My Take on why The Beautiful Game is not accepted in Good Ol' USA

Hello All (well probably just Marco),
I'm going to get on my soapbox and tell everyone my opionions on why soccer (The Beautiful Game) has not succeeded in the USA. My first statement will not be an opinion but a question. How the hell is soccer not more popular in this country?? It is the most played sport for children in the USA and its the most played sport in the world. As stated before in this blog, the main reason is money. Once these kids that grew up playing soccer get to their teens and they see NBA teenagers, NFL and MLB players making millions upon millions they quickly change their minds. And money is what is ruining sports today. But thats another subject for another day.

And thats another problem. This country is too saturated with too many sports. Hate to say it but I'm kind of glad hockey isn't around anymore (especially after they took our beloved Hartford Whalers from us). Maybe soccer can fill that void left by hockey. Dont get me wrong. I follow just about every sport there is and I enjoy trying to play as many as a I can (or at least used to) but soccer by far is a superior sport to them all. I have this argument all the time with hard-heading Americans. They think that soccer players are a bunch of pansies that fall down every time they get touched. Yes, lately it seems that more players are taking dives but I guess that is in the same strategy as a basketball player standing under the hoop and flopping for a charge.

Anyways back to my point. Soccer is one of very few sports where they're continuously in motion, running for 90 mins. Baseball you stop every half inning, football you stop after ever play, basketball has TV timeouts every 4 mins. To be a soccer player you have to be a true athelete. Also, every player on the field has to be on the same page. In soccer you need 11 quarterbacks out there not just one. You're playing on the fly, there are no set plays (except for dead ball situations) Soccer is as mental as it is physical. I could go on and on about the great attributes of this game.

Another big reason soccer hasn't made it here is that America is obsessed with the long ball. Everyone wants big scores. No one can appreciate the beauty and suspense of a 1-0 game or a 0-0 tie.

I'm glad to see things like the ChampionWorld Series of Soccer showcasing the world's best teams. More things like this need to happen. I think the USA needs to promote and advertise more. But of course that means more money and since we already have 3 major sports leagues, the NHL if it ever comes back, NASCAR (which I dont consider a sport) Let me go on a tangent here. So millions of rednecks, er, I mean people, would rather watch a bunch of cars go in a circle than watch a true sport like soccer. Thats why the rest of the world laughs at us. I just dont get it. I hope things change in the near future and we find some more Freddy Adus to take US soccer to a whole new level and we can have a league here like Italy or England or Spain.