It’s been three days since the US Soccer team lost to Brazil 3-2 in the Confederation Cup finals, and the sports landscape seems to have reverted back to normal. The game added a bit of spice to an otherwise mundane Sunday, but as the end of the game neared Twitter lit up with an out pouring of sentiment that centered around the thesis “Well, the US team wasn’t even supposed to be here, anyway.” That’s all well and good, but as an American, and living in a town that houses the Clippers, I know a choke when I see one.
Certainly, Brazil was the superior team, and they should’ve dismantled us as they did, but that doesn’t mean they HAD to, does it? And now, three days later, everything’s back to the way it was last Wednesday. With slightly fewer celebrities. Casual tourists are proud of the US team, and we all wish soccer the best of luck in trying to woo us again, in the World Cup, a year from now.Yesterday I was discussing the Confed Final match with a coworker who happens to be from Brazil. We bantered lightheartedly about the match and I informed him I would be staying with him during the 2014 World Cup. He told us about growing up and playing for Sao Paulo FC and seeing Kaka at a young age. He spoke of Ronaldhino and his exploits. Then, as every discussion about soccer does, we came to the subject of why futbol had not gained that big of a following in the US. It was then that I made my Venn argument.
The Venn argument employs the use of a simple graph to explain why Americans haven’t embraced the Beautiful Game as heartily as the rest of the world.
In baseball and hockey and even football, low scoring is a part of the game, however there is little to no flopping. In baseball this is because there’s very little physical contact. In hockey and football you are correctly seen as weak if you flop. It should be noted that these are the two main sports where there’s the most physical contact, but they also get to wear pads.
Basketball has flopping (see also: Varajeo, Anderson), but goals are scored frequently, sometimes in seven seconds or less. The frequency of the scoring offsets the flopping, you see. There’s probably even a dash of jealousy thrown in there on the Americans part, as it is perceived that the basketballers who are usually the savviest at flopping are foreigners such as Manu Ginobli.
Soccer, unfortunately, is the only major sport with a wedding of the dreaded combination. Low scoring and flopping are integral parts of the game, ingrained into the sport’s culture unapologetically. There are valid arguments to be made that most of the best moments in a soccer match do not result in goals. That the Beautiful Game is aptly named for a reason, and a byproduct of that reason is low scores. Americans can tolerate this.
What we cannot reconcile is low scoring with the addition of egregious flopping. We’ve all seen the videos so there’s no sense in posting them. Whose to say how much more popular soccer would be in the States if flopping was eliminated from the game. We got a good look at it last Sunday, as there were hardly any flops in the Confed Final. Bottom line, Americans perceptions of soccer won’t change until the US team exceeds expectations and wins something significant, and/or flopping dies out.
Bloggged Graphically Speaking: – http://tinyurl.com/nftdr3
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
that’s crazy! Nobody loves Hockey.