Monday, July 10, 2006

The World Cup doesn't need the U.S.

John Feinstein - a fine writer - was on the Sports Reporters on ESPN this morning loudly speaking against the World Cup lack of scoring and the possibility of penalty kicks. He made it sound like very few people watched the World Cup and that it needed to change in order to gain a wider audience. That's true for the MLS, but it ain't true for Soccer in Europe, South America or Asia. As I watched him speak, all I could think was 'this guy is the definition of ugly un-informed American that doesn't know anything about the rest of the world'.

They don't need to change anything, they are the most successful sport in the world. There is no lack of money either, these players are paid millions, on par, if not higher, than athletes in the U.S. Telling them to change their sport and their rules to attract U.S. viewership is like telling MLB to end the game after 7 innings because the game is too long so they can attract European viewers since they are used to 2 hour soccer matches

I'm not saying soccer is better. I enjoy baseball and football much more. And I also enjoy a NBA playoffs / March Madness much more than the World Cup as well. Not only are the American sports more fun in my opinion, but they are also much more bettable! I'm just saying there is no reason for them to adapt their game for Americans, just as there is no reason for us to adapt our games to gain their attention.

(note, I posted this earlier in a private forum, and I copied and pasted my own posts).

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