I was disappointed to see the article written by Connor Doyle about how terrible soccer is to watch. Soccer is thriving in southeast Idaho, people of all ages are playing, from children to adults in the Parks and Rec's city leagues. I believe many other Pocatellans would also disagree with Mr. Doyle views.

Some rebuttals to the article:

Re: soccer anthems: They are no worse than any music played at any other sporting event that takes place in a stadium or coliseum. I would much rather listen to the South American or African team fans chanting/singing and playing drums than have to listen to the unimaginative, poorly remixed hip hop and dance tracks that get played at most of the other major sporting events.

Re: the yellow card: Players are called for fouls; yellow cards are given for particularly dangerous fouls, and red cards given for extremely dangerous plays. It is a good system for pointing out dangerous plays without penalizing players for regular safe aggressive play. The system helps to keep players in check so the game does not get out of hand.

Re: injury time: What's wrong with it? Keeping the clock moving helps keep the game flowing, which is important in soccer.

Re: offsides: An offside call does not prevent a breakaway from happening, it prevents players from hanging out around the goal and putting the goalie at a disadvantage. Breakaways can still occur, but the player breaking away just needs to be behind the ball when he or she makes the run.

Re: "punting the ball around the middle of the field": First off, only the goalie can punt the ball. Secondly, holding possession of the ball at midfield is important.

While maintaining possession of the ball at midfield, players are looking for opportunities to move the ball forward and create scoring opportunities. Soccer players have to think on the go, so while they are thinking and strategizing, they need to maintain possession.

Unlike some other sports - like American football - where the whole team gets to talk about and plan every play that goes on.

Soccer is a great sport, and the rest of the world has known this for some time, so why can't you open your mind up to new intelligent sports opportunities.

And on the subject of "extreme ironing," maybe you should stick to covering housecleaning competitions.

Katharine Pickett

Pocatello