Although nearly every country in the world is more likely to notice it, and be surprised and impressed by it, the USA ought to be very proud of their football (aka soccer) team tonight. USA 2 – Spain 0, and so the mighty are fallen, and a team of global superstars, a country home to the most famous and glamourous club in the world, are felled by an underdog team whose players are almost unknown in their own country.
I ask my American friends, isn’t it better to do so well in a “world” competition that is actually played in the rest of the world, than to pretend the world only exists within your cultural borders.
And from Boston.com’s Big Picture, a wonderful set of photos from South Africa where all this excitement is going on. The low-res picture here is a small crop from one of these brilliant photos to give you a taster and send you over there.
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I’m still crying in my beer because of Italy’s performance.
I’m a soccer coach, so you know where my sympathies lie.
On the other hand, quintessentially American sports like American football, basketball, and baseball are also popular in many parts of the world, if not as universally as is the case with soccer. These “made in America” sports, too, come close to being without borders.
And, if you pay attention to what sports come online at the Olympics, you will notice that the cultural slope, globally, continues to flow from the US into the rest of the world. No one complains about it, least of all the Chinese, who quickly find a way to beat everybody at their own game.
Nobody complains about it, that is, except those with a long memory who realize things could have been very different.
In short, I love soccer. On the other hand, I see no reason to think less of American football or, for example, cricket (thoug I can’t figure it out) or lacrosse (which I wish I learned how to play as a kid: a great game).
And no disrespect to American sports is intended, as I hope you realise. OTOH how many nations play in the World Series? It seems like quite a small North American world.
In my view the really global sport to come from the US (and one I always enjoyed at school) is basketball.
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