Yeah, but this happens every four years, only to have no one give a shit come late July. Been happening since at least 1994, but I only say that because it's the earliest one I paid attention to; it probably wasn't the first. People were pissing themselves in '02 when the US made the quarters; there were all sorts of press uprisings in '06 when the US lost to Italy in a game that looked rigged even by FIFA's loose standards; and the whole country was glued to the US-Ghana match in '10. Not sure why 'this time is different.' Probably because this time is always different in everything we think about.
Yep. I can tell you for a fact that I'm most fascinated by the international aspect of it; the act of the entire world coming together for a brief moment, with all of the different cultures mingling and laying aside their differences for a rather arbitrary reason... bouncing a ball off of anything other than your arms. I have the same fascination with the Olympics. My favorite moments might be when the cameras pan the crowd. Hopefully, if the world cup gains stateside popularity, NBC won't pick up the coverage and shit all over it, as per Olympic coverage. For the world cup, I watch Univision anyway, 'cuz I'm half fluent in Spanish, they slow-mo replay every foul, and no one shouts "GOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLL" on ESPN. It's pretty difficult to watch American Soccer League games on television. I don't pay for cable service, and unless it's the world cup, there damn sure aren't any bars devoting screens to futbol. I doubt that the level of play is the same either. Howard, America's goalie, plays in an English league because that's where the money is. I want to be wrong on this, so if there's anyone who really watches ASL games that will testify against me, please do so. I'd personally love to see soccer gain traction in the U.S., I play in a little league sometimes myself. Not... "little league", but... yeah. "Hahah, there's no way Portugal can tie us now, there's only 30 seconds left!"
- My girlfriend. I scowled pretty hard 20 seconds later.
Right. Get back to me when Americans watch every Cup match, not just their own. Get back to me when they follow club footie. That's what the Argentine, Dutch, British and German fans do. The biggest point of the World Cup is that every single team has a few players on it that you know and love (or hate) from the EPL, La Liga, Bundes, Turkey for fuck's sake, etc. It's a culture as much as a competition. Hell, the competition's probably better at the Euro (though for the first time in a long time, that may not be true), but what makes the Cup special is that the Euro doesn't have Argentina rooting for Messi, Brazil for Neymar, Uruguay for -- ha!, Cote d'Ivoire for Drogba, Japan for Kagawa... I can be from the US yet really give a shit if Switzerland goes through because I love Shaqiri. Wash rinse and repeat for any player/country combination. Some Americans are starting to see football from that angle, but not many. For most, you're right, it ends two weeks from now. Let's hold off on the back-patting.