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International Test Matches
USA vs All Blacks - 01/11
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<blockquote data-quote="ProgrssvThinker" data-source="post: 684681" data-attributes="member: 71840"><p>Appreciate it. However, I don't think you know how tough it was for soccer to eventually break into America's households. MLS almost folded, constantly being made fun of on ESPN and other sports channels, etc It still hasn't broken into American's mindset yet, a couple of weeks ago, I saw an ESPN dude on sportscenter being obviously condescending towards the sport and it's very clearly a tier below the Top 4 (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL). Used to be worse though, so the future looks bright for that sport here in the US, I won't be surprised if MLS catches up to to the NHL in terms of popularity and revenue by 2025.</p><p></p><p>I will also disagree that RU is 'another' football. It's different as hell to me, and I'm sure to a lot of other folks as well. As stated, I have only been watching rugby on/off for about a year (and some highlights at the 2011 WC), and I was still confused by some of the ref calls and rules. Heck, you can say hockey is soccer with sticks on ice if you want to say that rugby is 'another football'. Or that handball, field hockey, soccer, ice hockey are all very similar sports since you're putting the ball (or puck) into a goal.</p><p></p><p>And I never said the US playing against top tier nations would happen out of nothing, just something that needed to happen. USA Rugby needs to be aggressive in going after those match ups. Ideally having one or two at home every October/November, like I said. That's not the only thing, grassroots, getting it as a high school and NCAA varsity sport, and having a professional league are all imperative steps. It's not just one thing that will make the US competitive, it's a combination of the things I mentioned, IMO. One thing I know for sure, we'll never be competitive when one of our star players is a math teacher by day and our captain is apparently not playing any minutes out there in the Japanese league.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="ProgrssvThinker, post: 684681, member: 71840"] Appreciate it. However, I don't think you know how tough it was for soccer to eventually break into America's households. MLS almost folded, constantly being made fun of on ESPN and other sports channels, etc It still hasn't broken into American's mindset yet, a couple of weeks ago, I saw an ESPN dude on sportscenter being obviously condescending towards the sport and it's very clearly a tier below the Top 4 (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL). Used to be worse though, so the future looks bright for that sport here in the US, I won't be surprised if MLS catches up to to the NHL in terms of popularity and revenue by 2025. I will also disagree that RU is 'another' football. It's different as hell to me, and I'm sure to a lot of other folks as well. As stated, I have only been watching rugby on/off for about a year (and some highlights at the 2011 WC), and I was still confused by some of the ref calls and rules. Heck, you can say hockey is soccer with sticks on ice if you want to say that rugby is 'another football'. Or that handball, field hockey, soccer, ice hockey are all very similar sports since you're putting the ball (or puck) into a goal. And I never said the US playing against top tier nations would happen out of nothing, just something that needed to happen. USA Rugby needs to be aggressive in going after those match ups. Ideally having one or two at home every October/November, like I said. That's not the only thing, grassroots, getting it as a high school and NCAA varsity sport, and having a professional league are all imperative steps. It's not just one thing that will make the US competitive, it's a combination of the things I mentioned, IMO. One thing I know for sure, we'll never be competitive when one of our star players is a math teacher by day and our captain is apparently not playing any minutes out there in the Japanese league. [/QUOTE]
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USA vs All Blacks - 01/11
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