This is a letter from my friend Mark who was out visiting his American in-laws during the latter stages of the tournament. Here he meditates on the American’s uneasy relationship with the Beautiful Game. [Note the latest brilliant headline in the New York Post. C'mon shouty British people they are JOKING.]
Americans just don’t get it. Not for the want of trying. There is an excitable majority in the country who will genuinely get excited at any sport whatsoever, so it stands to reason that an interest in footb.. sorry SOCCER, would come naturally.I watched the USA-Ghana match in a bar in Cape May, the most southerly seaside town on the New Jersey coastline. I sat with my brother-in-law, who has maintained a respectful interest in all things World Cup, my father -in-law, and several of the enthusiastic locals. It was clear that these Americans at least had made the effort: they have embraced the subtleties of the offside rule although strangely they are still unsure about the yellow card, red card system. “So if he is missing the next game because he got two yellow cards, why don’t they just send him off now so he can miss this game?” I was asked by one perplexed local.
There were cheers as well and there were moments of discussion but most of the time the punters chattered idly while waiting for the next point of interest to start commenting on it again. They struggled to find them. To be fair however, it wasn’t completely their fault. The match had flashes of interest but it was for the most part a bit of a midfield slog. However watching the Americans watch the Americans it was clear why football (yes, I’ll call it football) will never catch on here in the US to the extent of the other four main sports: baseball, football, hockey and basketball.
This is because Americans have bolstered every sporting event to make them massive spectacles. Even the World Cup with all its hype is still a platform for football. In America, the sport – especially with baseball and American football – is secondary to the spectacle. This is perhaps why Americans can easily spend up to four hours supposedly watching sport in a building that not only has scores of different retail outlets contained within it but enough varieties of food and booze for sale in them to make you forget why you were even there.
Football ebbs and flows. It lacks the peaks and troughs that Americans have become accustomed to in their sport. Even a great 1-0 win would be viewed by them as a failure simply because of the score, or lack of it. Anyone who experience the grinding joy/pain of Arsenal of the early 90s will understand that a result like that must be taken like the defensive sporting ambrosia it is.
A sheepish Bob Bradley and Landon Donovan grinned, grimaced and nodded their way through an appearance on Jon Stewart last night and you couldn’t help feeling a bit sorry for them. Their team actually did OK in the tournament considering the quality of their players, and when you look at England who stumbled and faltered, amazed that they weren’t winning. Next to France’s team of petulant toddlers, they came out of it with dignity. Let’s just hope they don’t expect many of their fellow countrymen to notice.
