Why the Far Left Hates Baseball (Why the Far Right Hates Soccer)

bigjournalism.com ^ | June 14, 2010 | Michael Walsh

[Psalm 144]

I have a hard time believing that pro-wrestling viewers are a bunch of Democrats.

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Nor monster trucks.

[Richard Kimball]

Funny thing, on Youtube they’ve got the WNBA riff from “Family Guy.” With all the stuff they let through on Youtube, they bleeped the part where the commentator calls them “unattractive.” Like that was a secret.

[cartan]

I believe that many American right-wingers hate soccer simply because American left-wingers (pretend to) like it so much, and because they understand the reason for that: The lefties like soccer because they know that Europeans love soccer, and they want to demonstrate their love for socialist Europe by displaying an affection for soccer.

The funny part is that in Europe, it is the other way around! Most left-wingers hate soccer. Soccer, and the soccer culture, is seen as a brutal, violent, and right-wing thing. And there is some truth to this: Most European soccer fans are working-class males. The athmosphere in the stadiums is very loud, sometimes very aggressive, very male. Nasty chants, sometimes nationalist, sometimes even racist, shaved heads…this is not an environment where some metrosexual urban liberal would feel at home. Or welcome.

Perhaps somebody ought to give them a couple of free tickets ;-) Or a copy of Bill Buford’s book:

[La Enchiladita]

They’ve got one of those “gals” co-anchoring a postgame show on Lakers finals (abc7 TV in L.A.) and it is painful just to look at her... kind of, no, VERY, tranny looking. Blech.

[x]

You can put down soccer for not being as exciting as (American) football or hockey or basketball, but why pit baseball and soccer fans against each other?

Both games get called dull, so you think there'd be some solidarity. I won't disagree that soccer's the duller of the two, but baseball isn't going to make inroads against soccer since it doesn't quite suit today's craving for excitement either.

But sports do say a lot about paths of development.

The major team sports were developed in Britain and in British colonies like Canada and America. Soccer spread from Britain to the rest of the world (whatever more distant ancestors it may have had elsewhere).

Continental Europeans haven't been that good at inventing and packaging new sports. With soccer you can see why.

If you're Belgium or Montenegro or El Salvador or Uruguay or Cote d'Ivoire and your neighbors say they're going to crush you at (European) football, you learn to play the sport just to preserve your national self-respect. Once soccer gets established it's hard to unseat it as #1 national sport, because you have to beat the other guys in the next World Cup or Olympics.

The parts of the world where other sports have caught on have been those that are more independent and self-sufficient: island countries, former British colonies, ancient empires.

[x]

The funny part is that in Europe, it is the other way around! Most left-wingers hate soccer. Soccer, and the soccer culture, is seen as a brutal, violent, and right-wing thing.

Maybe. But there are always those t-shirt guys.

You see ads for stuff like this in left-wing British magazines.

[GatorGirl]

Soccer is one of the easiest games to play on an unorganized basis. All one needs is a ball. That’s why everyone in the world is better than us at it.

In the US we tend toward “organized” sports. Baseball needs more equipment. Football can be played with just a ball, but you’re crazy (like my teenage son and his friends are) to play tackle football without equipment. Hockey needs all sorts of stuff.

But the US version of organized soccer on the competitive or select level can run into the thousands. The equipment is still cheap if you stay away from the $200.00 cleats and $40 balls (which invariably get lost). So I don’t think it’s really an economic issue at all.

[dfwgator]

It is so ugly. A well-designed NFL play, where each guy blocks and the runner hits the hole perfectly, is just a thing of beauty. There is no beauty in soccer.

Go onto YouTube, and enter "George Best" or "Johann Cruyff" or "Pele" then tell me there is no beauty in soccer.

[cartan]

Yeah, but how many of their readers actually get one of those and go to the stadium? ;-)

[Overtaxed]

Ah so, but our crummy little team tied England yesterday, don’t you know? ;)

And that's another thing...they played a whole game and didn't have a winner to show for it.

[LS]

Sorry. I find soccer ugly, ugly, ugly.