I thought DU Loungers were better than this

[Haole Girl]

I was going to go without expressing my feelings, but I can't. There are some things I 'd like to say to those of you who posted anti-soccer threads. What have you proved? I'll tell you:

You've proved the DU Lounge is not an international, open-minded, stimulating exchange of ideas and thoughts. Instead, for whatever reason, many (and it was many) of you had to reveal yourselves as Americans are thought of around the globe: narrow-minded, uneducated, self-absorbed, bigoted, "ugly Americans."

Yes, it's just a sport. But, by going on and on about how much you detest soccer, and how "boring" it is, all you have done is shown your true colors. I would be embarrassed, now, to stick around here. I really thought, throughout the last two months, that I had found a friendly place. And, I believed I had a sense of being welcomed. Well, the joke's on me.

I was so excited after the Italy vs. France game to log on to DU. I almost couldn't wait to hear what other people on DU had to say about the game, and to toss around ideas and thoughts about it. Now, I am very sad to have my last impression of this place as a bunch of bigots. Well, I guess that's what being an American has come down to. I never thought the end of the World Cup would bring this out. I guess you never really know people, huh?

[jpgray]

1. People's tastes differ--is it worth posting 9 Lounge threads about?

Just take it easy.

[Redstone]

11. Nine? Seems a bit much.

Redstone

[Anarcho-Socialist]

2. It is unfortunate

Some at least have the respect that when Tennis/Superbowl/World Series/NBA/NHL events are piquing posters' interests, they won't start "I totally find your sport so boring" whiny threads.

[Writer]

5. You know what that is, Anarcho? It's an inability to grasp a different...

theoretical assumption about sport. We're Americans. We love a hard division between winning and losing and soccer does not deliver that. Also we need instant gratification - soccer certainly does not deliver that. And the nuance of the play - the beautiful passes and pure athleticism of the players - is lost on many of us. And I believe that's what's missing here.

But ... ya know, if you don't like it, you don't like it, okay? But why be so negative? That logic evades me.

[Spider Jerusalem]

8. Also the fact that the average American...

has the attention span of a gnat with ADHD...hence the whining about 'soccer is boring, nothing HAPPENS except a lot of pointless running around...'

[HuckleB]

3. 'Twas a great match.

We were surrounded by pro-France folk at Costello's Travel Cafe in Portland, with our son wearing an Italia onesie. What a blast! Yeah, it's odd to see so many folks dis soccer, when the NFL is turning football into a four hour marathon of commercials, the NBA is drying up its fan base, and everyone else in the world is having a great time watching soccer!

Heck, did you see all those folks in Boston? Reportedly, we had close to 10 thousand folks watching the game in Pioneer Courthouse Square here in Portland. So, we can rest easy knowing that there are some people who don't just dismiss the sport. It is gaining new fans every day.

[Ekirh]

4. The Lounge at times

Seems to get one tracked mind on certain issues. Hell this can be said for a lot of forums/threads. This too shall pass. . from both the positive and negative aspects.

I did all I could to get out of work early to watch the game . . . . I wouldn't do the same for most other sports. . I just loved the world cup that much.

and many are Zidane videos popping up on Ytmnd.com all over the place. . heh heh . . I think he's about to become kind of popular in replays and parodies on the net (Granted this is probably not the popular he wants to be).

[GalleryGod]

6. No, the Lounge is a

"junior high school cafeteria; a run down,seedy, junior high school"
~The Late, Great "Birdman" 2002

[LeftyMom]

7. It's not a rejection of you that people don't like something you do

Holy shit, if I started 8 complaining threads everytime somebody bitched about veganism or american cars or kids or something else I happen to like, I'd be miserable for no good reason and take half the lounge with me.

Funny thing about the lounge, if you don't like what's going on, come back in a few hours and it's a whole new place. I do it every award show night, because I couldn't care less what boring celebrity won an award for a movie I haven't seen. I don't bitch about the people who do though.

Let the soccer haters complain. They were nice enough to keep it to a minimum for two whole months, they deserve a few hours to vent.

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. Ah, but that's the *perception*

And perception is everything.

Well, along with timing and presentation. (See below.)

"You like baseball?!?" :rofl:

"You drive a Chevy?!?" :rofl:

"You voted for W?!?"


While it's not logical, each of these and others like them make us defensive. We develop attachments to things we like and appreciate, so we guard them when we perceive an attack on them.

