As a sports fan, I love all sports. Even soccer. It upsets me when other stupid Americans deride the sport of soccer. (Why, because you never played when you were growing up? Either did I.) But how can you not love soccer? It is as exciting as any other sport out there, if not more. It floors me every time I hear the "soccer is boring" routine from golf enthusiasts or NASCAR republicans.
I am a baseball traditionalist and I do believe that baseball is the most wonderful sport devised in human history. The details, the intricacy, the strategy, and the skill required is what does it for me. But there is no denying the significance and place that soccer has on world history. And soccer, er, football, is certainly the "world's game."
The future of soccer in this country is dependent on the success of our national team in the World Cup, which, unfortunately, occurs every four years. If in, say, 16 years or so, the U.S. can convince FIFA to allow the U.S. to host the World Cup, that would be a major coup for soccer in the States. The American people need a success story for the roots to take hold (in our media-saturated culture). It is not good enough that soccer employs some of the best athletes in the world and is the most physically-demanding.
Akin to playing professional baseball in Japan, playing professional soccer in the U.S. is just not in the same league. There is no incentive for the sport's best to play in the U.S., not that there should be, as of now, either. But it is in the national interest for soccer to grow to become the popular sport in the U.S. that it is worldwide, not just for our nation's desire for entertainment in the form of sporting events, but for our nation to compete on the same stage as the rest of the world in a sport the rest of the world loves. Call it Diplomacy 101. Alright, 102.
Endnote: I should acknowledge that the inspiration for this blogpost was this hilarious Bill Simmons column...
"Soccer is the perfect sport to watch while you're doing other things. Maybe it's that constant soothing sound, a never-ending din of cheering and singing in strange languages. Maybe it's that you only have to glance at the TV every so often. Whenever something seems like it might happen, the play-by-play guy warns you with the rise in his energy level. There's always time to catch a play before it unfolds... even though it usually ends with some exhausted striker rocketing the ball 25 feet over the crossbar. Maybe it's that you know what you're getting every time out: six or seven exciting plays, a game that ends at a specific time, no annoying sideline reporters or goofy camera angles. All in all, a peaceful two hours of competition."
