I Rise in Defense of Soccer
Peter Robinson ·
Jun 21, 2010 at 3:25pm
It's happened. The World Cup has me hooked. I still feel the same odd ache of deprivation watching soccer that I feel watching ballet--during ballet, Why doesn't anybody ever say anything? And, during soccer, Why doesn't somebody just pick the ball up and run with it?--but now I've witnessed Argentina's Lionel Messi. At 5'6", Messi represents as amazing an athlete as you'll see. In any sport. Ever. Skill, determination, sheer joy in the game, the speed and unexpectedness of his moves. There he is, playing game after game with the best players in the world, and yet Messi demonstrates an effortless superiority over the field.
Just get a load of this:
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Jun '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
That's just freaky. He's not a player anymore--he's the ball. And Messi, the player, is just kind of tagging along behind the part of him that has become...the ball.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
Distinguished Mr. Robinson:
Soccer is not unimpressive, but it's also not boring. I would compare it to basketball: impressive but boring.
Is soccer more boring than baseball? Perhaps not, objectively. But psychologically, baseball at least has a cadence that allows for suspense to build.
Soccer is still boring.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
Next thing you know Peter will be sipping on organic chai tea "vlogging" on his Macbook Pro about his trip to Davos, bragging how many "kilograms" of carbon he has saved over the many "kilometers" he's traveled in his hybrid drive airship powered by compost and bovine flatulent.
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
You have to excuse Peter -- he's got a house full of teenagers. I'm sure that on his own he would have remained as oblivious of the World Cup as he was of punk rock.
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
ParisParamus: Distinguished Mr. Robinson:
Soccer is not unimpressive, but it's also not boring. I would compare it to basketball: impressive but boring.
Is soccer more boring than baseball? Perhaps not, objectively. But psychologically, baseball at least has a cadence that allows for suspense to build.
Soccer is still boring. · Jun 21 at 3:54pm
Sometimes. When Soccer is boring, it is deadly boring. Existentially boring. None more boring. When it is exciting...ZANG. And even low-scoring, medium-interest games can showcase a level of beautiful athletic work that surpasses brilliant double plays and alley-oops. So it becomes a matter of percentages. So far, in my experience, the ratio is holding up pretty well.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
Peter, I had a pang of conscience after saying such harsh things about you and the metric system. I kid--I actually have been converted as well. There are some truly brilliant plays and the game is fun to watch with friends, especially if they are cheering on a foreign country so you have some interest in the non-US games. I just still can't stand the diving.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
While not a fan of soccer (my son is not yet old enough to play in the kids leagues), but I enjoy the World Cup because it has fun energy and only happens every 4 years. And every 4 years people say that this is the rebirth of American interest in soccer, but I don't see it. I think too many people are like me who enjoy the spectacle, but aren't into it enough to make the MSL a leading sports league. It is just like curling. Everyone loves it every 4 years, but it ain't ever going to take off....
I also enjoy the euro-inclined among us who tout soccer as unifying, one-worldy sport. I just don't think anything could be further from the truth. If you look at soccer, especially the WC, it is all about tribalism and nationalism. Rabid fans sporting club and national colors, along with the occasional hooliganism. How does that represent a one-world utopia?
Pencil me in for 2014 and 2018, but give me the MLB and NFL every year...
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
It seems like I recall just hearing you taking shots at soccer in a podcast. I'm thinking that Mr. Manacek is flat on here.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
Oh, wait. I mean to write above the opposite of what I did. I meant to write: Soccer is not unimpressive, but it's also not unboring.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
I remember as a teenage thinking British soccer on public television (WNET in NYC in the 1970's) was cool; it was the same period during which I thought Monty Python was cool, and all British things were cool. But the game was kind of secondary; it was the atmosphere of the games, and the British announcers, and the names of British towns/teams.
It was the ambiance; not the game. Which is kind of like why most people are Democrats and/or leftists: the ambiance; the coolness. DRIVEL.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
You're right. As many have pointed out, it matters not what the actual consequences of left wing policy are. They get cool points for merely holding the right attitudes about all those issues.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
I still hold hope that Peter Robinson is a conservative bulwark out there at the foot of the granola curtain. His soccer and veganism aside, I thank him and the other podcasters this week for giving voice to my own radical indifference to soccer. I attended several matches while studying in Germany a long time ago. Try as I might, I could never convince my Euro-liking self to find soccer interesting. I may have to listen to that episode again!
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
And I couldn't make time to watch the clip. That's 4 minutes I can't ever get back...
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
Mark Wilson (formerly Not Rocket Science)
I left out perhaps the key point above: the England of Monty Python that I found interesting and cool (watching a late '60s show in the Mid 70's) was an extremely bleak place; cool and interesting from a distance, but not some place I'd like to live for more than a few weeks. That also kind of applies to the Cool Crowd that puts Europe on a pedestal irrespective of its substance.
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
I'm just going to say what Rob Long is thinking - anything that has men running around in shorts is a good thing for America and even better for the world.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
You forgot to mention rolling on the ground like a two year old pretending to be hurt and trying to gain sympathy from his parents in order to get his playmate punished for something he didn't do.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
I'm grateful that we've tied our way into contention.
May '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
It's between the US and Germany for dominant female soccer team. The US won the Olympic event in 96, 04 and 08. They also won the female world cup twice in the 90's. Only Germany has also won that tournament twice. And the Germans are yet to win at the olympics.
I just think it would be cool if the US men's team could dominate the world's most popular sport as well.
Jul '10
Re: I Rise in Defense of Soccer
This thread is dead, but I e-mailed Peter about it before I was a member so I'm posting anyway. Let me ask this: in life, do you get a timeout? When does life give you a break between key events? When does life allow you to change the dynamic by switching to a whole different set of skills? Soccer is more like life than any sport out there, and I enjoy all of them. You get an occasional chance to use a set play as football does for the entirety of the contest. You get a short break halfway through, as baseball does every three outs. In soccer, specialists--goalkeepers-- must also possess at least some of the skills of the other players because they cannot always use their hands. Everyone else must be good at doing all that is needed. Nonstop for the contest, you adjust to conditions on the fly. The manager only has three substitutions, so it is up to you to make things happen whether you are having a good day or not. Bottom line, we could have the same thread about any sport, even the one you love, so leave the insults behind.