A Futbol Story

"If I wanted to see someone struggle to score for 90 minutes, I'd take my friends to a bar."

Pretty much sums up what Americans who have chosen futbol (Soccer) over football (American) have to put with.

And I am one of those Americans.

Of course I grew up watching football. I enjoyed it as much as anyone, I guess. I remember spending many a Sunday folding clothes on the couch watching the afternoon games. I never really had a favorite team other than whoever was playing the Godforsaken Patriots. Didn't play in high school. Apparently my athletic gene never made it though the first round draft pick.

Nearly a decade ago, I was channel surfing and came across a match  - that is what a game is called in the soccer world - in the English Premier League. I thought, "What the hell, why not" and settled in. I was mesmerized. I didn't understand a lot of what was going on but I figured most of it out in short order.  I think a small part of me was hoping to see a hockey game break out in the seats but those days of riotous fans are not too common these days in the English Premier League. Of course part of it may be that the away fans are all tucked into a wedge of seats in the corner with the aisles on both sides staffed with burly, neon green jacketed security folks. Anyway, it became apparent that although there wasn't a lot of scoring action, there was a lot of strategy and athleticism involved with eeking out an elusive goal. Soon, I began seeking out matches on the cable guide and before I knew it, I had become a fan.

I didn't stop watching football at first. I still enjoyed my Sunday afternoons but the more I watched soccer, the more frustrated I became watching football. Things that never bothered me before started getting under my skin. Commercials every few minutes, constant interruption in the flow of the game and quite frankly the whole "smash mouth" thing were quickly becoming a huge turn-off for me. Eventually, I stopped watching altogether. (Which made it an easy transition to not watch this year with the whole Kaepernik BS.)

The rest of the world is a soccer world. There are leagues in most every country or region playing by all of the same rules. It's great that there are so many choices, on the other hand it is daunting and nearly impossible to keep up with. Barclay's Premier League was my first and it is the one I follow each season. It's great because the time difference means I DVR the matches and then spend the weekend watching them at my leisure. I also keep up with Major League Soccer (MLS) here in the US and try to catch a live match of FC Dallas whenever I'm in Texas visiting the fam.

Soccer is catching on here, but I don't have any illusions about it replacing football anytime soon. Thanks to World-Class teams like the US Women's National Team and the expansion of Major League Soccer, more and more folks are being exposed to "the beautiful game" and hopping on board. In particular, MLS is gaining a bit of a reputation as a place international players are considering. It wasn't too long ago that people joked that MLS stood for Men Leaving Soccer or Men Learning Soccer. The recent addition of international stars has only added prestige to the game.

In a forthcoming post, I'll list the Top Ten reasons I love soccer. Until then, consider holding your nose and watching a match. Perhaps you'll like what you see.