Posted on 07/11/2014 6:44:37 AM PDT by Objective Scrutator
I’ve always been a big sports fan, which explains why I have absolutely no interest in soccer. The fact is, I’d rather watch my accountant get his toenails clipped than take in a soccer game — and that includes the World Cup final, which I’m sure will be as scintillating as any other soccer game.
In soccer, they spend hours frantically trying to score. That’s not sport. That’s a young guy trying to convince his date that he likes her for her personality. If you could bottle soccer, you’d have a cure for insomnia.
But it’s not just because it’s so dull that I don’t like soccer. Another reason I don’t like it is because of the Americans who do like it. Most of these sports fans — a term I use with no regard for either word, “sports” or “fans” — wouldn’t know a fumble from a first down, a hit-and-run from a double play. But every four years they show up at bars and go wild when the American team ties the Tunisians zero-zero, or nil-nil, as they call it.
I’m not much of a fan of Ann Coulter either (though she’s infinitely more interesting than soccer), but she’s right when she says that soccer is “excruciatingly boring” and that “the reason there are so many fights among spectators at soccer games is to compensate for the tedium.”
Which brings us to how, for many Americans — almost always liberal elite Americans — soccer isn’t really about soccer so much as it’s about proving the superiority of the young over the old, of liberals over conservatives.
Take Peter Beinart, a liberal journalist and professor of journalism and political science at the City University of New York. Mr. Beinart was with Fareed Zakaria on CNN the other day and had a lot to say about how soccer just might save America — from its narrow-minded, insular self.
Soccer fans in America, he said, show us that “we have a less nativist sports culture and we’re more open — at least some groups in the United States — young people, immigrants, political liberals — are more open to liking the same kinds of things that people in other countries do. Things don’t have to be ours and ours alone.”
Part of the attraction of soccer, Mr. Zakaria says, is that we’re sharing the sport with the rest of the world; we’re following something the rest of the world is following. Yes, Professor Beinart says, but it’s much more than that. Younger Americans, who like soccer more than older Americans, “are far less likely than older Americans to say that American culture is superior or to say that America is the greatest country in the world.”
In case you were wondering, this is a good thing to Mr. Beinart, and I suspect many other liberals. Because “it reflects a more cosmopolitan temperament, more of a recognition that America has things to learn from the rest of the world, and that in fact maybe we have to learn from the rest of the world if we’re going to remain a successful country.”
After taking that in, Mr. Zakaria observes that soccer fans in the United States look a lot like the Obama coalition. To which Beinart replied: “That’s exactly right, and if you look at the states where soccer is most popular, they’re overwhelmingly blue states and the states where soccer is least popular are red states.”
You see: Soccer is much more than a game that puts people like me to sleep. It’s a bunch of guys running up and down a “pitch” in short pants teaching us an important lesson — a lesson about how the tide is turning, about how the same people who embrace soccer embrace the idea that despite all the talk from those old right-wingers, America isn’t so special after all. Or as Peter Beinart explains it: “Younger people are far more likely than older people to say they like the United Nations. There’s a willingness to accept the idea that America is one of many nations. Yes, we have a special affinity for it. But it doesn’t mean in some objective sense [that] us, and everything we do are necessarily better.”
So there you have it. He grants us that as Americans we might have “a special affinity” for our homeland, but thanks to soccer we can learn a lot from the rest of the world. We can learn that we’re not as great as we think we are — or, more precisely, that we’re not as great as old, conservative, red-state Americans think we are.
Turns out that soccer is teaching me a lot more about elite, liberal intellectuals than it’ll ever teach me about the rest of the world. In fact, soccer has already taught me that smug, liberal elites are the single biggest reason I have no use for soccer, and that Ann Coulter isn’t crazy when she says, “Any growing interest in soccer can only be a sign of the nation’s moral decay.”
— Bernard Goldberg is a news and media analyst for Fox News and the author of Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News. His website is BernardGoldberg.com.
LOL. That is how you define a SEASON. It is not how FIFA defines a season.
