More than just a game.

What makes a particular sport great? What makes one sport better than another? Living in America and being a soccer fan is not the easiest thing. To start off, I cannot refer to the sport as Football because that would confuse the locals to assume that I am referring to American Football ( Helmets, padded clothes and an oblong ball). Then there are the inevitable comparisons with American sports like baseball, basketball and American Football. I have sat through many a discussion where I have been informed that watching a sport where nothing seems to be happening for long periods of time, with the final result being a tie, does not make for interesting viewing.

Fans of different sports can argue for hours on the virtues of their chosen sport and it is a little pointless trying to convert a die-hard Yankees fan to understand the fluid beauty of soccer. Each game has its nuances that can only be understood after being a fan for a certain length of time. Having said that, there is a reason why only soccer can claim to be a real global sport. It's the only sport that has been played between nations all over the world. Baseball, Cricket, Golf, Tennis.....take your pick. None of these sports have a history of international competition that have involved more than a handful of countries. Every great sport has a human angle, a back story, a sub-plot which makes the actual game being played a lot more that just a contest between two teams. The Yankees-Red Sox rivalry goes back a long way and that's what makes the games between these two teams a lot more interesting that the others. Now imagine a sub-plot that involves two nations!! This history of international competition allows fans from around the world to be part of a shared experience.

Argentina met England in a World Cup quarter final match during the '86 world cup. For the uninitiated this would looked like any other match but it was far from that. Just 4 years earlier the two countries had gone to war over the Falkland Islands and the match was an opportunity for Argentina to collectively reclaim their dignity.

In 1966 England met Germany in a world cup final. It had been just 20 years since WWII had ended and as you can imagine this was more than just another soccer match.
Perpetually feuding nations in Africa clash on the soccer field ever so often and it is a known fact that rebel forces declare an unofficial cease fire during these matches.

In the 2002 world cup Senegal ( a former french colony) beat France to finally step out of the shadows of its colonizer.

A sport is nothing without its history and no sport has a richer history than soccer. In a way I am glad that America does not "get" soccer. I like the fact that there is still a sport in the world that has not been re-imagined and tinkered with so that it can look better on TV. I am glad that soccer does not have 50 time-outs to accommodate commercial breaks. For soccer to become big in America it will have to change. It will have to morph into something else that can be packaged and sold to a public that is used to walking out between innings to buy a hot dog.

So with the world cup just round the corner, I love the fact that this "little" sporting event is flying below the radar in America. I do not want to expend any more energy trying to explain the game or it's worldwide appeal to a Raiders fan on his way to a tailgate party.

You live in your world and I will live in mine.