Brain Lemon

As I write this, the World Cup is just beginning, and soccer fans both here and abroad are in heaven.  And as even American sports media obsesses over this event, it is impossible to avoid, bringing out a dislike for soccer that is almost as passionate.  For in America, where soccer has been promoted for decades, the sport remains quite unpopular.  It helps a little bit to try and understand American positions on soccer.

First of all, it does well to reiterate the level of effort that has gone into trying to make soccer popular in the US.  Many people have devoted great time and money into this goal.  For as long as I can remember, sports and news media have attempted to drill into American brains how popular the sport is worldwide, how it is the “authentic” version of “football,” how all the cool countries in Europe dig it.  We have been taught how uncultured we all are for not appreciating the strategy and beauty of the game.  In short, there has been a lot of work put into convincing Americans to like soccer, up to and including the establishment of a professional league in the States.

And yet despite this, the game’s popularity is very limited here.  In fact, perhaps the effort itself may have caused part of this.  Americans can be a stubborn people and we don’t like being told what to like.  Especially when we are told that international and Europeans like it.  Call it silly, but Americans have a certain pride about them and a resistance to follow world opinion.  Many Americans have a gut distrust of the UN, for example, and mocked John Kerry when he spoke in 2004 about following their lead.

Beyond this, though, the reasons for soccer’s unpopularity extend beyond this.  The fact is, soccer is just a really boring sport.  It is played on a gigantic field, meaning it takes a long time for plays to develop.  It is very low scoring, with 90+ minute games often ending with just a couple goals scored.  Fair or not, the players are viewed as very prone to diving and being dramatic, which I think rubs Americans the wrong way.  It doesn’t help that our teams are largely made fun of even by natives (with the notable exception of the women’s teams).  In the end, most Americans have very little reason to follow soccer.

All of these factors combine to form the nearly intransigent distaste for association football.   I really can’t see the game ever becoming popular in the States.  We resent being told we have to like it, and when we do watch it, we are bored.  So what possible chance does the game have?  Especially when American football is so popular, baseball (a true American game) remains big, and other sports take the rest of our time up.  I, for one, have no interest in it, and I think many sports fans are the same.  So could we stop trying to force it on us?