UConn

[ZooCougar]

American athletes never saw the opportunity for European paydays. Slowly changing, I won't live long enough to see it but the US will be a power internationally now that the lid is off getting paid.

I'm 38. I might live long enough to see MLS pass the NHL in popularity.

Why do you think you are going to die in the next 3-5 years? 10 years ago everyone was saying the MLS would be dead by now, but the exact opposite happened.

I like Hockey too, but they are not doing themselves any favors.

 

[FDNY99]

I can remember as a kid the soccer team having bigger crowds for a weekend game than the football team.

 

[coachcap]

I can remember as a kid the soccer team having bigger crowds for a weekend game than the football team.

And there were certain alumni that pounded their collective chests in public begging the athletic department to disband the football team & move all soccer home games to Memorial Stadium. (Especially after the Huskies played then defending National Champs-St. Louis Billikens at Memorial)

 

[whaler11]

Why do you think you are going to die in the next 3-5 years? 10 years ago everyone was saying the MLS would be dead by now, but the exact opposite happened.

I like Hockey too, but they are not doing themselves any favors.

The stress of PP and GDL.

 

[Waquoit]

We're consistently one of the largest attendance drawing soccer teams and have been for well over a decade.

You mean well over 3 decades. Attendance took a slight hit in the early-80's when you couldn't bring kegs into the stands anymore, but it came back.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I hate soccer. Unwatchable. The only thing I hate more than the sport is the soccer fans who berate you hating such a boring, slow paced sport. It's almost like they demand that you watch and like it. No thanks.

 

[Waquoit]

I hate soccer. Unwatchable. The only thing I hate more than the sport is the soccer fans who berate you hating such a boring, slow paced sport. It's almost like they demand that you watch and like it. No thanks.

Don't worry, I have no intention of getting on your lawn.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Don't worry, I have no intention of getting on your lawn.

Thank you.

 

[uconndennis]

That little stroll down memory lane above was the first thing that put a smile on my face since Chad Christen made it 7-6...

Those were good times. I did the PA for a few sports in the mid-90's, including Men's soccer. Watching Rocha and Rhine was very cool. Rocha was a wizard in the mid field.

As awesome as it was doing Public Address as a college student was tough....try reading a 15 page marketing script, coming off 2 hours sleep, reeking of Jack Daniel's while the local media looks at you like your a homeless guy

 

[Kgun7]

Some of my best memories were playing pick-up soccer games in the mid 90s at UConn with the late Bobby Rhine (can't believe he died so young) and Maurizio Rocha, two players that went on to play in the MLS. Bobby Rhine had a VERY long career in the MLS for the Dallas Burn, and he died shortly after retiring from soccer.

Another great memory of mine was playing a pick-up soccer game with none other than Souleymane Wane from the basketball team!!! I you not. I crossed a ball in the air, which I thought I caught a little too much of. That man leaped in the air to what seemed to be a height of 15 feet and headed it down into the net!!! From that point on, I told myself that I would only play soccer with 7-foot centers... (6'11", my !!!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Rhine

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurizio_Rocha

http://www.uconnhooplegends.com/menslegends/WaneSouleymane.html

I hung out with Bobby Rhine and a bunch of other former and current players in '97 in Foxboro tailgating before the US v Mexico WC qualifier (when Keller scored into his own net off Hermosillo's mug). We all got a treat when Tony Meola strolled past our tailgate along with John Harkes's father. He stopped and had a beer with us and told a few stories ... one of which was he had thought about playing for UCONN, but Tom Foley's committment ended that.

And the last time I saw Rocha was when he laid face down on the turf after missing that PK against Penn State ... that sucked.

 

[ZooCougar]

I hate soccer. Unwatchable. The only thing I hate more than the sport is the soccer fans who berate you hating such a boring, slow paced sport. It's almost like they demand that you watch and like it. No thanks.

That's fine. Just don't shove baseball down my throat, and we're cool.

 

[dante]

That's fine. Just don't shove baseball down my throat, and we're cool.

+1

 

[UC Pride]

You mean well over 3 decades. Attendance took a slight hit in the early-80's when you couldn't bring kegs into the stands anymore, but it came back.

I'm only 21. Haven't been around long enough to follow UConn Soccer for 3 decades.

