Posted on 06/21/2010 1:49:28 PM PDT by JoeProBono
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind.,- An Indiana sports historian says the reason soccer is less popular in the United States than Britain may have to do with historical events.
"After America declared its independence in 1776, Americans had a tendency to reject some of the traditional British pastimes, including sports," Purdue University history Professor Randy Roberts said. "The game that we played with our feet morphed into football instead of soccer, and our game with a bat morphed into baseball instead of cricket."
"Today, soccer is the sport of American pluralism. A lot of recent immigrants, as well as first and second generations from Asia, Mexico and South America support the American fan base for soccer. But I'm not sure that fan base has spread," he said.
The U.S. Youth Soccer Association said more than 3 million children played in the leagues in 2009, but Roberts said the interest rarely lasts the test of age.
"What is interesting is that even those young kids who grow up playing soccer because they love the sport don't watch it on TV or follow the American professional league," Roberts said. "Instead, they follow American football. There just doesn't seem to be room for two popular games."
Pick the ball up, stiff arm the first man you run into, headbutt the next, keep running until someone clotheslines you. There’s a sport. :)
All I know is that American sports “morphed” into something exciting. I have always just found soccer to be so boring, I guess we are just spoiled by the sports we grew up on. Hey, they are our sports and we should be proud of them.
"Kaka" is the perfect word to describe that call from the ref.
Oh boy, here come the usual armpitball loving futbol haters!
This article misrepresents the true history of football. The old fairy tale of a player running with a soccer ball and thereby inventing rugby is a myth. Both tackling and non tackling versions of “football” were played well back into antiquity. The rules of what we call soccer weren’t even codified until well after the American Revolution.
Soccer is popular because it was injected through colonialism. The fact that it only requires a ball, field, and willing players seems to add. It’s arguably the least specialized sport on the planet.
“These forms of football, sometimes referred to as “mob football”, would be played between neighbouring towns and villages, involving an unlimited number of players on opposing teams, who would clash in a heaving mass of people, struggling to move an item such as an inflated pig's bladder, to particular geographical points, such as their opponents’ church. Shrovetide games have survived into the modern era in a number of English towns “
Tackle games may have been brought to Britain by the Romans, who took the game from the Greeks. There MAY have been some rejection of “soccer” because it was considered English, but the game did not evolve until around 1815 -1835, so I would think that the Yanks were pretty much over the hard feelings by then. And, as you wrote, colonialism played no part of our development after 1776.
The important point is not to let people get away with saying soccer is “real” football. It's just another variation, and it's not older than tackle football.
I agree with your points. I wonder what we’ll be playing in 300 years?
It’s a game played WITHOUT using your arms!
What a stupid concept.
Why not invent a game you can only play with your shoulders?
Or elbows?
I never got it...
Ed
If it also involved swords and shields it would be perfect.
I'm just sayin'.
Red card!!!!!
And on horseback-Now THAT’S a sport!
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