Well stroked, Marc! When they come around in four years you might mention:

1. If soccer were really worth anything, Dan Snyder would already own it.

2. They need to widen the nets so that there can be more scoring. 1-0 is nothing.

3. The "continuous play" (if you can call it play) makes it impossible to go to the bathroom or get a cold Budweiser.

4. The fake theatrics, falling down, shin-grabbing, and wincing is a product of managed economies where the government doles out favors. Competitive economies are about play-on.

5. The silly red-card, yellow-card stuff is denigrating. No one should be allowed to treat another human being in that fashion.

1) Your not liking soccer is totally within your rights.

2) Sporting hooliganism in THIS country is perhaps LEAST associated with soccer, based on recorded fan behavior.

3) Again, you're free to like baseball and not like soccer. It's simply a matter of taste.

4) Take bin Laden out of your response and you're still being "overly dramatic." We (Americans) did not watch any of this weekend's World Cup games and hear echoes of genocide, unless we were paranoid, xenophobic or idiots. We watched sports.

5) Latin American immigrants baseball fans? Hello? Look in your own backyard. Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala -- all soccer-crazy nations. That is to say nothing of all the European, non-Latin Caribbean and African immigrants and refugees in the U.S. Ask the 400,000 Ethiopians in the D.C. area what a baseball is sometime.

6) MLS is a stable and growing league. Most of today's teenagers do not remember a time without it, or when the U.S. was not a regular participant in the World Cup. Pro soccer is now an American sport, like it or not.

...

I don't pretend to know that soccer will be the biggest sport in the States in 20 years, nor do I care whether you or anyone else who doesn't like soccer changes their mind.

But I think you've got a lot of this story wrong.

Have a great day.

You wrote: It's very nice for soccer-loving countries to have their little tournament, but to call it the World Cup is rather arrogant and overblown.

Now, over 180 countries participate in qualifying to attempt to make it to the World Cup tournament. To assume that it shouldn't be the "World Cup" because the US isn't involved or favored to win, well, THAT, would be arrogant and overblown.

It's amazing to me that you could even write the above sentence. You just reinforced the arrogant American stereotype to the German media. Nice work.

Calling the World Cup such is arrogant and overblown because anything not involving the mainstream American isnt a world affair?

I propose we stop calling the World Series such, since clearly it involves only teams in two contries with players from myabe 15 or 20.

And if I'm not mistaken, the World Cup is watched by about 2 billion people, give or take a half billion. What does the World Series draw? maybe 20 or 30 million in a good year?

Soccer is overly nationalistic? Did you remember the "U-S-A" chanting 'hooigans' at recent olympic games?

I agree that soccer is less than exciting for most Americans, but your tone that if Americans don't like it that it is somehow deficient really falls in line with Americans' arrogance on the world stage these days.

You don't have to love it, but how about a little more respect for the world's most popular sport?

And to Kat:

1. One NFL owner has realized that soccer is the real deal, Malcolm Glazer of the TB Buccaneers owns Manchester United, which has greater profits than do the Redskins.
2. A great game does not require a goalscoring explosion? Ever heard of no hitter in baseball, alot of runs there huh?
3. Plan ahead. Or maybe our short American attention span necessitates breaks in play every 8 seconds.
4. Embellishing fouls and economics clearly have nothing to do with one another. Apparently you and arrogance do.
5. What exactly is dehumanizing about cards? I suppose a manager in baseball getting eected is too.

blinkscots, ps, and Aaron Willis--

Are you Germans or Europeans or something? How can you bring yourselves to stick up for soccer (sometimes mistakenly called "football") and this silly sham of a "World" cup? You need to go to a Nats game and see what athletics is about. Most of us Latin American immigrants actually come to America to get away from soccer.

This is the most idiotic thing I have ever read. How can you be so ignorant to say that calling the tournament "the World Cup" is arrogant and overblown? We call our baseball championship series "the World Series" and there are two countries participating.

More Americans care about this than you think. I am a huge American sports fan. O's, Ravens, and Terps are the teams I support until death, but I'll be cheering on the U.S. as hard I was cheering on the Ravens in the 2001 Super Bowl. I don't know anyone that is not interested in the game today. Who are these people that don't have an interest in this game? You must not know any sports fans.

It is too early in the morning for this. Is it satire or not? I can't tell.

I know Fisher was winding folks up with some of his comments -- maybe all, I don't know. So I'm not even touching the "little affair" stuff.

As for Raoul, I'm as American as beating Mexico in the World Cup.

Mark -

You're an idiot. If you can't see the complexity of soccer, you're not watching the game. It's painful for me to know that an ignoramus like you gets paid for NOT knowing about sports.

Oh, please, Marc! This is too easy; and if it weren't for the inappropriate remarks about terrorism one could think the dripping irony was intentional:

"In America, spectator sports tend to be family events, with a wholesome emphasis on community." A community of folding chair-throwing players and beer-throwing fans, then?

"...combination of grace and power that baseball demands" Power of the Barry Bonds style, I assume.

"nationalistic fervor" Yeah, I guess those "USA" chants at the 1980 Olympic Hockey Final were really meant to spell: United Soviet Allstars.

"...to call it the World Cup is rather arrogant and overblown." You mean as opposed to calling a few games between two cities the "World Series." Oh, wait -they're not cities, actually, but teams that get randomly relocated to the highest bidder in a cartel-like organization. With emphasis on wholesome community and competition and all, of course.

And the fact that you

"People go out to a ballgame with children or with friends and the game is but one piece of a larger communal event, with cookouts, music, and cheering, as well as the fan's involvement in the personalities and prospects of a favorite team."

Go to a DC United game, check out the cook outs in Lot 8. I guarantee there is more music and cheering at a DC United game, produced by the fans btw and not piped in.

"a simple game that depends more on stamina and strength than on the eye-hand coordination"

um yes by definition since other than the goalkeeper it is illegal to use your hands in soccer.

Winners of the NBA finals are "World Champions" how many foreign teams do they beat? Baseball's "World Series", how many foreign teams are involved? Yet these days the US can't seem to win any of the international basketball or baseball tournaments which involve foreign teams.

One word for you: idiot

By the way, twenty years ago soccer being more popular than hockey would have been absurd. Now, hockey is on the OLN and soccer is on ESPN. Even ARENA FOOTBALL is more popular than hockey. I'm not saying that soccer is going to beat out American football or basketball, but it is surely gaining on baseball.

By the way, my grandfather would have bet his last dime that no sport would ever overtake baseball, but now it is sitting precariously in third place. Incremental change has a way of surprising blowhard ideologues like the Marc Fisher.

I just submitted a clean comment and a box prompted me that it was being held for approval by the blog owner (Marc Fisher). I'll be very disappointed if he is stiffling comments that he does not agree with

Mark,

Perhaps it would help folks understand if you more clearly labelled your writing as satire?

For example, I found your comment, "It's very nice for soccer-loving countries to have their little tournament, but to call it the World Cup is rather arrogant and overblown" to be a rather clever poke at folks in the U.S. who call the U.S. baseball championship "The World Series" without ever inviting the Japanese, the Cubans, or any other countries where "our" national pastime is especially popular.

But is it satire?
I'm inclined to believe that Fisher believes about every word that he spouts.

Thus is the complexity of my relationship with Marc Fisher. Sometimes I read your stuff and think "Right on brother!" Then other times I read things like your opinions on dogs and soccer and think "Idiot!" Maybe we should go to couples counseling or something to work on this.

I'm normally in agreement with Marc on the things he writes about, but this just blows me away. I, too, can't tell if this is satire. But if it isn't, I'm thoroughly disappointed in Marc. However, I'm very proud and stand alongside the true sports fans that have defended soccer from the baseless comments/accusations made by Marc. Good work, guys.

That has to be satire. I pray it is. PLEASE let it be satire.