You are a self-proclaimed conservative. Let me educate you a little about professional sports, especially global soccer.
Soccer is a big, big business globally. The tournament is structured to get the maximum entertainment with the greatest revenue. You have every country in the world entering a team. You have a three stage tournament.
The first stage is done primarily thru geographic regions with so many slots being allocated by region. 32 teams emerge from the first stage. There are seedings assigned to the 32 and a lottery is used to draw up the groups. The host country for the event is automatically qualified.
The second stage is the group stage of eight groups of four with each group playing a round-robin--three games per team. The two top teams from each group go to the knockout stage.
The remaining 16 teams go into the knockout third stage for an eventual winner. The entire tournament takes more than a month. Global interest is enormous.
This arrangement has proven to be a winner for FIFA and the fans. Countries that have teams in the group stage can maintain their hopes of getting into the knockout stage for over three weeks. It generates a huge amount of interest among the fans. The longer you allow these teams a chance, the greater the viewership and revenue in these countries. It is no different with the qualifications for the NFL playoff system that usually has a few teams in the running for the last playoff spot all depending on the last day's games. The NFL season is the equivalent of the World Cup second stage--the group stage.
The they have the FINALS. This is what has been going on in Brazil. Not the SEASON, but rather the FINALS....which would be equivalent to NFL playoffs. And in the NFL, its loser goes home. For FIFA, in Portugal’s case, its winner goes home.
LOL. Who gives a f**k what YOUR DEFINITION of the finals are or the season is? The World Cup has its own tournament and establishes the rules. It is the business model that works best for them. Portugal went home because of the rules and how tiebreakers are determined. It is no different than the NFL. It depends on what conference and division you are in. You can win 10 games and still not get to the playoffs while a team with a losing record could qualify. The NFL is a business and sets up the playoffs to maximize profits--just like FIFA.
I do know the title of this thread is [Soccer] The Anti-American Pastime
You are changing the subject again.
Why some cons. may sincerely enjoy soccer is not the sujbect.
How you spot the libs is not the subject.
In most cases, a fan of any sport may get "indignant" when someone who is not a fan tells them why they should not be a fan in the first place. The someone in this case is the author.
“And the World Cup has an entire system of QUALIFYING MATCHES which whittle down the entire world to just 32 teams. This is the equivalent of a SEASON.”
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So what? Millions of people like it that way.
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What is the subject? You have failed to identify specifically what is your question. Your responses have been nonsensical.
You are changing the subject again.
Why some cons. may sincerely enjoy soccer is not the sujbect.
How you spot the libs is not the subject.
Methinks you are being obtuse.
Nothing in your screed negates the fact that the final 32 team tournament is called the FINALS. Look it up. That isn’t what I call it...its what FIFA calls it.
And in this country, FIFA’s convoluted system just plain does not resonate. Don’t believe me - ask a random person how many teams started, or how big each group started out. Most people won’t know or care. Or try to envision the college basketball tournament in such a screwed up system. People would quit watching it.
You are right about one thing - FIFA uses this screwed up system to give people hope that their team will prevail, and they keep watching. That’s quite obvious...which is precisely why its a turn off to watch. Sure, if you live in Ghana, and soccer is the only sport there is to watch...but we’ve got other sports in this country to watch...we don’t have to subject ourselves to such a nonsense system.
I have a prediction - after the finals game, a new record will be set for US viewership...around 20 million people
(English tv). And we will hear (as we do every 4 years) about how soccer is really taking off in this country. It will be billed as incredible.
Put that in perspective though. The lowest rated Super Bowl was 39 million, in 1968. Now only 200 million people lived here at that time, so adjusted to today’s population, its the equivalent of 60 million people. So the ‘blockbuster’ ratings will really be duds.
Why?
Because, no matter how many times you protest, it is quite factual to state that this tournament is not popular in the US. But, the media will state otherwise, and you will eat it up :)
My initial complaint is that the tournament has a lousy set of rules...such that the US could win ONE game, but get to the fourth game.
