World Cup
It’s over..it was riveting…it was watched…will it have any affect?
Have they stopped drinking in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich or Kaiserslautern? Is it like a death in the family in Buenos Aires, Rosario and LaPlata?
Is there self-satisfaction in Amsterdam and Antwerp? Grief and anger in Rio, Sao Paulo and Asuncion?.
Germany won its 4th World Cup yesterday, a sledgehammer affair with Argentina. It was (1-0) in extra time.
It was brutal, bloody, physical. It was one touch passing, yellow cards, lots of fouls, and some point blank saves by goalies.
The world will have to get on with the rest of their life now that there are no more games to watch, no more debates to have, no more bites-kicks-or raging over refs blown calls.
But what effect will what we saw the last four weeks have on US soccer. Ask a fan and they will tell you about Tim Howard, Michael Bradley and maybe even Jurgen Klinsmann.
The TV ratings were shattered. 24 million watched the US-Portugal; almost that many to see the play and lose game to Belgium
American viewing is wrapped around big events on TV. Nothing more. Yes the MLS, our outdoor league, is growing, expanding. But no, it does not have much in terms of TV ratings,and attendance is about 21,000 per game in their small stadiums. .
Yes we pay attention when a David Beckham arrives with the LA Galaxy, but no you probably cannot name very many other players across the league.
Would you actually stop what you’re doing to watch the Columbus Crew vs the Chicago Fire? Doubt it..
What we do know is the Fox Soccer Channel’s decision to televise the English Premiere League has brought the great game to us daily. We know global players, but cannot identify with New York Red Bull or Toronto FC.
We won’t make an appointment to watch that, nor the NCAA finals with Hartwick College vs St-Louis University.
But we will make an appointment four years from now to get ready for the games in Russia.
Wish the World Cup was every two years, so we could see Messi, Muller, Suarez and the likes more often. We pay attention to the important things.
We just saw 4-weeks of the beautiful game as it is meant to be. Anything else is not worth the time...Time to turn our attention to the other game of futbol, played here, the NFL.
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