Any Soccer Fans?

[BabyElephant]

I looooove soccer, even to the point of calling it "football" and sounding like a pretentious jerk. My fave team is Celtic (I know, how cliched for an Irish-American), followed by Barcelona, and Chivas USA. I don't get to play much, sadly, since I can't seem to find anyone here who's interested in a game. Any other fans of the Great Game here?

[koosie]

It is called football! You play it mainly with your feet unlike all the other games called football. Basically all sport is a stoopid waste of time but I've been watching footy since I was a kid and I'll probably be watching it in my final days. It also gives you something to talk about with people who don't watch cartoons.

I've supported West Ham Utd for nearly as long I can remember. We're not doing too well this year but I long ago learned to deal with football dissappointment. See you rarely get that as a Celtic fan. They should join the Premiership and face some real competition!

[billytheskink]

Isn't Celtic a Scottish team, Baby E?

I enjoy a good soccer match, not as much as some other sports, but I do like it. I prefer the indoor variety to the outdoor variety, which is why soccer snobs don't like talking to me.
I follow Houston 1836 in the MLS, used to be a big fan of the Houston Hotshots back in the days when we had an indoor team.
Following indoor is tough these days as now the long-running Dallas Sidekicks have joined the Hotshots on the sidelines. The Sidekicks may actually return; I hope so.

I tend not to favor a particular foriegn team because I'll always wind up talking to someone who is a big fan of their rival and they'll get ticked off. I do like Cruz Azul and Atlas in the Mexican Premier League, I just don't tell anybody. Too many Club America fans where I live, I'll tell you that

[BabyElephant]

Celtic is a Scottish team, but considering that the eircom league (the football league for Ireland) is still pretty small, most Irish people also support a foreign team. Celtic is a very popular team among the Irish, since they're the "Catholic" team in Glasgow, while Rangers are the "Protestant" team. Yep, sectarianism at it's best. I do support Galway United, but sadly they aren't even in the first division of the eircom league, which makes getting anything other than basic scores almost impossible. And by the way Koosie, Celtic has been trying for years to join the Premiership, but they won't let the Hoops in! They must be scared! (okay, it actually has more to do with money, but darn it, I choose to believe what I want to believe).
I like indoor soccer as well. Obviously it's somewhat different in terms of scoring and so on, but I'm not a purist by any means, so I enjoy it.

[koosie]

Is that a fact? What a pity. I'd love to see Scots teams in the premiership especially Celtic. I thought McNeil was one of the best managers around but they've certainly replaced him well.

Talking of managers, here's a coincidence. A few hours after I posted yesterday, West Ham sacked their manager Alan Pardew which I believe is a tragedy for the club. If you get a chance, watch the 2006 English FA cup final between West Ham and Liverpool. Everyone agrees it was one of the best games of football ever seen on these islands. Sadly this year the money men have imposed their vision on The Hammers this year and imposed unwelcome newcomers into the team to be showed off to bigger clubs then sold for profit and the team spirit from last year has been totally killed. Kip Snip strikes again!

Sorry that should have been posted on the BBC 5 Live forum!

[BabyElephant]

Originally Posted by koosie

Is that a fact? What a pity. I'd love to see Scots teams in the premiership especially Celtic. I thought McNeil was one of the best managers around but they've certainly replaced him well.

Talking of managers, here's a coincidence. A few hours after I posted yesterday, West Ham sacked their manager Alan Pardew which I believe is a tragedy for the club. If you get a chance, watch the 2006 English FA cup final between West Ham and Liverpool. Everyone agrees it was one of the best games of football ever seen on these islands. Sadly this year the money men have imposed their vision on The Hammers this year and imposed unwelcome newcomers into the team to be showed off to bigger clubs then sold for profit and the team spirit from last year has been totally killed. Kip Snip strikes again!

Sorry that should have been posted on the BBC 5 Live forum!

Yeah, I saw about Pardew getting the boot...ironic, to say the least. Hopefully, the new Icelandic owner of West Ham, whose name escapes me, will pour some money into acquring talent that'll stay with the team. My biggest gripe with the game is the way that a handful of teams with wads of cash (cough, ManU, cough) buy up all the best players and dominate the leagues year after year after year. I suppose if you're a supporter of one of those teams, maybe it's enjoyable, but for the rest of us it's no fun knowing that there's at most 4 or 5 teams with even a shot at winning the league. Of course, considering that Celtic and Rangers pretty much own the SPL, maybe I shouldn't talk...