Watching the World Cup match between the United States and Belgium reminds me of the reasons soccer (or futbol to the rest of the world) struggles to catch on here in the U.S.
Now keep in mind, I played soccer all through my childhood and, at one time, thought I would play collegiately or even nationally. I think that's pretty normal for a large amount of youths here in the States. As you get older, though, you start to migrate to other more traditional "American" sports. But why? These are the reasons I feel contribute to that the most:
The pitch - If we can call the game "soccer" here in the States, then we should be able to call what they play on the "field" here in the U.S. as well. American football and baseball, our beloved outdoor sports, are both played on "fields" of grass. Soccer is also played on a field of grass (almost exactly like a football field), but we must refer to it as the "pitch". That doesn't make sense to us. We are never going to be comfortable calling the playing field the "pitch" when that's an action players do in one of our other "hometown" sports.
The clock - Why, oh why, do we have to have added time? It's 2014 for crying out loud! Stop the dang clock when there are stoppages in play. We want to know exactly how much time is on the clock and how much time we have left to strike. Letting regular time expire and then saying, "oh wait, there's three more minutes to play" makes about as much sense to us as Peyton Manning driving for a game-winning touchdown, running out of time and then the refs telling him he's got three more minutes to engineer his comeback. It's time to get with 21st century soccer.
The flop - This may be the biggest reason for soccer not catching on here in the U.S. While basketball, and especially the NBA, are becoming increasingly more flop heavy, our "manly" sports like football champion the spirit of the warrior. We've seen guys play our version of football with broken legs, broken fingers and any other number of gruesome injuries. Yet, too many soccer players flop on the ground like a fish out of water when they get tripped or bumped into "too hard." We like to think our men are grown pillars of manhood here in the U.S. We just can't embrace "men" who flop around on the ground because of a bruise or broken nose.
The money - The only reason money is an issue is because the game of soccer isn't more popular here in the states. The U.S. has proven, however, that we will spend hard earned money on sports we care about. So, I don't believe that the top players not earning comparably to other American athletes is the problem. I believe Americans would care about the game more (which would lead to more revenue) if the other aspects that confuse them were addressed.
We will ever see soccer catch on here in the States like it has in the rest of the world? Probably not. We have American football, baseball and basketball to keep us entertained. Mixed martial arts (another "manly man" sport) is rapidly growing and other sports like boxing, hockey, golf and auto racing occupy our time as well. So no, I don't see soccer catching on as a mainstream sport here in the U.S. However, improving those parts of the game that we have the most difficulty with certainly wouldn't hurt.
Now keep in mind, I played soccer all through my childhood and, at one time, thought I would play collegiately or even nationally. I think that's pretty normal for a large amount of youths here in the States. As you get older, though, you start to migrate to other more traditional "American" sports. But why? These are the reasons I feel contribute to that the most:
The pitch - If we can call the game "soccer" here in the States, then we should be able to call what they play on the "field" here in the U.S. as well. American football and baseball, our beloved outdoor sports, are both played on "fields" of grass. Soccer is also played on a field of grass (almost exactly like a football field), but we must refer to it as the "pitch". That doesn't make sense to us. We are never going to be comfortable calling the playing field the "pitch" when that's an action players do in one of our other "hometown" sports.
The clock - Why, oh why, do we have to have added time? It's 2014 for crying out loud! Stop the dang clock when there are stoppages in play. We want to know exactly how much time is on the clock and how much time we have left to strike. Letting regular time expire and then saying, "oh wait, there's three more minutes to play" makes about as much sense to us as Peyton Manning driving for a game-winning touchdown, running out of time and then the refs telling him he's got three more minutes to engineer his comeback. It's time to get with 21st century soccer.
The flop - This may be the biggest reason for soccer not catching on here in the U.S. While basketball, and especially the NBA, are becoming increasingly more flop heavy, our "manly" sports like football champion the spirit of the warrior. We've seen guys play our version of football with broken legs, broken fingers and any other number of gruesome injuries. Yet, too many soccer players flop on the ground like a fish out of water when they get tripped or bumped into "too hard." We like to think our men are grown pillars of manhood here in the U.S. We just can't embrace "men" who flop around on the ground because of a bruise or broken nose.
The money - The only reason money is an issue is because the game of soccer isn't more popular here in the states. The U.S. has proven, however, that we will spend hard earned money on sports we care about. So, I don't believe that the top players not earning comparably to other American athletes is the problem. I believe Americans would care about the game more (which would lead to more revenue) if the other aspects that confuse them were addressed.
We will ever see soccer catch on here in the States like it has in the rest of the world? Probably not. We have American football, baseball and basketball to keep us entertained. Mixed martial arts (another "manly man" sport) is rapidly growing and other sports like boxing, hockey, golf and auto racing occupy our time as well. So no, I don't see soccer catching on as a mainstream sport here in the U.S. However, improving those parts of the game that we have the most difficulty with certainly wouldn't hurt.
