Guest Column: Time Cures World Cup Fever
 Why do Americans fall out of love with soccer? |
My response, as shocking as it was to the both of us, was, "Not really."
Mike sat silent on the other end of the line, trying to make sense of what had happened to his ever-loyal, soccer-loving friend. Given our history, I can understand why he was so surprised. Both Mike and I played high school soccer on different teams before playing several times together in various outdoor summer leagues and indoor winter leagues in Rochester, N.Y.
We've even experienced "World Cup Fever" together, most notably in 2002 when the United States advanced all the way to the quarterfinal round before dropping a hard-fought 1-0 decision to Germany. Our passion for the U.S. and our enthusiasm for their chances in the World Cup could clearly be seen in our early-morning meetings to watch the games live on television. Because the World Cup was being hosted by Japan and South Korea, people on the East Coast had to get up as early as 3 a.m. if they wanted to watch the action live.
Eight years ago, I had "World Cup Fever." Now, its more like a "World Cup Scratchy Throat."
As someone who has enjoyed playing soccer throughout my childhood and someone who even spent part of his journalism career reporting on the game (I spent a year working as a reporter for a soccer-exclusive website in Southern California), I myself have trouble understanding the nonchalant attitude I've given to the World Cup, arguably one of the world's biggest and most important sporting events that only occurs every four years.
It's hard for me to figure out actually. I still love the game, love to play it and love to watch it, but there is just something that bores me about soccer when it's played at the highest level. It took me a while to understand this feeling but after more thought, I've come to realize why I and many other Americans just can't get too excited about soccer.
Soccer is universally known as the "World's Game," but it has always seemed to get lost in the shuffle among the United States' crowded sports landscape. The irony is that soccer is one of the most popular sports among America's youth. Boys and girls across the country start off playing soccer only to often leave the game behind them as they grow older and mature. Still, it's hard to argue with soccer's increased impact at the youth level in the past two decades. Fifteen years ago, no one knew what a Soccer Mom was. Now, you can spot them from a mile away, minivan moving along, a bunch of school-age children in tow, heading to and from practice.
While there's no questioning soccer's popularity among America's youth, there seems to be some confusion on why those same soccer players fall out of love with the sport when they become adults. I thought about this as the World Cup ran its way through the group stage and I think I've come up with some pretty good ideas on why we, as Americans, just can't embrace the sport like the rest of the World.
The most obvious reason why our passion doesn't match the rest of the Earth is because we have more options. Football is, of course, king in this country right now, while baseball and basketball fall in somewhere behind. We invented all of these sports and our professional leagues provide us with the best players and competition the world has to offer. It makes a big difference when you've invented a sport. When you invent something, you cling onto it tighter than something that was imported. Take hockey for example. There are plenty of hockey fans in the United States, but the game belongs to Canada. They’re the ones who invented it. We accept it, but hockey will never overcome football, baseball and basketball because it wasn't ours from the beginning.
 Soccer can't compete with American football when it comes to television coverage in the United States. Cheerleaders, flashy logos, promos and quirky beer ads can't hurt ratings, right? |
Americans aren't dealt a steady dose of high-level soccer on television, so therefore they miss out on seeing the world's best players show off their skills on the pitch.
So the game isn't ours and we don't get to see the best the world has to offer but if you ask me, the biggest reason we can't embrace soccer like everyone else, has to do with the game itself, more specifically, the game when it reaches its highest level.
In every other sport in America, the production on the field increases as the talent level improves. I've been to several high school football games that either end up 7-0 or 12-6. But as the players develop, as the game plans become more evolved offenses begin to gain more yardage and the score typically increases. Look at this year's Super Bowl. Both the Colts and Saints had two highly skilled quarterbacks running two very potent offenses. As you go through high school to college to professional football, the passes become sharper, the players become quicker and the hits become harder.
Same thing goes for baseball. How many youth baseball games have you seen where there are more errors than there are hits? As you go up through the ranks, you see an increased level of play. Catchers are able to throw out runners, infields can turn routine double plays and hitters have enough power to hit the ball over the fence. As you advance in basketball, shooters have a longer range, guards can dribble the ball better and most players start jumping high enough to dunk the ball.
With soccer, everything is just the opposite. The players become so skilled, that the fun, free-for-all, ad-lib soccer of your youth is gone. We've all been to that exciting high school soccer game that ends up 4-3. The score is back and forth, and the game is highlighted by great hustle plays where a forward comes up with a nifty steal in the opponent's backfield or a goalie comes through with a marvelous save to bail out their defense.
But when we get to highest level of soccer, aka the World Cup stage, the players are so skilled and deft at controlling the ball that the game slows down. It becomes much more strategic and tactical and instead of playing to win the game, most teams often try to capitalize on another squad's mistake. It begins this cat-and-mouse game that is based on counterattacks and most often keeps the score excruciatingly low.
I once had a friend from Ireland ask me, "Why can't two teams play great soccer for 90 minutes, come out with a 0-0 draw and everyone just be happy with the result." My response to him was, "Why can't someone just score?"
 The better they are, the fewer they "score." It seems counter-intuitive to Americans. |
I don't really know what FIFA can do to increase scoring in the World Cup games, but I'm guessing hiring referees that don't take goals off the scoreboard would help. The United States was robbed of two goals in back-to-back games by blown calls, and England lost a huge equalizer against Germany over the weekend when an instant replay clearly showed the ball crossing over the goal line.
I've always thought making the goal bigger would help out scoring, but I realize soccer purists around the world simply wouldn't allow that. Maybe FIFA could institute something similar to a blue line in hockey, where players can't be called offsides when they are in the final third portion of the field. I just can't see how an offsides call in the goal box can be a good thing for a sport dying for scoring.
After the United States' 2-1 loss to Ghana in the Round of 16 on Saturday, maybe none of it even matters. The casual, patriotic soccer fans have already turned the TV off and the die-hard soccer hooligans will just find a new team to root for.
I'll keep an eye on what's going on. I'm not sure if I'll watch with the same passion as I did the NBA Finals a few weeks ago, but you never know. Maybe this "World Cup Cold" will turn into a fever after all.
