I am happy. The start of the EPL campaign has begun. I’m a big Man Utd. fan, so, there is a lot to look forward to, except drawing with Reading on the opening match (dammit!). In watching, it reminded me of the constant debate as to why soccer is not more popular here (in the US) vs. the REST of the world. I think the answer is simple - how many American father’s want their son to be the next Pele’ or Eric Wynalda (did some of you say “who”? Exactly). Exposure. I was lucky, my brother got me into the game. He was good, really good. He just gave it up. Today, though, most kids grow up with “3 balls” - baseball, basketball, & football. This is what you do in the neighborhood after school and on weekends, and this is what your father pushes you toward, especially if your father lives vicariously as a couch QB and has an unfulfilled dream of some “could of been” pro career. (Anyway, if I keep talking about this, you’ll have to charge me $135/hour.) There’s no glory in soccer, no headlines, no local hero. What father would want that for “their boy”? See my point?
That brings us to the new era in US Soccer - Never Fear, Beckham is here! He and his uber-talented wife (I figure she’s here to sell People & Us Weekly magazines, not to mention blaze a trail on the pop charts). We ship our best players overseas never to be heard from again, except during World Cups. Is it me, or outside of the super serious soccer fans (that’s what it takes to actually care about the MLS), the only people that would really care about this are women and girls? I’m sure the average sporting fan wanted to catch a glimpse, see what the hype is all about, but if you’re not a fan of soccer, you’ll bail immediately. I had the LA vs DC game on in the background the other night, and the “shrills” that came through the speakers when he was checking into the game…You would have thought Britney & Posh were doing a duet or maybe a strip-tease (god I hope not) on the sidelines. The game, unfortunately, resembled that of a glorified kick-ball session with special ed kids. I’d rather watch badminton at the senior center. In soccer terms, zero possession, zero build and not a whole lot of playmaking. The game just wasn’t that entertaining. For the MLS’s sake, I hope he can draw some good international players to the league (not just ones in the “twilight” of their careers) or the thrill of getting a glimpse of Beckham will wear off soon and the MLS will go back to being a sport for die-hards and not of the casual fan. Oh well, we will always have Posh and her glorious fashion sense.
So, if you are not a big soccer fan, go to your local pub on a sunday morning and check out the scene. The EPL featured match starts at 11 and will end just before 1. You just might walk out a fan. Oh, and the game ends with just enough time to switch from Guinness to Miller Lite and catch the NFL.
Great blog…I totally agree, but then again I’m also a soccer fan. I’m lucky enough to live in San Antonio, TX (close enough to Mexico and with a huge hispanic community) which has it’s nice share of Mexican restaurants and bars which will showcase soccer games. They tend to primarily show Mexican and other Latin American games, but they don’t discriminate much and showcase just about anything “soccer” (including MLS & European games). I also venture out to a pub or two (we don’t have that many around here) to catch some of the European games every now and then. But most of the time I just stay home and watch and that’s not nearly as fun as when one is surrounded by other soccer fans….