Usually when a person dislikes a sport, they simply choose to ignore it. In America, soccer gets a different treatment. American men actively HATE soccer. They deride it as "wussy", "boring", "slow" and basically "European".
Why? Why must we make an effort to show how much we dislike soccer instead of just letting it exist like all of the other fringe sports?
I have a theory, but first I'll run through the established lesser theories.
5) We Didn't Invent It - This is the oft-cited explanation for why soccer has yet to take root in the U.S. The excuse is flawed though. Other than basketball, the sports we "created" are direct off-shoots of established European sports. Baseball is basically a form of cricket. Football is rugby with breaks. Golf is Scottish. Automobile racing is European. This cannot explain why we dislike soccer.
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blablblahblahblahThis is Abner Doubleday. We pretend he invented baseball.
4) There Isn't Enough Scoring - This doesn't really add up. A soccer telecast requires two hours to show 90 minutes of regulation play. A hockey telecast requires 2.5 hours to show 60 minutes of regulation play. A football telecast requires 3 hours and a little change to show 60 minutes of regulation. In 2006 World Cup group play, 2.44 goals per game were scored, or about a goal every 49 minutes of telecast time. In the NHL in 2008-09, 5.43 goals were scored per game in regulation, discounting empty net goals. That breaks down to a goal every 28 minutes. In the NFL in 2008, there were 4.38 touchdowns scored per game (including overtime TDs, which are rare), or a touchdown every 41 minutes. Lacrosse would destroy all three. Considering that soccer almost never stops, and hockey and football make you sit through endless commercials (during which scoring is literally impossible), scoring can't be the answer.
3) The Players Aren't Tough Enough - This one has some merit. It isn't that soccer players are not tough. They are in phenomenal shape, take cleats to the legs regularly, and smack heads while competing for balls that have traveled 50 yards in the air. The problem is that the game, like basketball and football, is filled with questionable calls that could go either way. In the NBA, there are stoppages. Players can immediately complain or lobby for a foul. In soccer, the game never stops. There is no time for a player to express that he feels a foul should have been called. Sometimes a player is legitimately hurting, and sometimes a player is showing up an official by indicating he was fouled. To American audiences, it looks like stereotypical whiny European behavior.
Coach K is taking notes.
2) There Isn't Enough Contact - I cannot refute this one. Americans love violence, and soccer doesn't provide the same level of constant violence and danger as our other popular sports.
To this point, we've seen four good commonly cited reasons why soccer is not popular in America. However, we've yet to explain why American men actively HATE soccer. That leads us to my theory.
1) Soccer Is Emasculating - Most of us were not born with the ability to look like NFL players. Most of us do not have the frame to be NBA players. Baseball and hockey uniforms are not flattering to the human form, so we aren't constantly reminded of our own shortcomings. Unfortunately, 95% of us COULD get into soccer shape. The average height on the U.S. Soccer roster is 5-11. The average weight is 172 pounds. Two of our most famous players, Landon Donovan and Ben Olsen are both 5-8 and weight 148 and 140 pounds respectively.
Simply put, they're in the shape we could be in. And our women know this, too. Ask your female and gay male friends. Consider that David Beckham is a sex symbol, and ask yourself why none of our athletes achieve that status. Seriously, Joe Namath?
Add in that Americans are generally less comfortable with their sexuality than many other sports fans in the rest of the world, and the pieces start to fall into place. Who wants to spend a couple hours feeling bad about themselves? With a tip of the hat to our friends at Tirico Suave, our entertainment is based on schadenfreude. "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!", "The Biggest Loser", "Jon and Kate", "Intervention", "Real Housewives", and most every reality show are all about making us feel better about ourselves. Or you could just look at Michael Jackson from 1993 to about four days ago.
