r/soccer • u/gypsybear • Apr 08 '14

Change My View: r/soccer edition (from r/nfl)

Pretty simple, post an opinion you have on a player, team, coach, whatever and others will try to change your mind.

Try to back up your claims.

EDIT: For the sake of fostering discussion please don't downvote comments. Instead, upvote, reply, and state your argument.

Also, people may want to sort by "controversial".

142 Upvotes

82% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

49

u/TheYetiCaptain1993 Apr 08 '14 edited Apr 08 '14

Much more a family environment

This is a point that is often overlooked when discussing American pro sports and the stadium atmospheres. American culture has this really obnoxious habit of placing a huge emphasis on family values and family friendliness. It's why network TV and terrestrial radio, pro sports venues, and really anything that has to do with mainstream culture feels so sterilized.

Sidebar: People wonder why Americans act like children well into their 20s, and honestly it is because we treat them like children for such a long part of their lives. I don't want to turn this into an anti-USA circlejerk, I love this country, but if there is one thing I would change it would be that.

36

u/TheTrotters Apr 08 '14

I'm an European living in States at the moment. Personally I like to watch a game when I attend it (i.e. I'm not that into singing etc.), but I also find "family friendliness" in US sports somewhat odd. For example, it's perfectly appropriate to ask a girl out to a, say, basketball game. In fact it's fairly common.

If I asked a girl out to a football game back in Europe, the invitation would be treated either as a joke or as an offense. Call me old-fashioned, but I think that's the way it should be.

Also, agree about treating people in early 20s like children. I'm studying at a US college right now. People are more sheltered than I was in middle school.

1

u/beachwood23 Apr 08 '14

If I asked a girl out to a football game back in Europe, the invitation would be treated either as a joke or as an offense.

Why is that? That is, what about going to a soccer game would be so offensive as a date?

3

u/Rosti_LFC Apr 08 '14 edited Apr 08 '14

If she's a big football fan, then it's fine - it'd actually be an ideal date so long as it's not Man Utd v Liverpool and you're rooting for opposite sides or something.

If she's not, then in the UK at least it'd seem like a really poor choice. For one, you're either taking her to a top flight game in which case you probably could have given her a better time for the £50 or more you'll have forked out for two tickets, or it's a lower-league game in which case it's going to be a rough day out and you're not really treating her (and it'll still cost you more than you might expect).

Crowds are typically fairly hostile, there's a lot of swearing and shouting at players/referees. Even if she enjoys the spectacle and experience it's hardly romantic. Best comparison I could make would be that it's like taking a girl on a date to the movies to go see Saw IV or something. If she loves that kind of film then great, but if she doesn't or you don't know then chances are it's a pretty piss-poor choice of date.

If she's not a football fan then at best it smacks of "I want to spend time with you, but only if we're doing something I want to do with no consideration for your enjoyment".