After reading several articles which tried to reassure me that one day the United States would embrace football, I started to wonder what all this drivel was about.
I mean, who cares?!
Just because it has not taken off there, I don't think we need to have an extended debate about the whereas and why-fores of this.
All the arguments about what is the superior sport and so forth are equally unfounded. A game is great because people enjoy playing it. Football is not the world wide phenomenon it is because of the big games and the big stars—it is great because people like to get out and kick a ball around.
You can test your own skill, and feel the blood flow and the rush as you slot the ball at an acute angle between the two school bags on the abandoned car-park. You can kick the ball at a stop sign to see how many times you can hit it. The sheer thrill of being able to develop control over the trajectory of an object being hit by the extremity of your body.
But, back to what I was saying about the United States and football.
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I thought about it in depth a few years ago. The United States as a nation very much became an island in the world over the last 200 or so years.
They were a strangely isolated culture because though they received large amounts of cultural input from all over the world, they did not send so much out until the latter half of the 20th century.
In effect, a cultural vacuum was created because of the attitudes and beliefs of a lot of the people who decided to make a new life in the U.S. They were, in a lot of cases, disaffected and downtrodden escaping European existence that was not a happy one.
In this situation, it can be seen how the U.S. could have grabbed on to a game like American Football, and had made it its own. In being a cultural island, they had no wish to duplicate the games of other parts of the world, but rather wanted to create their own.
A game they could play that no one else did, and, as far as they were concerned, they did not care.
I admire this attitude in the United States, the "We don't care about your games we play ours." It's great, the sheer arrogance of it is brilliant.
I would like to say that in New Zealand, we have something similar, though in reality, we just copied the English in playing rugby. Rugby seems to be dying a slow death here as football (soccer) takes hold.
But, the thing I am really saying here is this—world football does not need the United States, and vice versa.
Football is, and always will be, a great game because of the reason I gave earlier—it is easy and fun to play. I don't think it matters if the U.S. ever embrace football, because the rest of the world already has.
I think the population of the States is still just over three hundred million, isn't it? So, there are a few more people out there playing football than there ever will be in the States even if everyone in the U.S. did tomorrow.
The U.S. can keep playing their games and I will keep playing mine.
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5 months ago
Agreed
5 months ago
You know what really drives the "football doesn't need the US" home? The fact that Manchester United's fanbase of 330 million is bigger than America's entire population. lol
from 4 months ago
AHHAHAH, and guess what!?
An AMERICAN insurance company has their name on the front of the manU jersey. suck on that.
4 months ago
whatever george who benefits more from that im guessing its not united.
4 months ago
you must really be smoking some crack now Bill, the beautiful game needs to US, no doubt about it, until it has captured the hearts and souls of the mighty Yanks it can not lay claim to being a truely world sport. There are but a minute few world sports and when we are looking a team world sports the really is not one, however if the bbeautiful game can grab the imagination of America it will have truely conqured.
America is the financial hub ofthe world and due to this the financial aspect of dominating there landscape would be immense, look at how much an aged Beckham can make, if that additional money was able to be poured into the game then the fat cats of society will rule and Stoke City will be great once more.
from 4 months ago
no i think you are wrong actually. it is already the world game. the USA is not as important as what the western world and in particular the US thinks it is. the football world cup is the premier sporting event on the world calender and this is with minimal participation from the US. As gem said above Manchester United's fan base is bigger than the population of the states at 330 million. that alone is testament to the power of Football on a world scale. FIFA is the perhaps the most powerful sporting organisation with representatives from every nation on the planet. the USA is just not as important as it is made out to be.I think you are the one smoking the crack my old son.
4 months ago
People in both US and the rest of the world are really making pushes to get their respective sports into the the other's cultures. The NFL has been staging games in Japan, Mexico, London, and are trying to get a team in canada. There is talk about having european teams and hosting games in china. Soccer has tried the MLS and David Beckham, but the fact is that until swarms of big names in their primes come to the US no one will care. The same goes to the NFL, no one will watch pro football in europe, asia etc, unless big names come over. But in the end soccer probably won't work in the US for two reasons
there isn't enough scoring and diving. When people in the US complain about soccer that's what they complain about. I personally like soccer, but I am more of a football fan. I don't see how the world couldn't like it, but then again I've never heard to much beef against because i live in the US.
from 4 months ago
Football will be a massive sport in a america sooner or later because of the massive influx of latin people into the country.American sports by comparison will never do well in other countries because football is far too strong.Thats not my point of view that is a sympton of globalization and an inevitable fact.
4 months ago
U have definately put forth a great argument regarding the position of the U.S from a footballing perspective; however, there is no mention of the massive American investment into 2 top premiership sides, ManU and Liverpool. I actually think it would greatly benefit the game if people in the worlds most powerful economy took greater interest in the beatiful game, more for the marketing benefits than anything else. However, the real investments FIFA need to be making should be into the faster rising economies, i.e China and India, among others. They have a billion people each, and I believe raising the profile there would benefit football in the long run more so than America!
about 1 month ago
i have to agree, like cricket, i think the future of football lies in asia. as an aussie, our switch from oceania to the asian confederation was probably the best thing that could have happened. we are involved in a more meaningful and testing world cup qualfication process, and our local league has benefited from exposure to the asian chamions league. the isolationist approach of the us to world sport, and thier insistence on playing their 'own' sports is understandable, and probably essential to pepretuate their notions of being the worlds one superpower, how good can it be for US patriotism to have a team in a world game that could be quite possibly beaten by a nation such as Iraq? as for american investment, take a look at some liverpool fans comments on websites, the vast majority wish that Hicks and Gillet would sell the club, as they are quite obviously there to make a profit. even man u supporters opposed the glazer takeover initially. American investment and decisions based on profit are not needed amongst the passion that football invokes, the divide of cities along team lines, and the joy it gives to billions. great article, one of the few i've read on this website, congratulations, even if you are a kiwi, i wont hold that against you.
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