The quality/popularity of soccer in the United States suffers from geography and prejudice. Without exceedingly fast and cheap transportation (Star Trek-esque teleportation) we will not regularly compete with Europe and we tend to think of our neighbors (particularly to the south) as second and third-world countries who are frighteningly passionate (probably as a result of being desperately poor), ineducable (since they don't even know English), and infamously corrupt.
So we play our own games and call ourselves World Champions. And it's true. Our world is that small. But it won't stay that way. Basketball is going to kill us. No, that's not quite right. It's going to show us how dead we already are. Tony Parker is one of the Europeans who are already making a huge impact. There's no doubt that the NBA will remain one of the premiere basketball leagues for many years to come, but the day is coming where the World championship of basketball will be fought for by teams that don't come from the Americas. Witness the Olympics.
When the P in GNP referred to real things, and oceans made delays, we really were in our own world. As information becomes more highly prized and traded, the world gets smaller.
We keep trying to make things fair. Salary caps are in conflict with billionaire owners.
The club system is pretty confusing from the American perspective. With us it's mainly about regions and school attendance. I guess that in the big towns like Chicago they have a couple of baseball teams to choose from, but for most of the country there is only one home team. On the other hand, we have golf and stock car racing. As far as I can tell people align their support based on personalities and effectiveness. But these (and bowling, boxing, and X-games) are individual sports and perhaps should be exculded from this discussion based on that attribute alone.
Television gives us regular access to extremely high quality play. On the other hand, people still attend high school football games in significant numbers.
Every third house in suburbia has a basketball goal in the driveway next to the postage stamp yard and is six miles from the nearest park.
Baseball occasionally gives up some amazing feats of athleticism.
There are two ways to approach the problem of soccer's limited popularity in the US compared to the rest of the world. One is to discern why other sports are popular in the US. And the other is to ask what makes soccer popular in other countries.
I've got to be willing to support MLS and other less-than-premium soccer. Put my money in the pot. Put my body in the stands. Put my beer in my throat. Put my voice on the pitch.
Posted to Games and Sport at November 28, 2005 10:45 AM