or, Where's the Scoring? A Response
or, Goals Are Overrated
or, The American Double Standard
or, If You Score It, They Will (Supposedly) Come
You know that old argument that soccer doesn't appeal to Americans because there isn't enough scoring? Well, I'm sure you don't need me to tell you that it's crap; but just in case there are a few non-soccer people who might wander by here accidentally, or if you happen to need a few responses the next time a soccer-hating (or dismissing) friend of yours comments that the game is "boring", I thought I would lay out a few of my thoughts on the matter.
The impetus for this post was Fulham and Arsenal's entertaining 0-0 draw yesterday, an end-to-end match filled with chances for both sides. Despite the lack of goals, the game never failed to engage me. After checking with a few knowledgeable parties (hi Twitter friends!) just to be sure that I wasn't the only one who found it enjoyable, the thought hit me: this match is the perfect example of why the "not enough scoring" argument is less viable than one might think.
Now, as a soccer junkie, I'm admittedly biased. While the game held enormous entertainment value for me, perhaps I'm jumping to conclusions by saying that Americans are shortsighted in their position on scoring in soccer. Let's take a step back and look at the sports that Americans hold most dear: baseball and American football.
Baseball glorifies the pitcher's duel, the shutout, and the no-hitter. While home runs are seen as crowd-pleasers, tradition loves "small ball", sacrificing, and hitting behind the runner. One hundred forty plus years of history have made baseball an American institution; hence, for the Americans indoctrinated with the sport, the total scoring in a game is independent of its entertainment value, something as true today as it was during the Dead Ball Era, or the pitching dominated 60's. Even today, "Web Gems" are a celebrated part of every game, with today's modern athletes making defensive plays that amaze fans every night. Home runs, and scoring overall, has trended downward in recent years thanks to the fallout from the steroids scandals still affecting the game, yet attendances and television ratings have gone up, and revenues are higher than ever before. Runs scored matter less to fans than fantastic performances or victories by their favorite team.
Football glorifies the impenetrable defense, the tough-as-nails linebacker, and the defensive struggle. While high-octane offense is a crowd-pleaser, tradition loves ball-control, time-of-possession, and winning the field-position battle. Ninety years of history have made football the foremost American passion; hence, for Americans indoctrinated with the sport, the total scoring in a game is independent of its entertainment value, something as true today as it was during the era of the Doomsday Defense and the Steel Curtain. Even today, stingy defense is a celebrated part of the game, with a Super Bowl champion known more for defense than for scoring points. Even if scoring dropped thirty percent in a single season, football would still reign as the king of American sports; points matter less to fans than a competitive game or victories by their favorite team.
As modern sports fans, we're told so often that points make the game that we've forgotten that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Passionate football fans love a classic defensive struggle, with two teams battling it out to a 7-3 result. Baseball fans are often entranced by a pitchers duel, with two dominant hurlers shutting down the opposing team's hitters one after the other. Every sport has its stinkers, boring games with no scoring and little intriguing action, a situation that has nothing to do with scoring and everything to do with the individual teams.
Chances in soccer can often be just as exciting as actual goals. Keeper saves, missed sitters, balls that hit off the goal frame: all of these add to the entertainment value of a soccer match. It's this nuance of the game (although I almost hesitate to call such an obvious thing a nuance) to which most Americans seem oblivious; argue with them that an American football game is boring without touchdowns, and they'd likely point out big hits, sacks, fumbles, and a litany of other events that have little to do with actual scoring. The same can be said for baseball, where situational tension, rather than any actual action, adds significantly to the level of excitement.
Conclusion? The scoring argument is crap, but more specifically, Americans are simply using it as a cop-out, a way to denigrate soccer by pointing out what seems to be an obvious "flaw".
This went way longer than I intended, and the format is not what I originally planned; I may try to present a challenge-response version of these points sometime in the future. I also wanted to work in actual statistics, but that's not really my point. Needless to say, the differences in "scoring events" for the sports I'm comparing here (using only touchdowns for football) aren't as big as you might think.
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label soccer. Show all posts
ESPN recently aired a special in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of "The Greatest Game Ever Played", the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants. The game, and its televised broadcast, is often credited with bringing the NFL to the forefront of the American sports consciousness. In the years since, football has taken its place as the king of American sports, engendering the kind of passion and support that the rest of the world reserves for that other football, the game we call soccer.