Since soccer exposes our own insecurities, we choose to find reasons to mock it and even hate it.
blablblahblahblahThis is Abner Doubleday. We pretend he invented baseball.4) There Isn't Enough Scoring - This doesn't really add up. A soccer telecast requires two hours to show 90 minutes of regulation play. A hockey telecast requires 2.5 hours to show 60 minutes of regulation play. A football telecast requires 3 hours and a little change to show 60 minutes of regulation. In 2006 World Cup group play, 2.44 goals per game were scored, or about a goal every 49 minutes of telecast time. In the NHL in 2008-09, 5.43 goals were scored per game in regulation, discounting empty net goals. That breaks down to a goal every 28 minutes. In the NFL in 2008, there were 4.38 touchdowns scored per game (including overtime TDs, which are rare), or a touchdown every 41 minutes. Lacrosse would destroy all three. Considering that soccer almost never stops, and hockey and football make you sit through endless commercials (during which scoring is literally impossible), scoring can't be the answer.
3) The Players Aren't Tough Enough - This one has some merit. It isn't that soccer players are not tough. They are in phenomenal shape, take cleats to the legs regularly, and smack heads while competing for balls that have traveled 50 yards in the air. The problem is that the game, like basketball and football, is filled with questionable calls that could go either way. In the NBA, there are stoppages. Players can immediately complain or lobby for a foul. In soccer, the game never stops. There is no time for a player to express that he feels a foul should have been called. Sometimes a player is legitimately hurting, and sometimes a player is showing up an official by indicating he was fouled. To American audiences, it looks like stereotypical whiny European behavior.
Coach K is taking notes.
2) There Isn't Enough Contact - I cannot refute this one. Americans love violence, and soccer doesn't provide the same level of constant violence and danger as our other popular sports.
To this point, we've seen four good commonly cited reasons why soccer is not popular in America. However, we've yet to explain why American men actively HATE soccer. That leads us to my theory.
1) Soccer Is Emasculating - Most of us were not born with the ability to look like NFL players. Most of us do not have the frame to be NBA players. Baseball and hockey uniforms are not flattering to the human form, so we aren't constantly reminded of our own shortcomings. Unfortunately, 95% of us COULD get into soccer shape. The average height on the U.S. Soccer roster is 5-11. The average weight is 172 pounds. Two of our most famous players, Landon Donovan and Ben Olsen are both 5-8 and weight 148 and 140 pounds respectively.
Simply put, they're in the shape we could be in. And our women know this, too. Ask your female and gay male friends. Consider that David Beckham is a sex symbol, and ask yourself why none of our athletes achieve that status. Seriously, Joe Namath?
Add in that Americans are generally less comfortable with their sexuality than many other sports fans in the rest of the world, and the pieces start to fall into place. Who wants to spend a couple hours feeling bad about themselves? With a tip of the hat to our friends at Tirico Suave, our entertainment is based on schadenfreude. "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!", "The Biggest Loser", "Jon and Kate", "Intervention", "Real Housewives", and most every reality show are all about making us feel better about ourselves. Or you could just look at Michael Jackson from 1993 to about four days ago.
Since soccer exposes our own insecurities, we choose to find reasons to mock it and even hate it.
26 comments:
that's about the dumbest most cliche piece of hack blogging i've read in awhile -- you've single handedly brought sports blogging to a new low. not an easy feat -- congrats!
I usually enjoy the stuff you guys write, but it seems here like you're actively denigrating the athleticism of soccer players. I couldn't get into any kind of shape to be a world-class soccer player, I assure you, though I'm around the height of the average soccer player. I dunno, maybe I don't like soccer because of some kind of latent gay panic or something, but I just don't think so.
And you Grant and you Gringo are exactly what this guy is talking about. Nice job on proving this guy right. Hahaha you stupid morons. HA!
Umm...you don't just become good at soccer by working out and getting in shape. There is a lot of skill involved. And I'm a soccer fan who's not close to being in shape (and I'm a heterosexual too!)
I don't think soccer will ever become huge in the U.S. because 1) There's no need for another major sport in the U.S. 2) The MLS or any soccer league that starts up isn't going to have the major stars in their league and the quality of play will be obviously lower than that of the European Leagues 3) We're not an elite team and don't produce the elite players
Obviously satire is lost on some of your readers.
sat⋅ire /ˈsætaɪər/
-noun 1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc.
