I hope not.
This is not because I feel that soccer is a threat to our nation or patently "un-American", as Ann Coulter suggested in her recent, horrible, misguided column (I'll deal with her later). It is merely for the selfish reason that I have something that is, essentially, mine.
Being a soccer fan in this country has long given you a special bond with anyone else who is a fan. To find someone who knows who Lionel Messi and Jose Mourinho are, to find someone who understands relegation and the UEFA Champions League structure; it's something close to being in a foreign land and finding someone in the market square who grew up in your home town. You have common reference points and backgrounds and you're able to go into a local bar and talk about those things over a beer. They speak your language. It's refreshing.
My family speaks that language. My boss at work speaks that language. A few other friends speak it as well. I can say "did you see that United crashed out of the Champions League" and they get it, instantly, what that means and how significant it is. With anyone else you have to explain who United are, what the Champions League is, how you get in, how it's structured. It's like saying to someone "Ich habe Kartoffeln in die Hose!" and having to teach the person to speak German so that they understand a rather simple (though in this case baffling and intriguing) proposition.
So it's kind of a niche. It's a comfortable little world.
This World Cup has shown me what it would be like if this nation became a soccer nation. Our resident Cleveland Browns fan has gone out and purchased many dollars worth of Team USA gear. I've had to listen to Mike and Mike muddle their way through the tie breaks for the group stage and complain about how they aren't fair. I've seen the hipsters running amok in what once was a quiet taverns, wrapped in the old red white and blue, screaming at the TV every time the ball touches the penalty box, like Gus Johnson but more annoying because it's like Gus Johnson with waxed mustachios and bare arms and he's right there. Next to you.
I don't like it. Not any of it. I've got this nice, little thing, it's mine. Go away. Find your own thing.
But even I have to admit that if soccer did gain a greater "foothold" in this country (though I would argue that it has long had more than a foothold) it may not be the end of the world after all. Soccer American style doesn't have some of the negative overtones that soccer in Europe has. As an example: here an offensive lineman gets kicked off the Miami Dolphins for bullying a fellow team-mate and saying some very bad things; There entire ultra-fan clubs are linked to neo-nazi thought and openly chant very bad things during the matches, even at their own players. Hell, one ultra-fan club of Red Star Belgrade turned itself into a paramilitary unit during the Yugoslavian wars and they did some very, very bad things.
We are a long way from the Balkan Wars of the early 90's, and FIFA and UEFA have their anti-racism campaigns and the like, but it doesn't sit well when fans are tossing bananas on the field and chanting racist slurs. It is a huge problem, and it only seems to be getting worse. American soccer, for all the history of racial tension in this nation, doesn't have that. It's fans are inclusive rather than exclusive, welcoming one and all, cheering loudly for any man or woman of any race that wears the shirt.
It seems that, perhaps, my exclusivity mirrors my European counterparts rather well. Plus, if I have to be bothered in the bar during the match, I'd rather sit next to a smelly hipster than an uncontrollable racist. I'd take that trade any day.
So, there you have it, another well thought out, well reasoned blog post examining two sides of the issue in a rather muddled and rational way. And I wonder why this blog never gains traction.
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