The lack of commercials and adverts of 90 min is amazing – which seems to be why the US audience becomes bored – because they have to pay attention for 45 min at a time. In comparison, US Football only features about 21 minutes of ACTUAL playing over the course of a 3 hour broadcast. Plenty of room for commercials… 🙂

Did your comment sway me on soccer? Maybe we’ll have to round up a crew and drink some Guinness at 10am (I remember one of Jeff’s friends getting up early for a soccer match) to appreciate the sport.

A lot, if not all of this, has to do with the bandwagon. (I think we talked about this). I was a huge fan my whole life. My dad would take me to the Vet at least 10 times a summer, I would listen to every game on the radio because we didnt have cable, and the days that the Phillies were on normal television were the best days of the week. Then they got good and everyone loved them.

I would say 90% of my friends did not give a shit about the Phillies before 2008. People would make fun of me and when I would wanna watch the game people would be annoyed and pissed. But its crazy what a World Series can do. It shows how stupid sports ultimately are, at least the sports that American culture has created.

I know you dont like soccer, at least I assume you dont, but if you gave it a chance I think you would love it. Its the fastest growing sport in the country and its not slowing down. It has such a different culture and the way it is tied into people’s lives around the world is fascinating. It may take a while to get into it, especially if you go in thinking, “This sucks.” But if you knew the history and the politics and the backgrounds of each game it makes it that much better.

I could literally write a ten page thing here on why you should like it but I dont know what to choose. The only thing I can say is that it is the most popular sport for a reason. It gives people identity and represents more than sport. For example, there are more than 20 clubs in London in the top four English divisions. Each club comes from a different neighborhood and represents a different type of people. One club comes from a Jewish neighborhood, one comes from a neighborhood filled with ship workers, and another one comes from a glitzy upscale neighborhood. Imagine if South Philly had a team, Roxborough had a team, and Upper Dublin had a small team. Itd be pretty neat. Now I know that doesnt explain the actual game of soccer itself but that is the main reason I have fallen in love with it. I would probably feel the same way about basketball or baseball if it had the same culture across the world, but it doesnt.

Additionally, for me, the game flows much better. There is so much creativity. Anything can happen in any game that has never been seen before. Generally, the same type of plays are seen week in and week out in all American sports. You never see something that has not been somewhat done before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1_9RI3PosY

A lot of people say it is boring and yes it can be. But there are no time outs or commercials or challenges or any of that nonsense. Yes, there are fake injuries and flopping but every sport has its negatives, just as baseball has steroids. I know you’re a rational man and I honestly think you would enjoy it. Is there really anything that much different in us Americans that make us hate soccer? Are we that much better than the rest of the world? I think if we stopped being ignorant and opened our eyes we would like what we see.

If you made it this far, thanks. I was bored.