Why you aren't watching the world cup

[Waller]

Are you comparing a world wide sport to a sport that's US centric?

Yes. That's why I said provincial.

 

[Retreater]

Just saying why I don't watch it.
I have zero cultural touchstones for it as a Gen X American male in the US South.
Glad most of the world loves it. It's just not a thing for me.

 

[jian]

Ted Lasso isn't about football. Any more than Friends is about New York. That's just the backdrop.

It’s not just about football, sure, but it is about football. I don’t think it could have been written without a deep love and knowledge of football.

 

[Morrus]

It’s not just about football, sure, but it is about football. I don’t think it could have been written without a deep love and knowledge of football.

I dunno. I'm not into football or any sports at all (outside world events like the Olympics and the World Cup which take over the entire media spectrum for a month or two every four years) but I enjoyed that show as a sitcom with very little football knowledge. Just like I enjoyed Friends with very little New York knowledge, or Blackadder with very little (insert period) knowledge. Sometimes sitcoms are just sitcoms, and the background is just texture.

 

[Kaodi]

If you put the World Cup on ice, I'm pretty sure you get hockey!

Yes, hockey and soccer are literally the same game from a certain point of view .

 

[Retreater]

Ok. So I am currently at the neighborhood cocktail bar. I'm watching my first soccer game. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[jian]

I dunno. I'm not into football or any sports at all (outside world events like the Olympics and the World Cup which take over the entire media spectrum for a month or two every four years) but I enjoyed that show as a sitcom with very little football knowledge. Just like I enjoyed Friends with very little New York knowledge, or Blackadder with very little (insert period) knowledge. Sometimes sitcoms are just sitcoms, and the background is just texture.

Yeah, I’m not into football or any sport either, and I enjoyed Ted Lasso just fine with minimal knowledge apart from cultural absorption, but so did several people I know who are football fans and who felt seen. Even sitcoms have to be rooted in something, and while New York is a fairly minor character in Friends it is there, and it’d have been a different show for being based in LA or London or Tokyo.

I guess it depends on how obvious the characteristics of the background are and what the show is about. You could say that Casualty, Holby City, ER, and The Pitt are basically the same show, and they sort of are in that they’re about modern emergency departments and if that’s the main takeaway then you can appreciate them for that with little thought about their differences except, “Wow, Carter looks really stressed these days.” But the differences between the NHS and the US health system are definitely there and present as characters, and it sounds to me as if the latter is a huge character in The Pitt (basically the big bad), for instance.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Why not? Not into sportsball, especially in a format that isn't accessible to the masses who are the real fans.

But y'all have fun.

 

[Morrus]

I guess it depends on how obvious the characteristics of the background are and what the show is about. You could say that Casualty, Holby City, ER, and The Pitt are basically the same show, and they sort of are in that they’re about modern emergency departments and if that’s the main takeaway then you can appreciate them for that with little thought about their differences except, “Wow, Carter looks really stressed these days.” But the differences between the NHS and the US health system are definitely there and present as characters, and it sounds to me as if the latter is a huge character in The Pitt (basically the big bad), for instance.

I dunno. I've watched only about half the first season of The Pitt, but to me, the main difference is accents (and The Pitt has the times the show budget so it looks better). Obviously Casualty is episodic and The Pitt is serialised, but I don't really see them as particularly different.

 

[MGibster]

So not a lot of soccer (or “footbal”l) fans on ENWorld?

Back in 1994, Dallas hosted six games of the World Cup at the Cotton Bowl. A classmate of mine worked at the Cotton Bowl, and one of our teachers asked if he was excited to participate in what was the first time the United States would host a World Cup. He simply shrugged and said, "It's just soccer." But soccer has grown in popularity here over the last 30+ years.

In addition to the issues of FIFA corruption and a certain orange man-baby, I also struggle to enjoy the entitlement of so many millionaire footballers, along with the injury simulation and blatant cheating that seem to characterise modern football.
Rugby isn’t perfect but there is a sense of honesty and respect for referees that is missing in football. I hope it stays that way.

I've got nothing against soccer as a sport, but I really, really hate FIFA about as much as I hate the International Olympic Committee. It's not as if I were inclined to watch the World Cup anyway, but my hatred of FIFA is a guarantee that I won't watch.

Are there good soccer movies? Like hockey has Slap Shot, Miracle, and The Mighty Ducks Franchise, and Shoresey. Baseball has countless movies.

You've never heard of 1981's Victory? Everyone agrees it's the best soccer movie ever starring Michael Caine, Sylvester Stallone, and Pelé! (I assume Pelé was an internationally known actor from Brazil or something.)

Off the top of my head, there's Escape to Victory, which was directed by John Huston and starred Sylvester Stallone, Michael Caine, Max von Sydow and Pelé.

Oh, I see someone else has seen it. I saw it in theaters as a wee lad, and for years thought it might have been a false memory induced by fever or something.

The 2022 world cup final was watched by 1.5 BILLION people. This year's Superbowl was watched by a mere 125 million. Soccer might not be your thing, but claiming it's unpopular makes you sound provincial.

A lot of us Americans tend to be rather provencial. For the most part, we just don't care that soccer is overwhelmingly more popular than baseball or football on the world stage because we're the only thing that matters. It's why we raise our voices to better make ourselves understood when visiting foreign countries. Everyone speaks (American) English, right?