 

[mets1090]

That's fine. Just don't shove baseball down my throat, and we're cool.

Lol Baseball is my favorite sport. I've learned to not hate soccer (I usually just try to associate parts of it with hockey - which I also love - being that they utilize similar fundamentals in some ways) but it does generally annoy me when soccer fans are bewildered at how someone could not love soccer. I get how it would likely be the same if the roles were reversed so I generally avoid trying to sell baseball to people

Frankly I don't give a if other people like baseball or not. I could be the only person watching a game at CitiField (and there's a chance that may happen soon...) and I would still choose that over anything else.

 

[Adios]

Futbol americano > all.

 

[lavuuk153]

Lol Baseball is my favorite sport. I've learned to not hate soccer (I usually just try to associate parts of it with hockey - which I also love - being that they utilize similar fundamentals in some ways) but it does generally annoy me when soccer fans are bewildered at how someone could not love soccer. I get how it would likely be the same if the roles were reversed so I generally avoid trying to sell baseball to people

Frankly I don't give a if other people like baseball or not. I could be the only person watching a game at CitiField (and there's a chance that may happen soon...) and I would still choose that over anything else.

You won't be the only one at CitiField...I'll be right there next to you...most likely paying for parking, tolls, and concessions

 

[junglehusky]

Let's be honest, the quality and watchability of soccer in the US has been pretty mediocre until recently. I do watch MLS soccer now about as much as hockey and baseball, and MLS quality of player (passing, scoring, tactics) has gotten much better over where it was 10-15 years ago. So there are probably some Americans who won't watch soccer today because of where it was before, or even a few soccer fans who love european football and thumb their nose at MLS.

College soccer, at least when I watch NCAA tournament games, have always been a level or two below MLS quality (maybe more so now that MLS has stepped up), so I have a hard time watching a whole game unless it's UConn in the final 4.

 

[Palatine]

In fairness to Dante, we only average 3.5x more than ND, so.....it was close....

Yeah, but he is still wrong, he said "no way" UConn has better support.

 

[ZooCougar]

Let's be honest, the quality and watchability of soccer in the US has been pretty mediocre until recently. I do watch MLS soccer now about as much as hockey and baseball, and MLS quality of player (passing, scoring, tactics) has gotten much better over where it was 10-15 years ago. So there are probably some Americans who won't watch soccer today because of where it was before, or even a few soccer fans who love european football and thumb their nose at MLS.

College soccer, at least when I watch NCAA tournament games, have always been a level or two below MLS quality (maybe more so now that MLS has stepped up), so I have a hard time watching a whole game unless it's UConn in the final 4.

No offense to our great soccer program. But US college soccer ain't exactly all that.

Did you see the highlights from the Celtic-Barcelona game yesterday? One of the goal scorers for Celtic was 18. He's already a world class player and it's not like that's all that uncommon.

When we start placing teenagers on the big European sides then we should really start to expect to kick some arse. Until then, were basically a quality mid major.

Landon Donovan was on the Bayer Leverkusen roster as a teenager but he rode the pine.

 

[UConnDan97]

Yeah, but he is still wrong, he said "no way" UConn has better support.

I should have placed the word "sarcasm" in my post...

 

[dante]

No offense to our great soccer program. But US college soccer ain't exactly all that.

Did you see the highlights from the Celtic-Barcelona game yesterday? One of the goal scorers for Celtic was 18. He's already a world class player and it's not like that's all that uncommon.

When we start placing teenagers on the big European sides then we should really start to expect to kick some arse. Until then, were basically a quality mid major.

Landon Donovan was on the Bayer Leverkusen roster as a teenager but he rode the pine.

No doubt theres a big difference between Europe and everybody else which is money, but in reality theres only a handful of leagues that i would consider better then we have here in the americas.

1. La Liga
2. English Premier League
3. Serie A
4. Bundesliga
5. Ligue 1

Brazil, Argentina, Mexico to me are top 10, Mexican players would rather stay in their league then to go to any club outside those 5 leagues above. Honduras, Costa Rica only field 10 teams in division 1 and about 16-20 in division 2. Each conference in College is pretty much a league on their own so we are talking about an insane amount of soccer players, theres talent the problem is the scouting.