I am not much of a soccer fan, but I actually found the World Cup earlier this year to be somewhat entertaining. I think it is more the concept of players representing their countries and nations playing for pride that does it for me. Furthermore, the fact that it only comes around every four years doesn’t hurt either.
The Olympics are the same way. The last few weeks of summer 2004, right before I started school at U.Va, all I did was hang out in a hammock in my living room with the Olympics on. I watched whatever sport was on at the time, even if it was something I wouldn’t normally check out. It didn’t matter; they put something on TV and call it the Olympics, I’m watching.
I need to preface my next point by reiterating that I really enjoy U.Va. soccer games. The Clemson game was intense and a huge win for the Hoos, plus the student section got free pizza in the process. In my opinion, these games (and maybe college games overall) are more exciting than professional matches, though it could just be that seeing them in person is better than watching televised contests.
Anyways, I can see why soccer doesn’t translate well into American culture. It is too slow and there’s too little action. The fact that low scores are commonplace isn’t necessarily bad, but the fact that there are generally few shots on goal definitely hurts its excitability. Also, as a result of the short leash on contact, soccer games turn into poor acting auditions in a stadium. Players take dives and then lie on the ground, thriving in pain, only to jump up and run down the field after the ref shows the card.
My 13-year-old brother Danny watched one game of the World Cup (U.S. vs. Ghana) and provided this commentary:
(Ghana player goes down and U.S. player receives a yellow card)
Ghana Player 1: Hey man, are you okay?
Ghana Player 2: Oh yeah, I was just faking it.
Now that I have pissed off every soccer fan with a column that has a title about hockey, let me get down to business. I don’t understand America’s disdain for hockey. For years hockey held a place in America’s “Big Four” sports, but now has become unpopular, as well as the butt of many sports fans’ jokes.
When you think about it, hockey seems to have what it takes to strike America’s fancy. Hockey is fast-paced and exciting. Like America’s passion nowadays – football - hockey is full of contact and flashy moves. Scoring is not always high, but there are more scoring chances and shots on goal each game, so the potential for high scores exists. The NHL even has a penalty for embellishment. If you take a dive, you go to the penalty box.
Obviously, the lockout stunted the NHL’s bid for progress. Baseball had a lot of trouble getting fans back after their strike in 1994 ended the season without a World Series. That coupled with the fact that America was already reluctant to embrace hockey before the lockout, it is going to take some time for hockey to legitimately be considered part of the Big Four (even after a successful first season and rule changes that increased scoring and eliminated ties for shootouts).
Some say the NHL needs to contract teams to make the league more competitive and more interesting. I don’t necessarily disagree with that, but I do disagree with those who assert that “every NHL team makes the playoffs.” This argument is weak sauce; it makes no sense. There are thirty teams in the NHL and eight teams from each conference make it to the playoffs. The last time I checked, this was the EXACT SAME format as the NBA, which also has sixteen of thirty teams make the playoffs each year.
The NHL season began last night with three games and continues tonight with ten more. The problem is that few people will be able to check out the start to the new season because of poor television coverage. One of the major obstacles for the NHL in reestablishing any kind of fan base will be actually reaching that audience, as most games are only available nationally on a non-basic cable channel Versus (formerly Outdoor Life Network).
Maybe America’s non-love affair with hockey is one of those “we’re better than Canada and anything Canadian” moments, when in reality hockey has just about everything America looks for in a sport. Would you ignore a ridiculously attractive girl if she wasn’t from Virginia? Of course not! You would go talk to her and see if she wants to check out a hockey game with you.
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