Alan Ameche scores the winning touchdown in "The Greatest Game Ever Played"
Soccer fans in this country are desperately waiting for our own "Greatest Game Ever Played". We're waiting for the seminal moment that the switch gets flipped and the rest of the country wakes up to the obvious greatness of the beautiful game. What that '58 NFL Championship game had going for it is something that cannot be recreated; the newness of televised sports. The images transmitted to the rest of the country from a frozen Yankee Stadium did more for the NFL than anything that MLS or the USSF can think of will do for American soccer. The modern world seems devoid of frontiers to conquer. There is no new and untapped medium through which soccer can stake its claim in the American sports landscape. It seems that our sporting minds have been made up; if we haven't been doing it for generations, then we sure as hell aren't going to do it now.
It creates a dilemma difficult even to comprehend. Throwing in the towel is not an option, and unless MLS goes belly up, it does not seem likely those of us who do love the sport and support the domestic game will let it happen. But it leaves us grasping for that elusive breakthrough. So where do we look?
There is only one possibility. USA-Mexico. USA-Mexico, a rivalry that more than contends with all of the most famous American sporting battles. Ohio State-Michigan? Nothing compared to El Tri and the Yanks. Yankees-Red Sox? USA-Mexico makes it look like a tea party. Redskins-Cowboys? Leaves me wanting. Wake up America. Spend a little time searching YouTube. Want rivalry? Here's rivalry:
And that's just from the qualifiers.
Here then, is the call to action: ABC, ESPN, whomever: Give USA-Mexico your five-star treatment. Get the word out, advertise MONTHS in advance. Have those clever talking heads of yours spend a little of their energy hyping something that deserves the hype. Put together a nice little package reviewing the recent history of soccer's answer to Yankees-Red Sox. Drum up a little excitement across your twenty-seven networks in February with something that approaches what you might do for a Saturday night football game in November. Send two or three of your cadre of reporters to interview anyone who might have an opinion on what beating the US means to Mexicans. Find out what the grass root supporters groups are doing in preparation of the game. Challenge your viewers who might otherwise ignore the game to give it ten or fifteen minutes of their time; it's more than likely that at least some of them will stick with it, get hooked, find themselves diving in headfirst, just like so many of us have done.
US Soccer, I have three words for you: Super Bowl commercial.
I'll admit it. I'm DESPERATE for American soccer's Greatest Game Ever Played. Here's to hoping February 11, 2009 lives up to my hype.
Soccer fans in this country are desperately waiting for our own "Greatest Game Ever Played". We're waiting for the seminal moment that the switch gets flipped and the rest of the country wakes up to the obvious greatness of the beautiful game. What that '58 NFL Championship game had going for it is something that cannot be recreated; the newness of televised sports. The images transmitted to the rest of the country from a frozen Yankee Stadium did more for the NFL than anything that MLS or the USSF can think of will do for American soccer. The modern world seems devoid of frontiers to conquer. There is no new and untapped medium through which soccer can stake its claim in the American sports landscape. It seems that our sporting minds have been made up; if we haven't been doing it for generations, then we sure as hell aren't going to do it now.
It creates a dilemma difficult even to comprehend. Throwing in the towel is not an option, and unless MLS goes belly up, it does not seem likely those of us who do love the sport and support the domestic game will let it happen. But it leaves us grasping for that elusive breakthrough. So where do we look?
There is only one possibility. USA-Mexico. USA-Mexico, a rivalry that more than contends with all of the most famous American sporting battles. Ohio State-Michigan? Nothing compared to El Tri and the Yanks. Yankees-Red Sox? USA-Mexico makes it look like a tea party. Redskins-Cowboys? Leaves me wanting. Wake up America. Spend a little time searching YouTube. Want rivalry? Here's rivalry:
And that's just from the qualifiers.
Here then, is the call to action: ABC, ESPN, whomever: Give USA-Mexico your five-star treatment. Get the word out, advertise MONTHS in advance. Have those clever talking heads of yours spend a little of their energy hyping something that deserves the hype. Put together a nice little package reviewing the recent history of soccer's answer to Yankees-Red Sox. Drum up a little excitement across your twenty-seven networks in February with something that approaches what you might do for a Saturday night football game in November. Send two or three of your cadre of reporters to interview anyone who might have an opinion on what beating the US means to Mexicans. Find out what the grass root supporters groups are doing in preparation of the game. Challenge your viewers who might otherwise ignore the game to give it ten or fifteen minutes of their time; it's more than likely that at least some of them will stick with it, get hooked, find themselves diving in headfirst, just like so many of us have done.
