Every four years we are given the privilege to watch the world’s top athletes compete during the World Cup. A tournament where every game is important and a single goal can be the difference between moving on and going home. I personally love the opportunity to wake up early, brew a cup of coffee and watch soccer at 7am. One highlight was the Paraguay v. Japan match that went well into the 120th minute without either team scoring a goal. The game play shown by both teams kept me in the match on the edge of my seat not wanting to miss a single second.
However, I could not help but notice the continuous complaints about the lack of a “winner” in many of the matches. So far in this world cup 16 matches have ended in ties, 2 of them going on to penalty kicks. Especially early on during group play Facebook would light up as status updates would complain about the fact that soccer has ties.
Now, I would be the first to confess about how little I really know about this sport (or any sport for that matter). However, this does not limit my ability to enjoy a match or be a fan. There is so much soccer has to offer like the size of the field, the continuous clock, the international feel and the absolute relentlessness of the fans. When I mentally compare this game to other sports it surprises me that soccer has not caught on more here in the U.S. while other sports like baseball, basketball and football remain popular.
I have several theories.
First: Because the clock never stops there is very little time for advertising space. Without commercials it would be difficult for major networks to air the games. Space is built into the major American sports for the viewer to be over saturated with ads for everything from cars to attorneys. If soccer were to become a major sport in America advertising would need to completely change, as every commercial would become avoidable.
However, there is an even deeper issue that has kept soccer from becoming popular in America. Our three major sports (baseball, football and basketball) are all reinterpretations of foreign competitions (cricket, rugby and the Mesoamerican ballgame respectively). At some point Americas must have felt like they had the ability to take these games and reinterpret them to make them our own. Why couldn’t we have just played the world’s games? Why did we have to invent our own?
The answer to this question lies in the framework surrounding the founding of this nation. The early European inhabitants of North America (Pilgrims, Puritans … ) had one fundamental belief that has changed the world forever. That being that God was on their side; whatever they did they believed that they were doing with God’s blessings. What this has created for us today is a nationalistic mentality that supersedes the rest of humanity. It has become too easy to believe that Christianity is right (or normal) and the rest of the world’s religions/cultures are suspect. Christianity has also given humanity the ability to dominate anything and everything we want. This mentality has had a devastating effect on our environment (see Lynn White’s article “The Historical Roots of Our Ecological Crisis”).
While Baseball, Football and Basketball are adapted foreign sports Soccer remains unchanged, despite many American gripes. It is difficult for Americans to participate as equals (or worse as under matched) in the world’s game. American’s feel like they need to compete in the things they create and neglect those that lie outside that realm.
Now I know this is an extreme stance. I hear a lot of talk about how America is becoming a secular nation and maybe the increased interest in soccer is helping us become more secular. Yet this country remains and will always remain a Christian nation. Most of our ideologies are rooted in Christian theology. We continue to hold these beliefs and our notion of conquest, adventure and nationalism are held together, and will forever be held together, with a fundamental stance on Christian ideologies.
So is Christianity to blame for soccer’s lack of popularity in America? I believe it is. Not at the individual level. No verse in the Bible prohibits the enjoyment of soccer nor do individual churches preach against soccer (if they do you should stop attending them). However, at the ideological level of Historical American Christianity the game of soccer has very little chance of becoming successful in America, or at least as successful as our own reinvented sports.
