I hate soccer

Once parents start pulling out the "they work just as hard" argument, they've lost the fight...
And save your toy department bullshit fat boy... end of the season tourneys SHOULD take precedence over early season games in any sport...

 

Your reading comprehension skills warm my heart Slappy.

 

It's cheaper:
Soccer: A field, a ball. Done.
Hockey: Arena, equipment, power to run that arena, etc.
Baseball: A diamond, bases, bats, balls, helmets, gloves, cleats, etc.
Basketball: A gym, two nets.

More participation:
Hockey: 12 kids on the ice at a time, not 22.
Baseball: 10 kids on the field at a time (batter included), not 22
Basketball: 10 kids on the court at a time, not 22

More "exercise:"
Hockey: 60-minute game, 20 minutes of ice-time max, not a 90-minute game.
Baseball: Timeless, but kids get bored when they don't move much
Basketball: 40-minute game max, 20 minutes playing time max, not a 90-minute game

Skills:
Soccer: Run and kick.
Baseball: Despite the age, very specific skills (hitting, pitching, throwing, catching) are needed.
Basketball: Despite the age, very specific skills (dribbling, shooting, passing, rebounding) are needed
Hockey: Uh, skating? Something that IS NOT NATURAL.

EDIT: It should still be noted I do not dislike soccer, nor do I dislike covering it.

 

This guy has the right idea. (Which sort of makes your post, slappy, well ... still looking to see where he dealt with the tournament vs. easly-season argument.)

As for parents wanting their kids to play soccer, yeah, they do. They want their kids playing soccer over football, which is generally the sports whose seasons clash. And they want their kids playing soccer over football because they're afraid of little Johnny getting a ruptured spleen. That simple.

 

More participation?
There's one ball for 22 people. Everyone gets to bat in baseball, 10 people share a ball in basketball, 12 in hockey.

Cheaper?
At the youth level, maybe. But if you're any good, those elite level team trips and tournament travel get VERY expensive.

Skills?
Depends what level of play. At the youth level, nobody has any skills. Everybody runs around like a chicken with their head cut off. As you get older, the skills you need to be a good/elite soccer player are comparable with any sport, you're just using different parts of your body.

I believe you when you say you don't dislike soccer, but your knowledge of the game leaves a lot to be desired.

 

Awful analogy.

City council meetings and school board are esentially the basketball and football games of the news department.

Some sports, like some news events (say a business grand opening) just aren't that high on the totem pole. It's called news judgement and it's clear from the 60 people who show up to a soccer match as opposed to the 1,600 that show up to postseason basketball tournament games that one is more worthy of coverage.

There are plenty of meetings that go uncovered or get routinely bitched about news side. To claim otherwise is disengenuous bullshit.

 

When it comes to skills, it doesn't matter you age, more are required in every other sport than soccer. That's obvious. It still takes more to catch, throw and hit a baseball than to kick a soccer ball. Surely you can't argue that.

Good point in sharing the puck and ball. But I was getting at there are more people doing more things for longer periods of time in soccer - I mean actually on the field - than the other sports mentioned. The fact is 22 kids are CONSTANTLY playing in soccer. Just 12, 10 and 10 in the others.

And I didn't even put football on the list because it's so obvious.

 

Nothing to add, I just wanted to make this the longest pyramid of quotes in SportsJournalists.com history.

Seriously, though, it's clear you know nothing about soccer. Saying it's just about kicking a ball, is like saying basketball is just throwing the ball toward the hoop or baseball is just swinging a bat. But having an argument with someone who doesn't know what they're talking about is a waste of time, so I'll just bid you a good day.

 

SSM, that's totally egocentric.

Yeah, you can go out there in your backyard and kick a soccer ball right now. But putting that kick where it's supposed to be is something else altogether. And do we really need to get into heading the ball, trapping a long kick, making a corner kick curve toward the goal, dribbling, tackling?

I get the feeling that you actually realize all this and just took the easy way out in making an argument.

 

Andyouare:

I'm not arguing the finer points here. I'm saying at it's very basic level baseball (throwing, catching, hitting) is more difficult than kicking.

You aren't teaching eight-year-olds a curveball or the nuances of a sac bunt, just like you aren't teaching them a play on a corner kick, free ball, etc.

But the fact is this: At, say age eight, all you need to do is kick a soccer ball in order to play. In baseball, you need to swing a bat, throw the ball and catch the ball.

You can't argue that even at its roots (not to mentiona at a highly skilled level) soccer is more difficult than baseball or basketball or hockey. You just can't.

 

Come on shot. See my post above. The basics of soccer, if you simply want to get a game going for kids, are much easier than the basics for baseball or hockey. Sure it's tough to kick a ball where you want it. But it's tough to throw one there too - but then there are two more skill sets (catching, hitting) that you have in baseball.

 

If you're not adding soccer goals to list, you need to take basketball goals off the list.