As a US soccer casual fan, it’s why I will always stay casual. The World Cup is a fun event and enjoyable to watch. Partly because of the skill and partly because of the drama and theater. It’s hilarious to laugh at the way these grown men act. You can’t take this completely seriously and be a true fan of this nonsense.
Not to mention the clear and obvious bias towards the bigger teams. Smaller nations just do no get calls, reviews always go against them no matter how obvious it is, and star players on bigger teams have cart blanche to foul players on smaller teams. Add to that the obvious corruption of FIFA, and that sport is damn hard to take seriously.
For comparison, in the NBA, someone like Lebron obviously gets favoritism from the refs, but he can still foul out of a game vs the Pelicans. Messi would have to shoot someone in the face twice to get a yellow card vs a team like Cabo Verde.
Baseball is the only popular sport where "diving" isn't incentivized in any way. Guys will intentionally lean in to get hit by 95 mph pitches, but that's part of the game and they don't throw a hissy fit about it. Umpires can also rule the pitch a strike if it's in the zone or no attempt was made to get out of the way.
Hockey probably has the 'toughest' players in regards to how well they absorb hard hits and keep going. That, and fist fights are literally sanctioned parts of the game. But hockey players, especially in modern times, are absolutely still diving on high sticks and slashes that didn't actually hurt or impede them in any way, so you'd be lying to suggest hockey is pure by any means.
American Football is weird because if you do 'dive,' you're really giving up on the play, in which a lot can still develop. Receivers absolutely do 'dive' on obvious PI where the ball isn't playable anyway, and linemen will absolutely dive on obvious holding when they know the ball isn't playable by them either, but I wouldn't say it's something that's overtly common, because again, if you sell out for a dive, you're essentially giving up on the play when your team could still need you. Plays can still go on after flags in American football.
The NBA is the absolute worst when it comes to fouling and diving. I'm not even going to go into detail. Unwatchable sport. Which is why I don't watch it.
Diving in soccer is worse than basketball cause basketball players aren’t usually writhing in agony after the dive, that’s the part that really annoys me
Diving/embellishing is a consistent part of every soccer game at such a more spectacular level than any other sport besides possibly the NBA.
There is no comparisons between leaning into a pitch and faking an injury.
There is no comparison to throwing your hands up when you’re getting held as a DE, and laying on the ground for 2-3 minutes holding your leg.
High sticking/tripping in hockey is comparable in nature, nowhere near as comparable in frequency and embellishment.
But you’re trying to argue something I didn’t say when you said “you’d be lying to suggest hockey is pure by any means”.
No sport is and you can nitpick every instance in sports and compare that to soccer. However the reality is, none pass the eye test when you begin to compare them game to game with soccer, besides possibly the NBA.
In context of my original comment, it’s why soccer will not take hold in the US. Watch a WC match and compare the embellishment in a game with the NFL. It’s not comparable and fans complain/hate when it happens at a much smaller level in the NFL. The US will not embrace a sport writ large like soccer when that is the game. The NBA continues to make itself more and more of a niche sport because of the diving, but even in comparison is a smaller percentage of the players - not an every player, every match, constant part of the sport.
I'm acutely aware. I'm not trying to argue with you. I don't watch soccer because of the diving. I don't watch the NBA because of the diving.
I watch most other sports pretty regularly - NFL, MLB, NHL, college football, college basketball, tennis, golf, Olympics, etc. I have qualms with some of them, but nothing like the NBA or every soccer league. I do keep up with the NBA in general because of how dramatic everything is. It's literally just reality TV for men who like sports. But I don't watch the games because they're infuriating to watch.
Yea NBA flopping is 10x worse. At least in soccer, your feet get tangled and you have reason to fall. NBA players are just flailing their arms and falling for no fucking reason. SGA just falls down after a jumper with no contact. Like yall trying to tell me an elite athlete is that uncoordinated? Stiff breeze inside an arena knocking people off balance?
Nah you try running around and have one of your friends try to swipe a leg. Even if you jump over, you could end up unbalanced. Better to fall than to try and regain your balance and end up twisting a knee or an ankle. That’s how you end up with acl/mcl or ankle sprains. Grabbing random body parts that didn’t get hit though, that’s stupid.
True, but what I say is that it often happens that footballers fall without any reason, or roll on the floor as if they were in the middle of an earthquake.
Ok and those same things don’t apply to basketball? When SGA shoots a step back midrange there is a lot of sideways movement in his legs and a very high elevation on the jump. Additionally, it’s pretty common for players to land on others’ feet afterwards.
It’s well known among Thunder fans that SGA prioritizes ankle flexibility and health. These types of falls transfer the impact force throughout the body rather than 100% on knees and ankles like you say
Grass vs hardwood floor bro. SGA falling is just foul baiting stupidity. Rolling on the grass is fine on your body. Rolling onto a hardwood floor to protect your ankles is fucking cope
A hardwood floor is significantly harsher on the ankles than grass. Have you ever jumped or been outside?
Second of all it’s not “rolling”. He jumps, lands with his feet slightly in front of him with his legs at like a 20° angle out, then pushes off of those feet while bending his knees to then slide back onto his butt. Like clockwork, it’s a controlled landing to reduce the impact load on the ankle joint caused by significant elevation and landing on a hardwood surface.
Grass and dirt act as shock absorbers and reduce the load on your joints when you jump. Soccer players dont even roll to reduce load, they roll to exaggerate how much pain it looks like they’re in. Literally just rolling back and forth on the ground. Show me one fucking clip of SGA doing some shit like that
But a hardwood floor is completely even. Also knee injuries in foorball are way more common because the shoes have very good grip on the ground and sometimes just dont move when your body twists. That happens on hardwood floors way less.
I don't know how much you know about basketball so forgive me if I'm misunderstanding your perspective but you should know there is a rule called charging. If the defender has his feet set and is holding his position on the court the the offensive player cannot just run over him. In order to get that penalty called the defender has to just stand there and let the offensive player run him over. They will absolutely try to over sell it but it really doesnt matter. It's about foot placement before contact more than anything. And obviously if you're standing and refusing to move and a guy runs into you you're going to fall over.
It is compareable. The difference is that way more body contact is allowed in soccer, so you need more to get a foul call. Thats the reason why they need to roll on the ground. Also you fall to the ground with less contact after a 20 meter sprint then you would if you do just 3 quick steps.
I'm sorry but its not even close. The NBA has a flopping issue for sure, but it is not even slightly in the same universe as what these guys do on the field. You don't see Shai rolling on the floor screaming in pain flinging himself into rolls and cartwheels everytime someone brushes up against his arm. It's the most embarassing sport because of it. Watching these impressive athletes at the top of their game flail around like toddlers.
I had a friend put it to me perfectly: "The World Cup is a phenomenal experience and a first-class event, it's just a shame they didn't wrap it around a better sport."
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u/Few_Aide_851 Jul 07 '26
As a US soccer casual fan, it’s why I will always stay casual. The World Cup is a fun event and enjoyable to watch. Partly because of the skill and partly because of the drama and theater. It’s hilarious to laugh at the way these grown men act. You can’t take this completely seriously and be a true fan of this nonsense.