[Dr. Frank fan]

But when people start calling it a "fag" sport, a "gay" sport, and making hackneyed observations such as the link between soccer enjoyment and socialist tendencies, those of us who see how ridiculous those sentiments are have every right to log on and tell you so.

You have every right, yes. (You have every right to do lots of pointless things.) But don't tell me you "could care a fig leaf" what such people think about soccer in the process, then. Evidently, you do, and quite a bit.

And when people start criticizing other peoples and countries for their love of soccer when they have no interest in any of those peoples and countries,

I would like to point out that such "criticizing" does not usually come from out of the blue. Most often, it is a reaction to hearing arrogant lecturing about why we Should Like soccer. (Note that the comments you see in this thread are in response to a pro-soccer lecture.) If non-soccer fans never had to listen to pro-soccer spiels then there wouldn't be such a reaction in the first place.

As should have been obvious, I used "parliament" in the generic sense--small, rather than large "p."

And again, the U.S. has no (large or small P) "parliament". Best,

[1rudeboy]

Where are you picking up on this "arrogance?" Certainly not in the piece at the top of this thread. As for the "arrogant" responses, what would I expect from those that disagree with me if I posted "Dale Earnhardt, Jr. is a fag?" Compassion? Understanding?