Marc,

Leave the soccer bashing to morons like Kornheiser and go back to bashing Bobby Haircut and Peter Angelos.

You're a jackass - stick to sports you know about and don't run your ignorant piehole on ones you don't understand

About 500 Million people around the world will watch the World Cup Final.
About 70 Million people watched the Super Bowl.
American Football is not accepted as a Sports in the Olympics.

The problem here is, when it's good satire by a skilled writer, then it is clear that it is satire. Not the case here.

thats like Bush calling Katrina "a little rain shower" good job!

"Calling the World Cup such is arrogant and overblown because anything not involving the mainstream American isnt a world affair?"

Well, really of 18 World Cups 16 have been held in Latin America and Europe. Soccer is more popular and has more of a following in the United States than in China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Iran, Thailand, Egypt and so forth. It is not a matter of USA vs the people who enjoy soccer. It's a matter of hyperbolic European and Latin American sports fans ignoring the reality of 1.5 billion Chinese, 1.3 billion Indians and the majority of people in the largest countries in the world.

Well done Mark. Soccer is like a very, very, very slow and boring version of hockey.

Hey, Aaron Willis, it's not just him. Marc needs to look up who Lamar Hunt is.

You know, AFL Lamar Hunt

Kansas City Chief's - owned by Lamar Hunt

aka
Columbus Crew - owned by Lamar Hunt
Kansas City Wizard's - owned by Lamar Hunt
FC Dallas - owned by Lamar Hunt
Lamar Hunt US Open Cup

As a lover of the game, I usually tune out drivel such as this (ie, middle aged white American guy writing about how boring soccer is, etc etc). That said, two points to be made: one, the only thing more boring than soccer (at least according to the writer) has to be articles/stories from such writers. Secondly, as per the Kos blog in Sunday's Post, 90% of Latinos in the US cited soccer as their favorite sport (maybe collecting your data at Yankee stadium threw your statistical analysis off). In sum, please keep tuned into the Golf Channel, NASCAR, and the 4 hour Brewers-Royals game and enjoy. I'll continue to love the game in all its glory.

It's less than an hour before the States kick off their World Cup campaign. Nothing, not even this nonsense, is going to wipe the excited smile off my face. And at least I'm living in England right now, where football is anywhere and everywhere, which just reminds me why I love the game in the first place. Go US! :)

Obviously this is supposed to be funny. But it's still a display of extreme ignorance about a game that's enjoyed by way more people than the entire American population. You say spectators sports in America tend to be "family oriented with a wholesome emphasis on community". That has to be joke. Family-oriented with all the beer drinking, cursing, players fighting fans, players tossing chairs into the stands...If anything American spectators sports are anything but family oriented.

And where does America get off calling an intra-country competition "The World Series", calling the super bowl champions (an entirely national event) "World Champions"?

I guess this must be a satire..guess all forms of sports have its own drama and excitement. I think World cup soccer (football) is deifnitely the most exciting 'little' tournament in soccer

Why some people confuse loving soccer/football with being not patriot enough?, what's wrong with being American and loving this sport?, really, what a sheer ignorance!!. Are we afraid we can't dominate this sports and therefore, we whine and make inaccurate statements? ("soccer is the favorite sport of Osama bin-Laden"). Come on Marc, I hope this is a joke, where is your can-do spirit?, I would say to all my fellow americans, buckle up, shut up and learn how to play it and don't be a wuss, you don't like it?, then move on. There is room for everybody and every sport in this country and it's got nothing to do with patriotism.

Hahaha, this guy Raoul posted a comment saying "Most of us Latin American immigrants actually come to America to get away from soccer".......are you sure it doesn't have anything to do with starting a new and better life for your family? Or is soccer really THAT big that it has run you out of your country? Get a life!

I don't blame him for trying. I'm not sure anyone could really have pulled off satirizing the anti-soccer warriors effectively. Like satirizing Bush apologists, it is too difficult a task; the line between what they actually do argue and what is so absurd as to not be funny is so small that it might as well not be there.

Oh this is typical. How the heck is soccer supposed to go mainstream in this country when media-types - who help dictate coverage, commentary and opinion on the game, especially for the uninformed or casual fan - don't give it a chance?

And for all those who bash the beautiful game, just see the highlights of the just-concluded Australia-Japan match today. Breathtaking finish. And GO USA!

Ok the experiment worked here's the break down...

slobbering soccer fans during business hours on a Monday 35 comments in 4 hours

Possibly racist campaign literature--32 comments in 3 days

Jail break in local neighborhood--6 comments in 4 days

problems at mental hospital (maybe where the soccer fans are coming from)--15 comments in 5 days

local story about schools--18 comments in 6 days

Get A Life.

That comment posted by 'mark' about ignorance is, well, ignorant. First, Japan hosted the last World Cup. Second, if soccer fans were indeed ignoring China and India- how exactly would you call Chinese and Indian representation in baseball?

You speak about kids losing interest in Soccer as they grow up. It is interesting to note that the vast majority of my friends between the ages of 19-28 do not care at all about the Nats or the Orioles. In fact none of our conversations ever revolve around those teams. Face it baseball is boring unless your drunk..No one goes to baseball games without drinking! Soccer amongst the youth is everywhere! I have never heard any kid at all ever spurt out baseball numbers like in the past. Things have changed, face it.

Baseball isn't as exciting as watching paint dry or grass grow. Soccer takes athleticism. Baseball takes steroids. Soccer takes skill and strategy. Baseball takes an opposable thumb to swing a bat or throw a ball. In soccer, there is movement and action and excitement. In baseball, there are a bunch of guys standing around while nothing happens. Soccer might be low scoring, but you never see a fat soccer player scratching his crotch and spitting tobacco juice while the fans have fallen asleep. Hitting a baseball isn't the most challenging thing in sports - it's staying awake through a baseball game.

Mr. Fisher, you should have made it clear in your interview with the German newspaper that you do not speak for the general American public. Your remarks were insulting and poorly designed. It would seem to the discerning reader that you were intentially baited to provide a ridiculous and easily characterized American perspective on a world sport that you know nothing about and rose selfishly to the cause. I wish you hadn't been so eager to unthinkingly identify Americans as worthy candidates of the normal foreign prejudice.

"In America, spectator sports tend to be family events, with a wholesome emphasis on community."

Marc - You've never been to or seen a Philadelphia Eagles game, have you? Or for that matter, the end zone at a Ravens game. More hooligans there than I've seen at soccer.

Heck, the biggest "family" event I've been to recently was a NASCAR race.

Sorry Fisher, you're so off-base here its laughable. Soccer is the most popular sport on the planet, and is growing hugely in the USA. My entire office, all intensely following the Cup and soccer leagues year round. ABC's broadcast of the England-Paraguay game on Saturday beat out Braves Baseball in Atlanta, and thats not even including the many who were watching on the Spanish stations. My personal story is probably your worst nightmare, though is hardly uncommon: grew up a big O's/Bullets/Skins fan and played soccer at recess in the 80s, 90s - discovered the English league and international soccer though and never looked back, have been a huge fan and will be for the rest of my life (24 years old now). Most of my generation, though may not as hardcore as myself, remain familiar with the game and lack this visceral hatred and ignorance spewed by dinosaur writers like yourself. Immigrants today have less reason to discard their preferred sport (soccer) than in the past due to the availability of seeing their favorite teams on cable television, and the number of americans and other immigrants playing weekends and weeknights. Keep your head in the sand though, pitiable as it may be.

Lets Go USA! Czechs will be a stiff first test.....

As a football loving englishman can I say to all Americans PLEASE stay away from football (soccor) you dont want it and we dont want you!

