Yes, admittedly I am a soccer neophyte. I don't pretend to know all the rules or nuances (just like hockey) but I do enjoy it. Here are my top 3 pros/cons:
Pros
Constant continuous action. No stoppages for commercials like in the Big 3 (NBA, NFL, MLB). You stop down for about 2 hours including the halftime. I can plan around this easily. No stepping out of the plate or off the mound like MLB that make games go up to 3 and a half hours at a time. No repeated timeouts like in the NBA to take all the momentum out. The action tests the athletes--can they adjust their play and strategies to the moment?
In my second viewing of a world cup in 8 years I've figured out the gameplay pretty easily. There are set pieces from free kicks and corner kicks, throw ins from out of bounds, and goal kicks. Though offsides seems murky to me (hockey has it down with the infamous blue line) I get the basics. There's not much to digest here.
Just like the NFL there are good, bad, and ugly teams in the Cup. I enjoy watching the talented teams that can pass the ball, execute plays, and show their clear quickness, speed, and agility. This showcase offers mainly very good teams. There are a few dogs out there that one must watch but nothing near the boring game between losing teams on Fox Sunday afternoons.
Cons
For all the pros I see several things that drive me crazy about soccer on TV. The flopping is ridiculous. Though other sports have an equal share of athletes complaining (or whining) to the officials (MLB, NBA, and NFL) the fake injuries to me bring this game down. I don't know enough about the world organization FIFA but I think I can say it is their fault. To allow players to fall down and then get up moments later as if they were healed by an evangelist speaking foreign tongues is ridiculous. Simply put FIFA doesn't appear to care. The only way to stop the flopping is to penalize it with yellow and then red cards. The acting is so bad at times it reminds me of the B-type movies on SyFy (Sharknado for one). It's laughable and embarrasing.
The lack of a deep talent pool in the MLS and poor marketing of its players by the league (like the NHL) to me are keeping me from watching U.S. Soccer more on TV. I'm intrigued enough to watch the English Premier League in the next season now that they have more U.S. TV exposure.
The NFL will always be my first sports haven but soccer is rapidly showing up on my radar.
