I know by virtue of the fact that I'm American and pre-disposed to not liking football, my opinion is worthless, but the purpose of blogs are for people to display their worthless opinions to the world. So here's my opinion: football is kinda boring to watch, really fun to play, but requires far too much patience to enjoy.
Let me break it down. Football is a simple sport. Run and kick the ball- that's the basic gist. Now don't get your knickers in a twist- I didn't say it was easy. In fact, it's incredibly hard to play well. Hell, these dudes on TV are the cream of the crop and most of them spend 90 minutes running and sweating with nothing to show for it. Football requires immense talent and endurance, but that doesn't mean it's fun to watch. The action is pretty constant, but monotonous, with occasional moments of "whooOOOAAA...ohh..." When a goal is finally scored, it's a big release of tension and aggression but these moments are too few and far between.
The field is so damn big, and the sweeping camera pans make the action seems slow and tedious. If there was an on-field cameraman, that would be sweet. And don't get me started on the vuvuzelas, the damn horns that the locals insist on blowing for the whole match. South Africa, no one's slamming your culture or identity, but these jumbo kazoos are annoying. Where are the chants, the songs, the taunts? Oh right, drowned out by the vuvuzelas. Yawn.
But wait, Mr. Stereotypical American Hater, what about all your boring American sports, like baseball? I concede that baseball is boring to watch as well, but it is also multi-faceted and the strategy is much more important. American football is sissy compared to rugby, I'll admit, but at least it's not boring (usually). And who can hate on basketball? That sport was invented for American's short attention spans. NASCAR is monotonous and tedious, but the connection between Americans and cars transcends attention spans. Perhaps that's an important reason why soccer never caught on big in the USA. Americans aren't connected to their feet like other countries are. Americans don't walk, they ride or drive. Football is all about the feet, and Americans use theirs to press the gas pedal.
So that's my ramble. Futbol is a simple game that requires too much effort for too little result. I know I don't get it, but I don't really care. I watch the World Cup when it rolls around, and I'll cheer for this or that team, but all in all, it's boring. I think it's more about the hype than the actual game. Look at the advertising- you'll see Ronaldo roundhouse kicking a bullseye goal shot while Powerade splashes in the background, but in the actual game, most goals are weak kicks or awkward head balls. At least in American sports, you've regularly got soaring basketball dunks, monstrous baseball home runs, and American football players catapulting themselves into the end zones. Much more visceral and aggressive, which, in my opinion, sums up the American experience pretty well :-).