I never said you could become a good soccer player. I said you could attain the physique of a soccer player, because, unlike our other major sports, you don't have to be born seven feet tall or with 4.3 speed.
I got your point, but if some people are confused, that probably means it could have been phrased more clearly. (Seriously no offense -- it's a tricky point to make.)
What you're saying, essentially, is that an NFL or NBA player already has an unorthodox natural shape, one that seems unattainable. They don't look like "us."
But most soccer players are within a range that is familiar. They do kind of look like "us" -- just better, fitter, more athletic versions of us. And so that more acutely emphasizes what we aren't.
It's sort of like: We don't even bother comparing ourselves to a massive NFL linebacker. They're a type of superhuman we couldn't be. But we do compare ourselves to a highly fit soccer player. They're a type of superhuman we COULD be.
Interesting theory, though I'd have to chew on it some more. I will say that a couple of times during the Confederations Cup, my girlfriend glanced over at me and said "Why don't you start working out again?" She's never brought up anything like that during the NFL season. :-)
What a load of crap blog post this is. The reason soccer hasn't caught on is because it is not yet part of the youth culture. Sure many youth play soccer and have for years, but it is not part of the social live in America. Kids in America grow up around Friday night social activities and that centers around Football (with helmets). When they get into college, the entire culture revolves around the football and basketball game. When they get out of college and you want to take a girl on a date, you go to a baseball game where you can sort of watch the game but really socialize and people watch the whole time. In other parts of the world, soccer serves the social networking role.
I love soccer and watch games all the time, but soccer fans are a tight circle and play for the love of the game understanding it usually takes us away from the social life in America.
Good stuff. Well written. I'll say that I don't disagree. There's a definite insecurity there. Remember that the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference. Love and hate are very strong and similar emotions - hence the saying, "there's a thin line between love and hate". They don't say there's a thin line between love and indifference. Like you said at the start, if you don't give a crap about soccer, then you wouldn't go about dragging it through the mud. I see your point and I think it's well taken. I'm afraid this flew way over the heads of poor gringo and Grant. Perhaps they could offer a rebuttal.
Until the TV advertisers are able to put commercial time-outs into soccer like they do in every other American sport, it will always be fighting an uphill battle to gain market share, simple as that.
Everything in America revolves around Money, it has nothing to do with the American social scene, or sexuality, or toughness, or not inventing the game.
It boils down to Advertising Dollars and companies do not like the fact that they are not able to bombard the armchair watching public every 5-7 minutes with inane beer or nacho commercials.
Therefore Soccer is not promoted as much on any of the channels due to low Advertising Dollars.
If it's not promoted through the TV the American people won't pay attention to it.
Extremely pathetic but Unfortunately very True.
Anonymous is on the right track. The reason soccer has yet to crack the top 3 sports in the US is due to the lack of youth academies in this country. However, we are seeing more and more youth development programs opening up. As the youth begin to have more opportunity to develop their skills in academies, and have competitive salaries, soccer will begin to move up. As the old non soccer fans pass on, I have no doubt that the next generation will embrace this sport.
Vin, I disagree. As more and more people have DVR's, the less commercials people watch. If you watch a soccer match, the commercial is on the field, on the side boards, behind the goal. You get more advertisement watching the game than skipping past commercials. IMO, it boils down the youth having more opportunity to become talented professionals.
ok really, enough with all this goal per minute commercial time emasculating nonsense. truth of the matter is we all enjoy things we are good at doing. baseball, basketball, football, they're all dominated by american players or a professional league in the united states. we like it when the winner of the nba final is called the world champions. americans are just not good at soccer. so the majority of the sports fans won't enjoy watching a mediocre league (mls) and the national team never amounting to anything in the world cup.
I'd say I'm not really a fan just because I have enough sports to care about and I'm just not motivated enough to follow another one, much less figure all the rules out.
With me following MLB, college basketball and football, and F1, I'd just like to do other things with my time. Maybe play some sports, read, watch TV or movies, eat, drink, socialize with friends. Sure some of those overlap but still, there's just too many things going on.
anim8r, I know what you are saying is true, But, TV gets no revenue from the advertisements around the pitch, that goes to the home team. Therefore the Networks are reluctant to show soccer as they only get an opportunity before the game, then 45 minutes later at halftime and at the end of a game to show commercials.
