The Prague Post has an editorial telling us that the US shouldn’t bother with World Cup Soccer hype. Why?
If you can contain your excitement about the World Cup for a few moments, you may recall that America has been subjected to this periodic campaign since the 1970s, when the Brazilian soccer star Pele was shipped to U.S. shores — he played for the New York Cosmos — to ignite our passion for the athletic drudgery that causes much of the rest of the globe to overthrow governments, tear apart concrete stadiums and impale themselves on the wire fences deemed necessary to pen them in.
Furthermore, the author says that soccer is a sport for wimps, the real exercision seems to always be in the riots after the game:
Yet boosters still dream of converting youth players into adult fans. Don’t hold your breath. Soccer appeals to little kids and their parents because it’s easy and safe; kids run around for an hour and go eat cookies. It’s the perfect game for a generation of parents who’ve never met a safety device they didn’t immediately declare a necessity. No one gets hit by a pitched ball, pops a knee on a bad pivot or breaks a bone in a tackle.
I have to admit some agreement on this subject. Everyone seems to accept soccer as the "world’s game" that America should bow down to. Just because it’s international doesn’t necessarily make it good – just look at the ICC, the Kyoto Protocol, and surrendering to the Germans. I echo the authors sentiment when he says:
It’s splendid to see expats head to bars in the dead of night to cheer on their home squads. But don’t expect many U.S. natives to join in. In these multicultural, globalized times, we’re clinging to the last socially acceptable arena of jingoism — sports.
