Soccer in the USA

In an Op-Ed article in USA Today (14 June 2006), William R. Mattox, Jr. suggests that rules for scoring soccer (football to every non-American) should be changed and become more like those in basketball so that there is a lot of points each team can make rather than winning the game 1-0 or tying it at 0-0, for example. He feels that the game is boring to watch because of low or no score in a 50-minute game.

I think Mr. Mattox's observation is correct. While soccer may be the most watched game in the world, only about a tenth of us ever want to sit and watch this scoreless spectacle. Unless we have a game where the score is 84-65, with a goal every minute, we will not spend our precious time with watching tricks those payers can do with their feet.

Essentially, it boils down to our national personality, if you will. We are hard working, with little time for recreation (that's why cricket never caught on here - nobody has 5 days for a test match or even one whole day for an ODI). Moreover, we are more for individual accomplishment rather than a team play (that's why baseball is the national sport).

In addition, we see things black and white more than we appreciate the intervening shades of gray. And the reward has to be immediate. How can we tell who is the stronger team if twenty players are running around with the ball without depositing it into either goal? There has to be an end-point, which is a goal. A goal (or point) is the reward for good play (or work). Without that, it becomes too nuanced for us to follow. Only Europeans, and the rest of the world, have patience for this kind of play.

We also like the play to be rough. That'’s why Football is so popular because we have strong and macho players who don'’t have a second thought about wringing the other guy'’s neck. Even though there's a whistle a minute when the play is stopped, the points are counted and we can easily see who is up throughout the game. A friend of mine thinks that had it not been for organizations like the ACLU, gladiators would have been the most highly paid and watched athletes in the country.

Finally, good has to triumph over evil. Unless we have a definitive proof that one side has an upper hand, by the points scored, we will not like to watch that game. We do not have enough time, patience or attention span to sit through a pointless (pun intended) game. If we want to appreciate the 'art', we will visit a gallery.