I still think it has a couple core problems that hold it back in the US
The first is that it is an endurance sport, and not an explosive sport. For some reason, we like our athletes to be bigger, stronger, faster. We admire the cat-quick 280# defensive end, not the average joe 5'-10", 170# dude who can run a marathon. Not sure exactly what it is, but endurance sports just don't have a lot of mass appeal in this country.
The second is the flopping. There is no trait we value more highly in our athletes than toughness. Hanging 48 points on an opponent in the NBA finals is all well and good. But take yourself out of Game 1 with leg cramps, and you will be vilified for weeks. Feigning injury to draw a foul is almost an artform in soccer, and it violates everything we hold dear about our athletes. It is basically a sport played by 11 punters.
[And before anyone says it, no, soccer flopping is nothing like basketball flopping to draw a charge. Basketball players fall down, then get back up. They don't writhe around on the ground like they just had an appendectomy with a chainsaw only to miraculously be fine 45 seconds later.]
Maybe as Boomers start to die off, our irrational reverence for toughness and macho sports will get slowly replaced by an appreciation for endurance and finesse. But until it does, soccer has a pretty hard ceiling for how popular it can ever be in this country.
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In response to this post by TomTurkey)
Posted: 07/08/2019 at 09:48AM