And haters deserve no time to vent.

[jpgray]

22. Well someone posting like that shouldn't be taken seriously

They're looking to piss you off and create an argument, not express their point of view.

[Oeditpus Rex]

24. Like I said

It's not logical. :shrug:

[qnr]

9. Aren't you selectively ignoring the threads where people discuss their

enthusiasm for soccer?

Personally, While the soccer is boring thread titles grate on my nerves a trifle, I don't attribute it to some vast, faceless, American personality, but to individual tastes.

Edit: I bought some commas on sale, and needed to get rid of them.

[jpgray]

10. Exactly

Also this soccer evangelism is a little irritating--one can be open-minded and worldly without loving soccer. I enjoy it, but I don't feel I have to be a soccer Jesuit and convert the heathens or anything.

[arwalden]

12. It's Almost As Bad As The Vegans!

Ha! I kid! :hi:

[mac56]

13. You hit it right on the head.

The soccer evangelism, and the corresponding disdain for the unconverted heathen.

[qnr]

15. Same here. When I was stationed in Italy, we used to play soccer games

with the Italians and Germans (at a local German resort called Club Robinson) - the only way we ever won was by making the opposing teams laugh so hard they forgot to block the goal. We had loads of fun, but it's just a sport - and sports place in about the lower 3% of things that really interest me.

[greatauntoftriplets]

18. And spamming the Lounge is so....

open-minded and worldly.

:eyes:

[WCGreen]

19. I just don't get soccer....

it's just a bunch of people running around...

I'm sure there are a ton of people who say the same about baseball...

But to tell the truth, the older I get the less inclined I am to get excited by sporting events...

Sure they are fun to watch in the diversionary sense, but it's just a game...

Perhaps the professionalisation of sports has me weary as well as leary of investing any of my time and loyalty when none is returned...

[texanwitch]

23. WC, I was almost killed when I was stationed in Germany for saying

that soccer is only a game.

I agree with your post, I was going to post the same thing.

[WCGreen]

28. Isn't that just awful....

I saw first hand at Ohio State the drama and pent up emotion that was released on OSU vs. Michigan week...

It's no mistake that the last game of the year is also the most meaningful...

But now I just watch...

Enjoy the three or four hours...

And get on with my life...

[CrownPrinceBandar]

21. I agree, but I think the larger point......

the OP was trying to make is that there is just the opposite of "soccer evangelism" going on here in the threads they mentioned. There was an active effort to impugn soccer fans by saying their sport is boring. I imagine that if the soccer "dislikers" would have just said nothing other than pumping up a thread with a whole bunch of negative comments, the "evangelism" wouldn't have been near as pronounced.

Damn, this place is starting to sound like GD :scared:

[Ravenseye]

58. It's because of the anti-soccer comments

You don't go into a basketball thread about the NBA finals and find someone posting about how much they hate Basketball or how they don't get basketball.

Yet for some reason, even among liberals, if you post something about soccer or (god forbid) Nascar you're treated like you're either unamerican or a freeper, respectively, which is sort of ironic.

I love soccer and I have no problem with other people not liking it. There are sports I don't like myself. I just don't enter all the threads about those things and make snarky posts about those sports or topics.

That's why you get the evangalists. It's because there is rarely a discussion about soccer here that reaches 10 posts without someone snarking on it.

[Placebo]

16. Oh get off your high horse!

Soccer just isn't popular in America. This forum is frequented most heavily by Americans. DU is based in America. Don't get all pissed when you discover that most of the DU Lounge is anti-soccer.

Big f'n deal. Doesn't make you any better than them just because you appreciate something they don't. And it doesn't make you any more "worldly" or tolerant than them.

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. Ummm...it is where I live...

:shrug: But perhaps you live under a rock. :hi:

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Placebo]

25. Agreed.

Somebody took their anger and decided to empty it out onto the DU Lounge into like a billion threads. :crazy:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

29. And that wasn't anybody who dislikes soccer, either.

:eyes:

[ghostsofgiants]

20. People and sports...I'll never understand it...

In the grand scheme of things, it's meaningless, whether you're upset about a sport you hate, or upset about someone hating a sport you like. If you enjoy any sport, that's great (I don't like sports in general, though soccer is really fun to play), but to act like everyone who hates soccer is some kind of closed-minded bigot (to the point that you make bigoted statements about an entire nation of people), or to act like it's the end of the world if a given team doesn't win (eg. my friends during the Stanley Cup playoffs when Toronto was eliminated) is so mindnumbingly pointless.