Pretty stupid stuff. I feel kind of embarrassed for the writer

Some of Marc's comments were probably intentionally over the top. I mean, "family atmosphere at U.S. sporting events"? (Go to a Philadelphia Eagles game filled with 70,000 drunken working-class lunkheads, and the "family" you'll think of will be the Mansons.) I like soccer, admittedly not as much as baseball, but then again I wasn't born and raised with it.

Oh, and I wouldn't generalize all Latin Americans who come to the U.S. as being baseball fanatics. There are many Latin cultures where baseball is foreign, and a lot of those groups are in the Washington area. (Which probably explains why the Nationals don't have their games on Spanish-language radio, as is the case in New York and even Philadelphia.)

Chris - first off, just because you come up with some numbers it's not an experiment. But for the argument's sake I'll just pretend it is.

What those numbers indicate are two things: One, soccer fans care about the game. Two, non-soccer fans like you apparently don't even care enough about serious stories to post more comments elsewhere.

So why don't you get some civic engagement.

Japan and Korea co-hosted in 2002. The USA in 1994. I am well-informed, not ignorant. I stand with what I said. Soccer is very popular in Europe and Latin America. It is far more popular in the USA than in China or India or many other countries. I am not making any point about any sport other than soccer.

Fisher - you have done Americans a disservice. Most Americans are simply indifferent to soccer/futbol due to ongoing lack of exposure, which is understandable. Few hate it. I don't think I've ever met anyone who does. Why try to explain to foreign journalist that we do? You're obviously trying to be that wacky, hyper-opinionated American journalist getting your two cents in at a time when soccer takes center stage. Hopefully the German readers, and others that read your baiting, poorly thought out ramblings, choose to ignore them as many American choose to simply - and unwisely in my opinion - ignore a beautiful event like the World Cup.

"Are you Germans or Europeans or something? How can you bring yourselves to stick up for soccer (sometimes mistakenly called "football") and this silly sham of a "World" cup? You need to go to a Nats game and see what athletics is about. Most of us Latin American immigrants actually come to America to get away from soccer.

Posted by: Raoul Martinez | June 12, 2006 10:03 AM "

Hey Raoul, something tells me you are not what you pretend to be: a latin american immigrant, not with that name, are you for real?, I mean, you can fool gringos but I don't buy it, where are you from?. Who in heavens told you we actually come to the US to run away from football? (sorry fellas but "soccer" doesn't exist in my vocabulary despite of what you say). Seriously Raoul, I need an explanation because unless you can't see countless mexicans, peruvians, bolivians, salvadorans, ecuadorans, paraguayans, etc. enjoying a good match in this area, I am afraid your idea of reality is just a little too much distorted. You want so see athletics?, try running and handling the ball 45 minutes non-stop with a 15 min. break then charge full bore for another 45 more and I am not mentioning the steriod issues with the MLB which you don't see that much in "soccer". Come on Raoul (or Raúl?), talk to me.

cpwdc--

Actually I post frequently on other sites--apparently I struck a nerve though...

We are up to 50 slobbering soccer fans and counting.

ps. it does count as an experiment if the results are measured and interpreted rigorously. Most traffic studies are performed in this exact way.

Soccer is a boring game, Marc says, more boring than baseball (STATISTICS!!--Whee!!).

A response:

-No commercials. The Superbowl is an hour of action, but it's also 2 hours of T------ Sauce and, if we're real lucky, J Timberlake and friend (ah hem). Baseball has nine breaks and a few pitching changes. Perhaps Marc and the average American are products of the advertising era--it just ain't the Superbowl without that cola ad. Soccer is the least commercially prostituted sport. Period. And that's a good thing. Period.

-Attention span. 90 minutes of straight soccer action is something like an opera for guys like Marc. He doesn't know the language, it goes on and on without stopping, and, geez, nobody can touch the ball with their hands except the two guys in special shirts, and they have to wear gloves to hold it. And, this is the worst part, there's not a Smith, Johnson, or even a Fisher on the field.

The best things in life aren't free, or easy, Mr. Fisher.

--

Ian....Americans can play soccer just as good as any Brit! Get over yourself. You have a lot of non-English playing in the Premiership...including quite a few Americans.

Marc, you had me chuckling. I have only one question: is your German good enough for you to do the interview in German, or did you use a translator? I'd hate to think that anything was lost in translation.

When did Hank Hill start writing a column for the post? Don't listen to this drivel. I thought is was satire but its to badly written.
The USA have a really good team, Landon is class, Friedal is a great goalkeeper and in Freddy Adu you have one of the brighest young talents in world football. It is heartening to see so many positive comments from Americans in reponse to this rubbish and it give us Europeans hope that on the whole Americans are not the arrogant, insular idiots that is implied by this poor excuse of a columnist.

Chris - glad to hear you post elsewhere. Glad to know you can count up to 50, too. However, I doubt that one guy counting stuff and labeling it "slobbering" lives up to being "measured and interpreted rigorously."

You are an ignorant bafoon Mr. Fisher and not especially bright. Compared to baseball, soccer is fast paced, dynamic, involving, and much more team oriented sport. Compared to a bunch of middle aged overweight men standing around on a field waiting for another middle aged overweight "hitter" to hit a ball with a stick, soccer is nuclear physics. If you really think that Baseball is popular because it is about mathematics, "angles", "eye hand coordination" and "percentages" you are an even bigger idiot then you are perceived to be. Baseball is popular because it is a populist sport that is based in a very easy to understand premise and that is ingrained in american culture. Baseball as a sport is about as interesting as watching paint dry.

I'm sure your views would be different if you werent so backwards and small minded in your observations, which most people find at best silly.

Well said kelvini, that's maybe the issue: short-attention span, most americans get bored easily (why?), they need to be entertained 24/7. Reason # 2: there are no too many breaks in between so we can "enjoy" Janet Jackson, wardrobe malfunctions or other lame spectacle, besides hitting the food court and third, we don't obsess with stats and the maniac necessity of a surgical analysis down to the decimal point, well, football doesn't work that way, certainly you can analyse it in terms of goals, tempo, strategy, player positioning but you either enjoy the game or you get lost in the minutiae. Have fun fellas and GO U.S.!!!!!!, beat those Czechs!

The German magazine should have run two interviews -- one with Fisher's rants, and the other by a U.S. journalist who is a real aficionado (LaCanfora?). Only then would German readers have seen how stupid and ignorant Fisher's remarks really were.

cpwdc--

I will leave it up to you to find adjectives then. A few quotes:

"You are an ignorant bafoon Mr. Fisher and not especially bright"

"Soccer might be low scoring, but you never see a fat soccer player scratching his crotch and spitting tobacco juice while the fans have fallen asleep."

"You're a jackass - stick to sports you know about and don't run your ignorant piehole on ones you don't understand"

"You're an idiot. If you can't see the complexity of soccer, you're not watching the game. It's painful for me to know that an ignoramus like you gets paid for NOT knowing about sports."

Maybe you would call this reasoned debate, I call it slobbering.

Hey Marc, how come "Raw Fisher" is no longer listed among the bloggers in "News Columns and Blogs?" I have to google "Raw Fisher" to find your blog at Washingtonpost.com in order to get my 'raw fisher fix.' Thanks.

What is the deal with soccer fans....what's with all the spittle? Why do you feel that your sport is above reproach. I mean, I'm an American Football fan, but if you were to say that Football is violent, overly long, or boring, I'd have to agree that it's a matter of taste and that would be the end of discussion. Let someone assault the precious ramparts of soccer though, calling it boring, melodramatic, and emasculating for instance, and the daggers come out. Come on guys, it's a SPORT, not a religion. It seems that some soccer fans are so filled with conceit that they can't take a little ribbing. I wonder if their devotion comes more from a love of the game, or from the particular "We Are The World" outlook that comes with it.

Ooh...I missed a good one:

"I'm sure your views would be different if you werent so backwards and small minded in your observations, which most people find at best silly."

Slobber.

