From: ant@cray.com (Tony Jones)
Subject: Re: USA WORLD CUP AND english supremecy, (ha ha ha)
Reply-To: ant@cray.com
Organization: Cray Research Inc, Eagan, MN
Date: 7 Apr 92 13:19:14 CDT

kstokker@risc.uni-linz.ac.at (kstokker@risc.uni-linz.ac.at) writes:
: all i hear is bitching and maoning abuot the cup in america and how
: it should be in a soccer playing nation.  well, i would be interested
This is actually a FIFA regulation, the host country is expected to have 
a professional league.
: to know if you would complain as much if the cup was in canada? 
: how about sub-sahara africa?  comeroon perhaps?  from what i read
: of you (which may be poor), you would complain about that too. 
No, if the FIFA regulations were met.


: i think you are missing a key word when it comes to soccer in the world
: cup.  WORLD!!!!  i.e. international.  the world doesn't revolve around
Interesting - Would you care to apply it to Baseball and the "World Series"

: there are teams from all over.  remember the great CAMEROON-england match.
'Great' doesn't come up immediately to describe any of the games in the
last world cup.
I seem though to recall a fair amount of outrageous late tackles and 
professional fouls from the Cameroon. Some post goal scoring hip wiggling 
doesn't really make up for that.
 

This US/European/"I'm a European in the US" discussion has been rambling on 
under various titles for a few days now.

The simple fact is that football is by European standards a new sport in the 
U.S. 
I second the multiple comments about how youth football is extremely popular 
here in the US, though if you walked around the parks on a weekend in England, 
you'd see what popular in relation to youth football really means.

To expect it to have a wide appeal to the previous generations of Americans
is a little short-sighted (not to say that there arn't U.S people older than
30 who like football).
The TV here is more commercially oriented that it is possible to believe,
and for sports they show what the majority of the population wants to see, and 
that just isn't football.
Don't move to the States if you want BBC (or alas BskyB as it is now) style TV 
football coverage, its not realistic to expect it.
This doesn't mean that its not incredibly frustrating to be at the whims
of the local cable companies, 2 channels in the next county (Univision and 
Minnesota Sports Net) showing UK/European football, and non in the Twin Cities
area (but then theres really no cable monopoly right :-) )

In regard to the bending of the regulations, Americans should try to see it 
from the European/South American perspective. Noone likes to have the new guy 
move in and start setting a new agenda (lets face it, FIFA isn't changing the 
rules by itself). 
Sure if you sit down and rationalise, what difference does it make if players 
have there names on there shirts (if it would sow the seeds for the demise
of TV Soccer commentators, I'm all for it ... eat your heart out John Motson).

Some may see this as the start of the slippery slope, with narrower pitches
and and 4 quarter games for the benefit of TV companies to follow (I doubt this
will happen), plus numerous other possible horror stories (oh no, not people 
barbecueing in the parking lot)

Basically, theres a big difference in most peoples minds between changes to the
rules for the good of the game, and changes to fit in with the culture and 
facilities of the staging country.

Its easy to see the cultural conflict, the glitz and glamour of how America 
approaches sports is a million miles from a cold/wet afternoon on the terraces 
at Villa Park.


As an aside, whats important to me is not arguing about this cultural stuff, 
but concentrating on getting a decent competition, one without the professional 
fouls, Holland/W.Germany spitting incidents and especially getting referees
to toughen up on the hystrionics from the players of certain countries (names 
deleted to aboid a net flame war).
I'm fed up of seeing players take dives when another player breathes on them,
watching them roll around in fake agony for two minutes, then rise up, a
couple of limps and its all a bad memory. It certainly is for us watching.

tony
-- 
Tony Jones (ant@cray.com, ..!uunet!cray!ant)
ComMon Compiler System
Cray Research Inc, 655F Lone Oak Road, Eagan, MN 55121
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