[xmas74]

45. Exactly.

You probably already know I really enjoy watching and participating in sports. I enjoy posting on here in the threads for each different sport. But sports are not the most important thing in my life.

I did think about watching the final today but I decided against it. Why would I do that? Is it because I'm a pigheaded American who hates the world in general and, as a way of proving how much I hate the all members of the international community, chose to purposely not view this afternoon's soccer/football game when the rest of the world was watching? Nope. I chose not to watch for one reason-the best reason of all. My daughter wanted to go on a picnic and a hike.

Players come and go; good games can be watched occasionally. My daughter is six years old and will only be six for one year and she will never be six on July 9th ever again. I'm glad that I chose to spend time outside with her today instead of watching a stupid game. (Yes, I did say stupid game. And unlike some on this thread might think, I am a fan of soccer.)

I can understand getting a bit too involved in a game. I do it sometimes with football and hockey. But I also realize that there is so much more to life then that one game. And the insults I make to others are easily recognized as good natured ribbing. (Just ask a couple of Vikings fans on this board.) I'd never dream of insulting someone just because they don't like the sport.

I think we both agree: World Cup is now finished. We rooted for our faves, saw some good plays and some bad calls but it's all over now. I think it's time to drop the hatred from all sides and call it a day.

[gkdmaths]

26. er, um..

whats the big deal?

while I share the same respect for soccer as you, I'm not whining about the complaints of others who dont appreciate the sport as much. I get it for enjoying tennis and cycling too - and the fact that I dont like football or basketball. I dont rant about it though.

chill, dude.

:thumbsdown:

[flvegan]

27. We Loungers use Corn Flakes to bread our fried chicken...or we don't.

But we'll fight about it until the death!

Don't EVEN get me started on having cats outside. I think someone here was murdered with a trident over such an issue.

[texanwitch]

In the south we use egg and flour for our fried chicken.

There was really a post about this.

:rofl:

Enjoy your fried chicken any way you want.

[GirlinContempt]

31. What the fuck ever.

You've proven some people in the lounge are boring, humourless and banal.

[ScreamingMeemie]

33. I'll vouch for KC2...She's actually quite sweet.

We've all been guilty of letting something here get under our skin. :hi:

How have you been? I haven't seen you in forever.

[GirlinContempt]

36. I'm sure almost everyone

that drives us crazy, or bores us, can be very sweet. I just find her to be repetitive and obnoxious on this particular subject, what with the multiple threads and the meanness (I know I was just kinda mean myself, admitted)

I've been pretty alright, yourself?

[greatauntoftriplets]

The pile-on is because she spammed the Lounge...

with threads titled "Let's discuss how boring X sports is". There were maybe six or eight of them.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

40. Well, yeah, but you don't have to spam the Lounge with threads about it.

The only time I ever spammed the Lounge was with Steely Dan lyrics, which I realize later was an intensely stupid thing to do. :D

[khashka]

32. Oh grow up!

I don't much care for football (see I said football, not soccer) unless it's Aussie Rules.


But then most of what I want to talk about no one else gives a flying fuck about. So?

So grow up. It's cool you were enthused and wanted to share it with us. But the temper tantrum isn't so cool...

Khash..

[xmas74]

46. We both care

when the guys are really hot, hairy and sweaty.

That's about the only time. We tend to find other things to talk about.

[mac56]

34. You think this is bad?!

Try starting a thread where you discuss your favorite band.

Sweet fancy Moses, you haven't seen anything yet.

[qnr]

39. Sweet Fancy Moses sucks!

Oh wait, wrong thread.... my mistake.

[Floogeldy]

35. I didn't say anything!

:cry:

[bridgit]

37. welcome to du, KC2...

:hi:

i, personally, got a new respect for soccer last week at the bar watching italy run circles around germany :thumbsup: it was tied 1/1 last time a seen anything about italy/france awhile ago today, i'm sure the game is over but we just got in :shrug:

come back when the american football sheeple start-up for pre-season next month, the atmosphere will be charged with intensity & pre-ejaculate excitement :rofl:

[Joey Liberal]

38. Soccer sucks

I'm sure it's fun to play, but it's boring as hell to watch. I used to watch the USA womens team. But hey, I couldn't pass up watching "booters with hooters"!

