Monday, July 12, 2010

My Two Cents on the World Cup

U.S. sports media, you're kind of pissing me off. I will explain, but first let's get a couple things straight. Soccer is not the Americans thing. Can we just admit that it will never be anywhere near as popular here as it is in the rest of the world? Can we agree that we have inferior talent on the field (or pitch if you prefer. Why the hell to they call it a pitch anyway? My guess is the origins of the great divide start there somewhere.) and that the Libertarians have a better chance of fielding a legit presidential nominee than the Americans have at winning the World Cup? Agreed. Good. It's cultural and that's okay.

My issue with the sports media is that it has been using every available chance it gets to bitch about soccer and the World Cup. All the talk centers around how boring it is and that nobody cares and no one ever will. You think it's boring? Baseball is freakin' boring. That is unless you understand the nuances of the game. And there in lies my beef.

Instead of the ESPN etc. talking heads defecating at the mouth like frat boy ignoramuses, they could have shown us some programing that could teach the casual observers the finer points of the game. Not everyone needs to be converted into a rabid football hooligan, but I think some education, history and X's and O's would have been nice. But then again, that might not have worked for the nacho scarfing masses.

Soccer is a game not easily encapsulated in a box score. You actually have to *gasp* watch the entire game to fully understand what went on. There's no passer rating, VORP or ERA+ to just tell you who the best players are. The action on the field tells you. Spain won each match on the way to the championship 1-0. Yet their play was so dominant the outcome of each contest was hardly in doubt. Soccer requires a devotion and attention to detail from the fan that the American ADD culture has no patience for. I am no Soccer fanatic or expert but I've watched enough to know that I love the World Cup. It's a great event and a great game.

1 comment:

Dennis said...

I have often thought about this media reaction to soccer in the US. I find that most of it comes from the self-confessed "football guys," the Jim Rome and Jay Mariotti types, and that it has such venom doesn't really make any sense.

Hockey's US audience has dwindled to almost nothing, and it is really a Canadian sport, yet it is still referred to as one of the "big 4." Golf and tennis lose popularity when there is not an American dominating, but no one attacks the merits of the game's existence. Jokes are made about the complexity of cricket or rugby, but no one expresses dislike for the sport itself.

Why do people from Bill Plaschke to Chuck Klosterman to Glenn Beck to Jacko on the BS Report actively hate soccer?