Our continued indifference to the sport worshiped around the world can be easily explained in two parts. First, as a nation of loony but determined inventors, we prefer things we thought of ourselves. The most popular sports in America are those we conceived and developed on our own: football, baseball, basketball. If we can claim at least part of the credit for something, as with tennis or the radio, we are willing to be passively interested. But we did not invent soccer, and so we are suspicious of it.
The second and greatest, by far, obstacle to the popularity of the World Cup, and of professional soccer in general, is the element of flopping. Americans may generally be arrogant, but there is one stance I … stand behind, and that is the intense loathing of penalty-fakers.
Point two is a bit OTT though, after all the 'dive' is one of the reasons brits don't like the footballing style of certain other nations. So we share that loathing of penalty fakers but we are still in the world cup. So you're going to have to come up with a better reason than that. Anyhow, with the increasing population of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and sundry others, the USA may have to come to terms with the beautiful game sooner or later. After all, you can't keep calling competitions "World series" when you are virtually the only people who take it seriously. I used to be the world champion at swing-jump. But as it was only me and my sisters in the competition, I don't generally advertise my athletic title!
Dave Eggers on America and the World Cup. By Dave Eggers:Filed in: soccer, football, USA
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