[Floogeldy]

43. .

You are so naughty!

:spank:

[Shine]

41. Hi KC2

I'm just back from a two week vacation and haven't been on the DU scene for a while, but I saw your post and thought I'd respond. I'm sorry you feel bummed about the anti-soccer threads. My only advice is to shrug it off and not take it too personally. Otherwise, there's ALWAYS something to get pissed off about, around here, DU is just too diverse of a place to not get one or two button pushed once in a while. It happens. But do please keep in mind there are still many here, myself included, who are friendly, open and willing to accept the differences that make this human race so interesting, challenging and never boring.

Take a break, cool off and come back when you're ready. I hope to see you in the lounge down the road...Until then, take good care! :hi: :hug:

[Haole Girl]

44. Thanks. And thanks to MrsGrumpy and bridgit

But it's more than obvious, even to an insane person, that I am not welcomed here.

[jpgray]

48. I wouldn't take it that seriously

The reaction was to posting so many threads in the Lounge on the same topic, not your opinion or you personally.

[Haole Girl]

51. Give me a break

I'm not that stupid. It became personal. And, that will be my very last impression...unfortunately, worse than before I started this.

[jpgray]

53. I don't agree--no one will even remember this in 7-8 hours

People overreacted to your overreaction--it would suck for everybody if you topped it all off with a permanent overreaction.

[Midlodemocrat]

49. You're not insane.

And, you are more than entitled to your opinion. Some folks just might not share it.

Don't leave. The lounge is actually a great place.

:hug:

[Floogeldy]

50. Oh, please don't leave!

I like you. :)

[ghostsofgiants]

52. It's not you that isn't welcome here...

It's the fucking ridiculous way you're acting tonight.

[Deja Q]

42. Some people think its boring. Have THOSE people threatened to take it

from you or any fan in general?

Hmmm. Thought not.

It is okay to say it's boring. Surely people have a right to speak their minds anymore? Or to not be part of the collective, it makes us worthy of extermination - is that it? Then pull the trigger if you must.

Now I'm off to read those posts and see if I should shove a pie in my face for not clarifying the purported bigotry exists. Oops? Time will tell.

[xmas74]

47. A pie in your face?

Literally?

I don't care what the reason is-if you are putting a pie in your face I want pics. That's one of the first rules of classic comedy.

[Floogeldy]

55. *Biting Tongue*

:spray:

[xmas74]

56. I grew up in a household that had the Three Stooges

in the background. Someone says pie in the face and I zone out. I don't care what the reason is for the pie-I just want to know if it's chocolate, coconut cream or banana cream.

[skygazer]

54. Okay, a couple of things

I'm not sure how many members DU now has but I think it's in the 70,000 range. They're not all going to like or want to discuss the same things.

People post threads in the Lounge and elsewhere all the time that others disagree with or take offense to. The easiest way to deal with this is to NOT READ them. Or even use the "Hide thread" feature if it really bothers you. The worst way to deal with it is to post nine angry copy-cats and then an overwrought "I'm leaving DU" thread.

Just because some people dislike soccer and use rather juvenile phrasing to discuss it doesn't make them "narrow-minded, uneducated, self-absorbed, bigoted, "ugly Americans." It makes them people with opinions, just like everyone else.

You like soccer - cool. There are plenty of others here who do as well, and there are those who don't. Believe it or not, this is not the most vitriolic discussion we've had and you really need to grow a thicker hide if you're going to wade in this pool (which is a really nice pool and fun, though there are a few people who like to piss in it now and again).

Please do stick around - all this does not mean you are not welcome - you are. But try to understand - this is a message board. Look at the last line of your OP - "I guess you never really know people, huh?" No, you don't. Particularly when you're communicating with them under aliases on a computer.

Take a deep breath, use "Hide thread" and mellow out, man. :hi:

[Redneck Socialist]

57. Oh yeah!?

I bet you hang your toilet paper with the paper coming off the back of the roll too!

:mad:

C'mon man this is the lounge, we argue about everything and some days we hate most everything too. It's just that DU is pretty USA-centric and soccer isn't that big a deal here. :shrug: Plus it's fun to mock. :evilgrin:

[Pithlet]

59. Locking.

Flamewar.