Wednesday, June 26, 2002
For most of my life, I regarded World Cup soccer the same way I regarded the bubonic plague -- a deadly European disease that must be stopped before it claims our children.
But in the last month, I've matured. I now regard soccer the same way I regard the metric system -- fine for others, just don't force it on me.
For some reason, soccer is the sport Americans -- me included -- love to hate. We treat it like Communism in the 1950s -- with paranoia, panic and fear. We're threatened by it, like if we allow it to gain even one inch, it will infringe on everything this country believes in. (Which, if you pay attention to our national sports, is the inalienable athletic right to steroids, drugs and luxury boxes.)
So, as a refreshing alternative to the insanity of baseball, the underdog U.S. soccer team did the unthinkable -- it started winning. And, true to form, Americans started paying attention.
Showing our devotion
We love doing things like this. You could probably throw an American sash on racing hamsters and we'd rally behind them like they were the 1980 United States hockey team. Getting up at 3 a.m. to watch would just prove our devotion.
There are only a few things that would get me up at 3 a.m. Like my mattress catching fire. And in my experience, watching soccer isn't the best thing to do when you're trying to stay awake.
But if someone else wants to get up that early, they can be my guest. What's the harm in watching a few soccer games in addition to the other sports we watch? There is none. In fact, there isn't really a good reason for disliking soccer so much in the first place.
If this year's World Cup has done anything, it's helped me get rid of my paranoia. I'm a little tired of seeing the World Cup take up precious cover pages of my Sports Illustrated -- as well as precious inside pages -- but I'd say the coverage is justified. And I'm sure long-suffering soccer fans appreciate it.
Ultimately, soccer is just like NASCAR, the WNBA or the X-Games. There is a niche market that adores it, and a whole lot of people who don't. Either opinion is fine so long as we don't try to keep someone else from liking it.
And it's not like soccer is a new phenomenon. Americans took one look at European football and decided the idea was good -- open stadium, grass field, yelling at referees -- and just tweaked it a little.
Namely, we added scoring and violence.
Appeal
Soccer isn't going to suddenly become America's favorite sport. We like football, basketball and baseball too much.
But soccer will become more popular with kids. And that's good. Not every kid is going to be a great football or basketball player, but they might grow up to be a good soccer player. It requires a different type of athlete.
Soccer will have a core of faithful fans, but there's no way it could compete in attendance with a Warren Harding-Boardman football game on Friday night. So the paranoia isn't justified.
Will it take away athletes from other sports? Maybe a few, but I think the effect will more closely resemble skateboarding -- it will appeal to kids who otherwise wouldn't have played the traditional major sports.
And that's good. Three years ago, the women's U.S. soccer team won the World Cup and soccer exploded. Little girls ran around imitating Mia Hamm. (One hopes they did not run around imitating Brandi Chastain.)
It was a fun new sport that girls could play. It was good exercise. They had good heroes.
And most importantly, it kept them from doing something really depressing.
Like becoming cheerleaders.
XJoe Scalzo is a sportswriter for The Vindicator. Write him at scalzo@vindy.com.