Chris - precisely my point: this is not the place for the kind of analysis you pretend to do here, certainly not for anything you called 'measured and interpreted rigorously.'

The reason soccer isn't a big television sport here is because there is no commercial breaks so the stations can't make as much money. They don't push it as hard as football (ever watch the Super Bowl for the commercials?) and consequently, the American populace doesn't care as much. It has nothing to do with the quality of the sport. It has to do with how often the television companies can force feed you 30 second spots about Coors Light and Viagara (preferably not in the same commercial).

Oh, and I missed one too:

USA 0 - CZE 1

Americans don't like football - the game where you use your feet - because they don't have the attention span. Also they're self-imposed isolantionists and their government doesn't want them discovering that the rest of the western world is much freer than them.

"USA 0 - CZE 1"

A virtual blow-out in soccer. Let us hope this trend continues so we can stop talking about WC for another four years...

Here comes your blow-out:
USA 0 - CZE 2

Wow, have they invoked the Slaughter Rule yet? I can't remember, but this is single-elimination, correct? Let's hope so....GO CZE!!!!

Europe no longer believes in God but in Science, Rationality and Evidence. Soccer is so big because it has taken the place of going to church. European governments can control their citizens without going to the extremes of religion and foxnews.

No, and no. A "Slaughter Rule" or other silly rules don't exist in the beautiful game. Only non-beautiful games need that. And no, it's the group stage. Isn't there a rule about not posting when you don't even know the basics? Oh wait - if that were the case we wouldn't be having this blog since Fisher would have clearly failed.

Marc

I presume this is your Ann Coulter imitation. Say something egregiously stupid and irritating and see if you can generate some buzz.

Or are you still sore because your mom named you after a commuter train?

Ah, NOT single elimination. This is the "GROUP phase". Thank you for clearing that up cpwdc, although it is most disappointing news. And unfortunate news indeed to end my lunch hour on, but such is life. Oh well, let the spittle fly in my absence....good day to you. One more thing, re: your "beautiful" comments, see my earlier comment about emasculation.

marc.. ur a prize wazzock..i'ts all been said above bout jingoistic flag waving stuff, and u know U.S.A . is the worst offender, but anyway. the world cup is about gettin the beers in with ur mates.. not bud by the way.!!!!.. and just cheerin ur team on.. get over ur self an get into the spirit.. crack a tinny and enjoy

The US has some really talented players...dont underestimate them. Also, my boyfriend, who is English, is rooting for USA over England...he thinks that they are a great group and that they will go far. (it also helps that Landon Donovan and Claudio Reyna play for his favorite team, Man City) So don't worry team USA, you have at least one European out there who is pulling for you!

GDR/CPWDC you go to extremes to show your distaste of soccer, even it that means rotting AGAINST your home boys, what a d*ck you are dude. Nobody forces you to understand it but at least show some support to your fellow americans.

Hi!

I'm a 22-year old german and i just wanted to check out what americans think about football-now i know!
American,the great nation of sport,can't evade the GAME like everyone else on this planet!
Watch the worldcup and celebrate your team,they're doing a great job!

Final score USA-CZE 3:2!!!

Soccer will never make it big time in the US until the US team does something special at this tournament. And it looks like they could be out very quickly once again.

And for the casual sports fan, its hard to see the strategy in soccer. It just looks like people running up the field with very few good results (a goal or good scoring chance).

i didn't read all of the interview nor all of the comments, but i find it short sited to be so critical of soccer and then call the sport a reminder of what nationalism does to people. we don't need a sport for that. without being overly critical of the bush administration, i think everyone would agree that we did go to war on highly nationalistic grounds in iraq. and if not for that sense of nationalism, we would not be there today. but, i digress, i think this writer might disagree with me anyways, i mean, he does disregard the world opinion that soccer is the most watched sport in the world. so, you can say the rest of the world are idiots if you want, but i am not that nationalistic to think my views on the sport trumps all others. in my opionion, the lack of interest in the us, is the fact that this is a TEAM game, and not a sport where an individual can triumph over great team play...just look at the camera shots, in baseball, footbal and basketball, it is focused on one player, maybe a couple, but we always have that zoomed in replay every so often...in soccer, because it is a team sport, you have to see what the team is doing to know what is happening in the game much more so than the popular american sports of the day.

i know its seems like nothin is goin on .. but there is.. i've had 5 beers watchin this game.. usa may get somethin here.. u got some good players

"Also they're self-imposed isolantionists and their government doesn't want them discovering that the rest of the western world is much freer than them"

One third of all "World Cups" have been played in Spanish-speaking countries. The total number of Spanish speaking people in the world is around 330 million people. That's around a fourth or a fifth the population of India or China. Anyone who wants to pit the USA against "the soccer playing world" is missing the point. The USA plays the game, even if it's not that important a sport here - I just think it's close-minded and 'isolationist' for people to have a "World Cup" in a sport that most of the largest countries in the world do not participate in any significant way.

I suspect that America's dislike of soccer, like our dislike of the metric system, is largely a sublimated form of xenophobia and anti-Europeanism.

It's worth noting that our most popular pro sports are either uniquely American variations on existing sports (baseball, football) or entirely created here (basketball). Even in auto racing, Americans prefer homegrown NASCAR.

o don't get me started on metric .. i'm a turner in uk an i have to converte from metric to "imperial" daily..... no wonder i watch footy an drink beer

fazer....the US is not the worst offender when it comes to jingoism.
Anyway, why is soccer not as big here like it is in Europe or Latin America? The simple answer is "it just is." Soccer is not the main sport in lots of different countries, not just the US.
Baseball has a huge following in Cuba, the DR, and Japan.
In the Caribbean, India, and Pakistan: Cricket
Australia and New Zealand: rugby
Canada, Russia, Scandanavia: ice hockey

So there you have it. I'm not the best at debating, so I have a feeling that I will probably be contradicted, but this is my opinion.

John, you read way too much into stuff.

cpwdc--

Ok I'm not sure that I understand your point. First you doubt the rigor of my extensively researched longitudinal study. Then you imply that you are proud of me for counting to fifty. Then you object to my use of adjectives. And then you refute my analysis by quoting soccer scores at me. I freely acknowledge the European superiority at soccer, the Canadian superiority at curling, the Chinese superiority at diving and African superiority at long distance running. None of these facts are relevant--my point is that many more slobbering idiots managed to rouse themselves from net-induced stupor to post about a sort of funny soccer article than managed to do so in a much longer period of time for threads involving topics that are more serious. I would make the same point in a room of rabid darts fans or frothy mouthed Motown music fans or unreasonably vehement tomato fanciers. If you object to this, fine--but I will continue to count the slobbery posts.

hf
ok maybe i'm wrong.. i can live with that.. but wen ur golfers go off on one.. on the GREEN.. then u have ur athletes covering themselves in the flag at 4x4.. i'm ok with u celebrating ur countrys finest men and women doing well.. but this is bout marc sayin "world cup" is nothin

the "world cup" is about bringin ppl together.. the "football family".. i know the uk or shall i say london an the south of england is jingoistic.. proms comes to mind.. all i'm sayin is just enjoy the spectacle of it

I have to say I am appalled by this entire blog. But not because of the writer but all of these posts. We are talking about sports, and we have people labeling American citizens as arrogant? In America, you have the right to like and not like soccer, just the same as you can like and not like baseball.

I am a baseball/football/basketball fan, and do not care for soccer. I respect the soccer players as great athletes and respect the game, but it isn't my style. I find it boring, but not because it's slow paced. I think that connection is incorrectly made too many times in these arguments. NASCAR is very fast paced (200 mph), but somebody would have to pay me to watch it because I find it incredibly boring. I really can't put my finger on why I find it boring, I just do. The same can be said about hockey in my opinion; key word in that sentence being 'opinion'. I think crazy soccer, football, baseball, etc. fans need to get over themselves and not care that some writer at the Post doesn't like a certain sport.

