We are a funny country when it comes to sports.  We love our baseball and football, enjoy basketball and certainly the cities that have NHL franchises follow hockey with a passion.  We’ll watch tennis, golf and turn out in huge numbers to watch NASCAR.

And then there’s soccer.

We don’t love soccer. We don’t even seem to enjoy it much. For that matter, although most every community in America has soccer in one form or another, we’re hard-pressed to even watch it unless our kids are playing.  And that’s truly a shame.

Over the years I was a classic soccer holdout.  The games – or do we call them matches – have precious little scoring, rules that can be confusing and more ties than a fine men’s store.  More often than not, the only time I paid attention to the sport was because of a riot at some unknown stadium with teams I’d never heard of in Europe or South America.  That was the extent of my “interest” in the sport.

And to view soccer in that manner was tantamount to saying the only thing noteworthy in hockey was fighting.  It was a shallow view of a sport that deserved much more attention than I had given it.

And so it was the World Cup 2010 commenced in South Africa.  While I didn’t look forward to it with the same fervor as the Olympics or the recent Stanley Cup Finals, I was more than a little geared up to watch the United States compete on the world stage. 

The U.S. team wasn’t picked by any analyst anywhere in the world to advance too deep into the tournament but it didn’t matter to me.  If the players are wearing USA on their uniforms, count me in as a passionate viewer.

I watch soccer as often as I watch luge, ski jumping or track and field.  And like those other sports, no sooner do I watch a soccer match do I find myself wondering why I’ve not tuned in more often. 

The lack of scoring does not translate into a lack of skill or excitement.  I’ve watched more than a few baseball games over the years that went on for more than four hours with the most exciting moment being a fan making a great catch on a foul ball.

But what I find most surprising are the people who not only don’t like the sport, but seem to be on a personal quest to rip it publicly as often as possible.

On my radio program, I’ve had people call and hold on for more than a few minutes simply to ask “which is more exciting, soccer or watching grass grow?”  I would argue watching grass grow is underrated.

So why the vitriol from people who don’t like soccer?  Why do so many Americans go out of their way to bash the sport?  If you don’t like it, don’t watch it.  I don’t like oatmeal so I don’t eat it.  I don’t go door-to-door in my neighborhood ripping someone because that’s his breakfast of choice.

I’ve received emails from listeners who act like there’s al-Qaeda… and then there’s soccer.  The passionate indifference and overall dislike of the sport borders on irrational.

There’s a reason the rest of the world loves this sport – almost lives for this sport – and it has nothing to do with the shortsighted reasoning of too many Americans saying things like “it’s all they’ve got.”  Countries like England, Germany, Italy and Brazil have much more than soccer… or, futbol.  They “get it.”  They understand the beauty and intensity of soccer goes well beyond the goals that are scored… or not scored.

It took decades for countries around the world to learn and appreciate basketball.  But they get it now and when you look at European and South American arenas, they’re packed to the rafters to watch the sport that began, and was perfected, here in the United States.  Rather than bemoan a sport that won’t ever replace soccer as the favorite on those continents, they’ve embraced it.

Meanwhile here in America, far too many sports fans spend their time quibbling over why the sport isn’t worth their time… and the time of others who enjoy it.  How about taking the oatmeal approach:  If you don’t like it, move on.  Consider having a waffle.

photo credit: mikkelz