Genius in action

If you hadn't heard, Jose Mourinho beat Bayern Munich yesterday to win some relatively large soccer tournament. Jose's legend exploded into the realm of the ridiculous in the immediate aftermath, with his qualities as a coach, brilliance as a tactician, and magnetism of personality all fodder for the type of hero worship the likes of which we haven't seen since Douglas MacArthur departed Japan.


If it weren't for 250 million oblivious Americans and cricket-obsessed India, Mourinho would be a shoe-in for President of the World. Mourinho's triumph launched a thousand glowing columns and blog posts the way Helen's face launched a thousand ships, each looking for new ways to describe the brilliance of a man who single-handedly destroyed the Spanish empire of Barca on his way to another Champions League title. The fact that he looked so dapper doing it; well, he's not The Special One for nothing.


Mourinho's dominance of the headlines, garnering so much attention as a coach and not a player, is a testament to the force of his personality as much as his tactical brilliance. Sure, Mourinho beat the greatest attacking team the world has ever seen (oops, that was a month ago) with his defensive-minded game plan before repeating the feat against the Germans. But that alone can't be responsible the flood of words spent bathing the man in syrupy accolades, can it?


Even if it is, Mourinho's status as the preeminent figure in Inter's wonderful season despite the presence of world class players in the team is a rare departure from the usual distribution of attention. There is no direct comparison, since such an example would need to be a man who was recognized as both genius in the ways of the game and a hypnotically charming yet pompous narcissist of the highest order.


Is Mourinho one of a kind? Yes, undoubtedly. There is only one Mona Lisa, after all.


Our traditional American sports are littered with legendary coaches recognized for their genius. Lombardi was ground-breaking innovator and unparalleled leader of men. Stengel managed his collection of egos and bit players masterfully in New York. In more recent times, Joe Torre, Phil Jackson, and Bill Belechick have each been given the crown of "greatest coach in the history of everything". Yet none of them approach Mourinho's combination of ego, charisma, and ability. Torre is a good manager but ultimately a bore. Jackson brings little to the table beyond new age philosophies and the ability to win when he has basketball's best player. Belechick is a strategic genius who intentionally avoids saying anything interesting, ever.


Who then? Two men come to mind. While neither could hold a candle, relatively speaking, to Mourinho's tactical genius, both coached championship teams and had personalities bigger than the game itself.


The two candidates:


Red Auerbach



Auerbach's success was built on choosing the right players more than strategy; always ahead of his time in the former regard, the legendary Boston Celtics coach racked up title after title because he had a special ability to find talent. His larger-than-life personality is legendary, and even when he was no longer coaching the Celtics himself he was still seen as the man responsible for the club's success.

Auerbach may never have reached Jose's stratospheric level of combined magnetism and coaching reputation, but they definitely share a certain quality.


Mike Ditka



Iron Mike was never known as a strategic guy; Mike's greatness lied in his motivational abilities. It may even be wrong to call Ditka "great", since he was really just the lucky recipient of a dominate Bears defense with the genius of Buddy Ryan backing him up. But Ditka did have an impressive ego and a polarizing persona that more often drew people to him than pushed them away. Perhaps most in favor of Ditka being Mourinho's closest American parallel is the "Superfans" of Saturday Night Live, who regularly hypothesized that Dit-ka would defeat entire teams by himself. Even if Ditka couldn't actually defeat teams this way as Mourinho can, the simple fact that the possibility was discussed puts Ditka closer to Jose than anyone else.


These American coaches, who plied their trade in sports that pale in comparison to the beautiful game, are nothing when juxtaposed to the supernova Jose Mourinho. His star burns so bright now that it only makes sense for him to move to the club of the Galaticos; even there, surrounded by gaseous giants Ronaldo and Kaka, he will dominate the sky, causing their stars to fade next to his blinding brilliance.

Head go boom.

I find myself regularly saying something like "You'll know soccer is big in American when..." with various endings to the statement. Some of them relate to the media, others to the general public's view of soccer, and every now and then I'll have one specifically on MLS or the USMNT.


Why I never thought to write a post with all of the "You'll know it when" thoughts, I have no idea. But here I am, so let's do this.


All of these, if and when they happen, will be indicators that soccer, our league, and our National Team are at a previously unreached level. Or they're just mildly amusing.


