Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’ve heard this for at least 30 years: Soccer is going to be the next big sport in America.
There’s nothing I can say to change your mind, so I won’t try.
I understand your misgivings: The sport is too slow; you don’t understand the rules; it’s UN-AMERICAN, by gosh.
The late AJC columnist Lewis Grizzard once wrote this about soccer: “I’ve never seen a soccer match in person. I avoid soccer matches with the same intensity that I avoid the dentist.”
I feel the same way about a few sports that I won’t name.
But here’s where Mr. Grizzard and I differ: I have given those sports a legitimate chance.
Many of you haven’t given soccer a chance. I know. I’ve asked.
Give yourself a Saturday morning and watch some of the Premier League from England. Turn to the MLS in the afternoon.
The players are every bit as comparably athletic as you will find in the NFL or NBA. Watch Liverpool’s Luis Suarez pick up the ball near the halfway line and see the terror on a defender’s face as he realizes he is at his foe’s mercy.
So what if the scores aren’t 10-9? A 1-0 baseball game can be beautiful. A 10-9 football game can be enthralling. The same is true of the strategies in most soccer games.
But you will never appreciate the beauty if you don’t give it a legitimate chance.
And you are in a growing minority.
After 30 years of proselytizing, soccer quickly is establishing a foothold as a pro sport, and it’s not just something for your 8-year-old to do on a Saturday morning.
Arthur Blank realized this when he made the decision to spend at least $70 million to bring an MLS team to Atlanta. The values of the franchises are increasing by the tens of millions in less than a decade. The sport is broadcast on dozens of television channels. The average attendance at MLS games rivals those in the NBA and NHL.
And you can’t deny the passion. Go to YouTube and search for Liverpool and Manchester City and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” The moment will give you goosebumps. That tribute to the Hillsborough disaster is an example of why I love soccer.
It’s the passion. It’s the artistry. It’s the athletic ability.
If you give it a chance and still don’t like it, that’s OK.
But your kids do. Your neighbors and co-workers do.
After 30 years, soccer isn’t going to be the next big sport.
It is one of the big sports.
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