US Soccer, I have three words for you: Super Bowl commercial.
I'll admit it. I'm DESPERATE for American soccer's Greatest Game Ever Played. Here's to hoping February 11, 2009 lives up to my hype.
If you're reading this, it is almost certainly thanks to Graham Bell at CSRN, and as such, I would like to thank him for pointing people in this direction.
American soccer fans have been hit with a relatively new phenomenon during the lead up to the January silly season; Americans being on the tips of the tongues of some of Europe's biggest teams.
Rumors are currently circulating that Chivas USA's shaggy-haired midfielder Sacha Kljestan has piqued the interest of several big-name European clubs, among them Celtic and FC Schalke. Add this to the still unconfirmed loan of American soccer's golden boy Landon Donovan to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, as well as Kenny Cooper's varied rumored destinations, and Yanks suddenly seem to be hot properties. All of this, of course, is old hat for our brethren in fandom across the football-playing world, so they will have to forgive our newbie enthusiasm. It's not every day the phrases "US international" and "Champion's League side" appear in the same news piece.
Forgotten among the excitement of trials and transfer rumors is the belief of some that Americans leaving for the continent is a detriment to our domestic league. How can we continue to grow MLS and draw more Americans to the game if the players that those potential fans could most identify with are off to Europe by the time they are twenty-five? There is of course, a contrary argument: How can our young players get better if they are not challenged in a more competitive club environment? In my opinion, holding back the development of a player by refusing the approaches of foreign clubs is indefensible. A player's career is short, and for MLS to refuse a transfer move for a young player simply because they wish to hold on to their American stars is tantamount to sabotaging that player.
So I say, go east young man. The game in America can only be helped by players we've produced performing on a larger stage. The profile of MLS can only be helped by players who plied their trade in the burgeoning league going on to bigger and better things. Departing American players will force MLS to intensify efforts to uncover future stars in order to keep the supply and demand system working. The search for new young stars will benefit the league as a whole as well. Overall quality depends on a class standard that will come from deep investment in youth academies, not holding on to a few desirable players. We all, of course, look forward to the day that the MLS is no longer a feeder league, a day when it can stand on its own as a solid player on the world football stage, when the Sacha Kljestans and Kenny Coopers of the world can stay and prosper as American stars in a top tier American soccer league and be no worse for the experience, and top talent from overseas will consider MLS as a first or second option, rather than a possible final payday.
In the short term, MLS may in fact find itself scrambling to find players to market to its American audience. It appears, however, that the immediate future of the league may rest squarely on the talents of foreign players. Cuatoamac Blanco and Guillermo Baros Schellotto seem prototypes for the high profile players the MLS needs to boost quality and visibility. As it becomes obvious that MLS should focus less on the unconverted American sports fan and more on the non-MLS following soccer fan, the nationality of the stars of the league will be less of a factor. For football savvy fans and ardent club supporters who want trophies, the nationalities of the players matters little.
MLS has a stated goal of managing the financial aspects of the league to ensure solvency. While this is paramount to the survival of the game in America in the historical context of the NASL, it restricts the growth of the league more than any other single factor. If our young, talented players are going to go abroad, MLS has to increase the salary cap or modify its rules in order to fill the void. Soccer can succeed here, American stars or not; we’re more than happy to root for foreigners when they wear the colors of our favorite team (see MLB, NBA).
Simply put, the more go Yanks abroad, the better.
American soccer fans have been hit with a relatively new phenomenon during the lead up to the January silly season; Americans being on the tips of the tongues of some of Europe's biggest teams.
Rumors are currently circulating that Chivas USA's shaggy-haired midfielder Sacha Kljestan has piqued the interest of several big-name European clubs, among them Celtic and FC Schalke. Add this to the still unconfirmed loan of American soccer's golden boy Landon Donovan to Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, as well as Kenny Cooper's varied rumored destinations, and Yanks suddenly seem to be hot properties. All of this, of course, is old hat for our brethren in fandom across the football-playing world, so they will have to forgive our newbie enthusiasm. It's not every day the phrases "US international" and "Champion's League side" appear in the same news piece.
