Anti-ESPN: Part 2 Soccer and the "Worldwide Leader in Sports"

As I watched Sportscenter last night, waiting for Red Sox highlights which in the end amounted to watching Coco Crisp stretch a single into a double, I heard the phrase that anyone who watches the show knows: ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports. Then I got to thinking, is that really true? It probably is statistically, but I have a big problem with that claim. First of all, what is the biggest, most followed sport in the entire world? That's right, football. No, not THAT football you ignorant American. Futbol. Soccer. You know what I'm talking about. Are Americans so arrogant that we are just going to ignore the rest of the world and their passion for soccer? Its like the metric system; the whole world might use this system, but not us. Fuck the world, we're America. I think one obvious reason that soccer isn't as big here as it is everywhere else is simple: American Football.

In high school, I played soccer. I'm proud of that. Now if you're Jonny Highschool Football reading this, you have called me a fag and a pussy in the last two seconds. That may be a slight exaggeration, but not much. Soccer players in high school, in general, are looked upon as guys who can't hack it on the football field. I had more than enough athletic ability to play football, but I didn't want to, plain and simple. The football coach at my school was a complete and utter fanatic, and possibly the most irrational man on Earth when it came to people who dared not play football. His world was black and white: 'If you play football, you're a real man. If you don't, I don't want anything to do with you. But if you play soccer or don't play a sport at all, you are standing on the lowest rung on the evolutionary ladder and I hope it breaks.' Although this was my experience, I would wager that it is similiar, to one degree or another, to what happens all across our country. Its this attitude that dilutes the pool of talented athletes who might chose to play soccer, and creates a negative opinion of it in the publics conscious, especially with younger people.

Obviously there are other factors involved, but everyone has been to high school; you want to be considered cool, and that usually doesn't involve soccer. Besides the influence of American football, what other reasons influence the lack of popularity of soccer in this country? One point would be that, until recently, the United States didn't have a chance in hell of beating a decent national team from other parts of the world. And if there is one thing American's like, its to be #1. How can an American sports fan get behind a team that is consistently beaten by teams from other countries? Another contributing factor is that there just isn't much soccer coverage in this country. ESPN, the so-called Worldwide Leader sure isn't carrying it. I know you can get channels that do carry soccer games, like Fox Sports Net, but you have to pay extra for that. Its almost like there are American sports, then whatever the rest of the world is doing. Cricket? Rugby? Soccer? Those are games for Europeans and guys who can't make it playing American sports.

Finally, I believe that Major League Soccer (MLS) has something to do with it. The quality of play, the style of play favored by American teams, pales in comparision to the European or South American soccer game. The MLS style makes for sluggish and sloppy play. Also, most of the major world stars play on club teams in Europe, thus eliminating some of that good ol' U.S.A. marketability. In the U.S., its not only what you can do on the field, but what you can do for Sony or Samsung or whoever is sponsering the team. Also, soccer games don't usually consist of a lot of scoring, and thats the only thing most American sports fans can understand. The Home Run. The Touchdown. The Slam Dunk. Americans don't care about setting up plays from midfield, and scoring chances. They want the bottom line; Score, or my limited attention span will be directed elsewhere.

The winds of change are starting to blow, and they have nothing to do with The Scorpions. The World Cup is being played this year. For those that don't know, a normal soccer season consists of players from all over the world joining club teams in different countries, such as Juventus in Italy, Barcelona in Spain, and Manchester United in England. These teams consist of great players with names such as Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho, and Rooney. These players come from different countries to play for their club teams, but every four years the World Cup takes place. The World Cup is a tournament where each country is represented by the best players from that country. Its like the Super Bowl of soccer, although calling it that is sort of an insult. While the Super Bowl gets wrung through the U.S. media hype machine and usually does not deliver the promised greatness, the World Cup does. This is where the best bring their best, and usually produce the best results. For soccer fans, the World Cup represents heaven on earth. It is also a forum to display fanatical nationalism and support for their team, something Americans have no interest in doing. The 2006 World Cup presents not only an opportunity to change the world's perception of U.S. soccer, but to change the perception of soccer in America.

Perhaps ESPN doesn't realize it way out in Conneticut, but there are a lot of immigrants in the U.S. Many of them still feverishly support their respective countries soccer teams. I live near New Bedford, MA, which recently has considered changing its name to PortugueseLand. I know for a fact that any time Portugal plays, their fans watch, no matter where in the world they are. Brick layers who live check to check will skip meals to pay to watch the games. So why don't American's pay attention? Its like if you are at a party and everyone is drinking the punch, but you stick to your beer because you don't know about anything else and automatically label the punch as being stupid. This is year for the U.S. citizens to try the punch...it is very good incidently.
In a discussion with my friend, a soccer enthusiast I'll call 'Garrett', we spoke about a very relevant topic; there are four major sports in the U.S. Hockey has been declining in popularity and quality since the early 90's, and we were saying that is a matter of time before soccer overtake hockey as the fourth sport in America. We both decided that while this change wasn't going to happen tomrrow, it is imminent. But then we considered the World Cup. For instance, if the United States can beat a team like Brazil, what would that do for soccer in America? It could push up the replacement of hockey by years. If they advance deep into the tournament, people will pay attention. It will make stars out of players on the team, which will translate to success for what amounts to club teams in the U.S., the MLS. It will make the MLS a profitable business and a place companies will look for sponsorship, leading to soccer eventually being fully integrated into the sports culture in the United States.

The question isn't if, but when. When will Americans wake up and realize that they are misusing their sports time, wasting it watching overpaid 18 year old play basketball and hockey games that can't compare the quality of hockey in the 80's. Soccer is not an easy sport to play. I know I could have played football, but I know a lot of football players who couldn't play soccer. It requires a different coordination, using ones feet instead of hands or a bat or club to strike the ball. Beyond that, soccer requires, and breeds, creativity. Have you ever seen Ronaldinho, the King of Kings, with the ball at his feet? Have you ever watched David Beckham bend a ball more than the laws of physics should allow? What about Thierry Henry rip a seed from outside the 18 into the upper 90? The world loves soccer because it is the world's game; you can play in a Third World Country just as easily as if you were standing in front of 60,000 at Old Trafford, the Theatre of Dreams, in England. A soccer players blend of athleticsm and creativity leaves every door open during a match, making them unpredictable, incredible, and entertaining. ESPN had better pay attention, because if you are going to claim to be the world's leader in sports coverage, you have to include the world, not just America. Soccer is coming America, and fast. It is better to prepare now than to be caught flat-footed when it happens. This summer could change the sports landscape in the United States for ever...Here's hoping it does.