America Should Play Soccer Because Everybody Else Does

I fail to understand how soccer is not such a big deal in America as it is in the entire rest of the world. The common argument is that the average soccer game is too long. Well let’s look at the facts. The average baseball game is 3 hours in length; the average American football game is 2 hours and a half; and the average hockey game is also 2 hours and a half. The average futbol game is 1 hour and a half. The only favorite sport that beats soccer is basketball, maybe. Basketball is 48 minutes without time outs and overtime.

So what’s really going on?

Well I can’t help but think about a conversation I had with my dad where he expressed his bafflement with why our government is set up the way it is. The conclusion he came up with is that our government is organized to be exactly what the British Parliamentary system is not. We have our 3 branches, which is somewhat similar to the Houses in Britain in that the powers are spilt up, but everything else is different. Whereas we have strict limitations on how long our people in power can be in power (and an emphasis on "checks and balances"), they have a one party system. And the Prime Minister, and his/her party, stays in power until they fail a “vote of confidence”. My dad’s feelings are why couldn’t we have just developed a similar system? We don’t need to have Kings or Queens but why did we do away with Parliament in favor of the present electoral system, putting ourselves on a very small list of countries without a Parliamentary system?

How does this tie in with soccer? Well, I’m going to make a very broad connection. I think American politics is setup in a way that does not allow its politicians to care about America’s connection to the world because they’re too busy campaigning. America, a superpower, does away with futbol when literally every other country, at least every other superpower, in the world is obsessed with it, except Canada. Instead we push basketball and baseball, sports being played in other countries but with nothing like the fervor of futbol, simply because it’s too much effort to divert attention (and resources) away from what we’ve been paying attention to all this time.

The stats, GDP predictors and standard of living factors, predict USA losing its comparative superpower status somewhere in the 2020 to 2050 range. China and India have been, and still are, growing much more rapidly. America is, and is still, losing much face because of the arm extended in the Middle East. What I am saying is whatever we are doing is not working. I think much of the failures in the Middle East can be pinned to a lack of cultural understanding. To promote diplomacy you have got to understand every side of the argument. And to have the most fun in a bar in any country in the world you have got to wear the appropriate Club Team’s jersey. A British stranger bought me a drink in a bar simply because I wore a futbol shirt even though it was his least favorite team (It’s my favorite shirt, my Arsenal shirt).

We get by with a little help from our friends. Well our friends all talk futbol. Let’s join in.