I put this out on Twitter as well, so I'm including responses from there with proper credit given.


You'll know soccer is in America big when...

...MLS players other than David Beckham are hounded by TMZ (this is stolen directly from @jrodius).

...Sportscenter anchors narrate highlights without any hint of snarkiness.

...those same guys avoid hockey terms when talking about soccer.

...sports talk radio hosts discuss soccer stories regularly.

...Jim Rome's head explodes because of the previous.

...the ranks of the biggest sports star in the US include Europeans who aren't over 30.

...rappers are sporting the latest soccer jerseys.

...MLS no longer needs single-entity.

...Dan Shaughnessy writes a book on the Revs called "Curse of the Bachelor" (courtesy of Ginge)

...Google sponsors an MLS club (@wvhooligan)

...people refer to it as football. (@mellows)

...it's big in Canada. (@RWhittall)

...high schools start focusing more on Soccer in the athletics than Football. (@Bruno43)

...an Italian shuns the Azzuri to play for the USMNT. (@Eric_Howell)

...Budweiser redoes its age-old Bud Bowl for the MLS Cup, renaming it the Bud Cup. (@stoehrst)

...'Arry Redknapp makes an MLS club financially implode. (@stoehrst again)

...the national obesity rate goes down by a few percentage points. (@SoccerMontreal)

...there is a goal setup on the white house lawn. (@jasonseas) (apparently this has happened at least once)

...Americans decide to watch the champions league final instead of the Yankees-Mets game. (@mattpricewc2010)

...you can see more than one MLS game a week on basic cable. (@benuski)

...fans are making videos like this about MLS teams.

...Americans in top 5 European leagues are getting left off USMNT rosters.

...the MLS draft moves to Radio City Music Hall. (@jasongatties)

...our best centerback can actually get paid to play in Italy. (@MHaaskivi)

...there's a daily soccer radio show hosted by people with American accents.

...atheletes like Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Michael Vick choose it as a career. (@jrodius)

...American kids dream about the MLS Cup as much as they do the Super Bowl or World Series.

...the average MLS salary reaches mid-six figures.



I could do this all day, and Twitter was certainly blowing up with responses. Can't take them all though, right? Let's go people...give it your best shot.

Hello, friends and fellow fans. Today is Friday, May 21st, 2010. The World Cup countdown stands at three weeks. As I sit here, chained as usual to a desk I would prefer to have nothing to do with, I find myself pondering an notable fact: Things are about to get crazy.


From a U.S. National Team/World Cup perspective that is; this coming weekend, which could not possibly start soon enough, is the calm before before the storm that begins with super important warm up friendlies and ends with the conclusion of their World Cup campaign. Whenever that may be.


Starting next week there will not be a seven day period without a U.S. match until the World Cup story is over. By then our beers will be salty with tears no matter when the U.S. exits, and the autopsy of the tournament from an American perspective will have fully begun. Sure, all of the buildup to June 12th won't have half the intensity of the World Cup matches, but we can be sure there will be laser-focused criticism, honest and overwrought analysis, and rampant teeth-gnashing. It's what we do.


But before I find myself in need of dentures and a new beer, I'm going to try and enjoy my weekend "off". The molecules that constitute my physical being are already beginning to vibrate more violently, so while my fan-at-rest state is less at-rest than usual, I'm going to make an attempt. I'll relax, kick my feet up, watch a few games that won't have me clenched with nervous tension, and try not to think about the coming storm. There will be plenty of time to worry about the state of the team come Tuesday when the send-off series begins in Connecticut.


Champions League final? Sure, that's a nice distraction. A little MLS, some patio sitting, firing up the grill...ahh, sounds nice. I'll put out of my mind all of the questions: who Bradley will start up front, which midfielder has a bead on the job to pair with Michael Bradley, how Gooch's sharpness really is despite his outward confidence, whether Donovan is ready to put in a virtuoso performance, if we'll avoid debilitating red cards...it goes on and on and on.


Because really, why give myself an ulcer before anything of real import has actually taken place? There will be plenty of time to turn myself into an throbbing ball of nutso, and I don't want to blow my wad too early. This is my World Cup prep time as well; the best thing I can possibly do is bring everything down to neutral, let the peace of a detached soccer weekend wash over me, and fire up the thrusters when Monday rolls around.


