Why is mens soccer more about acting than soccer

Watching Haiti vs El Salvador and Haiti won because of great acting should we send our girls to acting school to get ready to compete at the highest levels.

Teach them how to penetrate into the final third and have possession and dribble in the penalty area and force the ref to make tough decisions.

You know I spend a lot of time refereeing and I see this both on the girls and boys side. More so the boys, but its not completely absent from the girls game. Had a kid in a game i was refereeing go down everytime he entered the box, finally when he realized I would not call it (there was minimal to no contact) he started playing. Funny score was 0-0 at that point, but when he stopped with the acting and played he scored two goals and had an assist funny how that happens. I think he looks really bad, and reflects badly on soccer when the acting gets too bad. I understand maybe a little of trying to get a call especially if its close, but there is a line where that is unacceptable. Quite honestly the players are there to play soccer so play. If you acting to get calls like a big baby while playing perhaps should check out a different sport other then soccer. Anyways

ekkeeper1 wrote: Had a kid in a game i was refereeing go down everytime he entered the box, finally when he realized I would not call it  (there was minimal to no contact) he started playing.

Why didn't you pull a card?

Gunner9 wrote:

ekkeeper1 wrote: Had a kid in a game i was refereeing go down everytime he entered the box, finally when he realized I would not call it  (there was minimal to no contact) he started playing.

Why didn't you pull a card?

In all honestly I prob should have. It was the first time I had every had a player that bad I also know its more his coach then him. Coach and Player got a stern warning and the diving/acting stopped. The warning ended up being effective enough. On a couple of occasions there was some contact so in those cases could not have pulled a card. It was after a couple without contact that both coach and player got the warnings.

At what age does all the acting start at the pro level its so bad its not fun to watch

GGoat wrote:At what age does all the acting start at the pro level its so bad its not fun to watch

Depends what leagues you watch. The South American leagues are terrible for it, as is Serie A (Italian premier).

I can't say for sure, but I heard that many male soccer players are such great actors that the WWE is recruiting them.  

Also, I heard that several South American and Italian players have just signed on for a movie, "Dumb, Dumbest, and Dumberest, the 13th."  

Soccer gets the worst press over this but it isn't the only pro sport that has this issue.  Flopping in the NBA has been an issue for a looooong time.  (Vlade Divac of the Sacramento Kings anyone?  The late part of his career centered around flopping.)  In response to this soccer has increased the severity for punishing floppers and so has the NBA.  The automatic yellow has helped some.  It's definitely not as bad as it used to be.

Why is it such an issue for soccer?  Maybe the problem with soccer broadcasts, as it relates to this, is there are no commercial breaks.  When a player goes down in soccer, and spends 2 minutes weeping and clutching his shin, we're forced to watch it all on TV.  In any other sport the broadcasts just send it to a commercial.  (I sit there thinking, "Hey puss... If you don't like getting drilled in the shin like that then wear bigger shin guards.  Otherwise quit your whining.")

I don't like the force-the-ref-to-make-a-call mentality but we're starting to see players take it a step further.  We're seeing more and more players wrap the ball up with their hands as they're going down to the ground.  That definitely forces a call to be made.  I'm waiting to see a player do that, then get a yellow, and get a handball awarded for the other team that results in a game-winning goal.

the7wolf wrote:

GGoat wrote:At what age does all the acting start at the pro level its so bad its not fun to watch

Depends what leagues you watch. The South American leagues are terrible for it, as is Serie A (Italian premier).

This 100%... I find those leagues and games almost unwatchable because of it... and feel free to add the central American leagues into that group too. I was so ticked off at the BS El Salvador pk that started this thread. a terrible call.

This is not to say that the European leagues don't have their fair share of this garbage too... but at least you always feel that the other team will say.. "alright, if you wanna flop I'll give you something to flop about"...

This is the one element of the game that always gets thrown into your face when you try to extoll the greatness of soccer to the great unwashed...

I can so see a new training angle for soccer players. Drama Queen (King) 101 for beginners, and High Drama Queen (King) for experienced players. We might have to throw in a remedial class for those who didn't get it right the first time around. So what actors (male or female) should we pay high dollars to in order for our DDs to be the best?

