[DoughtyOne]

While I appreciate your point, and can see some validity to it, there is nothing evil about recognizing that the three main sports in the U. S. are baseball, football, and basketball.

Those are iconic. Again, there’s nothing evil about that.

In other nations there are other sports, soccer being one, where it or another is considered to be their iconic sport. While I personally can’t stand soccer, there’s nothing immoral about their iconic sport being soccer.

[Alberta's Child]

There's nothing inherently wrong with football, but the place it has come to occupy in our economy and national culture is a symptom of a serious problem. And the example you cited about soccer in Europe is a perfect parallel. Sitting around watching someone else play a game -- especially if you are young enough and healthy enough to play the game yourself -- is a symptom of a dying nation. Look up "Roman Empire" and "bread and circuses" for an illustration of this.

To me, this is soccer:

And this is nothing more than an entertainment extravaganza:

If I was a soccer fan, I'd give up the second one and spend more time on the first.