On the Contrary: Soccer Is Not “The Beautiful Game.”
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a new blogumn by Joe Rusin
Arguing against the big things, the little things, and mundane things…so you don’t have to…
The World Cup has bullied its way into our national sports coverage. I say bullied because Americans by and large really don’t care about the sport of soccer. In fact, we care so little about it that we have to use an obscure nickname for the sport that no one else in the world uses, because we want to save “football” for our most popular sport (which is really a modified form of rugby that involves very little interaction between feet and balls). Soccer is a word with its origins in the Oxford colloquial abbreviation for “association football.” I’m no linguist, but to put it into perspective, referring to the sport as “soccer” would be akin to someone referring to our American Football as “gridiron.” It just sounds wrong, but for the most part Americans don’t care.
However, the World Cup is a really big deal to most of the world, and every four years we masters of the universe come down with a case of “superpower-guilt”, and will at least try to watch a sport that seems to mean so much to everyone else. Also, with the NBA playoffs now over, our only alternative is midseason baseball, which is not only boring but for the most part meaningless. (Sorry baseball fans—shorten your season by half, cut the length of your games to 7 innings, and shrink the number of MLB teams and baseball will still be boring—but less so.) So we dive into the World Cup tournament, and sports writers insist to us soccer-novices that this is “the beautiful game.” But all one has to do is tune into any match to find it’s quite the opposite.
Watching the game played is probably the closest a professional sport can be to watching children play the same game. Of course the professional adults playing are in fantastic shape and incredibly skilled, but the very physics of the game make moments of real grace about as frequent as the goals (that is, 1 or 2 per game if you’re lucky).
To begin with, the field is huge, much larger than an American Football field. Because the ball is constantly moving all around the field, television shots have to be far away and wide, effectively dwarfing the players. So already it looks like a bunch of kids (or hobbits) running around a lawn. Because everyone is running after and kicking a ball that is so bouncy its trajectory is unpredictable, the running becomes jerky and chaotic. There are no time outs and very little player substitutions, so a lot of players become visibly winded near the end of the match, and the game tangibly slows down because of it.
None of this makes the game very “beautiful.” Add the annoying and constant drone of plastic “vuvuzela” horns during every 2010 World Cup match (something endemic to South African soccer-fandom—like waving the Terrible Towel at a Pittsburgh Steelers game), and the game manages to even be auditorily repugnant. Here’s a taste if you haven’t heard them
Beauty, I suppose, is in the eye of the beholder. I watched the opening match of this year’s World Cup in a bar surrounded by cheering soccer fans at 7 in the morning. Beers were quaffed, flags were waved, and profanities were hollered. All before most people started their day at work. The match between Mexico and South Africa ended in a 1-1 tie, but the roller coaster of emotions around me seemed completely out of proportion with what I was seeing happen on the television screen. To me, it was an hour and a half of watching people run around with about four moments of excitement. To the other patrons, though, this was a life and death struggle with dramatic tension every time foot touched ball. Emotions were in fact so high that I saw some fans of Mexico try to start a fight with someone who had cheered when South Africa scored—something to keep in mind if you should decide to take in a game at a bar whose team you’re cheering against. It wasn’t pretty.
Here’s the thing, though. The game doesn’t have to be beautiful. Really there might not be such a thing as a “beautiful game” in sports—they’re all just contrived ways of getting human beings to run around and compete with each other. The World Cup is kind of fun. It’s fun like the Olympics are fun. Yes, the sport will never catch on in America. We like a lot more scoring in our sports, and we always have an overtime period to try to avoid the emotional anticlimax of a tie. We like our time outs, instant replay review, and coaches’ challenges, because we’re a litigious society that feels cheated if we don’t get to hear from both sides on an official’s call. But once every four years, we can enjoy something a little different from our usual sports diet—whether it’s curling in the Winter Olympics or the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament. Think of it as sampling an exotic cuisine—it’s not going to become a staple of your diet, but it’s fun every once in a while. After all, it reminds us we’re citizens of the world, and that sports competition and fandom is a common human experience everywhere. And maybe recognizing that deep down human connection actually is a beautiful thing.
Photo Credit: Brit.
Joe, you're thoughts on soccer and the World Cup are spot on. I too am not a big soccer (or football, if I'm supposed to use the correct term) fan. This season was the first time that I really ever sat and watched a game and that was only because some friends convinced me to do so.