At least try, anyway.


There may be more content around here between now and Monday, and I'm still supposed to tackle the ending of the USMNT movie script. But I won't blame you if you take the weekend off yourself. Unless your MLS team is playing.

In my younger days, I desperately wanted to make movies. I went to college with the goal in mind. I spent hours with friends concocting story lines for hypothetical films, and even when college didn't work out so well (the less said about that particular chapter of my life the better) I kept up the dream. I bought script writing books (which are currently sitting in a trunk someone in my house collecting dust), tried my hand at movie treatments, and generally just thought I'd end up writing a movie someday.


Turns out I suck something awful when writing in that format, and dialog isn't really my strong suit. Stories were never the problem, though, and I'll occasionally come up with something I think would make a pretty decent movie plot. I never follow up, but still...


This has me wondering what the perfect script for the USMNT this summer would look like if we wrote it now; and I don't mean "best case scenario", because that would obviously be hoisting the cup on July 11th. No, I'm talking about what would make for the most compelling story, one that is believe, engrossing, dramatic, and overall, entertaining.


Problem 1: The story has already lost a major bit of intrigue with the premature end of Charlie Davies' World Cup comeback. Charlie getting to South Africa and actually playing would be a movie unto itself; the climax would certainly be whenever he came on, and since this is a movie, he would naturally score the winning goal. Alas, it can't happen, and seeing as how I've successfully bummed everyone out, let's move on.


Every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end, the classic three-act structure. We need that for our USA script as well, so let's take a look at possibilities for Acts I and II.



ACT I


A few options. Since the World Cup will be the climax, we need to set up the movie with an appropriate tone-setting open. This could be the Confederations Cup Final loss to Brazil (or if needed, the whole of the Confed Cup run, ending with the Brazil loss) - the players walk off dejected after having put in a massive effort, Clint Dempsey cries after coming so close, and the resolve of the US to prove themselves again on the world stage is set. Even if we flash-forward significantly from this point, the Confed Cup disappointment provides an emotional low point from which move up through the story.


It's hard to ignore the beating of Spain though, so if needed, we could start off on a high, frame the Brazil loss as a disappointment but a "moral victory", then move forward.


Or...Charlie's accident. Yes, this is playing on a real life tragedy for the purposes of a movie plot, but since this is all pretend let's consider this an alternate point to move on from. The last-minute draw with Costa Rica and the emotional display by the fans at RFK might be a worthwhile scene to follow an open with the news of Charlie's accident (depictions of the accident itself or the aftermath might make me a little uncomfortable); from there, Charlie's comeback effort would be part of the storyline even if it's eventual end might not fit a typical Hollywood script.


ACT II


Because this is the story of a national team in the time of disparate club commitments, the middle might be a little tough. Follow various stars through the intervening months, like Donovan at Everton, Dempsey at Fulham, etc? That might work, though it would make the movie a little all-over-the-place, with widely ranging story lines, and doing it chronologically accurate might be tough. Besides, without the collective dynamic on the screen, people might lose touch with the supposed focus of the film, the team itself.


Is there a way around this? Just show various friendlies or qualifiers (if we're using the Confed Cup open) that won't really carry much weight with the audience? Tough to build the drama when the game being used to push the story along is for...nothing.


Another alternative is to shift Charlie's accident to Act II. Coming off the disappointing-yet-encouraging Confederations Cup performance, the hit of having a teammate go down might be the perfect conflict point for a compelling film. The US National Team must pull themselves together, move on without their rising star striker, and push on towards a World Cup without their friend and teammate.


***


At this point, moving from Act II into Act III, we leave the world of what has already happened and move into the unknown. Remember, this isn't about what would be best for us as fans (again, winning the World Cup), but what would be best for the movie. Beat England, reach the semi-finals, lose Germany thanks to a un-called handball? Lose to England badly, rebound to make it out of the group, then shock everyone by reaching the semis? Something else entirely?


If the entirely thing were fictional, what ending would really make the movie the best it could be from a story standpoint? Hoosiers, USMNT Edition doesn't sound quite right to me.


