Soccer

[justinkick]

Why is soccer loved with a passion by billions in virtually every country except for the U.S.? Why do cities stop and countries hold their breath for the World Cup or European Championships, while the U.S. rumbles on, barely noticing the anticipation of so many souls?

I (think I) know the answer, but your points will be appreciated.

Comments

[peppermintchick]

I don't see how soccer is any harder to follow than (american) football or baseball. If anything, I think that soccer is easier to follow. Woooo get the ball in the net. the end.

[justinkick]

the answer revolves around a concept known as 'sports space.' the author of a book im reading postulates that this 'sports space', is a finite area; while our capacity for new sports is endless, most of these sports will never be part of our 'hegemonic sports culture.' this 'sports culture' occurs when a sport becomes larger than its adherents; sports like football in america and soccer in england are not just followed by those with a direct stake in the game, instead they are part of the fabric of the society, followed by people with no stake in the result of any given contest other than what they put in it themselves. anyway, the author postulates that this 'sports space,' that all 'modern industrialized societies' have, was in its critical period from 1870 to 1930, the main period of industrialization and modernization. thus, if the sport of the time (be it soccer in england or football/basketball/baseball in the u.s.) became entrenched, it became extremely hard for new comers to become part of the sports culture

[thehopelesscaus]

because america is fucking lame.
football>futbol.

[abnormalfreak]

or, a simpler reason. we have shown time, and time again, that American's will take little to no cues from the rest of the world. we don't like the rest of the world. the general American attitude is "screw all y'all." to most Americans, soccer will always be a European sport, thus it will never catch on here. because we're America dammit!

basically, the long and the short of it, in my opinion, is that America likes being independant, or at least thinking we're independant, which includes not doing anything else that other people like to do. which is also why no one plays our sports. except Japan, because Japan imitates other places. and Cuba.

[thehopelesscaus]

i still find it ironic that baseball has the world cup, but it's always only american teams.
do japanese teams get a chance to play in it? is it necessary for them to cancel house for two weeks in order to televise it? why are people even playing baseball anyway?

[justinkick]

i agree completely, and in fact, this demonstrates an exceptionalism in american sports culture; every one of our sports is dominated by and (according to myth) was created in America. as keith said, our need to be 'American' and a strong sense of nativism during the formative periods of modern sports in our country basically limited soccers development into culture in america

[thehopelesscaus]

i think it all stems from america's original intent to be an isolated country.
honestly, our sports truly are our last bastions of isolationism, as it has become flat impossible to thrive as a country and not be involved in foreign affairs or the global economy.

[peppermintchick]

1. Soccer sux