Forgotten among the excitement of trials and transfer rumors is the belief of some that Americans leaving for the continent is a detriment to our domestic league. How can we continue to grow MLS and draw more Americans to the game if the players that those potential fans could most identify with are off to Europe by the time they are twenty-five? There is of course, a contrary argument: How can our young players get better if they are not challenged in a more competitive club environment? In my opinion, holding back the development of a player by refusing the approaches of foreign clubs is indefensible. A player's career is short, and for MLS to refuse a transfer move for a young player simply because they wish to hold on to their American stars is tantamount to sabotaging that player.
So I say, go east young man. The game in America can only be helped by players we've produced performing on a larger stage. The profile of MLS can only be helped by players who plied their trade in the burgeoning league going on to bigger and better things. Departing American players will force MLS to intensify efforts to uncover future stars in order to keep the supply and demand system working. The search for new young stars will benefit the league as a whole as well. Overall quality depends on a class standard that will come from deep investment in youth academies, not holding on to a few desirable players. We all, of course, look forward to the day that the MLS is no longer a feeder league, a day when it can stand on its own as a solid player on the world football stage, when the Sacha Kljestans and Kenny Coopers of the world can stay and prosper as American stars in a top tier American soccer league and be no worse for the experience, and top talent from overseas will consider MLS as a first or second option, rather than a possible final payday.
In the short term, MLS may in fact find itself scrambling to find players to market to its American audience. It appears, however, that the immediate future of the league may rest squarely on the talents of foreign players. Cuatoamac Blanco and Guillermo Baros Schellotto seem prototypes for the high profile players the MLS needs to boost quality and visibility. As it becomes obvious that MLS should focus less on the unconverted American sports fan and more on the non-MLS following soccer fan, the nationality of the stars of the league will be less of a factor. For football savvy fans and ardent club supporters who want trophies, the nationalities of the players matters little.
MLS has a stated goal of managing the financial aspects of the league to ensure solvency. While this is paramount to the survival of the game in America in the historical context of the NASL, it restricts the growth of the league more than any other single factor. If our young, talented players are going to go abroad, MLS has to increase the salary cap or modify its rules in order to fill the void. Soccer can succeed here, American stars or not; we’re more than happy to root for foreigners when they wear the colors of our favorite team (see MLB, NBA).
Simply put, the more go Yanks abroad, the better.
Match Fit USA is a new blog examining issues related to the popularity of soccer in America as a professionally played mainstream sport.
For this, the first ever edition of Match Fit USA, I thought I'd tackle the overriding issue that every fan of the beautiful game in the United States is faced with daily; are we forever doomed to be the sporting minority?
I'm not sure there's any easy way to predict the future of soccer/football/futbol passion in the United States. There are simply too many factors involved for us to have a sense of where the games appeal is headed. A large immigrant population, the relative infancy of our professional top flight league, the cultural impact of televised soccer in greater and greater quantities: these factors and many other will all have a bearing on not only the future of the game in the U.S., but the success of our national team and league on an international stage. We're facing a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma; will interest grow and sustain without a major international success, or is international success dependent on a large increase in overall interest?
Things seem to be headed in a positive direction. MLS continues to improve (despite the moaning of some), attendances are (for the most part) holding steady or increasing, the game itself is making inroads with our national media outlets. Other signs are less encouraging. MLS teams continue to struggle against international competition. TV ratings for MLS broadcasts are exceedingly disappointing. Talented young American players are increasingly going abroad to start their professional careers. So what should we do?
Our dilemma is a new one in the history of sports. Never has a group of committed, passionate enthusiasts had to struggle with promoting their game in such a crowded landscape. American sports are both many and varied; our hearts and our dollars are already stretched thin with those passions that run deep due to history and geography. Soccer fans, both here and abroad, like to believe that the passion that comes with the game is deeper than any other. While this may or may not be true, it is being tested here, as those of us who want to see the game grow continue to slam our heads into an unyielding American sports landscape.
It is difficult, as a fan, to sit back and let time do the work. It may be that soccer in America will simply crawl up the ladder by osmosis; the more the non-soccer fan is exposed, the more the game with enter the general consciousness. But we'd rather bang the drum; bemoan the haters and the deniers and crow about the beautiful game in every forum we can find. It's our right to do so, and it may be necessary to the long term future of the game, I don't honestly know. It just seems more often than not to create a flag-waving backlash, legions of "patriots" who think that accepting soccer means denying the good old USA. Those of us who know better get frustrated and scream some more, creating more backlash and more hostility, and the cycle repeats. Are we better off stepping back and letting the greatness of the game do it's work? Again, I'm not sure, I simply posit the possibility.
