European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday. June 28, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 25 sports letters is soccer really Boring part editor s note when Date a Lez a i Bonimy port Folaran appeared in so Ripe on Junt 13, in Hil a sensitive nerve with Many ulcer fans. For a Tim who mlis cd dare s column the Bottom line ��1 he found soccer Boring. This is second ind final sampling of the Many let Len that followed disturbed by the tone after viewing Hornc of the first round world cup contests Dave Walczak took International football in task. Walczak found play Boring the teams populated with lackadaisical whips not a wholly Unju Sli tided View considering some of the Early games Mexico is. Paraguay on june 7 was particularly horrendous. The initial games were played in a round Robin format and especially As ties Are permitted this setup Lent itself to manipulation by those seeking tactical advantage attack the weak defend Only against the Strong or a respite from climate or injuries. Had Walczak Hayed tuned in. As an estimated 2billion others did. He would have been More favourably impressed with the just concluded second and third rounds Brazil is. France was outstand ing. Walczak concludes that most americans agree with his views on soccer As the game has failed to make it at the professional level in the United stale. Unfortunately like others in he Media before him Walczyk lends to equate the Worth of a sport with its commercial Success at the professional level. The current strength of soccer in the United tales of course is at the youth through College lev Els. Apparently the game s principal attraction is 10 the participants. What was most disturbing to me was the tone of the column. Not Only was soccer in american be cause playing to a lir was allowed but the sport s growth in the United state was comparable to the spread of an incurable disease. The inference is of course that All who support the sport arc not real americans. Ii is most unfortunate that such opinion appeared in a publication which prides itself on encouraging americans to get out and participate in the local Community. Soccer in Europe is an easy vehicle for Contact with our hosts on both the official and unofficial Levels. Soccer will not soon replace the traditional Ameri can games As the Spectator s sport of Choice. However it docs provide for those desiring it a keep til recreational Opportunity As Well As a sporting Bond to the rest of the world David a. Hartmann slut gut Germany opinion of biased writer i am an american citizen and my father is a Natu ral bom brazilian. My father played professional soccer in Brazil and coached High school soccer for Dodds in Germany he has played soccer with and against some of Floc world s greatest players Pete for instance. Our family and Many of our american friends find the game exciting. It really bothers me and my family to read such a poor article Wincn by a biased writer. Ii is a shame that Walczak is wasting nig Talent by writing an article on a sport which he know Little about. Soccer has More viewers than any other sport in the world. It is a sport where friends and foes alike put their difference aside to play a game where precise Liming teamwork and Talent Are key factors. The shaking of hands at the end of the game con Stitles Good sportsmanship look it up or Walo Zak. Millions Oso ctr fans and myself might have been out to lunch but we know what we were having and where we Are having lunch. I am not from new York and i am sure neither Are some other american soccer fans so in the future or. Walczak. Voice your opinion and not that of America. John d.  Germany Lack of Good judgement after Reading your recent column it becomes evident that you Are not qualified id be a sports writer. By suggesting that american football is a better game than soccer you have clearly shown a Lack of Good judgement. How can you compare the world s most popular and fastest growing sport to a game in which men Are hidden behind pounds of plastic Protection in your column you noted the failure of the professional soccer leagues in the United states. This failure at you pointed out was due to a Lack of interest. This Lack of interest was obviously caused by the unprofessional inferior High school level soc cer which the league tried to pass off As professional  finally i would like to say that i enjoy a Good american football game. However i do not be. Sieve that two 45-Minule periods of non Stop action soccer Are comparable to a football game which after subtracting time for huddles timeouts Etc. Leaves us with roughly 15 minutes of action. Stan Bronn Fuerth Germany room for every sport i am very concerned Over your column on soccer. You my dear sir have probably never had the Chance to play the wonderful game of soccer. I play for the Frankfurt High varsity girls team and have had the Chance to play this thrilling game of con Stant  yes the defenders work with the goalie to keep the Ball out of the goal. But you seem to have forgot ten the halfback and the front line they Are con stantly in motion. 