I guess as with most things, if you're genuinely invested in it, then I could see how this could become an emotional game. I too thought that the super wide shots made it hard to see the players and who they were on the field. I'm completely baffled by the extra time and how they keep adding three minutes, and then three more minutes, and then another minute of bonus play.
As with most sports, there is definitely drama on the field. But, soccer provides a much slower paced different type of drama, that I guess is not for me. (and I'm a big baseball fan.) Maybe it is the fact that I am used to instant replays and quick camera shots.
I think the sport is growing in the US, but at an extremely slow pace. The latest batch of excitement seemed to follow the US team making it to the top 16. It was even leading the sports coverage on the local news on some nights. But, now that the US is out, I think it will be another 4 years until things heat up again…
I tend to be skeptical that the sport is ever going to catch on in the U.S. I think it's more like the Olympics–something to get excited about every 4 years but nothing that is going to have staying power between World Cups. That being said, if it's ever going to make progress in this country, now is the time. There was a lot of excitement for Team USA (although they really underperformed, losing and tying games they were expected to win) and with both the NFL and NBA facing potential lockouts in 2011, this is Futbol's time in the U.S. if ever there was one.
Joe, you're thoughts on soccer and the World Cup are spot on. I too am not a big soccer (or football, if I'm supposed to use the correct term) fan. This season was the first time that I really ever sat and watched a game and that was only because some friends convinced me to do so.
I guess as with most things, if you're genuinely invested in it, then I could see how this could become an emotional game. I too thought that the super wide shots made it hard to see the players and who they were on the field. I'm completely baffled by the extra time and how they keep adding three minutes, and then three more minutes, and then another minute of bonus play.
As with most sports, there is definitely drama on the field. But, soccer provides a much slower paced different type of drama, that I guess is not for me. (and I'm a big baseball fan.) Maybe it is the fact that I am used to instant replays and quick camera shots.
I think the sport is growing in the US, but at an extremely slow pace. The latest batch of excitement seemed to follow the US team making it to the top 16. It was even leading the sports coverage on the local news on some nights. But, now that the US is out, I think it will be another 4 years until things heat up again…
I tend to be skeptical that the sport is ever going to catch on in the U.S. I think it's more like the Olympics–something to get excited about every 4 years but nothing that is going to have staying power between World Cups. That being said, if it's ever going to make progress in this country, now is the time. There was a lot of excitement for Team USA (although they really underperformed, losing and tying games they were expected to win) and with both the NFL and NBA facing potential lockouts in 2011, this is Futbol's time in the U.S. if ever there was one.
In my opinion, anyone who watches basketball to see slam dunks or football to see crushing hits isn't a sports fan. And most of the criticisms I hear about soccer seem to come from this angle: 1 goal scored in 90 minutes? That's so boring! Nothing happens in soccer!
Well of course nothing seems like it's happening if you don't understand the sport. The same can easily be said for baseball. And in basketball, where teams can score 100 points a game, who really cares about each individual basket until late in the 4th quarter?
But I digress. My point is that, like any sport, if you understand the intricacies of the game, there's a lot more going on and a lot more to think about during the game than the goals scored, the home runs or the slam dunks.
Soccer has never caught on in America for the same reason people keep paying to see X-Men and Transformers and keep buying awful, manufactured Top 40 music: most people don't want to take the time to experience and learn about something they're unfamiliar with.
I totally agree! Like any sport the intricacies of football is unseen to the casual fan. They are not merely passing the ball back and forth or just running around. They are trying to shift the defense from side to side in order have that breakthrough of brilliance. The scoring does not define the game, I for one have sat through some amazingly intense 0-0 matches. We live in a highlight reel society (due in large part to ESPN) that the build up and drama are lost. For example people will always remember that late Donovan goal to win, but if they lost out in the frustration and anxiety that game had throughout.
I used to absolutely loathe football, and I am guilty of saying oh it so boring and oh nothing ever happens….. but in 2006 for the World Cup I said to myself let's give this sport a chance. Being a life long sports fan I knew that if I immersed myself in the game and came in with no bias I would understand why it is so loved all over the world. 4 years later I have been following it religiously through my club team Chelsea, and national team England, and I can now truly say I love the game of football.
I'll also add that watching club soccer truly would change many Americans' views. World Cup soccer for the most part are collections of all-star teams that can't play together, which results in really sloppy games.
I don't think the World Cup will ever hook Americans to soccer. But if the european leagues, not the champions league but the actual domestic leagues, got full day-to-day coverage here, there's no doubt in my mind it would catch on quickly.
Soccer makes me want to be a better person with finer tastes and a longer attention span. But man … I'm just not. Thanks for this article, Joe.
