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Learning to love soccer
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 Generalizations
are risky, but here's one that's fairly safe: sports fans in the
United States aren't that into soccer.
A few weeks ago, I happened to overhear a couple of local sports
types discussing soccer. One of them, a die-hard football guy, made
this statement: “If I'm gonna run all the way down the field,
I wanna be able to hit somebody once I get there.”
That's a pretty good one. And with all due sympathy and respect,
that's also a perfect snapshot of how hard it is for the red, white
and blue-blooded sports fan to relate to the game that the rest
of the world, for some strange reason, calls football.
When I entered the field of sports journalism three years ago,
I brought with me the typical layman's knowledge of sports: football,
baseball and basketball. And, thanks to some years spent in Boston,
hockey. Soccer, like volleyball and track, was one of those curious
activities that I realized I'd better learn about quickly in order
to do my job.
The only reason I share the above is to relay the following: it
is possible for a soccer newbie to become a soccer fan. Three years
later, I am a convert to the gospel of “goooooal.” Not
only have I learned about the game, I've learned to love it.
In the interest of fairness to those who object to soccer on principle,
let's address the most common complaints one hears about soccer.
Objection: There's not enough scoring.
True, at the highest level of soccer, plenty of games end 1-0.
However, at the youth level, such as we have here in Guymon, scoring
tends to be higher. Case in point: in the Guymon High boys' most
recent game, the Tigers won 8-2.
If you accept, for the sake of argument, that an average football
score is something like 24-17, that's four scores for the winners
and three scores for the losers, not counting extra points. In big-league
baseball, going by earned run averages, the average final score
is something like 5-4 or 4-3. Do you see where this is going? The
low-scoring aspect of soccer shouldn't be a barrier to fan appreciation.
If you must bring basketball into it, yes, soccer can't compete
with basketball in terms of scoring frequency. That's because while
goaltending is illegal in basketball, in soccer it's one of the
positions on the field. Next item.
Objection: Soccer has ties. Playing a game without determining
a winner is un-American.
Well, okay. Some folks just aren't going to accept a game that
ends in a tie, and no amount of rationalization or explanation will
change that.
Still, I contend that there's something admirably fair about calling
a game a tie when both teams have played equally well.
Even football, the kind played with helmets, has ties, although
rule changes in recent decades have made ties less common. But legends
such as Jim Thorpe, Knute Rockne and Red Grange played during the
formative years of football, when ties were commonplace.
Will we scoff at these pioneers of the gridiron, who played with
leather helmets, no facemasks and shoulder pads flimsy as CD cases?
Do we dare call them un-American because some of their games ended
in ties? I thought not.
And for the record, most soccer leagues these days use either overtime
periods or shoot-outs to determine winners if the game is tied at
the end of regulation. Next item.
Objection: Soccer has violent fans.
Out of all the complaints regarding soccer, this one holds the
least water. Yes, soccer has had problems with off-field violence,
particularly in England, where soccer fans are known as football
supporters (don't laugh).
However, incidents of soccer violence are rare, even in England.
Here in the United States, we receive no coverage of English soccer
except for sensationalized reports of riots, which happen every
few years or so. Considering how many thousands of soccer games
come and go in peace, it's hardly fair to dismiss the entire sport
on that basis.
We don't appreciate the major media's sensationalistic approach
to covering politics or Hollywood. Why should we gullibly accept
the sensationalized version of soccer as accurate?
Consider also the culture of Latin American soccer, which is both
deeply passionate and overwhelmingly peaceful.
Last year, I had the privilege of attending a few Mexican soccer
games at Guadalajara's fabulous Estadio Jalisco, a colossal arena
that dwarfs any stadium in the United States. The fans were spirited
and loud. I saw painted faces and massive, colorful flags. I heard
songs and chants, and yes, a few of the words stepped outside the
boundaries of a gentleman's Castilian.
But nowhere could I observe even a hint of violence or intimidation.
Fans of opposing teams traded good-natured barbs, but there was
no cause for discomfort. In keeping with the Mexican respect for
the family, all aspects of the event were safe for women and children,
who, when combined, comprised the majority of fans in attendance.
So as for claims that soccer somehow leads to violence, I can assert
from personal experience that we need to abandon that misconception.
Having debunked three anti-soccer myths, here are three reasons
to love the game.
Reason: Soccer is fast.
Everything in soccer is done, literally, on the run. Winning soccer
requires effective passing. In football, the quarterback drops back
in the pocket to pass. Basketball point guards pause near mid-court
to set up the play. In soccer, if a ball-handler stops to pass,
he'll soon be watching his opponent move the ball the other way.
Passing is done on the fly, or not at all.
Furthermore, soccer, like hockey, doesn't stop the clock for substitutions.
Coaches must juggle their lineups at their own risk.
Reason: Soccer is complicated.
Wait, isn't this an excuse to find soccer confusing? On the contrary.
Any sport worth the name has its subtleties. Baseball fans pride
themselves on being able to tell a fastball from a breaking pitch
or knowing the reason behind shifts in the infield. Similarly, soccer
rewards those who would learn about it. Next time you're watching
soccer, don't just look at the ball. See the players, watch where
they go, observe what the offenses are trying to do and how the
defenses try to stop it. Like basketball, it's all about position,
movement and execution.
Reason: The kids love it.
“Time changes everything,” as Bob Wills once sang.
The cultural changing of the guard is an inevitable dynamic, whether
in sports or anything else. Resisting cultural shifts is as useless
as spitting into the wind, or something like that.
The fact is that the younger generation has grown up with soccer
in a way that us grown-ups haven't. Why not share in their fun?
Liking soccer doesn't mean loving the old sports we grew up on
any less. For those of us who came of age back in the day, no soccer
player will ever replace Len Dawson or Roger Staubach in our pantheon
of idols. No soccer player will ever stand as tall as Bird or Magic,
or assume the mythic proportions of Ted Williams or Joe DiMaggio.
That's fine. Appreciating soccer doesn't mean letting go of the
games that made us sports fans in the first place. It's just another
way to enjoy a sunny afternoon at the Tiger Pit.
http://www.gdherald.com/articles/2006/04/11/sports/sports2.txt
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