Whether you like it or not TV still rules the media source for 85% of Americans, if Soccer is not shown on TV regularly, kids won't see enough of it and kids won't talk about it in school. If they're not talking about it school it won't be seen as cool. They will be unaware of the huge professional side to soccer, in a similar way that they are fully aware of the rock star lifestyles of NFL, NBA and MLB players.
The foundation is there, mass media coverage is the next step to making it a hugely popular sport.
ESPN is the only network that is starting to make a push for soccer, even the presenters om sportsnight have stopped making jokes about soccer (because of company policy, no doubt).
This may come at the expense of another sport, baseball, soccer is already making big inroads into baseballs little league with more kids opting for soccer instead.
Baseball is a multimillion dollar industry and it will not give up it's mantle as "America's national pastime" so easily.
So once again Mass media is needed, not only for coverage to promote soccer, but also for the money it puts into soccer.
When the networks feel they can make money out of soccer, then the Youth academies will start to flourish as the Networks will give money to MLS clubs, and the clubs will develop their farm systems, and kids may start buying soccer cards and a whole new era of American sports will be born......
It all comes down to MONEY!!!!
Euh... it's not a only european sport... it's the FIRST sport in all country's of south american continent(Argentine, Brésil,etc), it's the FIRST sport in all Africa ! Except USA for all the world it's the FIRST SPORT !
Why are soccer fans and the one world elites that push this so-called "sport" so ignorant to constantly make the statement that its the "dominant sport everywhere except in the US." That's simply not true.
Its not the dominant sport in many parts of Europe, much of the Carribean, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and especially among the billion plus population in South Asia, as well as in several other countries/regions. Its not the "US vs. the World and the World can't be wrong." Learn your facts.
Soccer (Association football) also has no right to claim the term "football" exclusively for itself simply because it might involve use of the feet a little more than other types of football. American and Canadian football, rugby union, rugby league, Australian Rules, and Gaelic football all descend from the same early forms of football from which soccer also originated, roughly at the same time. Medieval football was called "football" because it was played on foot not on horseback. All modern football codes involve kicking of the ball to some degree and reward points for kicked goals ("field goal" mean anything to anyone?).
If anything its the pro-soccer crowd that is ignorant of facts and imperialistic by wanting to impose its "world sport" on every culture.
Besides that its BOOOORING as hell to watch. It should just go away.
am writing from mexico here the soccer is like religion but am hate it i like so much baseball the soccer is popular because every people can play that sport just need feets is not inteligent sport is gay sport
I. @ Anonymous [March 8] "Its not the dominant sport in many parts of Europe"... Many may be, but they have to be very small parts because I live in Europe, I travel a lot and still I don't know those parts.
II. Football can be the name of a sport involving a ball played 99% of the time with the feets? And why the Gridiron is nicknamed Footbal in the U.S.? Probably because Handball is already taken :))
III. However, despite the dominant religion status in UK, the popularity of "soccer" isn't very high in any of the colonies of the British Empire (including U.S.). And it's not just ironic or coincidental i think.
IV. According to WikiAnswers in billions of fans:
1.Football 3,5
2.Cricket 2-3
3.Field hockey 2.2
4.Tennis:1
5.Volleyball: 0.9
6.Table tennis: 0.9
7.Baseball: 0.5
8.Golf: 0.4
9.Gridiron: 0.4
10.Basketball: <0,4
So,sportwise U.S. is smaller than the World :)
V. There is not a MAIN reason for the unpopularity of soccer in U.S. but a sum of smaller reasons: the reason explained in the post and reexplained better in comments by B-rian, the presence in the youth culture, traditions and old habits in consuming sports in U.S., the performance of players and teams, and the yet-to-be-invented-efficient-soccer-adapted-advertisement-scheme and so on.
You need a big team of experts (d'oh!) in sports, sociology, psychology, media, entertainment, advertising etc... to figure out how to succesfully promote soccer in the future. And ideas like in the post we comment here are just a signal for the complexity of this operation.
