Claibs Call
Now, that the FIFA World Cup is here, I think this is the time where all of us are supposed to sound interested in soccer.
You know, it’s the worldly thing to do, considering it is the biggest sporting event in the whole wide world and we don’t want to be viewed as the Ugly American.
The one thing I know for sure is that most of you are faking it. I understand the fact that you want to see what all the commotion is and why the world watches. I get the fact that you want to broaden your scope. I am even on board with you thinking this is hip and it is a new conversation piece and it makes you sound hip.
If you really want to take this on as a social endeavor, I have a few questions for you.
Question No. 1: Like the NBA, MLB, NHL and the NFL, can you name at least 10 of the participants in the World Cup and what pool they are in? Pool in this case would be likened to divisions in our U.S. sports.
Now, that you have had an hour to find it on the internet, (Question No. 2: ) can you name at least 10 players who are not on the U.S. team in this whole tournament? You know you should be able to roll the names off like Kobe, Lebron, Albert, A-Rod, Peyton, Brady and on and on and on.
Uh oh, this is a head-scratcher, because not only will you not know the names, pronouncing some of the names you may know will be an even greater challenge.
Remember, you are the one that said you are really into the World Cup thing.
As we move on, let’s talk soccer for a minute, can we? It is a far cry from what we did in gym class or what we had our kids involved in while in grade school, because it didn’t cost a lot and they could run all day to the point they would be asleep in the back seat before your car left the parking lot. This is a game where gamesmanship is unlike most sports we see in the U.S. In World Cup Soccer when a player fakes an injury in order to draw a yellow card, he is commended and accepted for his play. Only Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics can go down in a heap like he did in the 2008 NBA Final, be wheeled off only to return as if nothing ever happened.
“Bush League” is what I believe they call it. In World Cup it’s “play on.” No one likes a faker… anywhere … if you get my drift.
Let’s move on to the lack of professionalism that is displayed. Tim Howard, the American goalie, gave up a goal to England last week. He quickly got up and started berating his teammate for allowing an opponent to get behind him and score. Perhaps, if Howard would have been as quick to try and prevent the goal as he did in showing up a teammate, perhaps the U.S. would have won.
Can you imagine him doing that in a baseball game? The backlash he would have endured would have been quite ugly. “Dude, you never show up a teammate.” Howard acted as if his teammate was not trying. Apparently forgiveness is not part of the manners of World Cup play.
The final question was posed by a radio colleague of mine, McGraw Millhaven. You see, there is this thing they call injury time, which is tacked on to the 90 minutes of regulation time in the event of injuries during the game. Apparently, time outs as we know them have not reached the soccer world yet. The problem here is the extra time is speculated by the referee on his wrist watch. It’s rather primitive, but then again this is the oldest sport in the world, right?
McGraw’s point was this: How can a hundred thousand people go to an event and only one guy (the referee) know when the game is over?
Now, that the soccer fans are upset because I have raised a couple of questions about their beloved sport, take a deep breath and exhale slowly. You will do just fine without the people who have chosen to pass on the World Cup. At times, it can be exciting. It has great history … and it can be quite boring.
The 1-1 tie between the U.S. and England is a classic example. If these two are such feared rivals, why have they not played each other in 60 years in World Cup play?
A tie is just that, a tie. You had people running around as if the U.S. had won the Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and World Series all at the same time. It was a freakin’ tie.
It has always been my hope that soccer would catch on in the U.S. I quit hoping. I enjoy it in small doses, as this is the only sport I could call, order a pizza, go get it, eat, and not miss a thing.
It’s soccer. It is what it is. Have to go now and find my USA jersey to where for tomorrow’s game against Slovenia. Wouldn’t miss it for the world. After all, it’s the World Cup and I want to be hip.
