So, having watched the cup all the way through and giving it a fair chance, I have to say that it kinda sucked. Hell, I wanted to like it, I did. A few things just bugged the **** of me:
Flopping and bitching at the refs is a HUGE issue. It happens to a lesser degree in US leagues (especially the bitching), most notably the NBA, but even there one bad call doesn't usually result in a massive change of the game. There are just too many points scored in a game. Still, it's a problem in the NBA. The Cup took flopping to a ridiculous level and, at least for me, sucked the enjoyment out of most of the games. I can't relate with a team that spends most of their time getting in the box and falling down hoping for kick. That wouldn't be so bad, as those teams would just lose, but the refs were calling obvious flops and it was altering games with goals that are hard to come by. The worst is that most players do one of two things after the flop: Stand up with their hands in the air with that "where's the call" look on their face or notice that no ref noticed their flop and immediately stop rolling around in agony to stand up and start running like nothing happened.
It just seemed far too accepted by the players of the field, the fans, and the announcers. It was a running joke on ESPN tho. It just seems that the refs wern't doing anything about it, the game needs to find a way to self regulate. Unfortunatly, playing a man down is for the rest of the game is a bitch, so there again the rules and refs prevent a good game from being played.
For those who said they cared about the US getting into the sport cuz it was good for the game, all this will certainly not help with the general US image of what soccer is and about the type of people who play it. In a word: soft.
I've got more reasons, but I have to go, so I'll get back to them later.
EDIT: O ya, I read that someone suggests FIFA review game film and essentially hand out red cards (pulling the player from the next game) for flops.
EDIT: found it