[Berlin_Freeper]

World Cup Audience in the U.S. Is Growing
Americans are increasingly developing a taste for the "beautiful game," at least when their own team is playing.

Monday night's World Cup match between the U.S. and Ghana drew 15.9 million viewers total between the two channels carrying the game, ESPN and Univision, according to preliminary overnight Nielsen ratings. The figure set World Cup viewership records for both networks.

The ratings trounced the audience for the National Hockey League's Stanley Cup finals on Friday, which attracted 6 million TV viewers. Perhaps more surprising, the viewership numbers for the soccer game had an admirable showing against Sunday's National Basketball Association finals game between the San Antonio Spurs and the Miami Heat, which attracted 17.9 million viewers.

Tweet volume in the U.S before and after John Brooks' game-winner for #USMNT .

[Berlin_Freeper]

Obama says that Boko Haram has “legitimate concerns.”

[TontoKowalski]

I'm of a generation that did not grow up with soccer. My son has, and my first soccer match was one of his games. What struck me most was that the players were in constant motion. They moved. They ran. All the time.

While I've never loved the game, it is easy to see why the appeal is growing. There are very few stoppages of play. No huddles like in football. No continual stopping the clock for free throws. No waiting for something to happen like in baseball.

In my small southern town, football is still king, but baseball is dying. It's hard for Little League to put together enough teams. Soccer, on the other hand, is HUGE. Lots of kids play.

Off topic: when I lived in Maryland, lacrosse was a big sport. I've never understood why that hasn't become a more popular sport in the South.

[Textide]

Thanks for the ping. You do a great job with these threads.