1 understand that in one of these world cup games the average player runs about 17 Miles. That s what i Call action. You on the other hand Call the average of 12 minutes of playing Lime in a football game constant action i have nothing against football but would rather Walch or play a game of soccer one of the reasons soccer is not a great sport in America yet is because of people with idiotic views like yours f you Don t like soccer just watch a football game. I really Don t think anybody who plays soccer really cares what you or anybody else thinks about the sport. Nobody ii forcing you to watch in. Wake up the world of sports is wonderfully diverse. There is even room for ignorant fans and sports  Amy hitter Offenbach Gemma taking Walczak s Side in the soccer or football controversy we Side with Dave Walczak. Until some things Are changed soccer As an hairier ican Spectator sport will be Nghil up there in excite ment with Curling croquet and Cricket delay of game penalties should be enforced. A player who collapses screaming and contorted Asif he s been maimed then jumps up sprinting Fol lowing the appearance of the water bottle or the magic Spray can should be penalized. Time limits defining How Long the Ball May re main in the Possession of the goalkeeper and How Jong before a goal kick must be taken after the Ball has been returned to the Field should be established. Passing the Ball Back to the goalkeeper from within the area Between the Halfway line and the goal a team is defending should not be permitted. Offside Call should favor offensive players a bit More. Linesmen tend to indicate offside Loo quickly. A player May sprint ahead of the defenders while the Ball is being passed to him. A defender who commits a flagrant foul and does not touch the Ball should be ordered off immediately and not cautioned first these changes will result in advantages to offensive players and More scoring and a lot More excitement. Watching even world cup matches with Only i i total shots on goal is Boring. No sport s rules Are too sacred for Ime to vement. The designated hitter has t ruined baseball. The tie breaker has improved Tennis forthe fans. Sudden death has added to the drama of pro football. The three Point shot has t dunked basketball. Norman Loukonen a Snyde Smith bad Albling Germany closed mindedness concerning Dave Walczak s column i d like to comment on both his incomplete knowledge and his closed mindedness. What Walczak apparently does t know is that in the round Robin part of the world cup tournament the name of the game is logo through to the single elimination sequence. Therefore you do often see teams playing to lie. There Are no ties once the single elimination formal begins and the intensity of play reflects that. The closed minded Ness i perceive is in Watczak s apparent Assumption that his taste in sports applies10 everyone. Rather than going into the usual tirade you hear from soccer supporters about How great the game is. Although i love soccer i m just going to suggest thai Woiczak subscribe to the old adage live Ana let  there s room enough for All sports and their followers in America. I Trust that the column was somewhat Tongue in Check and that you All expected to elicit fiery responses. No thanks. I be been Down that Road before during soccer s infancy in my Home state of Florida. You know what else not Only will americans play More soccer but Gridiron football will gain converts in the rest of the world it has already begun to. And that s great i Hope that some Day Walczak can join me i paraphrasing will Rogers when i say that "1 never met a sport Idin t like r a. Grumberg Kaiserslautern Germany baseball Apple pie Type is Daye Walczak perchance related to Bucky Fox or is he just on an emended lunch break i used to find the majority of his Walczak s articles entertaining and worthwhile  i m not so sure. His column berating soccer or football Masover 90 percent of the world knows it seems to be extremely Barrow minded. Don t get me wrong 1love the game that we americans somehow mis named football but i also enjoy soccer As Well As do countless other people. Biased opinion such As his is exactly what has prevented soccer from becoming Papular in the unites states on a larger scale. Attitudes like this not just toward soccer but anything that is foreign or strange is what prevent Harmony and Goodwill be tween different nations i la bet Walczak is the Type of person that hates to try different foods and has never tried to team a foreign language. Definitely a baseball hotdogs and Apple pie Type of person which is Okay if you never plan on leaving the Stales. In Bis column he slated fortunately the United states thankfully a non member of the International soccer federation fifa was turned Down As Host  what is so unfortunate about not having the Chance to expose More americans to a wonderful game of soccer where brute strength and sheer size Don t matter what is wrong with the Opportunity to Host the most popular sporting event world cup tournament among professional athletes in the entire world Wilh so Many of the less developed countries in the world licked off at the United slates for countless Petty reasons this would have been great Opportunity to demonstrate some1 hospitality for the rest of the world to see. The United slate real Fortune lies in the fact that Walczak is Only a journalist and thank god not a politician. Pretory  sem Tuch Century