And for the record, anybody that says hitting a 95 mph fast ball isn't the hardest thing to do in sports has never been at the plate.

What Marc did not mention was that many Americans tend to view soccer as a somewhat, how shall we say, effeminate sport. Soccer players tend to be somewhat more "fancy" (in appearance, dress, style off the field, etc.) than, say, American football, baseball, basketball or hockey players. In short sooccer players seem to be somewhat more delicate or refined as compared to American athletes.

As such, soccer has simply not been able to capture the American male demographic, which is so key for college and professional sports viability. This also explains why soccer is much more of a kids' (and even perhaps a women's) sport.

At most, soccer is a suburban sport played by those who either are new immigrants to the U.S. or those "native born" Americans who view soccer as sort of a global statement or key to "enlightenment", sort of like an NPR listener or blogger on the DailyKos views him/herself.

I agree that soccor is boring. But I dont think you can say that baseball is more exciting. Both are slow sports and aren't meant for tv.

Why isn't america into rugby? Thats the question you should be asking. Its fast and violent.

so far it's a zero three... uhuhuh
i diagnose, not enough love for the game

but u won't .. cos ur crap.. no wonder ur angry marc.. o well better luck next time

American Football --- derived from Rugby

Baseball ----- evolved out of Rounders a girls game

Basketball ----- derived from Netball a girls game

Have you got any games you can call your own

is that y ur "footballers" have armour on.. do me a favour..

Having played soccer all my life I am also a baseball fan and find it unfair to compare both games. They have different dynamics and tempo. And they are both exciting on their own ways. I believe they have a larger fan base because they are more inclusive and don't require a certain height or muscular build in order to play.
And, contrary to the post, as I see lots of kids playing soccer every Saturday morning plus the triumphs of the women team, I can only se a bright future for soccer in the US.

I wanted to see for myself, so I just watched most of the match between Our Boys and the Czech Republics. I don't get it. Where's the cheerleaders? Where's the mascots? No fight songs? This "sport" is even worse than Marc made it out to be.

Probably, soccer is the only game where you can exercise a lot. All players get to move back and forth. Ask any doctor, they all recommend some exercise. You play a game that helps you exercise and adds some excitement to it. No wonder why Americans are fat.

First, everyone breath deeply and count to 10.
This little piece was rather amusing, especially in the reactions it has produced! I think we all need to think a bit harder when we're reading and realize that this is some satirical writing, starting from the headline, "America's Most Prominent Soccer Hater, Reporting for Duty".

Look at this sentence, "We tend not to be interested in sports that attract hooligans and riots." Remember the Ron Artest episode two years ago in the NBA? I doubt Mr. Fisher has either.

Also interesting, is my realization that many of those who are reacting negatively are looking to have their American stereotypes so nicely reinforced, so they can revel in the alleged superiority of their favorite sport and country. Kudos to Marc.

Ian....very few sports are played in its original form. Get over yourself. Americans have their sports and like their sports. Give it a rest.

well open minded.. u stick to wot u know an so will WE.. thank u

Actually, the Uncle Don "legend" is true. I heard it on one of those old blooper records.

Rafas...dont be a jerk

Just a rebuttal of the contention that the largest countries in the world, mainly China, don't participate in "any significant way" is to miss the point that what's going on now is only the World Cup 'Finals.' To say the Chinese don't participate significantly, or most other nations, for that matter, is to undercut the effort and passion that these countries put into qualifying, even if they are ultimately unsuccessful in making the Finals.

how are you going to compare baseball statistics back 100 years??? Are you saying that players were juiced on steroids, growth hormones, and any of a number of other ingredients to help them cheat even 100 years ago???? I don't believe that is the case, and so you must find that division point in time so that comparisons between players who cheat and those who do not can be made ... and, I can think of nothing more boring than watching clean players compete against cheaters ... also, I can't believe I am defending soccer against baseball, when soccer is filled with cry-baby divers!!! but you could have come up with something better to compare with soccer ...

your ideas about soccer explain a bit why abu ghraib and haditha happened. think about it.

No surprises here. America's knowledge about soccer is as high as their knowledge about geography or world problems. So, they go to wars and the rest of us (the whole planet) to the World Cup...

Soccer sucks and Brazzil and Germany and other south american countries suck too! USA! USA! USA!

Hmmm... Satire or not? The .pdf from the German paper would appear to be real which means one of two things is true:

1) Marc Fisher deliberately mislead the German press by passing off satire as real opinion, and thus has compromised his journalistic credibility.

2) These are his ideas, in which case he is a frighteningly unreflective and bigoted boor.

I suspect the truth is somewhere in between the two, and this is precisely the problem with mixing journalism and blogging: it blurs the line between responsible opinion and blowing half-digested crap out your a**.

Sometimes I agree with Mr. Fisher, but other times he spouts the kind of nonsense that would make a college sophomore blush.

Re: I'm not sayin'; I'm just sayin'

It's not just soccer--American culture has often stereotyped European men as "fancy," "delicate" and "refined." I think it has something to do with our frontier heritage, sort of an anti-elitism. The snooty Englishman or Frenchman has been a stereotype in Hollywood movies for decades, usually as the guy trying to steal the girl from the small-town all-American boy. Monty Python's Eric Idle once joked that American fans assumed he was gay because he's English.

And HF, I think there are cultural or societal reasons for a lot of things, including why pro-level soccer isn't popular here. I don't really care whether America embraces soccer or rejects it.

When local English speaking TV stations are not showing the game, then you know why. The $ sign is more important than the national team. Period. Beside, they can't sell commercial during the football game because it doesn't have break every 3-4 min. Football/Soccer is never going to make it big here in the US.

Soccer does suck but I dont think Germeny is in South America. Is it?

the interview is sure to ruffle a few soccer fans feathers but the fats are that soccer is not a major sport in the US and prob ever will be.

I would argue with one point and one point only in the interview . . that hitting a ninty five mile per hour fast ball is the hardest thing in sports. I disagree. If in the course of a season 162 games a top notch person (Bonds, Sosa, Ruth, Brady Anderson) can hit 40, 50, 60 or 70 home runs and in a similar numebr of games a top goal scorer might have 60, I would say they are extremly comparable.

Marc, you might have added that soccer has almost no "sports highlight" moments. Unlike baseball and football (basketball, of course, has frequent scoring) almost no non-scoring plays on the soccer pitch are worth showing on the 11 o'clock sports. Most matches are tedious competitions for the ball, failed attacks, and in general about as frustrating to watch as it is to wrestle a pig

"American fans' desire for a level of complexity and drama in their games that soccer cannot support. We tend to like sports that can accommodate stories about players, coaches and other personalities. Soccer, as a largely anonymous sport, doesn't fit. The game simply doesn't work on television because the field is so enormous that the players appear to be tiny. Fans therefore cannot form powerful emotional connections with their play"

Are you really a serious journalist? Did you do some research before saying something like that?

Washington Post editors, please: We'd like to see a serious discussion about why Americans don't like soccer. Not this rubbish.

This is a ridiculous interview. The opinions expressed are in no serious way representative of any large number of Americans' views about soccer.

Baseball is exciting?....because you can compare player stats?

That's where you simply lose credibility.

Get a clue.

Simply put, Americans a just terrible at soccer and will never be good at it unless they put a lot of work, time and energy in this sport. In the mean time all we'll hear are excuses, all kind of excuses. Let's just leave it at that.

Hugh...you dont know anything either. I know more non americans who know less about geography and world problems than americans do. And now, let me name you all the world capitals in alphabetical order....
Kabul, Afghanistan
Tirana, Albania
Algiers, Algeria
Pago Pago, American Samoa
Andorra La Vella, Andorra
Luanda, Angola

Need I Continue?

