JAG’s Sports Blog

Soccer is one of those sports that I can take or leave when it comes to watching sports. I’m a hardcore sports fan though and kind of view myself as Mikey in the old Life cereal commercial where his brother says “Give it to Mikey, he’ll eat anything.” This World Cup has me eating anything and actually enjoying it. The question is what has changed my mind and how long will it last?

I have found the 2006 World Cup to be very intriguing, full of suspense to date and many storylines just like every other sport. Referees have decided to be the story in this tournament just like in other sports and that’s been a controversy. I just got done watching Switzerland playing Togo and the referees went blind with an obvious foul as the Swiss player stuck his leg out as far as he could to trip the Togo player and yet no call. In the USA versus Italy match Saturday, three players between both teams were red carded and had to leave the game making it a 9 versus 10 match. So not even calling a foul in the Switzerland/Togo match becomes quite a head scratcher. Yellow cards and red cards has become the norm for this tournament and the World Cup officials say they are glad about this issue as this is how they’re supposed to call it that way.

The scores of the games and winners and losers is probably what has drawn the most interest from the casual fan the most though. The USA is supposed to have what some say is their best team ever, yet they lost to the Czech Republic 3-0 in what wasn’t even a remotely close match. It looked like the Americans were ready to go home after just visiting Germany for a holiday until Ghana turned everything upside down. Ghana played one of the most beautiful matches I’ve ever seen in soccer and what made me a true fan as they defeated the Czechs 2-0. The quick passing was absolutely fantastic and made me think of a team like the Phoenix Suns that move the ball up the court with lightning speed. Ghana hadn’t beaten a team from Europe since 1964 and had never scored a goal in World Cup play. How exciting is that to break a streak against the #2 team in the world?

Watching Trinidad and Tobago play the heavily favored Sweden team to a tie was very exciting to watch. 0-0 tie games aren’t supposed to be interesting, but I guess I was more into seeing if Trinidad and Tobago wasn’t going to lose more than could they win. Australia had never been to a World Cup before and somehow pulled off a big win in their first match against Japan 3-1. Argentina is making the tournament look like a youth soccer league with all their scoring to date.

They beat Cote d’Ivoire (Africa) 2-1 and followed it up by beating Serbia and Montenegro 6-0. The favored Brazil team is still on target as they’ve advanced the second round of the World cup for the 10^th straight year. They look like they can be beat, but never bet against Brazil until someone beats them. England is looking decently good and France is looking like a team that’s afraid to lose rather than trying to win games. That’s the kind of play that makes non-soccer fans, non-fans.

The next matches in several of the groups are going to be exciting because someone is going home for sure. The United States actually still has a chance to advance after the Ghana win over the Czechs. Italy is ahead with 4 points, the Czechs and Ghana have 3 and the USA has only 1. If the USA wins and Italy beats the Czech Republic, the USA is in. That’s not beyond possibility, so the team had better come in ready to play. There’s other matches being played that will have a bearing on who advances, but for now, it’s all about can the United States recover and advance.

I think a point I left out on what has attracted me to the World Cup is what it means to the world. I listen to Jim Rome on his radio show and he can literally go on for 3 hours on how stupid soccer is and practically the worst sport ever made and boring. His callers join in and make up their best jokes as to why it’s so bad and I have to shake my head because I somewhat used to agree with them, but not to the extent he goes on. Watching the cup now has made me sit down to try and understand the rules first and foremost so I can figure out what is going on and why.

Back to the World Cup and what it means to the world. The Ivory Coast actually stopped their civil war to actually watch their team play in the World Cup. They STOPPED A WAR TO WATCH A SOCCER TOURNAMENT!! Entire countries shut down on the day of games whether it’s the World Cup or their top division games. The way we view NFL or even college games in a country or college towns, countries around the world view soccer (football). I have to respect the feeling and passion that countries have for soccer and realize that just because soccer in the United States is well below the sports radar, doesn’t mean it’s not an important sport when the rest of the world views it as the most important sport in the world. Jim Rome not liking soccer doesn’t make it a dumb sport. Rome played tennis and not many Americans like it either.

What could make me forget about soccer again after the cup is over is what’s always made soccer not exciting for Americans. Soccer is inherently a defensive game and that’s just not how Americans like their sports. I know I’ll catch heat for this but I hate the off-sides rule and will never understand it or its purpose no matter how much you explain it to me or compare it to American football. Off-sides in soccer is basically when the offensive player tries to take off behind the defense before the ball is kicked. Someone tried to explain it’s just like American football where every player has to be on the same side of the ball until it’s hiked. I could accept that explanation except for the fact that soccer is non-stop and why should you have to basically stand next to your guy and then outrun him to get the ball. The field is 100+ yards and if you have 11 players and I have 11 players, let them go. If there were no off-sides rule I really believe you would see at least or should see a minimum of at least 6 goals a game. When I watch soccer now, I’m happy and doing cartwheels if I see 3 goals in a game. It’s the defenses responsibility to play their man, not the offense to play the defense.

The complaint you always hear from Americans about soccer is all the flopping every time a guy is tackled. I totally agree with that, but look at the NBA and tell me that every player on the court isn’t flopping and trying to get calls. When a guy looks like he was just shot and may not live and suddenly waves off the stretcher and starts running again, it’s not very convincing for the game. It makes it look like I guess I didn’t get the call so I’d better start playing again. The referees are cracking down more on flopping, so that is a good thing. I give these guys credit though because what sports lets their guys make sliding tackles with players running at full speed. In football, a penalty advances the ball forward where in soccer, you are responsible for advancing the ball on your own.

I think until the United States seriously becomes a threat in soccer, there will be no hardcore interest. The USA is ranked #5 in the world, but hasn’t really defeated anyone in Europe and 1-1 ties against Italy and 2-1 losses against Brazil’s second team are considered big moral victories. Moral victories is not what the US is about. When you look at how we’re now getting served by other countries in baseball and basketball, moral victories just speaks to how bad and fundamentally unsound we’ve become in sports. When the US becomes a true power and expects to win big matches, fans will follow. Until then, soccer will be a game played by young kids in youth leagues for exercise.

I can’t honestly tell you that I will become a fan of the MSL (American Soccer League), but I do know that I now have a better appreciation of what the world sees in the game of world football. It has its good aspects and some bad, but just because Americans don’t generally like soccer, doesn’t mean everyone else is wrong. If I can be like Mikey and eat anything, I just might keep watching it and get to totally understand it and figure out why billions of people around the world are so fanatical about the game. I’m a believer in what soccer can be as a sport and how enjoyable it is when something is on the line.

By the way, I think that Adidas commercial with some of the players that wear their cleats is absolutely brilliant. I think every American kids would love the chance to have Dwyane Wade, Shaq, Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan join in their basketball game and you being the leader as to how the game will be played and who will play. It was a playground mentality where they were choosing players for each side.