To add to my previous post. How many times have you seen kids playing soccer in the park, or near a soccer field? Without a coach, alone, not because their parents brought them? Here kids play soccer, because they have to do something. And if they are not good at football or not tall enough for basketball their parents will sign them up for soccer.
Now, how many times have you seen kids play basketball alone without a coach? On the street, in the drive way, in the backyard. And especially in the ghetto. I've even seen kids pass a football as a recreation. Frankly speaking as an European it never made any sence to me to just throw a ball at somebody and to consider it fun. We never just kicked the ball. We played matches even if it was 1 on 1 with goals and all.
In Europe we have slightly different road signs, and one of them which warns of the danger of kids nearby playing is yellow with a couple of kids chasing a soccer ball. We watch soccer on TV everyday - Champs Leaugue, UEFA Cup, EPL, domestic, etc. That's what people talk about all the time. The athmosphere in the stadium is so much different. I've been to a Battery game and the feeling is sooo much different. It is like watching a theatre play or a cultural event. You sit in your chair and watch the game neatly with your fries in your lap and a cold beer in your hand. I've been to soccer stadiums in Europe and you can't help it but have goose bumps. It's not only the game you go there for, but the spectacle the fanatics create. MLS players might be good, but I bet you they have never experienced what it's like to play at Anfield or Nou Camp or San Siro. Many players have commented how different of an experience it is. It gives you wings and brings the best out of you so you could please those 70 - 80,000 exalted spectators. Btw the word "fan" comes from "fanatic". There is hardly anything fanatic in ANY American sport - I've been to a football game, watched the NBA on TV they cannot simply compare. Baseball? Please that's almost as exciting as golf. Don't get me wrong, I like basketball, I try to watch football, after all I am trying to fit in this society. Basketball is simplu too fast and things happen so fast so as soon as you get excited and then the play has moved. Plus a slam dunk or a three pointer can hardly compare with scoring a goal. The problem with football is that they play for 15 seconds and then they stop and line up again and start over, there is no game flow at all. And then everything has to be really neat and full of stats - i.e rushing yards, passes completed and so on. Who cares?
A friend once told me - "Soccer will never be big in America. Think about it, which company will be willing to give money to a game that has 45 minutes of continuous play? They will never have time for commercials? It's not like they can stop the game and pause it for the teams to line up again or for the coach to take a time out." He is right.
Soccer is like life - you make a mistake, you might not get a chance to make it up. Soccer is unjust, sometimes the worse team gets the win, sometimes you get a bad call, or you'll get an injured teammate after your 3rd sub and will have to play a man down. Sometimes you chase that ball for 90 mins and you don't accomplish anything - 0:0. American will never be able to understand how a 0:0 game can be interesting. They need stats and scoring. I like to compare soccer to the gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. Next time you watch a WC game watch the players as they walk out the tunnel. Watch them while the national anthems play. Look at their faces. It's do or die for their country. They can be gods or cowards when they return. Soccer is more than just a sport - it is a religion, it is war. It is a way to tell your oppressor who kept you in a yoke for 500 years and sold you in America as slaves (France vs. Senegal) - hey, look at us now! We can beat you! Here is for 5 centuries of misery.
How many people you know around you that didn't even know they U.S. played today. I just came back from refereeing a 6v6 adult game. Most of the players didn't even know the U.S. lost today. Yet they play soccer!?!
