Oy! Say Can't You See?

Ripples from Across the Pond
OY! SAY CAN’T YOU SEE?
10/04/02
By Nick Webster

On Wednesday I was having a pint at my local Santa Monica, CA, boozer in anticipation of a massive ‘derby’ game. The Mighty Ducks were on the telly (no, not that derby), but nobody seemed to be watching.

Seizing my opportunity, I politely asked the waitress if she would mind switching the channel to Telemundo. The screen flicked and there it was, the United States of America and Mexico dueling for bragging rights of the CONCACAF region in a World Cup warm-up special.

No sooner had the first juicy tackle flown in when the screen flicked again, to…baseball. “Sorry honey, but my regulars want to watch the Dodgers against the Giants,” said the waitress.

Hang on a minute, doesn’t the baseball season consist of about 276 games? Would it kill ya to miss a couple of innings of one three hour-plus marathon?

“This is your country playing,” I pleaded, “How often do you get a chance to put one over on your neighbors and have a few pints in the process!”

I’ve traveled all over the world and I don’t think any country I’ve visited is more sports crazy than America. That makes it hard to understand why American fans refuse to support their national teams. Not just in soccer but in every sport.

I don’t care if England are playing checkers against Mali, I want them to win…badly. It hurts when they lose.

Just because you don’t get football, doesn’t mean you can’t have passion and support for your country.

It's well documented that the rest of the world has a love/hate relationship with America. Part of the reason is the consistent refusal of American fans and media to show interest in events the rest of the planet cares passionately about.

How Fox’s own Jim Rome deals with the World Cup should make for some interesting ‘smack’. Odds on he’ll come out with some intelligent remark like “soccer sucks, out!”

I’m not asking for an entire nation to become football fanatics overnight (although being that LA fans are the most fickle in the US and with the Dodgers already out of the running for the pennant, who knows!).

I don’t expect you to passionately care if the USA wins or loses, but try and have some respect for the young men who have worked their whole lives to represent your and my (adopted) country.

I’ll be cheering for the Yanks in Korea and singing my lungs out in support of your guys. So take to the pubs and give them a little love, they deserve it.

Talking of passion and singing, there was plenty on display at Highbury last Saturday in the ‘Norf’ London derby. The Arse look like they’ve got the title in hand, although if they lose to United at Old Trafford, the ‘brown trousers’ will be making a guest appearance. The date of that fixture all depends on the FA Cup, SKY and money (the projected date is the 5th or 8th of May).

The referee for that match will be crucial. Mark Halsey should not be on the short list as he was a disgrace Saturday. How he awarded a penalty for the Seaman/Poyet incident was beyond me, you’d think he was a ‘FOF’ (Friend of Fergie). There’s nothing like a make-up call penalty call within five minutes though, and justice was done in the end.

One issue definitely settled is Leicester City’s demise. To be fair, the Foxes have been awful for close on eighteen months and deserve to leave the top level. Plus with a bit of luck we won’t have to deal with Robbie Savage and his histrionics. Can you see anyone buying him?

Muzzy Izzet will be high on Premiership shopping lists though, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he ended up on the blue side of Manchester playing for City.

Back to the big international derby. After leaving the pub to avoid straining Anglo-American relations, and departing with “I’m from England, yer nonces, not Europe!” I went home, got the beers in, and thoroughly enjoyed a bad tempered game that had everything you’d expect from a US/Mexico encounter.

There were scandalous challenges, a scrappy goal, red cards, handbags and a cracking atmosphere. The right team was victorious as well and, with Portugal looming on the horizon, Arena’s lads are looking good. Make sure you don’t miss out when it happens for real in 50 days time.

When not munching on Dodger dogs, Nick Webster can be reached at nwebster@foxsportsworld.com

As I see it, in baseball, football, basketball, etc., any player in almost any position can stand out based on his own personal achievements. There seems to much less opportunity for the same thing in soccer. I admit that this may be true in soccer as well, but I just don't see it.

Does it really matter who's running up and down the soccer field when they don't score for hours on end? I find a game with (gasp) 2 or 3 goals in 3 hours is just plain boring. There's just too much "nothing" happening for far too long. There my be a great deal of nuance and skill in all that nothing, but who cares if it doesn't change the score. I see the same thing in hockey - boring, boring, boring.

any player in almost any position can stand out based on his own personal achievements. There seems to much less opportunity for the same thing in soccer.

You're definately wrong on that count. Individual players often make or break a team, and coaches are heavily criticized for choosing which players get selected for the team (and which get to actually play in the game).

Does it really matter who's running up and down the soccer field when they don't score for hours on end? I find a game with (gasp) 2 or 3 goals in 3 hours is just plain boring. There's just too much "nothing" happening for far too long. There my be a great deal of nuance and skill in all that nothing, but who cares if it doesn't change the score. I see the same thing in hockey - boring, boring, boring.

I find just the opposite. A game with few or no goals in both soccer and hockey can still be exciting to the viewer - it's fast paced (more in hockey than in soccer, though the South American soccer teams play very fast styles), suspenseful, and quite enjoyable.

On the other hand, watching a 1-0 or 2-0 baseball game is like watching sloths copulate. Nothing happens. That's probably the reason why the Expos up here get no real support from the fans - we're a hockey town that's used to fast-paced action, and baseball just doesn't deliver.

This actually reminds me of an episode of The Simpsons, where Homer stops drinking and goes to a ball game, where he realizes how boring the game really is when watching it sober lol.

On the other hand, watching a 1-0 or 2-0 baseball game is like watching sloths copulate.

Very amusing - thanks for the laugh. Some of the games are just like that (sloths mating, moss growing, molasses dripping in the winter) and most aren't. But they all look that way to me with soccer. And the problem with hockey is those assinine rules about blue lines and red lines and puck passing - like it makes any difference other than to slow the game down. Argghh! It's enough to make you scream.

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