GOOOOOOOOAAAALLLL!!!
More than half a billion (500 million) page views and over 40 million visits have been registered on euro2004.com since the site launched on 31 March 2004 – a new record for an official EURO website. This is an increase of more than 285 per cent on the 128.8 million page views registered by euro2000.org.
Everything has to be a record with these folks. Euro2004 was also the top Googel search in June, Apparently “football” fans have trouble bookmarking or sinply typicn www.euro2004.com into the browser.
This tournament is done once every four years so the Europeans can actually win a big tounament without having to worry about Brazill kicking their asses over and over. Personally I don’t see the appeal of these websites. The pictures are usually just some guy screaming with his veins about to pop out of his head because after 50 minutes of inactivity, the team scored a lone point.
Actually the photo that you’ve selected shows a goal keeper that saved a penalty…so the legend is kind of weird….there was no “goal” scream here.
Regarding your comment…well, why do you bother to talk about a game that you don’t understand and obviously know nothing about??
It seems that a quite a few million people all over the world appreciate it. I would say a lot more than those that appreciate your “national sports”…
Miguel
Eh, these shots all look the same to me. I guess I could change it to NO GOOOOOOOAAALLLL!!
And I know plenty about the game. I just don’t really give a hoot and don’t find it that interesting. I do admire the fact that the clock isn’t always stopping like with American football, so you get the game over with. A very good thing.
I just put this on the blog to syphon off a few gratuitous hits on the blog log.
Soccer is the perfect analogy to “just because everyone likes it does not mean it is good.”
Mind you, I’m an American Football fan myself, but mark my words, basketball will eventually replace soccer as the dominate world sport. Reasons? 1. More scoring. 2. Means more excitment. 3. The US viewers that are not immigrants will watch it.
[ It seems that a quite a few million people all over the world appreciate it. I would say a lot more than those that appreciate your “national sports”… ]
Yes, soccer is an excellent game for women, girls, small boys, and foreigners.
…but mark my words, basketball will eventually replace soccer as the dominate world sport.
I doubt it.
Soccer just needs a ball, a relatively-flat field, and (as a minimum) two people.
No hoops & backboards on poles; no pads and helmets; no bats and gloves; no raquets and nets.
It is popular because it is a game most of the fans can, and probably have, played themselves – or can try at any time. It is wide-spread because it has such a low equipment/facility requirement, so kids are easily exposed to it as a first sport.
I would expect other sports to have a hard time gaining players as easily as soccer has/does.
Thomas: You’re fooling yourself here. America has proven deeply incompetent at both importing and exporting sports. Let’s check out the global powers in bastketball: Spain? Lithuania? Compare that with the global appeal of football. Every country on the planet has a large football following, and North Americans are oddities in that we don’t follow the game the way the rest of the planet does.
Of course, as Mr. Dvorak’s comment highlights, Americans aren’t generally keen to import culture from other nations. The global love of the World Cup and the aforementioned statistics on Euro 2004 reflect a world that cares a lot more about football than basketball, baseball or “American football”.
You seem to have acquired a higher percentage of dolts, anyway, John. Having grown up playing [at school level] baseball, basketball and football — offered scholarships in a couple — I still prefer to watch soccer. It just wasn’t available in my day — to play. The change didn’t happen overnight; but, it’s like the comparison between racquetball and squash. The latter requires more thought — and forethought.
Though I was a charter subscriber to DirecTV because of their NFL Sunday Ticket, the availability of world class soccer led to cancelling that a year or so ago — and spending the money on the additional PPV offered alongside inclusive English, German, French, Argentine, Brazilian and American matches.
The reason soccer t-shirt sellers can offer quotes from philosophers is that soccer thruly is a dialectic sport. Does American football offer anyone more insightful than Vince Lombardi? I won’t go into more detail than that because I’d have to start out spending a couple of pages on explaining “dialectic” to my American compatriots. Suffice it to say, you have to spend more time thinking a couple of moves ahead.
Worldwide, soccer still expands the range of nations participating and grows at a faster rate than the “American” sports peering over the borders. Basketball will certainly continue somewhat apace. American football — is a joke. The amount of capital required for insurance and equipment alone should continue shrinkage among thoughtful school districts, Stateside.
And, we’re finally in a period where the standing of American players as a national team and individuals capable of competing on a world-class level — has achieved stature equal to a number of “old” soccer countries. So, the opinions of all are welcomed as individual empirical responses. The negatives, however, are part of a continually-diminishing segment.
To follow on to my previous comment: — my biggest beef about Euro 2004, of course, is that it was available in HDTV and the US rights-holders chose NOT to make it available in Hi-Def.
All sports especially benefit from Hi-Def telecasting. If you saw any of NBC’s Olympics HD telecasts, you know what a delight it can be. Not the dimwit-level programming choices or the technocrats who thought they were fastened to the ground with Technicolor coffee grinders. But, the picture quality, particularly of sports in 720p, is a wonder to behold.
At the moment, the Europeans appear to be waking up and getting ready to leapfrog stodgy American production mavens. With DirecTV launching 2 new birds in the next 12 months — 2 more to follow [+ a spare], our market is prepared to balloon. The European Broadcasters Union have been conferring damned near weekly to ramp up regional and worldwide telecasts. They seem to agree on 720p, by the way. Most US network affiliates not only seem incapable of comprehending the market potential, they’re still trying to make do with 10-25% of allowable power output. A joke.
Don’t you own any of these soccer t-shirts, John?
“All that I know most surely about morality and obligations, I owe to football” — Albert Camus — who was, by the way, a goalkeeper for Algeria.
“In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team” — Jean-Paul Sartre
or, the ever popular —
“I spent a lot of money on birds, booze and fast cars. The rest I just squandered!” — George Best
but mark my words, basketball will eventually replace soccer as the dominate world sport
Yeah sure. …Specially after americans got their behind kicked at the olympics basketball turnaments…
A latenite comment – )
When was the last time, you saw those statistics printed for American Football (that you play with your hands, hmmm, curious 🙂 As a soccer fan – and a non-immigrant (see comments from Thomas), I have always said, soccer is not big in the states, because no one knows how to market it yet (i.e. make a profit, no big stars, most are in it for the love of the game – unlike Basketball, where salary talks or the players walk). ‘More scoring, means more excitement’ – look at baseball when there is a game going into the 11th inning with only 1 score per side – and everytime the ball gets hit your adrenaline pumps – now look at a soccer match with diehard fans and watch their reaction when a goal is almost scored.