As is usually the case when we get a three-day weekend in July, we've got a busy sports calendar. Over in Europe we've got a famous fortnight wrapping up at Wimbledon (here at Off Wing, we root for Americans -- GO ANDY, GO SERENA). Tomorrow, the Tour de France starts in Liege, Belgium (GO LANCE GO), while Portugal will host Greece in a delightfully improbably Euro 2004 final.
Back in the States, we've got NASCAR and more baseball than you know what to do with. As for me, Saturday will find me at RFK in Washington, taking in a match of America's sport of the future.
Then again, in my lifetime, I can't remember a moment when Soccer wasn't America's sport of the future.
In any case, stay safe, and arrive alive back at work on Tuesday.
Also, former Demon deacon Dave Bush is making his first appearance in the pros tonight when he starts against the Montreal/Peurto Rico/DC/Virginia Expos.
Why soccer will ALWAYS be the sport of the future and NEVER a Great American Sport:
1) It is based on intense patience – something unheard of in America.
2) More importantly, the offisdes rule is completely counter to the mindset of America — that is, the strongest, fastest,
smartest who plow forth – FORWARD are rewarded. When a defender who is clarly beaten is allowed to run the wrong way and negate the advantage of the attacker – this will NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, EVER be accepted as truly American. Consider baseball – the long ball rules. What would happen if the outfielder ran the wrong way, negating the HR?; In football it’s the long bomb. Imagine Champ Bailey running in the wrong direction to create an offsides.
Let’s try NBA the most exciting play is the breakaway slam dunk – in hockey it’s the breakaway.
Successful American sports have tinkered with their rules to further their marketability. If FIFA ever wants soccer to be accepted in America, then change the moronic offside rule and you might, just might negate the insurmountable one-nil lead. If you want soccer/football to remain the same, do not expect it to EVER become a Great American Sport.
And that, my friends is that. I say this with unabashed impunity because I have marketed all big time sports on a national network basis to television audiences for the past 25 years – and yes, this includes defunct MISL and NASL soccer.
Jeff – the MISL is alive and kicking. I saw the Baltimore Blast win their second straight title earlier this year.
But the fact that the MISL final drew a little less than 10,000 fans and MLS averages around 15,000 in the regular season proves something — making the sport higher-scoring doesn’t make it more entertaining.
To address your chief concern, though: Soccer fell behind in the States because we in the U.S. are so overly concerned with a national identity distinct from that of our (mostly) European ancestors. That’s why we embraced the Americanized “football” and invented the Abner Doubleday myth in baseball. (See the great book “Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism” for more.)
Besides, I seem to remember an offside rule in the NFL as well.
Not to mention an offside rule in hockey too.
Soccer isn’t a major sport in the United States because the other sports were established first, and the market is saturated with so many big leagues. In Europe there’s soccer, then there’s everything else.
And I think it also has to do with it being a continuous game with little break, so there are parts where the play is dull and the players are just taking their time, probing their opponents’ weaknesses, so fans have to patiently watch these boring bits to get to the action. Whereas in the American sports this time is spent on singing “God Bless America”, or watching sausages race, then its all the thrilling action right away.
Professional soccer’s lack of widespread popularity in the U.S. likely has nothing to do with the game’s pace or the complexity of the rules. If that were the case, golf would not be popular in this country.
I think soccer’s status is simply the result of its early loss of popularity relative to American football. In the mid-19th century, soccer was the recreational sport of choice for American college students. Rugby, invented in 1823, was introduced to American colleges by Canadian schools. As rugby evolved into modern football, it became the first major intercollegiate sport, which in turn spread its popularity throughout the country. Soccer simply failed to compete.
In other words, if American football hadn’t been invented, soccer probably would be a major sport in this country.
But Eric, what about the game? Saturday was my son’s first DCU game. I’ll clearly need to manage his offensive expectations for our next visit, but my sectionmates are insisting he and my wife attend the home playoff game as offensive good luck charms!