We're just having a little fun with this, so I'm asking for your suggestions. Pick what you see as the best ways to go with the first two acts and give me your third act. Hell, if you want to have the U.S. winning the whole thing because you think it makes for the best movie, I can't blame you.


I'll tackle Act III, with your suggestions in mind, tomorrow.

by Vlad Bouchouev

As a first-year MLS organization, the Philadelphia Union has been doing an exceptional job. It all began with the persistent efforts of the Philadelphia soccer fans, particularly the “Sons of Ben.” Then came the stadium. Then came the expansion team. Then Nowak and Mwanga. And now we’re hearing that the Union has sold out all of their season tickets for this year. Philly fans, very nice job.


So seemingly the only thing that Union fans have been missing to set the icing on the cake has been a good start to the season and a big-named, designated player.


Ah, “the designated player.” The term has some sort of aura about that just makes you tingle inside, giving you the sense that every MLS team is in constant search of the “Messiah” who will save its fans from misfortune and achieve perfect harmony; a sort of nirvana so to speak. Well, that’s just going to have to wait in Philadelphia.


The Union’s best shot at signing a big-named star this season has been all but shut down after Robert Pires abruptly turned down their offer. The reason? The aesthetic standards of Philly are just not good enough for him. Hey I didn’t say it, Pires did. “I do not want to be difficult, but left to take my family away, I'd rather do it in a beautiful city. Otherwise, I will put an end to my career,” expressed Pires in a report from the French newspaper L’Equipe. Seriously? The French just continue to impress me. I mean I really believe that Youri Djorkaeff was an outstanding ambassador for the French during his time with the Metrostars/Red Bulls, but I think such blunt comments from Pires set us back a few spaces. Personally, I see beautiful Philadelphia as a city that is metronomic with the United States and if you insult Philly, you insult Americans.


After Pires was asked about the latest rumors of his friend and compatriot Thierry Henry moving to New York, Pires stated, “I wish him to go there. That is a beautiful city.” Another slap in the face for Philly fans and I can already hear the Empire Supporters Club coming up with some cleaver chants about you at the next Union game.


From the league’s standpoint, this was one of their more disappointing transfer fall-throughs ever. What seemed to be close to a completed deal for the MLS instead turned out to be a reality check for the league. Just as we began to think that the MLS has grown in reputation and quality, Pires reminded us that when overseas players come to the States, many of them do it to just experience the lifestyle. And granted, aside from that and some good cash, we just currently still don’t have the muscles to compete for some of the world’s best players. As for Philly fans, shake it off. But maybe next time you’re trying to get a frog to play on your team, send Sebastian Le Toux to the bargaining table.

The Ginge and I got together for a special edition of the American Soccer Show, and managed to track down preeminent soccer writer Grant Wahl in the process. Grant gives us his take on USMNT camp to this point, plus some thoughts on Henry coming to America.

Download directly

Subscribe in iTunes (expect this show to be there a little later)

Go to the AmSoc website to listen

New York Red Bulls - 2
Columbus Crew - 1

FC Dallas - 1
LA Galaxy - 1

Toronto FC - 2
New England Revolution - 1

Seattle Sounders FC - 1
San Jose Earthquakes - 1

Houston Dynamo - 2
DC United - 0

Chivas USA - 1
Real Salt Lake - 2

Kansas City Wizards - 1
Columbus Crew - 0

A ball is rolling down a hill. At the bottom of the hill is a sign that says "BRAT" in sloppily drawn letters, as if way the letters look themselves is mean to convey the nastiness of the word. The ball, a shiny top-of-the-line number with undulating lines and a hefty price tag, is stamped with four bold letters of its own. Though it is difficult to read the word they form as the spheroid picks up speed, we already know that it says "JOZY".


Make no mistake, the ball was kicked from the top of the hill by the young American striker whose name emblazons it. He showed up late. He appeared to sulk during games, visible petulance growing every moment with his team's inability to get him the ball. His managers, two of them, criticized his commitment and he ended his English stay with an ugly head butt to an opposing player. Yes, the kick with which he sent the ball on its way was swift.


