Sunday, June 11, 2006
In the commentary for the Argentina vs. Ivory Coast game they were talking about a quote from Pele about moments that he was most proud of, and he talked about how there was a 4 day cease fire in the Nicaraguan Civil War so the country could come together and watch their team play in the World Cup! (The quote was relevant, because you might expect a similar effect in war-torn Ivory Coast).
Another case in point about how America could care less about the World Cup ... Yesterday I decided to head to the mall to get an England shirt. I ended up visiting 10 stores in total, drove around 40 miles, and the only soccer shirts I found were knock-offs (how can you tell? They were $30, where licensed shirts are closer to $80). I was stunned. Of the 5 Sports Authority stores I visited, none of them had any soccer team shirts of any kind - not even USA or MLS teams.
They were talking on the Tom Leykis show on Free FM about why Americans don't like soccer. Tom's contention was that its boring and Americans like high-scoring sports, but I can't believe anyone could complain about the last 9 minutes of the Argentina/Ivory Coast game, where Ivory Coast scored after being 2-0 down and had those 9 minutes to try to equalize.
My personal feeling is the blame lies in the changes that TV made to mould US sports to their commercial schedules, even going so far as adding "TV Timeouts". I think American sports watchers have been trained to only have a 3-4 minute attention span when it comes to sports, and its just too much to ask them to sit through a 45 minute stretch. Even the Olympics tends to come in short bursts.
Puts me in mind of this urban myth that was going around just before the US hosted the World Cup in 1994. The story was that FIFA was going to change the rules for this world cup to introduce commercial breaks at every free kick and throw in. As ridiculous as that sounds to someone from a football (soccer) nation, I can't help thinking that that's what it might take to make it popular here.
6 Comments:
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And does anyone watch American football in the UK?... | ||
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By , at 6/11/2006 4:22 PM |
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I love how the ABC HD and ESPN HD presenters barbeque all the facts, mis-identify players and have silly little soap box discussions about politics. For example, today they were describing why Iran's president was annoying the German authorities by stating he was going to try to attend the Iran v Mexico game. | ||
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By Rich, at 6/11/2006 8:54 PM |
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I think you are definitely on to something about the commercial breaks. HOWEVER, I disagree that it is because the VIEWERS cannot handle it. It is the corporations that cannot handle it, so they don't market it in the same way as the other major sports. There are soccer fans in the USA, and they just have to work a little harder to follow their passions, just like the fans of any other entertainment medium that isn't controlled by major corporations. | ||
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By Anonymous, at 6/12/2006 6:38 PM |
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Duke - yes, Brits watch American Football. I was actually quite into it at one point. Strangely in the UK they didn't put commercial breaks in at every stoppage, so as Rich says, it becomes very obvious that if they didn't stop so often, they could be out of there in under an hour. | ||
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By xmlguy, at 6/13/2006 4:33 PM |
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baseball is another thing entirely and though there are many Americans who compare it to watching grass grow there's an essential "something" about it that transcends the amount of time it takes. I don't play chess, but chess is not a game you rush thru. It's move. Countermove. It's hot dogs, apple pie and kids with their gloves hoping to catch a foul ball. I would recommend actually going to a baseball game or football game to get the experience first. I've never been to a World Cup game and though I find it kinda boring to watch, even though I played as a kid, it would probably be balls to the wall in the stands. Then again, I could kick some German neo-Nazi's ass with regards from the 'hood. | ||
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By , at 6/14/2006 3:47 PM |
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And yet, when the USA team had every chance of getting through the first round in 2002 - the support was much stronger. Now USA have taken a draw against Italy and possibly get through if they win there next game then us ex-pats will not hear the last of it and support will suddenly rise. Not dissimilar to how the SUNS have been ridiculed by the general Phoenician populace over the years and SUDDENLY became hard core fans when they proceeded to the play-offs. Only to be ridiculed again when they lost. | ||
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By , at 6/19/2006 1:40 AM |
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