In my opinion, anyone who watches basketball to see slam dunks or football to see crushing hits isn't a sports fan. And most of the criticisms I hear about soccer seem to come from this angle: 1 goal scored in 90 minutes? That's so boring! Nothing happens in soccer!
Well of course nothing seems like it's happening if you don't understand the sport. The same can easily be said for baseball. And in basketball, where teams can score 100 points a game, who really cares about each individual basket until late in the 4th quarter?
But I digress. My point is that, like any sport, if you understand the intricacies of the game, there's a lot more going on and a lot more to think about during the game than the goals scored, the home runs or the slam dunks.
Soccer has never caught on in America for the same reason people keep paying to see X-Men and Transformers and keep buying awful, manufactured Top 40 music: most people don't want to take the time to experience and learn about something they're unfamiliar with.
I totally agree! Like any sport the intricacies of football is unseen to the casual fan. They are not merely passing the ball back and forth or just running around. They are trying to shift the defense from side to side in order have that breakthrough of brilliance. The scoring does not define the game, I for one have sat through some amazingly intense 0-0 matches. We live in a highlight reel society (due in large part to ESPN) that the build up and drama are lost. For example people will always remember that late Donovan goal to win, but if they lost out in the frustration and anxiety that game had throughout.
I used to absolutely loathe football, and I am guilty of saying oh it so boring and oh nothing ever happens….. but in 2006 for the World Cup I said to myself let's give this sport a chance. Being a life long sports fan I knew that if I immersed myself in the game and came in with no bias I would understand why it is so loved all over the world. 4 years later I have been following it religiously through my club team Chelsea, and national team England, and I can now truly say I love the game of football.
I'll also add that watching club soccer truly would change many Americans' views. World Cup soccer for the most part are collections of all-star teams that can't play together, which results in really sloppy games.
I don't think the World Cup will ever hook Americans to soccer. But if the european leagues, not the champions league but the actual domestic leagues, got full day-to-day coverage here, there's no doubt in my mind it would catch on quickly.
Soccer makes me want to be a better person with finer tastes and a longer attention span. But man … I'm just not. Thanks for this article, Joe.
Did anyone see David Villa’s goal for Spain against Portugal? Wow! During the 63rd minute, no less!
Did anyone see David Villa’s goal for Spain against Portugal? Wow! During the 63rd minute, no less!
Well written buddy! The beautiful game was coined by the Brazilians "Joga Bonito", and is usually reserved for when they hit the field. In Brazil it is not just about winning the game it is also about playing beautifully. The likes of Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, and Robinho are maestros of the ball. Every now and then you will hear that phrase tossed around to describe football, but seldom will you hear it said to describe let's say England. Mostly club teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Arsenal play the Joga Bonito brand of football, which is fast paced passing, dribbling exhibitions, and crazy shots from Siberia that go in!
Well written buddy! The beautiful game was coined by the Brazilians "Joga Bonito", and is usually reserved for when they hit the field. In Brazil it is not just about winning the game it is also about playing beautifully. The likes of Pele, Ronaldo, Ronaldhino, and Robinho are maestros of the ball. Every now and then you will hear that phrase tossed around to describe football, but seldom will you hear it said to describe let's say England. Mostly club teams like Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Arsenal play the Joga Bonito brand of football, which is fast paced passing, dribbling exhibitions, and crazy shots from Siberia that go in!
Yawn. I'm all for contrary opinions, but give it some spice or something. Make outlandish claims and blame something on immigration. Isn't that what blogs are for?
Yawn. I'm all for contrary opinions, but give it some spice or something. Make outlandish claims and blame something on immigration. Isn't that what blogs are for?
I definitely agree that you have to have a special taste for certain sports. Each sport is different and has different aspects that are considered the high points of a game/match. I used to hate watching soccer tournaments because there were hardly any goals ever scored, but i never realized how difficult it is to score. I learned to become more patient and to admire all the shots on goal they take and how close there shots are. Soccer is such an exciting game. You just have to be willing to like it. If you watch it thinking that you'll hate it then you will. It's that simple.
I definitely agree that you have to have a special taste for certain sports. Each sport is different and has different aspects that are considered the high points of a game/match. I used to hate watching soccer tournaments because there were hardly any goals ever scored, but i never realized how difficult it is to score. I learned to become more patient and to admire all the shots on goal they take and how close there shots are. Soccer is such an exciting game. You just have to be willing to like it. If you watch it thinking that you'll hate it then you will. It's that simple.