'Soccer is the favorite sport of Osama bin-Laden'.

Baseball is Fidel Castro's and Hugo Chavez' favorite game. George Bush owned a baseball team.

What exactly the above proves? Nothing, I think, but maybe Marc can explain.

Silly statements like Marc's just provoke people unnecessarily.

Footballer -

I take your point, I'm sure everyone who participates or attempts to qualify puts passion into it.

But I stick with mine. If the Chinese or Indians or whatever other large country threw a serious (or even mild) effort into the World Cup you would not see Costa Rica and Ghana (despite their passion and understandable enthusiasm) consistently in participating in the final 32. You would see finals between Russia, Indonesia, Eygpt, Japan, China and so forth. Right now, it's a contest between Latin America and Europe. It has always been that way.

"but to call it the World Cup is rather arrogant and overblown."

I see that its been covered but I have to put my voice in there -

What is the name "World Series" if not the most arrogant of titles?

Imagine the boredom induced while sitting at a baseball game and the only conversation is based on statistics. When I want to go to sleep I put on a baseball game.

Soccer and the athletes who play it exemplify poetry in motion.

I agree that calling the world cup 'the world cup' when the USA doesnt like soccer is arrogant because its not the hole world that likes it! ANYONE THAT DOESNT AGREE THAT USA RULES IS AN ARROGANT IDIOT!

"but to call it the World Cup is rather arrogant and overblown."

People always say World Champions of every sport (NFL, MLB, NBA, etc).

BTW, you are everything I hate about America. Small minded, arrogant, and stupid. I bet you voted for Bush.

This is a great example of the "ugly american" at work. Or you're playing andy kaufman in the WWF.

Obviously, soccer doesn't have the draw that american football, baseball, or basketball has in the U.S. And it probably never will. But this is ridiculous. The world cup just a "Nice little tournament," but shouldn't be called world cup? It doesn't have the complexities of American sports? When is the last time you saw an organized defense in the NBA?

Will the post hire anyone who writes crap like this, or do you have some connections?

anyone who wants to see an hilarious example of american public opinion, go to:

www.boreme.com and search for 'american public opinion'

you will laugh till you cry!

Don't know how serious these guys are, but I enjoyed this piece more than Marc's feeble attempt to satire (I mean, he can't seriously think the World Cup is upstaged by the so called Baseball 'World Classic')

------------------

CON: A Pitch From Two Sides

Con: Apathy continues to keep the slow-moving sport lagging behind in the United States

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-soccon5jun05,1,3732110.story

By Mike Penner, Times Staff Writer
June 5, 2006

Take off your tattered Arsenal cap and your cracked shin guards and No. 6 jersey for Scribes FC (proud runners-up in the Los Alamitos Park and Rec Men's 30-and-Over Division) and return to a place you used to roam with feet firmly planted and head not blunted by too many headers.

Welcome back. Not much has really changed since you left.

Football still rules this country, the kind of football that's played with helmets and shoulder pads and lots of timeouts to make room for the car and beer commercials. Here we like our football players larger than life. All-Pro defensive lineman Richard Seymour weighs 310 pounds. That's bigger than two Freddy Adus.

===================

PRO: A Pitch From Two Sides
Pro: With TV and tour access to the best in soccer, and MLS on upswing, fans here have it made

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-socpro5jun05,1,5431462.story

By Mike Penner, Times Staff Writer
June 5, 2006

Every four years the World Cup is played, meaning every four years Brazil reaches the final, England goes out in excruciating fashion, Spain goes home two rounds earlier than expected and in newspaper sports departments across the United States, editors can be heard grousing, "World Cup again? Is soccer ever going to make it in this country?"

As I wrote four years ago, the answer remains the same: It already has.

You won't find it in the television ratings and attendance figures of Major League Soccer, which is the first place anti-soccer hardheads go to bang on the wall. So FC Dallas vs. Houston Dynamo is a blip on the radar screen compared to Spurs vs. Mavericks. So what? That's missing the point.

"I agree that calling the world cup 'the world cup' when the USA doesnt like soccer is arrogant because its not the hole world that likes it! ANYONE THAT DOESNT AGREE THAT USA RULES IS AN ARROGANT IDIOT!"

Learn how to spell, then type.

Marc:

Your remarks about soccer and Osama bin Laden are embarassing. It's just a basic principle of journalism: don't open your mouth if you don't master the subject. Did you read How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization by Franklin Foer?

I'm sure you didn't. You didn't do your homework. Again, it's too bad you can voice your comments under Washington Post name.

HAHA. Good joke Marc. I thought u were serious till I got to the part about it being arrogant to call it the World Cup. That is what gave you away. There is NO WAY a person that is a writer for a major newspaper in the US can be this stupid without joking.

That is hilarious!

GO TO

http://www.boreme.com

then type in 'american public opinion' and watch the movie
you won't regret it!!!!!!!

Although the USA just lost, I think there is more to come from the team they've got. As far as I'm concerned, if they can become a more potent force in football, the game as a whole will benefit.

It's an article filled with SARCASM people!! Stop watching TV and turn on your brains.

C'mon everyone, chill out; all of this has got to be satire. The WP would not let such moronic statements within 10 feet of one of their microphones, were it not for the appreciation of a good joke.

I'm not sure who's the bigger idiot - Marc Fisher for his uneducated and completely baseless assessment of the state of soccer in the US - or his "friend," Markus Guenther, for selecting the biggest American soccer idiot to represent this country to a chain of German newspapers. I know that columnists, in general, aren't held to the same fact-checking standards as regular reporters...but you'd think that Fisher might actually be able to squeeze at least one fact somewhere into his responses. I hope Herr Guenther puts a disclaimer on any material he might choose to actually publish!

that's so funny!

everyone must go to
http://www.boreme.com
type in "US public opinion"
you have to have broadband though

I'm still laughing here and I'd like to throw a few logs on the fire.

Many posts focus on the fact that soccer is a universal sport and that US citizens don't enjoy it because our teams rarely do well. If that's the case, how come after 50 some posts nobody has weighed in on the success of the US Women's Soccer team?

Also, no comments yet on the major initiative FIFA has undertaken to penalize the explosion of racial taunting and heckling at games?

How many people have been trampled to death at a baseball game?

Has a place kicker ever been executed after a American football game, or does that only happen to Keepers???

BTW - the US has won as many Men's World Cups in the last 37 years as the UK...

I think that all of this debate is rather weird. Who cares if you do or don't like soccer? The important thing is that our country is playing in an event that has representatives from every other area of the planet - Asia, South America, Central America, Africa, Carribean, Europe, Australia, the south pacific and the Middle East. Now no matter what you think about soccer, you should support your country and your team or at the very least not actively root against them!! Come on America, get behind your team. They need our support. I am not really a fan of baseball, american football or basketball, but if a team from my city makes it into one of the championships (like Seattle did in the superbowl) of those sports, I always support the home team. That is what all of the non-soccer fans should do now.

Congratulations to Team USA. It takes great American athletes to finally make soccer a watchable sport. More points scored in the USA-Czech game than probably scored by all other teams combined today. The fact that all of the points were scored by Czechs is immaterial.
Unfortuantely it is unlikely any of the other teams will adopt the fun-filled approach of Team USA and the rest of the tournament will be nothing but 1-0's.

I hope you die

Didn't feel like going through 140 comments so I'm sure this has been posted before but.....

"In America, spectator sports tend to be family events, with a wholesome emphasis on community."

Clearly Marc you've not attended an NFL or college football lately....

read: "I think you're an idiot"

geoffrey Deibel,

You're very articulate. Let me guess. Soccer fan, right?

Marc:

Your ideas about soccer just show how you despise the most popular sport in the world.

So, just because you are a columnist you are free to say anything without doing some reading about the subject? Hello, we're speaking about the Washington Post, one of the most important newspapers in the world, the biggest winner of the latest Pulitzer.