I don't watch a lot of televised women's soccer (only USWNT), but when I do, they DON'T dive!  IMO, when a female player is rolling around on the ground, it's usually legit.  With all the diving and fake injuries, the men's game is sometimes really difficult to watch versus a good women's game.

I think all our broadcasters should have button technology so we can score the flop to be shown on the screen and at the game!  You know kind of like Dancing with the Stars!

You gotta love interactive viewing! 

Italian Diving

travelin light wrote:I don't watch a lot of televised women's soccer (only USWNT), but when I do, they DON'T dive!  IMO, when a female player is rolling around on the ground, it's usually legit.  With all the diving and fake injuries, the men's game is sometimes really difficult to watch versus a good women's game.

I agree with that regarding the USWNT and Japan, but watch the Brazilian and some of the other teams, and it is creeping in there too.

dadof3 wrote:

travelin light wrote:I don't watch a lot of televised women's soccer (only USWNT), but when I do, they DON'T dive!  IMO, when a female player is rolling around on the ground, it's usually legit.  With all the diving and fake injuries, the men's game is sometimes really difficult to watch versus a good women's game.

I agree with that regarding the USWNT and Japan, but watch the Brazilian and some of the other teams, and it is creeping in there too.

Remember the last Women's World Cup quarterfinal with the US and Brazil, when the US were losing in added time and Erika decided to fake an injury to kill the clock... ref gets so mad at her b.s. she adds more time and the US score the latest goal in World Cup history to take the game to pk's... and then WIN.

for once the karma train ran over the right team....

Found this article on Deadspin...

Femal Soccer Players Don't Fake it Like the Men, Science Says...
http://deadspin.com/5820397/female-soccer-players-dont-fake-it-like-the-men-science-says

Science has provided another reason to give the Women's World Cup a chance as it winds down this week: female soccer players don't flop. Not as much, at least, as their male counterparts (although we'll allow that the same could be said of toddlers learning to walk). Researchers at Wake Forest University have concluded, after watching 47 games from the 2003 and 2007 women's Cups, that female soccer players are half as likely as men to flop and fake an injury in a game.......

You know I just went and watched that goal again.... gave me chills.. I remember almost exploding with excitement when it happened.

absolute classic moment.

http://deadspin.com/5819783/this-is-how-you-rebound-after-almost-getting-eliminated-from-the-womens-world-cup-on-a-questionable-call

Yes, karma certainly bit Brazil in the end of this game.  What a miracle comeback!  My younger DD (5 years old at the time) was watching this with me live...I believe this game had a huge impact in building her passion and drive to be a great soccer player.  

USWNT games are certainly entertaining - anyone remember the unbelievable game between the US and Canada at the London games last summer?  Incredible drama...

Tiki-taka wrote:

Italian Diving

OK, as a diving group, I give them a 5.5. Bruno, on the other hand, has given them a 9! Len was quoted as saying there were no ballroom steps at all in those routines and it is "Utterly shameful and gave them a 3." Carrie Ann gave them all a 7 because they were so manly in their falls.

I agree the diving by the men's teams in Central and South America is a joke. I don't even bother watching any of the league games. It's just constant flopping and ignorant refs that fall for it. The games play more like American football than soccer.... stop, start, stop, start.

Fortunately, we don't see it too often in the youth leagues here in North Texas; but there are exceptions. My 01 girls played a PSA TEAMthat was supposedly "professionally coached", and the opposing forwards were well versed in tumbling at the exact moment they crossed into the penalty box. Three PK's in a row with two of them converted. I was going ballistic on the CR. In the fourth instance, however, he was perfectly situated to see it play out and waived off the call. After the game, I really grilled the ref (while my assistant coach gave it to the opposing coach). The CR - to his credit - let me vent and then said he had been "duped" and didn't pick up on the diving until the last time. He had simply never seen girls trained to do it at that level and age. I agreed and told the guy no hard feelings... but you can bet it's the first thing I told the ref before the game the next time our girls played this team. Pathetic.

PSA - Pretty Shotty Afficiating?

TripDDs wrote:PSA - Pretty Shotty Afficiating?

You're just being nice.