And somebody responded that all sports have convoluted methods of getting into the playoffs of final series, etc.
All I’m doing is pointing out that the World Cup Finals are exactly that - the FINALS. So any comparison to the NFL SEASON are incorrect. Comparisons should be made with NFL playoffs, for example.
And my point is - Americans would not watch an NFL playoffs that sent a winning team home, because of some point differential in the previous game. In short, the FIFA tournament is completely foreign to us in the US.
There’s “qualifying,” then a “group stage,” then a “knockout stage.” That’s the language, and as mentioned above, it’s not rocket surgery.
“And my point is - Americans would not watch an NFL playoffs that sent a winning team home, because of some point differential in the previous game. In short, the FIFA tournament is completely foreign to us in the US.”
NFL teams with a winning 10-6 record that still missed the playoffs are:
2013 Arizona Cardinals
2012 Chicago Bears
2010 New York Giants
2010 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
2007 Cleveland Browns
2005 Kansas City Chiefs
2003 Miami Dolphins
1991 Philadelphia Eagles
1991 San Francisco 49ers
1989 Washington Redskins
1989 Green Bay Packers
1988 New York Giants
1988 New Orleans Saints
1986 Cincinnati Bengals
1986 Seattle Seahawks
1985 Washington Redskins
1981 Denver Broncos
1980 New England Patriots
1979 Washington Redskins
http://www.sportingcharts.com/articles/nfl/best-nfl-teams-to-miss-the-playoffs.aspx
” In short, the FIFA tournament is completely foreign to us in the US.”
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I agree,it is,but the way things are going in this country we’d better get used to it.:-)
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Frankly, if you look at baseball, its been in a long term ratings slide, and in big trouble, as far as popularity and viewership are concerned.
And hockey has never been a tremendously popular sport in this country either. Be careful though...we should call it Ice Hockey, since people in Europe call field hockey ‘Hockey’...and we wouldn’t want them to think we wuz dumb.
I know nothing about his politics. I just thought this was funny.
You do understand that the QUALIFICATION PHASE happens over a period of 3 years, and not necessarily at the host nation.
And the group stage and knockout stage are collectively called the FINALS.
Comparing their 204 teams whittled down to 32 to college basketball terms, the final 32 would be the equivalent to the Sweet 16.
And they start a round robin tournament :(
FIFA can do what it wants...I’m just explaining why Americans don’t get too interested in it. Again, don’t believe me? Go to a bar during the final match where the game is being played - and ask a random stranger how many teams made it to group stage, and how any teams were in each group. They most likely will not know (or care).
So what. They didn’t qualify within their division to get into the playoffs.
But what I am trying to point out is - the World Cup is the equivalent of the playoffs. 204 teams have been whittled down to 32....proportionally, its the equivalent of the sweet 16 in college basketball or the second week of the NFL playoffs....Situations where we expect it to be win or go home.
Instead, in soccer, even that late in the finals, it can be win AND go home...err...because you scored fewer goals than another team two games back. This is exactly what happened to Portugal.
That’s why its goofy.
Bear in mind, that is not a statement about the superiority of one sport over another. I'm a fan of all the sports I mentioned except basketball.
And don't get me started on thoroughbred horse racing, a sport that practically has been "regulated" out of existence. [wipes away a tear]
Interesting aside: couple of my American buddies and I walked into a bar in Stockholm, Sweden for some refreshments. We instantly became mesmerized by the broadcast* of a biathlon event (yes, it became more interesting as time passed). The locals in the bar? They were intently watching a NASCAR race. Good times.
_____
*I should add that the coverage (EUROSPORT, I believe) was phenomenal--we were able to stick with it and get a feel for the tension (not like the rump-coverage people see during the Olympics, fore example).
So your complaint appears to be that the process is arbitrary. And your solution is to be, uh, arbitrary.
It's a sport, fercrissakes, not the recipe on the back of a mac&cheese box.
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