New Fan's Checklist for the Upcoming Season

Okay, so you've decided to participate in the "Soccer Revolution" and give the world's game a shot. Admirable of you, but soccer is one of those things that will take a little effort to get the most out of it. That said, I've put together a little list based on my personal experience to ensure your setup for the upcoming European football season.


Step 1--Choose a club(s) to follow.


You shouldn't let people influence this decision (unless she's really hot) and don't be discouraged if people label you as a bandwagon jumper, etc. Choose a club you can get behind whatever the reason and stick too it. Remember, everyone was a newbie at some point.

In choosing a European club, the main piece of advice I have is to pick someone you can actually watch on a regular basis (see step 3 below). My favorite team (Arsenal) plays in the English Premier League (now the Barclay's Premier League or BPL) and they come highly recommended. But for more objective recommendations, a guy named Bill Simmons has written a niece piece for ESPN's Page 2 outlining the process he went through in choosing an BPL team--a must read for potential fans. If you are more interested in the Spanish league (I follow Valencia a bit) or the Italian league, the biggest names are Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, Juventus, Inter Milan, etc. My only strong recommendation is to choose a club that will participate in the Champions League as this is one of the most exciting competitions in all of soccer.


Step 2--immerse yourself in the club


Check the your teams website, wiki, fansites, blogs, etc...you'll find all kinds of useful info and it's a good way to come up to speed quickly. Armed with a basic knowledge of your team, I recommend joining a discussion forum. For me, I didn't really start to learn about Arsenal until I read the discussions of more experienced fans. I recommend BigSoccer.com. You don't have to post yourself, but reading the opinions of other fans is perhaps the best way to get to know your newly adopted club. Here, you'll quickly find out your teams strengths, weaknesses, tendencies, who the biggest rivals are, etc.

Step 3--make sure you're setup to view as many games as possible


The BigSoccer forum will help you in this regard, but I'll give you a general synopsis of European soccer on TV in the U.S. Basically there are two types of games in which your club will play--eague games and tournament games (a.k.a. Cup Ties). For EPL fans in the U.S., the league games will be split between Fox Soccer Channel (FSC) and Setanta. While FSC is available from both satellite and most cable operators, currently Setanta is only available via Satellite or ITVN. The Spanish league will be covered by GolTV (satellite and cable) and FSC will provide U.S. coverage of the Italian league, and ESPN typically covers the Champions League. Many domestic tournament games (cup ties) are only shown as pay per view--the easiest way to see these is a local soccer bar (see step 4).


There are also several not-so-legal, free ways of watching European soccer, and I'll not facilitate their use, but the enterprising individual will not find them hard to discover (If your that broke, just ask any liverpool fan in the forums mentioned in step 2).


Step 4--find your local soccer bar (er-pub)


One of the best things about soccer is the enthusiasm of it's supporters. When your club plays a big rival, plays in significant cup tie or reaches the latter stages of the Champions League there is nothing like being in a bar with a bunch of like minded fans swapping stories, drinking, cheering, booing, and singing. Also, like the NFL on Sundays, several matches will usually be going on simultaneously, and in a pub, you'll be able to catch several games at once. The best way to find your local pub, is to get recommendations from other fans that live in your area (again, check forums from step 2 above). And, as an added bonus--because we are 5 hours behind Europe, it's a good excuse to drink in the morning.


Step 5--stay updated


Although, the European soccer season lasts from August to May, there is always something going on and it's important that you stay up to speed. My 10 minute daily ritual see's me visiting the following sights:

• BBC football front page



• SkySports front page



• ESPNsoccernet



• BigSoccer team specific forum
  


• Google news search on my team's name

I also highly recommend subscribing to the World Soccer Daily podcast (search on iTunes) or The Two G's. You may also want to subscribe to a podcast dedicated to your team. If you chose Arsenal from step 1--I recommend Arsecast (also available on iTunes).

That's it, you should be set for the season. Good luck if you chose Arsenal from step 1, if you didn't I wish you plenty of hamstring injuries and twisted ankles ;)

Why do Americans hate Soccer (Er-Football)?

Well, this question has been floating around message boards, talk shows, blogs and articles since I've been following the sport. However, in view of David Beckham's coming to America, it's worth another look. After all, David (yeah, were on a first name basis) came here for a "new challenge," let's take a few minutes to see what he's up against.

