A Last Word on Futbol

No, not the last word. I'm not that presumptious.

With the end of the 2006 World Cup (vai Italia!), message boards across the US are pretty much done with talking about soccer. As could be expected, many in the US deride the sport, mock it, and remain as partisan and chauvinistic as they do when they talk politics.

I don't see the glorious and fulfilling future promised me, nor does it leave me much hope for humanity.

For those who complain about the lack of scoring, or of ties, I sob. One of the neat things about soccer is that it isn't easy to score. I know Americans like that more than just about anything, but I like things that are hard. Hell, in basketball you can score a couple times every minute, so that can't be hard at all. American football has five to ten scores each game, and baseball isn't all that far behind. Used to be there were pitcher duals, but those went away when the American League came up with the Designated Hitter. Between that and aluminum bats, I'm surprised the sport, long my favorite, still survives at all.

The other knock against soccer is all the diving, writhing athletes. Yeah, it bugs me, too, but isn't any worse than basketball's final two minutes of intentional fouling nor football's use of intentional grounding. If you can overlook those, you can overlook soccer's acting.

I love the World Cup. If that makes me less a man, or less an American, I admit guilt.