Posted on 06/27/2014 8:16:11 AM PDT by Kaslin
I think the points have been made:
— Soccer is largely a tedious game featuring long stretches of uneventful play punctuated by the all-too-rare moment of scoring;
— The clock concept is infuriating. We love the 45-minute halves with no commercials, but then the arbitrary one or three or six minutes of “extra time” violate every concept of precision that a clocked sport should have;
— Soccer has its fan base, and it is not small; but the pressure on America to embrace it to some far larger degree is absurd. We simply never will as long as we have other sports featuring far deeper intrigue.
I have spent a lot of time during World Cup 2014 making these very points against those passionate souls who have insisted that this is the year, this is the time, now is the juncture at which America welcomes soccer in a fashion approaching football, baseball, basketball— hockey, maybe ? Golf? NASCAR?
Nope. Not going to happen. They say never say never. I’m saying never. Soccer will never— ever— reach consistent viewer levels approaching even our fifth or sixth most popular sports, in terms of TV ratings and attendance.
The attempt by elites to cram soccer down our throats are comical, as we are made to feel like rubes for not embracing the sport most of the world loves— because most of the world doesn’t have anything else.
That said, I have heard the diatribes and read the columns crafted by people pushing back against soccer fever— and enjoyed them all, and agreed with most.
But with the USA team’s improbable path into the World Cup’s final 16, I want to offer advice to all the soccer critics— everybody gets it. Points made. Now shut up and root for the Americans.
There has been a window for slapping soccer around. It was wide open for the opening games, when soccer dorks scolded anyone not embracing the sport as God’s greatest gift. We gave as good as we got, and we won. Even the late-arriving bandwagon types knew they were crowded into various venues for two reasons— first, the USA was playing, and second, we understood what a big worldwide deal it is.
As soon as America is ousted— and that could well be after the Belgium game Tuesday afternoon— this entire phenomenon evaporates. We will not gather by the thousands to watch Argentina battle Colombia. But if we can get by Belgium and make the Final Eight— the nation will be going crazy, and everyone keeping the soccer hate alive will come off looking like a bunch of jerks.
I say this with all love to people I share a lot of space with. Conservatives in particular have had a great time savaging soccer— from Ann Coulter, who properly taps the brakes on any sport where girls compete alongside boys, to Marc Thiessen, who crafts a sublime argument that soccer is socialist.
But the fact of the matter is that the world plays it, the world cares about it, and the United States of America might just crash the party even further.
If we do, there is only one proper reaction: celebration. By dinnertime Sunday, July 13, the World Cup final will be over. The USA team will probably not be involved. The next day, America will return to its default soccer setting of ambivalence leaning toward disinterest.
All the critics will have been proven right. There will be no burst of marketplace appetite for soccer in our daily, even yearly lives.
But between now and whenever the USA is done, if the whole World Cup thing is too boring for you or too foreign or too whatever— keep it to yourself. Thousands of your countrymen will be busting their behinds to excel at a game the world cares about a lot more than we do— which should be cause for enthusiasm. We all know American football, baseball and basketball are far better than anything other nations can offer up. As such, American successes in those sports on a world stage are not so surprising.
But for a team of Americans to fight its way out of a group containing three teams from nations that live and die for soccer? To face next week another country that does not have Jack Squat except for soccer? For us to excel in that context makes me enormously proud, even with my pocketful of criticisms for what the world calls “football.”
I know what football is. It is the punishing, compelling, high-scoring affair culminating every year in a Super Bowl that excites me more than any soccer game ever will.
But right now, a team of Americans is trying to win a tournament followed by more human beings than will watch any Super Bowl. I, for one, will cheer for them to win it. And to all of you who have sought to show us how cool you are, or how conservative you are, by bad-mouthing soccer? Stow it for a while. Not because you are wrong, but because large throngs of your fellow Americans will be rooting for our nation to do well on this world stage. And a handful of your countrymen wearing our colors are fighting hard to make us proud.
