Posted on 06/26/2010 8:07:11 PM PDT by Chet 99
Friday, June 25, 2010 1:11 AM EDT
As you know, we are all in the grip of World Cup fever.
It's reached such intensity that if you walk into a sports bar anywhere in the United States and mention Landon Donavan's stunning extra-time goal against Algeria that allowed the USA to finish atop group C and advance to this weekend's round of 16, literally several people will actually know what you're talking about.
And only a couple will want to beat you up.
The World Cup is, of course, that quadrennial event when the entire sporting world can join together as one and revel in the joy of pointing out how stupid the Americans are for hating soccer.
But Americans don't hate soccer. We also don't hate haggis, or warm beer, or eating snails or invading Poland or any of the other things that Europeans like to do. We just don't think about them much. (OK, to be perfectly accurate, Glenn Beck DOES hate soccer and the World Cup, accusing the rest of the world trying to "shove it down our throats." Evidently someone told him it is a game played by foreigners.)
But, you may say, America's performance in World Cup play this month has drawn decent ratings for the telecasts and certainly must be inspiring a whole new generation of fans.
To that I say, someone has been blowing a vuvuzela too close to your head. Americans will happily watch our athletes every four years in the Olympics, too. That doesn't mean that women's gymnastics or luge is going to become the Next Big Thing In Sports. (Heck, if they only have to do it every four years, Americans will even get kind of excited about watching curling.)
Soccer has been the official Next Big Thing for about the last 35 years. Professional leagues have risen and fallen, great stars of the game - who may have seen better days -have been imported and now our national team is rising through the top ranks of world competition.
And American soccer still hasn't broken the glass ceiling that, in most polls, puts it just below horseracing and just above lacrosse.
This is despite the fact that every suburban child in America is required - by law - to participate in a soccer league at some point in his or her life. This is how most of us become acquainted with soccer, watching our kids cluster around a ball - at least the ones who aren't standing at random points around the field, contemplating dandelions - their little legs flailing, until one kid does the only logical thing and picks up the ball and RUNS with it.
It makes you think, "Gee, a warm beer would taste great about now."
TOM REILLY is a Sun Chronicle news editor and former soccer dad whose daughters have moved on to more interesting - and expensive - pursuits. He can be reached at 508-236-0332 or at treilly@thesunchronicle.com. Read his blog at thesunchronicle.com/reilly.
What soccer? Go SF Giants.
Bon appetite!
She was always running away from the ball.
I agree. My son played soccer through U-18 Premier. If you don’t have a kid on the field, it’s downright boring.
“Soccer is about as boring as reading about pit bull attacks on FR. TO liven the game up, they should implement land mines. Even the UN agrees..”
Or let Pit Bulls lose on the field during the game.
Man, sure glad today is over. I can go back go acting like I hate the sport. It’s a fun schtick to play when Brits and Euros are around. :)
I’d prefer anthrax to soccer fever.
Actually I think bowling has more spectator value—not much, but at least there’s the drama of which pro is going to miss the strike. Soccer is really kind of like a 90 minute hockey shootout, except slower and without as many shots and no chance of a poke check. Think about it—aside from shots on goal there’s nothing important going on, and in the end it comes down to whether the shooter can get the goalie to over-commit. That’s the whole game. Slow slow slow. Blegh.
That first match (Spain/S.Korea) got press that day, but not as much as the O.J. / white Ford Bronco low-speed "chase."
I look forward to the U.S. hosting another W.C. tournament.
The World Cup is fun to watch (well, the highlights anyway) but I can not understand watching 90 minutes of running up and down with little action at the goals (when it counts). Seems like 90% of the games are who can lose the ball mid-field so they don’t have to attempt a goal.
Now all that does change when the US gets into the Cup as it is an affront that we should lose to Ghana (heaven forbid). Oh well, maybe we are just football players and haven’t learned how to control the ball with our feet.
Heck, I just record and fast forward until the score changes, then scroll back and watch the score. It only takes about 3-4 minutes to watch a game that way and much less boring...
Outstanding photo... excellent job!
Soccer will have arrived in the U.S. when you see kids and young adults playing pickup soccer. Something I’ve never seen outside of Hmong immigrants.
Yes, but do they play pickup soccer? When that happens, that will be the indication that soccer will/has become a major sport in America. And not until then.
It is ALL they talk about at my local diner. The countermen have PDAs that tell them the score instantly. Today should be fun, with a waiter from Argentina and all the busboys from Mexico. It’s far from over where I live.
They also use their heads, which causes brain damage, which causes them to accept socialism.
doesn't translate into fans in the stands for pro teams. And as someone else mentioned, you don't see pick up games. i live in suburban DC and i do see pick up games and league games. All played by our resident alien population.
Soccer isn’t all that well liked. But the people in the US, worn down by the defeatist policies of the Obama administration, are looking for a win - ANY win - to sooth their concerns that the US might be a sinking ship.
In a week or so, people will realize that despite a respectable showing in soccer, we are still aboard a sinking ship. With a crew that is burning all the lifeboats.
Agree that will be when it has really become a major sport in the US. The pickup games are limited today to the immigrant communities. There are about 40 million foreign born in this country. That will more than double in 40 years so by 2050, one in five in this country will be foreign born, thanks to immigration, legal and illegal.
As is true in most of the world, the very best players go to Europe to play. It is where the big money is and the highest level of competition.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.