But that's enough. Besides, Italy vs Ghana is about to start. Think about the Haditha and Abu Ghraib remark.

Marc:

Your ideas about soccer just show how you despise the most popular sport in the world.

So, just because you are a columnist you are free to say anything without doing some reading about the subject? Hello, we're speaking about the Washington Post, one of the most important newspapers in the world, the biggest winner of the latest Pulitzer.

But that's enough. Besides, Italy vs Ghana is about to start. Think about the Haditha and Abu Ghraib remark.

Just a few notes...

Soccer not commercially prostituted? Ha! second only to NASCAR with sponsorship plastered all over jerseys.

Yes, boring. If you think Baseball is boring, you simply don't understand it.

Mexican / Central Americans & Baseball. Almost every major city has an amateur league made up of Mexicans & central Americans. DC included.

Every few years someone jumps up and screams that, in the U.S. Soccer is the next great thing. The Pro league eventually sputters into nothingness. American Soccer Association. North American Soccer League. MLS is financially miserable. If one person owns a number of teams in the league, and the league owns a number of others. Guess what, it's not prospering.

BTW: Pro Baseball leagues in Most South American Countries, the Netherlands, Italy, Korea, Japan, Australia. June 22, 2007 Pro Baseball in Israel will celebrate its inaugural opening day.

One final note: Soccer is far from the fastest growing sport in the US. Lacrosse gets that honor. I'd bet that the growth of that truly homegrown sport will signal the death knell of this version of the great soccer boom within a decade.

Marc:

Your ideas about soccer just show how you despise the most popular sport in the world.

So, just because you are a columnist you are free to say anything without doing some reading about the subject? Hello, we're speaking about the Washington Post, one of the most important newspapers in the world, the biggest winner of the latest Pulitzer.

But that's enough. Besides, Italy vs Ghana is about to start. Think about the Haditha and Abu Ghraib remark.

This is highly incendiary and rude and I'm disappointed in Marc Fisher.

Marc,

If this is the reception you get in the US where people used to have senses of humor, how will it be received in Germany where they're still waiting for their senses of humor to be delivered?

well done, Marc. Soccer is not going to make many inroads in the US. The fake falling and overblown fake injuries turn us off. Most of our sports legends are based around toughness, not faking: Kirk Gibson, Ronnie Lott, Willis Reed and what have you. But I do love the overblown indignity of soccer fans - a perfect reflection of their sport.

The commment about India or China not being intrested in "FOOTBALL" is incorrect, Visit India anytime this month & you will see the people as enthused about football as they are about cricket (Which is the national obsession of India like american football or basketball for American's),The reason for India not being represented in the world cup is economics & as India has started prospering & infrastructure has started improving the new generation is taking up football like never before,I might be old by then but we will be there proudly cheering our team in times to come.
Just an afterthought, Why do Americans need to be aggressive while discussing simple simple everday topics.
Exmaple, I work for a call centre for American Customers.Lets have some fanatics spit venom.

Unlike dozens of dopes in this comment thread, I recognize the fact that Marc was 50% serious, 50% messing around and trying to get a rise out of the predictable, hysterical soccer fans (successfully, it would seem) who flip out like 6 year old girls at the drop of a hat when anyone rips on the game.

I do think, however, that it would have been perhaps more interesting for us American readers and especially for the readers of that German paper if Marc had been more consistently serious in his answers. Some of his points (the culture of American sports vs. Euro sports for example) are actually quite interesting and insightful. But its hard to discuss them seriously when he's fooling around and calling the World Cup "your little tournament" in the next breath.

I bet there are a lot of Euros who are genuinely curious about why so few Americans like soccer, and would rather have heard more legitimate discussion than silly provocation. But perhaps the writer asked for this sort of satire, either for entertainment, or to fulfill a stereotype...

How ignorant of Fisher to belittle the World Cup by saying, "It's very nice for soccer-loving countries to have their little tournament, but to call it the World Cup is rather arrogant and overblown," when in fact all nations of the world participate in it, either in qualifying, or by making it there. How many countries are represented in the so-called "World" series of baseball? National League vs. American League hardly qualifies as anything "worldly."

Catcher50-

You mention at best 15 or 20 countries that have pro baseball leagues. Why didnt you cite a similar fact for soccer? I challenge you to find 20 countries that DON'T have some form of professional soccer.

I guarentee to you that there are many many more Spanish soccer leagues than baseball leagues, even in DC. head to carter baron any afternoon of the week. baseball, no. soccer, yes.

Lacrosse is hardly homegrown. Yes it began within what we now call the United States and Canada. But by Natives, not white people. You're heritage is far closer to the beautiful game than it is lacrosse.

Lacrosse might be making larger percentage gains, its not hard to go from a couple thousand to a couple more thousand, but soccer outpaces lacrosse easily in absolute numbers.

Good stuff, folks.
Some responses:

To Irony Detector--My German isn't what it once was, so Guenther and I did the old routine of each operating in his own native tongue, and I then translated his side of the interview for the blog.

To Fazer: A wazzock! Fabulous. (Five beers in at 1:17. But of course it's American sports that require extensive lubrication.)

To all: I knew we'd manage to turn this into a discussion of the metric system. I'm proud of you all.

To I'm not sayin' and John--Your discussion about effeminacy and elitism has great potential. I'd like to hear more on that.

And a new theme of this conversation comes from gwgoldb, who introduces the idea that soccer isn't making here because there are no highlight moments for SportsCenter to use. Very interesting.

While every person is entitled to their own opinion, I have to disagree with a couple. Saying that soccer players are anonymous on the field and are too small to be seen on camera undermines the fact that one can actually see their faces - unlike football which the players have helmets. In that sense, the anonymity of soccer plays is less than their football counterparts.

Granted, soccer has not taken off in the US because of a machismo culture that has the best athletes going to more popular (and physically punishing, not to be confused with endurance) such as football. However, to argue that soccer has no strategy or need for coordination probably means that you have not actually watched many games with the intention of coming to terms with the subtle complexities that exist.

Well put, JP!

Anyone who believes that this is satire probably thinks that Barry Bonds owes his home-run-hitting prowess to prune juice and spinach soup. Look: satire means saying the opposite of what you think in order to deflate the assumed opinions of the audience. What Fisher has done is to say what he actually, truly does think, and he has said this in a way that reinforces what his audience of German magazine readers already thinks. Namely, that Americans are crude, simple-minded, arrogant, elitist, racist/xenophobic numbskulls. Instead of Fisher putting one over on us unsophisticated soccer fans, it appears that he has been played for a sucker by the European media. This foolish and poorly calibrated performance means that I will be doubting Fisher's opinions on other matters in the future. There are so many of these paunchy, middle-aged baseball stat-geeks who every four years arrive to make screamingly ignorant criticisms of the world's most popular and greatest sport -- Frank Deford and Adam Gopnik are two others -- and I'm afraid that we will have no peace until that generation of baseball-sentimental baby boomers retires. Bring on the Franklin Foers of this world, and by God, Bruce, let's start Clint Dempsey next time . . .

Rohit -

I'm not saying it's not popular in India, but you have a ways to go before India qualifies to be in the World Cup. Would you say the most popular sport in India is soccer? That's not my impression. The truth is the only nation outside of Latin America and Europe to ever come even remotely close to winning a World Cup is the USA. I think that says something about the World Cup, not about the USA; I think it's a safe bet that no country outside of Latin America or Europe is going to seriously contend for the World Cup for a long time to come. Soccer fans just direct frustration to the USA, because they don't understand there are bigger holes in the global picture of the World Cup. If the USA was a big soccer playing nation, fans would be blogging about the Chinese, Nigerians, Pakistanis, Vietnamese, Ethiopians, Turks and Thais (all countries with very large populations who are not in the WC).

