Sure, sure, the 2010 FIFA World Cup (currently taking place in South Africa) has a catchy song (Shakira's "Waka Waka")...
And some of those soccer -- excuse me, football -- players, or "footballers," are kind of cute...But I find it very hard to get excited about a sport where you can actually have a 90- or 120-minute game (if there are extra periods) end with a score of 0-0. You call that exciting? Also, those vuvuzelas, which sound like a swarm of angry hornets, are not helping my appreciation for the game, or concentration -- or ESPN's ratings.
Seriously, I have tried to become a World Cup football/soccer fan. (Watched most of USA versus England, or tried to.) But the sport just leaves me bored. (And this is from someone who has no problem watching three hours of baseball -- GO METS!!!)
Maybe if each goal was worth 5 points and the field -- excuse me, pitch -- was a bit smaller and there were cheerleaders or something, we Americans would get more excited about non-American football (aka soccer). But I'm not so sure.
Do any of you have any ideas re how to make soccer/football more appealing/exciting to us uncouth Americans -- to watch, that is? (Plenty of Americans play soccer. We just don't like to watch other people playing it.) If so, leave me a comment.
Posts
5 comments:
It bores the crap outta me too. I haven't watched a nanosecond of it and don't intend to.
The world is trotting out some serious beefcake talent this year!
But remember we are in group play-the more exciting time is the post season not regular season anyway.
And it is stoppage time not an extra period-GGGEEEEEEEEZZZZZ!!!!
Since moving to France, I have become a football addict. In fact, I made the hubby set up the antenna to the cable that runs through our fireplace, etc. etc. just so we could watch (normally we don't have TV reception!).
I have to say that I am no fan of American football or rugby, or boxing or golf. I can tolerate baseball when a NY team plays and tennis is just about the only other thing that gets my heart racing.
As for making it more exciting, maybe hit a local pub where some diehard fans are cheering. Otherwise, why not make some kind of fun game of it by getting to know some of the players, where they play during the year and watching the rivalry heat up between them and their normal team-mates (like Donovan on the US team and Beckham for UK -- they normally both play for the LA Galaxy team during the year).
Anyway, I digress, at least watch and cheer on France. I have a big crush on Cisse, who is one of the old-timers and kind of like a French Dennis Rodman and the rest of Les Bleus. (Here, we chant..."allez les Bleus" and you yell "BUUUUUUUT" pronounced like boot to mark a goal! Okay gotta go get dinner on the table before the next match starts!
Hey -- vuvuzelsa are cool. I want one, so I can annoy the hell out of soccer fans.
The England-USA game was boring as hell by any standard. In fact, many of the group games in this 2010 World Cup have been boring, notably the games involving heavily favored teams. But then there was the Germany-Australia game on Sunday, which was *awesome* with four goals scored and beautiful plays made! My point is, you can't watch one game and decide the sport is not for you.
So if you want to try to get into it, give it a real try! Learn the rules, get to know some of the teams and their players, then watch a game and try to figure out what's going on. There's plenty of "strategery" going on at all levels and at all times... the players just don't get the luxury of discussing and coordinating their moves before every play!
So I think an important reason why many Americans have such a distaste for soccer is because they don't understand the game and lack the patience to get into it. Fair enough, sure, but we've got to stop searching for reasons other than our own complacence :)
Post a Comment