So let’s be proud. We have the rest of our lives to push back against those who overstate soccer’s appeal. Until our fellow Americans are shown the door, let’s appreciate them by not denigrating their field of battle.
I love S. Florida. When you move, can I have your place?
Too late. I moved a few years ago.
I take it you don’t live there?
Incidentally (just to avoid a misunderstanding), I was not referring to stadium capacity and utilization, I was referring to crowd turnout.
Re your post 112 directing us to “Understanding the Game of Soccer,” please be advised that I know all that I need to know about that exceedingly boring game, wondering why anyone would find it interesting. Maybe it turns you on, but you’re in a distinct minority of the American population. Learn to deal with that reality.
Repeat, I have no interest in it. It’s a game for foreigners, who likely are attracted to it because it calls for very little in the way of equipment. Outfitting, say, a Little League baseball team, OTOH...
Re your post 89, yes, I do understand “nationalism” as being the driving force in the popularity of the game and I hinted as such when I wrote “What is this odd attraction to soccer on the part of those in other countries other than their team winning?” What continues to baffle me is that these peoples find this low-scoring, oddly-structured (i.e., no use of one’s hands, unlike any other athletic endeavor) sport interesting. This I will take to my grave, it’s simply beyond my comprehension.
National Pastime: How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer.It's an interesting read, written by a sports economist. In sum, he argues that baseball could have easily become the "world" sport, but things got in the way. What makes it very interesting is that he details how soccer and baseball evolved in the U.S. at the same time.
Yeah, I’ve heard a lot of theories about the decline of US blacks in pro baseball, but not as many as to why the black fanbase bailed. US blacks had a high of 18.7% playing 1981 MLB, in 2014 it was 8.3%. Don’t know if the black fans stopped before the decline or after.
Of the major sports, baseball is really an oddball at the rules level. The pacing is different, the defense is in charge of the ball, raw physical athleticism isn’t a requirement to be successful, there are many ‘unwritten rules’ that are enforced by the simple fact no one wants 90+mph stuck in their ribs.
Freegards
Please excuse me if I gave the wrong impression. I understand what you’re saying, that nationalism drives the interest in the World Cup games. I didn’t think you were saying anything else.
I looked at that book you recommended and I’m going to get it since, as it turns out, baseball is the only sport that I enjoy and I’m always interested in books on its evolution, and this one really is different in that the author parallels its development with that of soccer. Hmmm.
It was nice of you to pass this information along.
(I'm a baseball fan, too).
Oh, just buy a used copy. No need to drop $20. ;)
Oh, when I buy from Amazon I always go for a used copy. I see that someone has one for $1.47. Even with shipping it’s not a king’s ransom.
Soccer is capitalist: the big clubs get the big crowds, get the biggest TV money and ticket money, get the biggest and best players.
Its US/Can sports that are set up socialist: drafts, salary caps, no relegation. Everything is set up to equal all NFL/NBA/MLB/CFL/NHL teams.
Baseball isn’t American, but enjoy yourself. Personally, I find it as exciting as watching paint dry.
You aren’t serious are you?.
My apologies to baseball and ‘football’ fans, but those sports are as exciting as watching grass grow. You can go on holiday for two weeks, return to the tv, and not have missed anything.
Soccer is not socialist (in fact its pure capitalism) or communist. Its truly democratic, as you can play it anywhere. Open to all. All that’s needed is skill and willingness.
“Its truly democratic, as you can play it anywhere. Open to all. All that’s needed is skill and willingness.”
Point well taken. I used to coach my girls’ soccer team, and at that age it was mainly willingness! The skills could be taught to an extent. And the girls without great ball skills learned to play REALLY TOUGH on defense (so more willingness and heart).
What goes faster and further, a soccer ball being thrown, or a soccer ball being kicked?
It’s still odd to me that there is a sport in which one’s hands are never used. There’s no other sport that I can think of in which this is a limitation.
But if you get your jollies watching grown men play a version of kickball, good for you. I have no interest in it.
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