Not My (World) Cup of Tea

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Sunday, June 13, 2010

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

I want to be interested in the World Cup. I really do! But it’s just not happening. Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy that the United States rallied to tie England. We were the underdog so we’re supposed to be happy, right?

I appreciate the World Cup as the wildly popular world event that it is. And I respect soccer fans both here in the U.S. and elsewhere who love the sport. But, try as I may, I just cannot take any more than a passing interest in the sport.

I don’t know why this is the case. That’s just the way it is. I witnessed the 1994 World Cup in person and was impressed with the magnitude of the event. But I took little interest in the actual games that were being played.

You would think that this country would have developed a strong passion for soccer by now given how popular youth soccer has been over the past 20 years. But it seems that as kids get older, many of them get away from the sport to play others. And I’m not sure that things are going to change.

Americans love football – American football, that is. We love baseball, basketball and, to a much lesser extent, hockey. But soccer? It has its niche audience. But it is far from becoming main stream.

Meanwhile, the rest of the world can’t seem to get enough of the sport. Europe, Latin America and Africa all love the sport. Here? Not so much.

It would be easy for me to simply write a column making fun of the sport or its fans but I have no interest in ridiculing it or them. I do appreciate the fact that it is a grueling sport which takes a tremendous amount of skill. And I appreciate the passion that soccer fans have for it.

I just wish that I knew why I and many Americans haven’t taken more of an interest in it.