Why does the rest of the world love spectator soccer so much? (rambling)

[Max Hall]

John Cleese rant on stupid american football

John Cleese makes soccer out to the best thing in the world.

I can't really understand why the rest of the world likes the game of soccer. I'm not really into sports at all, but if I were to get back into them, it would have to be gridiron football or playoff basketball. It certainly wouldn't be soccer.

It's obviously a cultural thing, but does that mean if some group of people were cut off from the rest of the world and grew up participating in and watching this  sport

Exhibition Shirling

that they would be defending it over the likes of gridiron football or soccer?

Soccer is a boring game and there is no getting around that fact. It's incredible that America and Canada are the only countries in the world that has rejected it as a cultural phenomenon. It's a real mind boggler if you ask me.

[Mike Jahn]

If you ask anyone from Europe they will tell you the same thing about American football, it's hardly surprising that people like the sport they grew up watching and playing. Regular football (soccer)  is incredibly fun to play and some matches are very tense to watch, you just have to be into it just like any other sport.

[Brett Quinn]

The first video is something I actually wrote a paper on while at university. Essentially Americans marketed (USA)Football better.
Anyway, it's because both Soccer and Football allow for one to identify with nationalism. Look at football clubs(soccer) such as Celtic FC, that is highly identifiable with being Irish. Many of my Irish-American friends have their jerseys.
As for American Sports, while that's a whole different issue. People are fooled to exert nationalism on jewish owned teams which are named after animals.