walloping from most of its commentators at the moment. Soccer journalists sound like they are selling Amway. Or Scientology.

Have you heard of a guy called Craig Foster?

 

[Slattery_20]

Have you heard of a guy called Craig Foster?

And no other journalist has ever created excitement about their own sport? Every AFL game after round 16 not involving Melbourne is a "mini-final", every cricket dead-rubber is an interesting contest, ffs there's a fckng golf player playing a practice round at the moment receiving wall-to-wall coverage.

People are hardly going to sh&^can their own living are they?

 

[mustapha]

And no other journalist has ever created excitement about their own sport? Every AFL game after round 16 not involving Melbourne is a "mini-final", every cricket dead-rubber is an interesting contest, ffs there's a fckng golf player playing a practice round at the moment receiving wall-to-wall coverage.

People are hardly going to sh&^can their own living are they?

I was highlighting the fact that he is critical of his own sport in response to the claim that soccer journos sugar coat everything.

 

[Ironmonger]

Yes , we have a right to expect journalists to be objective, not zealots spruiking their cause. Compare soccer reporting with that of any other sport in this country - eg rugby union, which is copping a walloping from most of its commentators at the moment. Soccer journalists sound like they are selling Amway. Or Scientology.

Ridiculous.

I bet you don't bat an eyelid when Mark McLure or half a dozen other AFL commentators repeatedly call Aussie Rules 'the greatest game of all'. And neither do I. Because if someone's given their life to playing and following a particular sport its probably to be expected that they enjoy it more than most.

Same is true for soccer commentators. And has been mentioned on here before, there are a variety of soccer commentators with differing views on the state of the game in this country. I would argue more so than in AFL. Look at the cheerleading for Kevin Sheedy's signing for Western Sydney, for example.

 

[zachary]

And no other journalist has ever created excitement about their own sport? Every AFL game after round 16 not involving Melbourne is a "mini-final", every cricket dead-rubber is an interesting contest, ffs there's a fckng golf player playing a practice round at the moment receiving wall-to-wall coverage.

People are hardly going to sh&^can their own living are they?

Then explain Caroline Wilson and Patrick Smith.