I. High-school soccer players

Soccer is in direct competition with American Football, Baseball, etc. for young athletes. Currently, as compared to other sports, there is little money in soccer for Americans. For example, the league minimum salary for NBA players is around $400,000 while for MLS the maximum salary unless you are one of the 13 designated players (Beckham, Blanco, etc) is around $300,000. It's not hard to see why most gifted young American athletes choose to concentrate on Basketball or other established American sports over soccer.

Unlike in other countries where "normal" people play soccer, this market force leaves American soccer teams stacked with "fringe personalities" which are loathed by many Americans (not myself, btw). Result?--soccer players are viewed the same as people with lots of tattoos, or have purple hair, or listen to Emo, etc. Mainstream America just doesn't go for it.

II. Lack of television coverage

Soccer is not profitable for television networks. Okay, let me rephrase that a bit. Soccer is not as profitable as sports that lend themselves more easily to advertising. In America, sports are subsidized largely by advertising dollars. Let's compare the NFL to the English Premiership (EPL). The EPL is the most watched soccer league in the world, with an estimated 1,000,000,000 (yup, 1 Billion) fans following the clubs. The NFL mainly only markets to U.S. consumers, and although I've not seen an estimate as to how many people follow the NFL--it has to be less than 300 million. This means the NFL has 1/3 of the fan base of the EPL, yet manages to extract roughly the same (or slightly more) TV revenue per team. This shouldn't be too surprising since networks have roughly 2 hours of "down" time in an American Football game to squeeze in Budweiser advertisements--translation, more revenue for both teams and networks.

What this means is that even if the ratings of televised soccer in the U.S. were to grow equivalent with the major American sports leagues, it will not actually be as profitable to the networks. The networks are afraid of a less profitable product cannibalizing ratings from the more profitable sports. The bottom line--the financial interests of television networks are not aided by growing soccer viewership.

III. Perception of low scoring

This is the label soccer gets, and I think it's unfair and seems to be only perpetuated by the misinformed. Baseball, hockey, and even American Football games often end in low scores, as long as your team wins, you're not really concerned about the score. A typical soccer game will end 2-1--similar to hockey, football (14-7, anyone) and baseball (pre-steroids and without the harder ball).

IV. America has left tie by the wayside.

We love closure in America, and so the tie has all but left the American sports landscape in favor of often complicated overtime situations. I felt this worthy of its own post and have outlined a few situations were a tie (er "draw" as it's more commonly known) can be a desired end to a game.

V. The pace of action in a soccer game is foreign to Americans.

Soccer vs. Basketball. In Basketball, the teams take turns at scoring with each team having 40-100 chances. This is in stark contrast to soccer where even when two attack minded soccer teams meet you may only get a total of 10-20 real chances at getting a goal. This is different, but it means each chance is more significant and making soccer less of a statistical game.

Soccer vs. Baseball. The differences are obvious...baseball is a relaxed sport. We sit around and talk, listen to announcers, read the newspaper, flip to another channel when the bottom of the lineup bats, etc. Basically, you don't know if something will happen, but you know when to watch for it. Soccer requires constant vigilance and attention from fans--something harder to come by in America these days--Ritalin anyone?

Soccer vs. Football. American football is a field position battle. The buildup is clear--yes, there is the occasional long pass or break-through run, but generally the position of the scrimmage line announces how close each team is to scoring. It's like two ancient armies lining up for battle. There is anticipation before every play starts and the factors (down, yardage, position, etc) that affect the tactics change for every play. In soccer the buildup is a little more hidden. Much like a "dry" joke, to appreciate the buildup in soccer you need put in a little effort--understand player capabilities, team tactics and strategy--it's there, you just have to know where to look.

The bottom line...soccer is just different than the mainstream American sports. It can be just as enjoyable (if not more so), but it requires a little effort. In my opinion, it's well worth it but I'm not going to force it on anyone.

The Beauty of the Tie (er Draw)

While working on an extended piece about why Americans hate soccer, I started to focus on one element which I felt deserved it's own post.

Currently, the American sentiment toward a tie in sports is accurately reflected the cliche "a tie is like kissing your sister." However, during my recent obsession with European soccer, I've realized it adds an additional possibility missing from established American sports. So below I've listed a couple of reasons why that I hope might change that cliche to "a tie is like kissing your step-sister."