As the ball bounds quickly away from him, the young striker can only watch as even his slightest transgressions are turned directly into new momentum for its journey down the hill. Writers and observers are more than happy to give it an extra push, pulling alongside the zooming orb and slapping it forward with accusations of bratitude, their own questions on his commitment, and a propensity to seize on anything and everything he says or does. A twist of the striker's intent here and there turns an innocuous bit of chatter with an English contemporary in public into a new burst of attitude-problem energy.


It seems he's helpless. Utterly helpless.


Or is he? Can he possibly catch the ball, which is now but a speck in the distance and perilously close to the end of its journey? Can he bring it back up the hill in any measurable way, putting separation between it and the scarlet letters B, R, A, T?


Perhaps simply stopping it is the first step.


Jozy, the hill, and his rolling ball will all be transported to South Africa in a few weeks time. Between now and then, a stint at training camp with his USA teammates should be a quiet one. He will play in warm up friendlies against the Czech Republic and Turkey, and while those matches aren't quite opportunities to slow the ball down, he can do some good just by playing hard and not providing it any more momentum.


No quit, no attitude, no problems. Once the ball is rolling, the standard for behavior gets that much higher; it's not enough to be like everyone else, Jozy has to be better if he wants that ball to stop.


In South Africa, the ball's ultimate fate could be decided. The right kind of performance augmented by a clear commitment in both training and matches, and he might be able to catch the ball, trap it under foot, rear back, and blast it back up the cursed hill. If he hits it just right, it might even stay there.


Do the opposite, throw a tantrum or anything that might be viewed as a tantrum, take the wrong step, become frustrated in a match and lash out, pick up a team-crippling card, or just simply fail to work hard enough, and that classy high priced ball will go sailing straight into the looming sign with the damning word. Once that happens, getting back up the hill and removing the stigma of the word will be like climbing Mount Everest with goalposts tied to one's feet.


Maybe it's all unfair that the ball is flying down the hill at such a rapid clip. Maybe Jozy's not a brat, nor should he be headed towards the label. But perception is everything in the world of soccer, and as long as the ball is rolling, danger lurks ahead.


A ball is rolling down a hill...

Although I'm not personally a regular gambler, mostly because I don't have money to lose, I'm always interested in odds. While they don't ultimately mean anything (unless you are a gambler), they are in some small way an indication of how teams and players are viewed. The goal of a bookie, after all, is to entice bettors to lay down their cash while leaving themselves open to as little risk as possible.


With that being said, I thought it might be worth a look at some of the odds out for the United States in World Cup and how they compare to others lines.


In the interest of time, all of these odds are based on a basic Google search, which led me to Oddschecker.com.


To Win:

USA: 80/1

Spain: 7/2-4/1 (Favorites)

North Korea & New Zealand 1000/1 (Longest, with New Zealand as high as 3000/1)


Mexico, Paraguay, and Ghana are all about the same odds as the United States, usually around 80/1. If we look at a couple of other sports, there might be some perspective in noting that Nikolay Davydenko is 80/1 to win Wimbledon and the Chicago White Sox are the 80/1 shot to win the World Series. 80/1 also puts the U.S. right in the middle of the pack in the World Cup field.


To Finish Top 4:

USA: 50/1

Spain: 7/2-10/3 (Shortest)

North Korea: 750/1 (Longest)


Mexico, Ghana, and Serbia are all right around the same price.


Top Goalscorer:

Landon Donovan: 100/1-125/1
Jozy Altidore: 125/1-200/1
Clint Dempsey: 150/1-250/1

Donovan, Dempsey, and Altidore were the only two three (oops) Americans on the board (and I missed Dempsey at first).

David Villa: 8/1-9/1 (Shortest)

Messi and Rooney come in just behind Villa.


Not going to bother with the longest odds here, since it's probably someone you've never heard of who might still not make the roster for his country. It's probably safe to say it would be a Kiwi though.


Individual Group Games:

USA v Enland

USA to Win: 5/1-11/2
Draw: 12/5-11/4
ENG to Win: 8/15-1/2

USA v Slovenia

USA to Win: 11/10-6/5
DRAW: 11/5-9/4
SLO to Win: 2/1-12/5

USA v Algeria

USA to Win: 4/5-8/11
DRAW: 5/2-12/5
ALG to Win: 11/4-10/3 (Big range on this)


None of this means anything, but it's fun to look at. At 50/1 to make the semifinals, why not throw $20 on the United States?

