The World is Watching

"My cup runneth over."
-- 23rd Psalm

World Book. Okay, so in the interest of full disclosure (which I try to demand on Flashpoint), I have been a soccer fan for a long, long time going back to my playing days in middle school and high school, right through to my coaching days as a father of four. I would rather meet Pele than Michael Jordan, and I can probably trace my lifelong fascination with Argentina back to its 1978 World Cup, held aloft by captain Daniel Passarella, my favorite player. So I am probably not the average American that FIFA and the World Cup need to recruit. I'm already there, continually dismayed by the ambivalence with which so many Americans greet the pageant of World Cup soccer. I mean, even if you don't like soccer, aren't you the least bit interested in an event that the entire globe sees as a matter of life and death?
My theory on soccer's popularity problem in the U.S. boils down to provincialism. Even though millions and millions of American boys and girls play the sport in front of enthusiastic parents (and have been doing so for a couple of decades now), we just can't push soccer into that pantheon reserved for our athletic passions of football, basketball, baseball and NASCAR.
Notice anything about those four sports? All home grown, all decked out in red, white and blue. (As for Canada's passion, Hockeytown aside, the NHL was already on life support in the U.S. before it stupidly cancelled a season.) As Americans, we don't really care to have anyone advising us on our tastes, habits and predilections. The more we're told that the rest of the world loves its futbol, the deeper we retreat. ("I'm supposed to sit here and watch a 1-0 game that ends not when the clock expires but when the referee says he figures time is up? No thanks.")
Small wonder the rest of the world sees us as arrogant and self-absorbed.
So herewith, the Flashpoint guide to appreciating the next few weeks of World Cup.
1) Don't approach soccer like a game. It's more like a novel. You can't just skip to the last two pages. You only appreciate the excruciating last few minutes if you've been through the to and fro of the first 90.
2) Look for the symbolism. Germany versus England is far more than a soccer game if you'll give just a fleeting thought to history. (A few years ago, England played Argentina in a surrogate Falklands War that was riveting.)
3) Learn a cheer or two. Soccer chants are far more inventive and five times funnier than anything you've heard at an American arena. A personal favorite -- the Brits who yell, "We'll be right nasty bastards if we lose!"
4) Everyone is allowed to root for Brazil. They're the world's best fans and unlike fans of the Yankees and Red Sox, they allow you to jump on the bandwagon anytime you like. Every game, especially every victory, is like Fat Tuesday. Good thing, because they're a good bet to win it all.

C'mon. It won't hurt.