Or, go and ask Apple, Google and Facebook to rise soccer as the new major sport in the U.S. In less than a year you will change its name in footbal and the rest of the world will look at you more friendly :)
This had to be the dumbest thing I have read EVER. And I have read tons of YouTube comments by 12 year olds LOL.
The reason why americans HATE soccer is simple. Who loses if soccer becomes popular in the US? ESPN, FOX sports and all those sport channels because they lose advertisement revenue since soccer does not generate a lot of ad revenue.
ESPN and FOX sports constantly feed negative stereotypes to Americans in a massive scale. Just listen to what sport commentators have to say about the sport.
I'm an American who does find soccer watchable. But it's not my favorite by far. I'd much rather watch a good game of Aussie Rules Footy. :) Like soccer, the players are not tall as antenna towers or built like a tank. Aussie Rules footy is a rough sport, however, like rugby. But the roughness adds to the fun of watching it. I wouldn't be surprised if the Grand Final champs drink it up in the local pub after winning. (Note: the "grand final" is the Aussie "superbowl")
Great blog, great post. You know you're onto something when right away, several people angrily denounce it as dumb or "hack-" witten. My question is this: In these World Cup days, why do so many Americans afford themselves the luxury of thinking that when they loudly deride soccer, that they are being courageous or somehow swmming upstream? I don't know what crowds they have been hanging around where soccer is "forced down (their) throats," but from where I sit, there is NOTHING more fashionable than dissing soccer.
Go ahead, bray about what an American you are because you hate a European sport. Just don't trip as you sashay down that runway. When you get to the end, strike your pose - "I'd rather watch paint dry!" -- maybe a little hand on the hip -- and strut back behind the curtain like the good little sissie-boys you are.
I'm going to have to agree, out of personal experience, with the anonymous blogger that said, "What a load of crap blog post this is. The reason soccer hasn't caught on is because it is not yet part of the youth culture. Sure many youth play soccer and have for years, but it is not part of the social live in America."
Actually, I don't agree that the blog is a load of crap even though it's easy to get sensitive and defensive about all this shit that gets us so riled up.
I'm an American and I grew up in Spain and when I was a kid, I played soccer, everyone played soccer, even other little girls my same age played soccer. I sucked at it at first and then got better after a while and eventually got pretty good. It's like anything else you do... do it for long enough and eventually you find yourself trying to help other people around you getting better at it too. But if you didn't grow up playing it, if you didn't find yourself repeatedly as a child kicking a ball (any ball not just a soccer ball) against a wall with an imaginary goal market out with two jackets on the ground marking the imaginary goalposts... and when your ball bounced so hard off a wall that it went spinning down the street and is rescued by an old man around 62 years old dribbling it like a real cigar smoking, whiskey sipping mofo who kindly passes it back to you after having had his fun with it and showing you what an 8 year old prick you are for never being that good yet... Well, if that wasn't a regular part of your childhood, then you probably didn't spend much time with other kids who were swept out of their apartments by their moms with a broom yelling,"get out, go to the street!"
Hmmmm... maybe that's why Americans aren't so good at soccer, because when are kids are being a real pain in the ass and we feel like saying, "get the hell out of here you little donkey!", instead we try to comfort and hypnotize the little beasts with Disney and cocacola. If we kicked them out to the street once in a while, they'd probably end up playing soccer a lot more like a whole lot of other kids around the world.
So how is baseball "physical"?
after i read the part where the author said, "The Players Aren't Tough Enough"
does the author even know what requires to be a soccer player? let me bet with you, put a professional american football guy, baseball, basketball in the soccer field and see if they can last the endurance and energy test. on average a soccer player run between 7-10miles each game. let along the do resistance training, weight training and many more. whereas football guys are about strength. and the runners about speed. however, soccer players are trained in everything, whether, it is strength, stamina, endurance, speed, and explosive energy. thats excluding the skills needed to be soccer a player.
to the author, do not open your mouth as big as your head if you cannot do your own research
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