I, of course, intend to continue to slam away; hence, this blog. Soccer voices need to be loudest to be heard, and I hope to speak up on a regular basis. I have no qualifications other than a modicum of writing ability and a head full of opinions. I hope those of you who have the same (or even just the opinions) will join with me. I don't believe that American soccer and it's fans are doomed to the periphery of the sports landscape. I believe that the revolution may be a slow and painful one, but that by the time my son (who is 7 months old) is old enough to buy a beer at his local bar, he'll be doing so sitting with many American soccer fans.
The future of this blog will include examination of MLS and it's approach to the American sports fan; American talent and it's dissemination throughout the world (or whether we should make sure to keep our best talent at home); my thoughts on the USMNT and the future of American soccer on the international scene. etc., etc., etc.
Feel free to contact me with your thoughts on any of the subjects covered here, or with your general feedback about Match Fit USA.
For this, the first ever edition of Match Fit USA, I thought I'd tackle the overriding issue that every fan of the beautiful game in the United States is faced with daily; are we forever doomed to be the sporting minority?
I'm not sure there's any easy way to predict the future of soccer/football/futbol passion in the United States. There are simply too many factors involved for us to have a sense of where the games appeal is headed. A large immigrant population, the relative infancy of our professional top flight league, the cultural impact of televised soccer in greater and greater quantities: these factors and many other will all have a bearing on not only the future of the game in the U.S., but the success of our national team and league on an international stage. We're facing a bit of a chicken-and-egg dilemma; will interest grow and sustain without a major international success, or is international success dependent on a large increase in overall interest?
Things seem to be headed in a positive direction. MLS continues to improve (despite the moaning of some), attendances are (for the most part) holding steady or increasing, the game itself is making inroads with our national media outlets. Other signs are less encouraging. MLS teams continue to struggle against international competition. TV ratings for MLS broadcasts are exceedingly disappointing. Talented young American players are increasingly going abroad to start their professional careers. So what should we do?
Our dilemma is a new one in the history of sports. Never has a group of committed, passionate enthusiasts had to struggle with promoting their game in such a crowded landscape. American sports are both many and varied; our hearts and our dollars are already stretched thin with those passions that run deep due to history and geography. Soccer fans, both here and abroad, like to believe that the passion that comes with the game is deeper than any other. While this may or may not be true, it is being tested here, as those of us who want to see the game grow continue to slam our heads into an unyielding American sports landscape.
It is difficult, as a fan, to sit back and let time do the work. It may be that soccer in America will simply crawl up the ladder by osmosis; the more the non-soccer fan is exposed, the more the game with enter the general consciousness. But we'd rather bang the drum; bemoan the haters and the deniers and crow about the beautiful game in every forum we can find. It's our right to do so, and it may be necessary to the long term future of the game, I don't honestly know. It just seems more often than not to create a flag-waving backlash, legions of "patriots" who think that accepting soccer means denying the good old USA. Those of us who know better get frustrated and scream some more, creating more backlash and more hostility, and the cycle repeats. Are we better off stepping back and letting the greatness of the game do it's work? Again, I'm not sure, I simply posit the possibility.
I, of course, intend to continue to slam away; hence, this blog. Soccer voices need to be loudest to be heard, and I hope to speak up on a regular basis. I have no qualifications other than a modicum of writing ability and a head full of opinions. I hope those of you who have the same (or even just the opinions) will join with me. I don't believe that American soccer and it's fans are doomed to the periphery of the sports landscape. I believe that the revolution may be a slow and painful one, but that by the time my son (who is 7 months old) is old enough to buy a beer at his local bar, he'll be doing so sitting with many American soccer fans.
The future of this blog will include examination of MLS and it's approach to the American sports fan; American talent and it's dissemination throughout the world (or whether we should make sure to keep our best talent at home); my thoughts on the USMNT and the future of American soccer on the international scene. etc., etc., etc.
Feel free to contact me with your thoughts on any of the subjects covered here, or with your general feedback about Match Fit USA.