Marc,

I generally enjoy your columns and am like you a baseball fans.

I would agree with almost all of the comments above that you are extremely obtuse and are of the type that causes Americans to be despised throughout the world.

If you understood anything about soccer, it is just as cerebral a game as baseball. You are right that it does not offer the same cerebral experience to fans who get to keep score and follow statistics, but the game itself is very cerebral. A midfielder who receives the ball at the center circle and turns upfield has just as much to think through as a batter facing Roger Clemens and having to guess or recognize that he is receiving a 97 mph fastball or a change-up. Also, controling a soccer ball takes just as much skill as hitting a Clemens fastball, must the skills are a different type.

I have read elsewhere that you have been exposed to soccer before. Thus, your comments are out of hatred for the sport, not mere ignorance. You are free to write about how much you hate soccer but I wish you would confine your comments to why you hate the beautiful game and not represent that your beliefs are shared by Americans in general.

I hate all sports except, Shuffle Board.

Frightening Pace-

So soccer is above criticism? hardly.
Grow thicker skin. Then have the players do the same thing, rather then flopping around the field when anyone gets within 5 feet of them to draw afree kick. Soccer = Effiminent

good for you marc. you were right on with your comments about soccer. what a boring sport. baseball on its most boring day beats out any soccer game, and baseball can get REAL boring. For further comment on soccer, I refer you to the Simpsons. And you know, I can't believe it: every single American fan of soccer is posting on this thread! I had no idea there were more than 20.

I'm a cvnt. pay no attention

Firebrand--There aren't more than 20 fans of soccer. Each of the six are posting under several assumed names, even while the games are going on, because soccer's conducive to multi-tasking.

ahh...my mistake then.

Frightening Pace, your somewhat narrow definition of satire may be technically correct (the word is often used too broadly in common conversation), but you've used the narrow definition to ignore the obvious point that Marc was clearly being "cheeky", to use a word Europhile soccer fans would appreciate. Whether or not this counts as 'satire' is well besides the point.

Frightening pace--

I thought that what Marc was doing was called "irony." In the case of irony with soccer fans, the technical description would be "pearls before swine."

There are few reasons why soccer is not popular in the U.S. 1) When you get in to high school both soccer and American football seasons happen in the fall. Most kids end up playing football and anyone will tell you football gets the better athletes (Imagine someone with Deon Sanders speed and agility playing soccer. I think his name was Pele). 2) Most teenagers who dream of playing professional sports also dream of getting paid a lot money doing so and most of them have no idea you can make millions playing in Europe if you're good enough; they only think you can make the chump change (compared to Football, Hockey, Basketball and Baseball players) U.S players make in the MLS. If a parent or coach does find a kid in the U.S. with great naturally ability (who does not get plucked by one of the other big 4 sports) the problem still remains. 3) The level of competition is still below the rest of the world so the kid needs to be sent overseas to play against better competition. This is something which most parents are not willing to do or if they are, cannot afford. 4) COACHING is the other and probably most important factor. Having played soccer from Age 5-12 (switched to football at 13) coaches always teach ball control, keep the ball on the ground, pass the ball (keep it on the ground again). Boring Boring Boring... Having married a Brazilian I have made several trips to Brazil and observed kids playing pickup games of soccer. I was surprised how little the ball actually touch the ground at times. Watching a bunch of kids in Brazil play pickup soccer is 10x more entertaining than watching the U.S. Cup team play (although I still root for them in vain). Our coaches need emphasize creativity on the field instead of the same old tired and unproven methods.

Yet another reason to spend more time reading the NYTimes.com for sports and analysis as it relates to soccer. Never quite understood what is to gain for media outlets to slam soccer fans and the sport of soccer. Mark Fisher once again demonstrates that the Post can be so remarkably self-absorbed as to alienate whole groups of their readers (Kornheiser and Wilbon are notably talented in such a skill as well).

Soccer's popularity faces more competition in the USA than it does in other countries. When provided more choices, customers reject the least desirable options. That explains why soccer has not captured the American public's imagination, American's have too many better choices. Europeans, South Americans, etc, don't have 4 highly developed, major sporting leagues competing with soccer. If they had the same alternatives that Americans have, they would probably begin to see that soccer is an inherently inferior sport.

Mark, I don't know why you list the Nigerians and Turks as non-World Cup nations, both are usually there, and the Nigerians have done pretty well in the past, even beating Argentina.
Of the countries you list, Pakistan is the only one in which football isn't the most popular sport. Football in China especially is growing by leaps and bounds.
And beyond Europe and South America, Africa is a third continent that produces teams capable of contending. It's only a matter of time before an African team really goes places.
And Korea, by the way, made it to the semi-final last time around.
Football is the world's sport, and the game has billions of fans even in countries that have no short-term prospect of winning anything - simply because it's a beautiful game. And it's even more fun to play than to watch.

thank god all this soccer is out of the way before the games start tonite.
soccer fans - enjoy some orange slices today.

You obviously have never played the sport and don't understand the strategies and what it takes to be competitive in the world arena. The fact that you said, "There is no more exciting or tense game than baseball" is one sided and almost ignorant.

Watching baseball can sometimes be as exciting as watching grass grow. How many baseball games are 1-0, 2-1 ....etc....a lot. Everybody's entitled to there own opinion, but as a writer I think you shouldn't even consider commenting on any sport but baseball.

You probably think Hockey is to slow as well. It's a shame they asked your opinion on something you obviously know so little about. Baseball exciting and tense, whatever?

I've been having a debate at another forum with a European as to why soccer isn't more popular in the United States; I think Marc hits a few right notes, but he does get some things wrong:

1. Baseball is the most boring sport ever created in the entire history of civilization.

2. The World Cup is a far more apt title for a competition than is the World Series (in which only 2 nations have the chance to participate).

On the other hand, I think he's close to the mark about the perception that soccer is viewed as a game for kids; I think most Americans view soccer as a "gateway" sport, a non-threatening game for the under-10 set to play before they move on to the far more intense (and, thus, more macho) American football. Americans are aggressive and arrogant (hey, I'm an American, so I can say this), and that is reflected in our most popular sports; soccer just seems wimpy and silly by comparison.

Your hatred of soccer is totally accepatble, but don't you think you're being a little harsh? I mean, what's so wrong with soccer? It's just like basketball with feet, or hockey minus the sticks. It's yet another sport, and quite frankly, there's nothing un-family like about it. I have bunches of relatives who gather around the tv or computer screen to watch World Cup games just as they do the Super Bowl or the World Series.

I agree with you when you say that soccer is more popular among the younger age groups, those under 12, and that the professional soccer league in the U.S. can barely stand on their feet but why this animosity? Also, what is so wrong with people waving flags and banners of their countries's soccer teams? How is that any reminder of terrorism? It's just people waving banners of the team they support, on an international level. When we go to Hockey games, people wearre the Bruins colors and people wave the little New Englan Patriot's Banners at Patriots Football games.

In reality, there is more to soccer than world competition. I seriously hope that you know that other countries throughout the WORLD have inter-country soccer games, just like we have our own Football Association (the NFL) or hockey league (NHL),they have their own soccer leagues.

The World Cup is merely a large international showdown between the best teams the world can gather and a fight to see which one wins. It's not big in the U.S., but it's the equivalent, if not more, of the World Series in Baseball or the Superbowl in Football.

It's rather rude for one to be so ignorant towards a simple human pastime. But then again, I suppose you don't care if someone calls you rude. I, however, am quite surprised that the Washington Post was willing to post such an article. For a very prestigious newspaper they seem to be lowering their standards (this isn't the only article I'm surprised got published in this newspaper). If this is how the paper chooses to operate from now on, people will find it difficult to believe that the Washington Post once received the Pulitzer Prize.

~One who is not excessively ignorant or proud to be so.