Reason 1--it's as close to both teams losing as you can get (warning, Baseball analogy and math below).

Suppose you are a huge fan of the Baltimore Orioles who occupy the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox. You're watching a game between your rivals, yet it's uninteresting because you can't decide what result to cheer for. Ideally, for the Baltimore fan, having both teams lose would be the best situation--this clearly this isn't a possibility, but what if they could tie? How would this affect your team's hopes of winning the division? Well, in soccer a tie is usually worth 1/3 that of a win. So, if one team wins and the other loses a full win will be awarded between the two teams (in soccer--3 points to the winner, 0 to the loser). If, however, the game ends in a stalemate only a total of 2/3's of a win will be awarded (1 point to each team). This means that your two rivals will either be easier to catch up to (only 2/3's of a win behind instead of a full game), or they will both fall further behind.

Reason 2--it gives underdogs a more reasonable chance to take something away from a game.

Have you ever watched a game when the underdog comes out swinging hard and establishes some sort of lead, but in the back of your head you know that more often than not, the superior team will get it together by the end of the game or in overtime. Wouldn't it be nice if the superior team was penalized and the underdog rewarded for have the same score at the end of the game? Or, consider a more specific example. Suppose your beloved NFL team is tied with another team for a playoff spot going into the last game of the season. If you win your next game you'll be in--lose, and your done. Your team scores a touch down at the end of the game to be one point behind the far superior opponent. Without the option of the game ending in a draw, you have two options: 1) kick the extra point to go to overtime where you're likely to lose to the more talented team, or 2) gamble and go for the improbable two-point conversion to win the game. Neither option seems like a fair reward for such a valiant effort from an underdog.

In conclusion, to the casual fan a draw may seem pointless, lackluster, and otherwise useless. But, to the more knowledgeable fan a draw provides an extra possibility which actually leads to a higher degree of unpredictability and excitement.

Transfers...a/k/a selling or trading a player

To those familiar with more established American sports such as Baseball, Basketball, American Football, etc., the bi-annual periods every January and summer--known as transfer windows--can be a little confusing. In European football, there are no "drafts" for younger players as we know, and the "trading" of veteran players is not as common as the outright purchase of them.

The system is basically setup to reward clubs (the more common lingo for "team") if a player they have invested in or developed moves to a different club. Often, players will outgrow a "smaller club" and demand more spotlight, stronger competition, and ultimately more money which only the larger clubs can provide. Assuming the player is still under contract, the teams wishing to sign the player must first satisfy the financial requirements of the player's home club before negotiating salary, benefits, etc with the player.

As it turns out, some of these transfers can be quite lucrative for the "sellers". For example, In 1996, Arsenal paid French club, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) £500,000 to sign 17 year old Nicolas Anelka. Just a couple of seasons later in 1999 Real Madrid (pronounced re-Al, like the name Albert) paid Arsenal £22,300,000 to secure the Frenchman's services.

Some times players are loaned to other clubs, either in hopes of eventually selling the player to the other club, or to enable a young player to get more playing time in the starting line-up (called the "first-team" in the lingo).

In the current transfer window, there is a lot of drama surrounding the pending transfer of Argentine striker, Carlos Tevez. Tevez played last season at the London based West Ham United. Apparently, a third party corporation was the holder of his contract and he was in effect "loaned" to West Ham. To compare this to the American sports landscape, it would bee as if Derek Jeeter was under contract with Morgan Stanley and then loaned to the Yankees to play baseball. It seems that as part of this loan deal, there was an agreement that if/when Tevez was sold to another club, the third party would maintain the rights to the monetary proceeds. The problem is that the governing body of the top English league (EPL, English Premier League, or Premiership) maintains that only clubs can hold contracts of players. This was investigated during the season, and in order to maintain Tevez' eligibility as a EPL player West Ham informed the league that the agreement had been terminated. The recent turn of events is that Manchester United have agreed to financial terms with the third party and Tevez to transfer the league Champions, but West Ham is still maintaining that they alone hold the rights to Tevez. Basically it is a big mess, and since there is probably $40-60 million at stake, it will take a court to sort out. Again, this is not something we are used to in U.S. sports.