World Cup Thread

[CadaverDawg]

Sounds a lot like my interest level. I played baseball, and I still absolutely love college baseball....but for some reason I just can not care less about MLB anymore.

[Dawg61]

Sounds a lot like my interest level. I played baseball, and I still absolutely love college baseball....but for some reason I just can not care less about MLB anymore.

Play just one year of fantasy baseball and you'll love it again. For me I have a team (SF Giants) that I follow and keep up with and go out of my way to watch and then I play fantasy baseball so that keeps me interested in the other teams/players. Baseball is the perfect sport to watch while doing other things and in a way it is much like soccer that way. There are lots of times throughout both sports that your focus can be on other things and still be "in" the match. If you're having trouble picking a favorite team you can just watch MLBNetwork and they do an excellent job of keeping you up to date on everything going on in the baseball world and a lot of them are hilarious too. Great network way way way better than ESPN for MLB. That could be the problem too. ESPN is HORRIBLE for MLB. Their announcers are very boring and their show Baseball Tonight is trash.

[Pioneer Dawg]

Play just one year of fantasy baseball and you'll love it again.

Ding ding ding

[CadaverDawg]

Play just one year of fantasy baseball and you'll love it again. For me I have a team (SF Giants) that I follow and keep up with and go out of my way to watch and then I play fantasy baseball so that keeps me interested in the other teams/players. Baseball is the perfect sport to watch while doing other things and in a way it is much like soccer that way. There are lots of times throughout both sports that your focus can be on other things and still be "in" the match. If you're having trouble picking a favorite team you can just watch MLBNetwork and they do an excellent job of keeping you up to date on everything going on in the baseball world and a lot of them are hilarious too. Great network way way way better than ESPN for MLB. That could be the problem too. ESPN is HORRIBLE for MLB. Their announcers are very boring and their show Baseball Tonight is trash.

Remind me again when it's time

[hacker]

Remind me again when it's time

Yeah, I might try this next year

[Dawg61]

Remind me again when it's time

Yeah, I might try this next year

[smootness]

I think baseball is having a bit of a resurgence as well. Of course, I have no idea if stats back that, just me throwing crap against the wall basically. But it seems like it has grown in popularity somewhat recently, despite the anemic offense.

Once they juice the balls back up some, it will be even better.

But yes, soccer is absolutely here to stay, and it's going to continue to grow. And there's a good reason for this: it's a great sport. There's a reason it's so popular everywhere, and it isn't just that it's easy to play because you just need a ball and some cones. It's the only sporting event that can hold your attention non-stop, and no other sport can match the exhilaration of each point/goal/run. The buildup and anticipation of that is second to none. Yes, you can watch a game for almost 3 hours and see nothing happen. But you can also turn away for 10 seconds and miss the entire match.

As MLS continues to grow, it's going to exponentially sky-rocket. Hockey will be toast pretty soon, and I think it'll pass basketball before baseball. Football will remain the #1 sport in America for as long as it remains viable, but there are some serious threats to its ability to do that. Nothing drastic will happen in the next 20 years or so, but it could begin to dwindle as a high-quality product.

I think in 20 years or so, the MLS will be one of the top 5 or 6 leagues in the world and legitimately making plays for big-time players in their prime and I think the US national team will have at least made a WC semifinal. I also think soccer will be, at worst, the #3 sport in the country by then.

[Pioneer Dawg]

I think baseball is having a bit of a resurgence as well. Of course, I have no idea if stats back that, just me throwing crap against the wall basically. But it seems like it has grown in popularity somewhat recently, despite the anemic offense.

Once they juice the balls back up some, it will be even better.

But yes, soccer is absolutely here to stay, and it's going to continue to grow. And there's a good reason for this: it's a great sport. There's a reason it's so popular everywhere, and it isn't just that it's easy to play because you just need a ball and some cones. It's the only sporting event that can hold your attention non-stop, and no other sport can match the exhilaration of each point/goal/run. The buildup and anticipation of that is second to none. Yes, you can watch a game for almost 3 hours and see nothing happen. But you can also turn away for 10 seconds and miss the entire match.

As MLS continues to grow, it's going to exponentially sky-rocket. Hockey will be toast pretty soon, and I think it'll pass basketball before baseball. Football will remain the #1 sport in America for as long as it remains viable, but there are some serious threats to its ability to do that. Nothing drastic will happen in the next 20 years or so, but it could begin to dwindle as a high-quality product.

I think in 20 years or so, the MLS will be one of the top 5 or 6 leagues in the world and legitimately making plays for big-time players in their prime and I think the US national team will have at least made a WC semifinal. I also think soccer will be, at worst, the #3 sport in the country by then.

I agree with a lot of this.

Even with 2x as many home games all but 3 MLB teams have higher avg attendances than the highest NBA avg.

Natural demographics and exploding popularity will boost soccer

The liberalization of football will bring it down from its current peak. I don't find the NFL enjoyable at all and anything outside of the SEC is boring.

The fans turned off by football and hoops and think soccer is communist have nowhere to go but back to the ol' pastime.

[TheRef]

Here we go!!!

Semifinal #1

Brazil v. Germany

3:00 PM CDT ESPN, ESPN3

[Dawg61]

Brazil vs Germany

[TheRef]

Brazil vs Germany

You're right....I need more coffee.

[Dawg61]

Drink it like this

[DudyDawg]

Cannot wait for this one. Thought Brazil had a good chance w Neymar and more importantly Thiago Silva, but now I think Germany have to be favored in this. That being said, being had home you can't count Brazil out.

I'm interested to see how they replace Neymar. Do they bring in Willian for a like for like switch. Do they bring in another central midfielder? We shall see soon.

[DudyDawg]

@ESPNFC: Same XI that played France.

#GER XI: Neuer; Lahm, Hummels, Boateng, H?wedes; Schweinsteiger, Khedira; M?ller, Kroos, ?zil; Klose #BRAvsGER

[DudyDawg]

@ESPNFC: Bernard in, Dante first appearance
#BRA XI: C?sar; Maicon, Dante, Luiz, Marcelo; Gustavo, Fernandinho, Hulk, Oscar, Bernard; Fred #BRAvsGER

Would expect oscar to start wide right and to float freely into the middle with Bernard. Interesting choice. Dante in for Thiago Silva in the back

[Dawg61]

Go Germany!!

[Pioneer Dawg]

Go Brazil!

[DudyDawg]

Brazil certainly attacking early. Not afraid even w out Neymar

[TheRef]

Coach34 is over there like

[Pioneer Dawg]

Germany 1-0