It's my website, so here are my thoughts. By JT Szabo - Discuss In The Readers Forums So it seems that for the last handful of weeks, my normal daily routine has been bombarded with this curious little event down in South Africa called the world cup. Now, South Africa has done great things for our pop culture...as it brought us Dave Matthews of Dave Matthews Band fame. Yet, I am in no means a soccer fan..oops, I meant "futobol" as it is known in most of the world. It's not ignorance nor is it hatred for the world's most popular sport. I just think it's boring. "but JT...it's the most popular sport in the world! it's pure athleticism!" Muhammed is the most common name on earth...but it's not in my neck of the woods, so that point is rather moot. Besides, in most places in the world today (except for the cliche' "soccer mom" world here in the US), kicking a ball around an open field is easy to set up and easy to participate in. Naturally, something that everyone can play anywhere without any special equipment would be quite catchy huh? But let's face it...there is absolutely nothing fun or interesting about watching a three hour game end in a 0-0 tie. Or worse, a team actually manages to put the ball into that absurdly over-sized goal...and then celebrates like they've just made contact with an alien civilization with warp drive and a cure for cancer. Ridiculous. But what irks me perhaps most, is the "athletes" themselves. Why become athletes at all? It's very clear that any professional soccer player would be much better off as a Broadway actor...falling down and grabbing your ankle in fake pain - and SCENE! How do the paramedics and trainers know who to treat? I'm sure everyone's seen the soccer clip from a few years ago where a player is battling for the ball, and is inadvertently kicked in the leg by his opponent who then proceeds to steal the ball for his team. What does our hero do you ask? Well, he pauses for a moment, looks around for a referee and then grabs his face and falls to the ground in agony! That is enough for me to change the channel...every time. Ok, so i'm not going to be an insensitive jerk the entire article. I completely understand the patriotism that goes hand in hand with cheering and rooting for one's country in an international event. The Olympics do it to me every time. So, for a lot of people swept up by the world cup...seeing our native red white and blue kicking some Ethiopian ass was great! But don't ever think for a second that all those people cramming bars to watch the USA matches are fans. They're Americans...and we will always support anything that involves us showing off to the rest of the world. But we lost! Oh no! Naturally, I was doing something productive with the time that others watched the US get eliminated for the tournament, and it was a pretty close game too! But almost immediately, something strange happened as I browsed my Facebook news feed that afternoon - people were starting to root for other countries! What the hell is that about? One friend posted a status which read "USA Lost - go Britain!" Are you kidding me? This escapes me in a most profound way. Maybe they like tea or something stupid like that. In the end, the craze over the world cup is already receding, as expected people don't care anymore. Professional Soccer is starting to slide back into it's destined place as something most American's don't think about much. Give them sticks or something to swing at each other, make the field much smaller and have more scoring...then it might become something i'd like to invest my time in seeing. Alas, I fear that it won't happen any time soon. So, I think I'll stick to the "big 4" sports popular here in America - Football, Baseball, Hockey & Basketball. They're just more exciting. No wonder there are so many soccer riots in Europe. The fans need to get their money's worth somehow! Add Comment |  Got Something To Say?
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