It's been a good year for Landon Donovan. MLS MVP, brand new big time contract, glorious loan stint at Everton, continued National Team stardom, and a new level of respect from his peers and fans around the world. From a purely professional standpoint, it's difficult to come up with more that could have gone right for the American.


Off the field, however, Donovan's life hasn't been so rosy. His three year marriage to actress Bianca Kalich ended, and while the low level of media attention given American players kept the details mostly out of the spotlight, there was a public element to the breakup. It wouldn't have been surprising if Donovan had shrunk on the field for a time, allowing the personal emotional issues to affect his level of play.


Instead, he seemed to increase his focus, and results followed. The Everton stay was a rousing success, and while the sample size still allows room for debate on where Donovan falls in the hierarchy of star players, there's no doubting his quality. Considering the label Donovan carried before heading to Merseyside, that he was a soft player who came up short on the big stage, beating back the demons must have been a self-satisfying experience. That he's continued his strong play in a much different role with the LA Galaxy is another bit of evidence that Donovan may have turned a corner professionally.


As Donovan readies himself for the World Cup, he's welcoming questions about how his personal turmoil has positively affected his play on the field. He's explaining the process of maturing as a player and how looking inward while shutting out the criticism has allowed him to improve. He's not the first athlete to say such things, and he certainly won't be the last. The words, though, will only matter if the performances back them up. So far, so good.


Yes, camp is for the most part uneventful in its initial days, and writers must find angles to cover during the buildup to matches next week. But the explosion of stories focusing on Donovan's growth, his willingness to discuss his personal life, and the quiet confidence he projects as one of the leaders on a youngish team is still notable.


After disappointment of 2006, American star Landon Donovan feels prepared for World Cup - New Jersey Star-Ledger

Divorce helped Donovan reconcile differences - Yahoo! Sports

Entering World Cup, Landon Donovan finds himself in a good place for U.S. men - The Washington Post

Landon Donovan sees greater opportunity with U.S. National team at World Cup in 2010 than in past - New York Daily News

Donovan ready to lead the U.S. - Philadelphia Inquirer

Donovan Pushes Ahead, Looking Inside - The New York Times

Straight shooter - New York Post

Donovan maturing before our very eyes - Ives for Fox Soccer


None of it will matter if he doesn't step up at the World Cup, of course. A taste of success in England is nice. Continued dominance in MLS, as expected, is all well and good. But if Donovan's new found understanding of himself doesn't translate to a star performance in South Africa, all of it will just be words.


He certainly seems ready.


Just a note, and based on my personal recommendation, you should check out SoccerPro.com, the best soccer shop, for great deals on soccer apparel and cheap USA World Cup Jerseys.

B-Mac 71
Ben Aranda 63
Jason Davis 60
Jason Kuenle 50
Julius 49
Alex Will 47
Matt (NES) 44
thedoe 43
Ross Hopper 36
Wes Mills 36
CVO 34
mrburito2 33
John Carlton 32
Martek 30
WVhooligan 25
amerisnob 21
patrickmkennedy 15
hazemeyer 10
J6pini 10
crocken 9
Travis 6
tedmeyer 6

There is probably no issue more maddening for those of us that live and die with the US National Team than that of Americans who willfully choose to support someone else. Often, these Americans living in America support the team of their parents, or extend identifying with some aspect of their ancestry to backing another national team.


When "defending" the USMNT, or discussing a soccer culture that breeds so many of these fans, it's easy to fall into the trap of generalizing. Each person who chooses say, England over the USA is doing so for their own personal reasons; even if I'd have an opinion as to why they might be doing so, I might be unfairly shoe-horning them into a group to which they don't actually belong.


And let's be clear here. It is anyone and everyone's right to root for whomever they choose; there are no laws or rules which bar rooting for a nation other than the one in which you hold citizenship. Doing so doesn't, by itself, make anyone a "bad person", worthy of hatred, name-calling, or worse. But there are some unwritten "rules of fandom" being broken by anyone forsaking a team they have an actual connection with for one that might be better, sexier, or more historically relevant. Hard, fast, and important in any meaningful sense? No. Part of the sports culture, and therefore elemental to the discussion? Definitely.


