English hooligans

by Rob

2006/06/11 at 11:36 am

I have no trouble saying soccer is just not my thing. Believe me, I have tried. I was traveling in Italy and Turkey during the last WC and I was living in London during the Euro Cup. I’ve sat in crowded pubs filled with shaven-headed hooligans, face-painted nationals and massive shouts of “GOAL!” and I still could not feign interest. I even saw my first soccer riot, and was more depressed than anything. England lost to Portugal, so hooligans attacked the Portugese areas of London and trashed cars and businesses. American sports rivalries rarely escallate into that. More over, English hooligans IN PORTUGAL ITSELF were rioting. What the hell are you thinking? Rioting in a host’s country because your team didn’t win?

I don’t think Americans hate soccer per se, I just think we enjoy it as a recreational sport and the de facto team to play when you’re first starting out. We just cannot enjoy it as a spectator sport, and we’re too busy enjoying the sports that we have cultivated. Contrary to popular belief, we are not alone on this one. The Canadians have never cared much for soccer, prefering hockey, baseball and basketball. The Australians have also developed several different forms of football. The Irish are into soccer but they seem more passionate about hurling and Irish football.

I dunno, I think we can just accept the fact that soccer isn’t our thing and move on.