What is it about major sporting events that brings out the patriot in people? Currently World Cup fever has seized the entire world, and the historic US/England match has lit my Facebook up with American fervor. I'm hardly exempt--as we speak, I'm curled up in front of the television yelling at players whose names I'd never heard prior to a few months ago. The fact that I only have a rudimentary understanding of soccer is also completely irrelevant: put any American citizen in competition with others on the world stage and I will not only watch it, I will take every bump, bruise, and loss as a personal offense. If we win, I will walk around with a smile on my face and a feeling of both relief and inexplicable pride for the rest of the day.
I don't know what's more weird: the fact that I can tell you exactly the trajectory of my fangirl spiral, or the fact that no one calls me on this because they are, too.
After all, if this were any other sport--say American football, baseball, or even basketball--I'd be skewered by the faithful for jumping on the bandwagon. World Cup soccer or Olympic sports? You'll never hear anything about it. Which begs the question of why. Why is soccer the bastard stepchild of professional sports in the U.S. when it's the most popular sport in the world? Is it some remnant of our rebellion against Britain or just a sign of exhaustion on the part of the American public? After all, there are only so many rules and teams and rankings one can reasonably be expected to keep track of, and soccer season unfortunately coincides with both baseball and the majority of football season here in the states. Not to mention the utter lack of well-publicized grudge matches between American teams. Why watch a match that is relatively low-stakes when I can experience the thrill of victory or agony of defeat after yelling at a ref for two hours?
Maybe that's what's really lacking in American soccer: the story. I, like thousands of others, am shamelessly drawn in by a grudge match. I love watching David take on Goalith, watching the Dark Horse appear out of nowhere and win it all. I choose what horse to cheer for during the Kentucky Derby solely based on its name, and most of my sports teams were chosen for me by my family's ties to UNC. By and large, I am completely driven by my emotions. So, USSF, if you want to hold my attention, give me a story.
But don't stress too much; I'm also rooting for Brazil.
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