Beyond questions of whether or not it's "right" to root for another country if you were born in the US, live in the US, and self-identify as American - without the complication of being first- (or maybe) second-generation - we come to the role of "patriotism" in supporting the US National Team. By simple logic, it would seem to make sense that being patriotic is part and parcel of rooting for a team representing the country; but do we really have to be flag-waving, bleed red-white-and-blue, rah rah Americans to support the USA on the soccer field?


Perhaps the issue is what exactly "patriotism" means these days. In an America going through a serious identity crisis, one that has sharply divided us politically and fractured the nation along party lines to unprecedented extremes, the word, and the various expressions of it, have become politicized themselves. Somehow being a "proud American", flying the flag, and defending the country in the face of (both valid and questionable) criticism without reservation has become inextricably linked to the political Right; like or not, that does have some implications to the US National Team. Those that find such things, which they might view as exclusionary and jingoistic, distasteful would logically be turned off to expressions of national pride in the world of sports. There should be a clear separation of the two, but that's likely outside of reasonable expectation.


Supporting a national team should not be taken as support for a government, national policy, political party, specific way of life or anything else outside of the game itself, just as love of country does not necessarily imply complete support of those same things. Dissent and patriotism are not mutually exclusive.


Let's also not confuse "patriotism" with "nationalism"; in a modern context, the former should be about pride and love of country without political slant, while the latter is a much more insidious and exclusionary concept built on putting the interests of one's nation about those of all others. If there must be a connection between either of the two narrowly-separated ideas and soccer, than let it be the type of patriotism that does not carry additional baggage.


Does a national team represent the people or the government? Can a people love their national team, wave the flag, and express their passion while hating those in power or the policies they maintain?


The world is a much smaller place these days, thanks to technology and air travel. This means the lines of nationality are blurred, that the concept of community crosses borders, and that for some rooting for another national team is less a question of citizenship than it is of appreciation. When shared language is in play, influences are heavy and connections easily formed. The black and white formula of "if you're American, root for America" is no longer applicable, and the use of words like "traitor" is irresponsible, unfair, and dangerous. Loyalty lies where it is freely given, and no one can be forced to root for anyone because some self-appointed arbiter decides they should.


That doesn't mean we, meaning Americans who passionately support the US National team, have to like it. It doesn't mean criticism, based on an understanding of individual justification whatever it may be, can't be dished out within certain limits. Not that the Americans supporters others will or should care, of course.


So carry on, you Yank fans of England, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, etc. You're more than welcome to root for whomever you choose, even as I believe you're missing out, acting in a "plastic" manner, or denying real connections for manufactured ones. Maybe "fake" is too far...maybe not.


The temptation to paint in broad strokes, on both sides of the question, is powerful, and even while I do so as lightly as possible (paragraph above - likely a failure), I know it's unfair to castigate anyone for making a personal choice that doesn't happen to coincide with my own. Part of what makes me a patriot is recognizing that hateful rejection of a freely made choice is exactly counter to the American ideals I celebrate.


No hate, just the expression of my right to say, as a fellow soccer fan, "You suck".


Now let's go grab a beer.

***

Trust me when I say that I realize what I'm opening myself up to whenever I broach this subject. Too often, people are blinded by assumptions made; if I want Americans to be fans of the USMNT, and think they should be, I must be a intolerant jingoistic monster with a closed mind and hateful attitude. Already, people have taken shots, due to this discussion beginning on Twitter, both directly and indirectly. This subject is perfect fodder for those who try entirely too hard to be clever while ignoring any nuanced argument that doesn't fit the "intolerant flag waver" label applied to me. That's fine, and they're obviously within their rights, just as any of you are that would like to take issue in the comments. Short of unproductive name-calling, I'm happy to take criticism.


This piece just scratches the surface of all of the issues involved, and is ultimately a poor attempt to explore them. Questions of identity, cultural aspiration, elitism, a collective complex of inferiority, and more play into Americans dissociating from American soccer entities. Maybe we'll take a look at those down the road...but probably not.


And I would be remiss if I didn't not admit the a lot (most?) of the angst felt by US fans caused by Americans supporting others (ASOs?) is based on the small size of the community. We probably wouldn't care so much if millions and millions of Americans were rooting on the USA every time they played.