The Soccer Gap: What conservatives are missing.

National Review Online ^ | May 31, 2002 | Robert Ziegler

[Phantom Lord]

Tonight's Detroit-Colorado game 7 for instance.

They havent had a fighting major since their 1996 playoff series. Could tonight break the streak?

If Hasek is stoning em and Detroit has a multi goal lead late in the game I can see Colorado dropping the gloves and going at it. I dont see the same happening if the situation is reversed.

[EscapedDutch]

Wonder how many soccer bashers think Pro-Wrestling is a real sport?
JP (Who thinks Team USA has a good shot at making the second round)

[GoreIsLove]

that's what i remember hoping for. the game was on the 4th of July too, so it would have been pretty memorable. i remember us all comparing tony meola to jesus christ himself while in our collective drunken stupors.

[Nate505]

i remember us all comparing tony meola to jesus christ himself while in our collective drunken stupors.

LOL, must have been quite a drunken stupor!

[GoreIsLove]

A 2-1 baseball "pitchers duel" is now a thing of the past with juiced balls and pee-wee ball parks where the fences are moved in.

Don't be so sure. With pitching catching up to expansion, you're starting to see more of them. The Giant/Discoback series this week featured 2 1-0 games.

[Hotspur]

If Americans have a provincial attitude, perhaps it's because we're the most powerful, most watched nation on the face of the earth.

The fact that we stand astride the world like a colossus militates for a more, not less, worldly citizenry. It's the disconnect between our global pretensions and the lack of worldliness of our citizens that makes the rest of the world anti-American. And it's hard to make the case that that impulse is misplaced. Soccer is just one of many examples where silly, annoying American "exceptionalism" displays itself.

How can a nation deign to dictate to the world when something on the range of half of the members of its parliament have never held a passport?

[Hotspur]

Last I checked, they produced World Champions.

Hate to break it to you, but neither the "World" Series, the Super Bowl, nor the NBA Championship produce World Champions.

[Phantom Lord]

How can a nation deign to dictate to the world when something on the range of half of the members of its parliament have never held a passport?

A majority of Americans have no need for a passport. And members of congress have no need for one. Diplomatic papers get them where ever they want to go.

America is not like Europe where the countries are small and all it takes to get to the border is a couple hour car ride.

Plus, America has virtually all of the attractions one could ever want.

[jackbill]

It's kinda like the Final Four Basketball Tourney in a way- ;-)

Nothing is like the Final Four - especially when you're a Terps fan. ;+)

[TankerKC]

BTW, my wife and I started to notice a while ago that kids on TV, especially on commercials, play soccer almost exclusively. See if you notice the samething.

I have. What's up with that?

[Phantom Lord]

Take a look at tshirts, hats and banners after the super bowl. What does it say?

Not that it makes them "world champions". But for all intents and purposes they are. Bring on Latvia! Like their going to beat the Yankees or D-Backs. Come one.

[Dr. Frank fan]

Actually, if the level of insight is akin to what they show on this thread, I hope beyond hope that the anti-soccer contingent stay away so as not to infect soccer with their inanity.

If this were what you really "hoped" then presumably you wouldn't bother responding to any of us inane anti-soccer people.

Soccer fans really seem to have a deep-seated self-esteem problem, and/or insecurities about their taste in sport. So insecure about the sport they (insist, or pretend, that they) love, the fact that someone, somewhere, might not love it as much as they do is simply intolerable for them. For this reason I tend to pity proselytizing soccer fans. And the more they protest, and defensively defend their beloved sport and insist that I should too, the more I pity them.

[KC_Conspirator]

I understand that pitching will eventually catch up, but the front office of MLB is not discouraging the atmosphere where the homerun record has been broken twice in 3-4 years. Look at these new pee wee fields like Coors and "whatever its named" in Houston. Plus, even the Royals moved their fences in 10 feet a few years ago. No longer will a park have a 430 ft. center field. These parks are not fit for the Japanese league.

I don't know, maybe I'm just a traditionalist and a whiner.

[gcraig]

Strap on some pads and play the game galdiator style and Americans will love it.

Right on. Let's see some slashing, hooking, elbowing, roughing... Hmmmm, why don't I just keep watching Hockey? Soccer is lame. Carolina Hurricanes bump!

[Hotspur]

Plus, America has virtually all of the attractions one could ever want.

And, finally, we get to the hub of the matter .....

[Rebel-without-a-pause]

Soccer has come to be in America at a time when everyone has a tv and portable radio. It has had more advantages than any other sport in history and it still fails.

That is all so true, but I have not heard anyone comment on how synchronized swimming is growing by leaps and bounds.

[bfree]

Why do ALL soccer fans feel compelled to attempt to convert those of us who feel the game is dull? If soccer fans like the game, fine with me, but stop lecturing me about how great it is. I really could care less what the rest of the world likes, 3.5 billion people CAN be wrong. I think the game is a great babysitter- drop off the kids, let them run around until they are tired and bored with not scoring a goal, pick them up and take them to McDonalds.

[philosofy123]

So, are you of the opinion that during a school test, you and your teachers and the rest of your classmates should all cooperate to solve the problems on the test? That is foolish! Once the teaching is done, the coach should go to sleep, and let the students solve the problems.

Soccer is too foreign to Americans because they simply want to win, rather than enjoying the talent of the movements in this game. To me basketball without the 7 foot players and without the time out is similar to soccer. It is an art of movements and passes. However, America corrupted that game too by seeking giants for players, it made it that I cannot relate to these movements anymore. What do you guys think when you see the strongest men lifting cars, and the like, I say, that is not me!

[Intimidator]

Oh come on I bet you have watched that southern version of Soccer

Nope

[Phantom Lord]

Plus, America has virtually all of the attractions one could ever want.

And, finally, we get to the hub of the matter .....

No, not at all. Americans do not need to travel the world to see a wide variety of history, landscapes, and attractions. Hence, there is no major need to have passports. Which is what my comment was directed at. And to enter the two countries bordering us we dont need a passport. If we did, far more Americans would have them.