Must See TV (Sidenote)

One interesting side note to the Italy game and article I wrote. Myself, my dad, and Jeff all decided that Italy would be much better off trying to assemble a team composed solely of players whose last names are a type of pasta. Just imagine the possibilities…

“Rigatoni with the ball. He looks up and finds Fettuccine on the wing who crosses it, and… OH, IT’S RAVIOLI… GOOOOOOOOOAL! What a marvelous goal for Ravioli.”

Admit it, how sweet did that last paragraph sound. Way better than the current Italian players who have weak names like Toni and Buffon.

And since we all know that Italy will never quite be able to match up with Brazil skill wise, at least they’ll be able to match up with them name wise. If Brazil has Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, Italy would have Spaghetti and Spaghettini. There wouldn’t be enough sauce in all of Italy to cover that team.

Must See TV

I’m not sure which to be more excited about: the USA’s inspirational performance against Italy on Saturday or the fact that soccer is actually starting to register on the American sporting radar.

We’ll start with the former. Hands down, this was the most inspired performance in American soccer history. Throw aside the fact that the only thing that falls faster than a member of the Italian soccer team is a division of the Italian army. Throw aside the fact that if that ref had given 2 questionable red cards to England or Germany, there would be a $1 million bounty on his head.

The US overcame it all to prove they very much belong on the same field as the Italys and Englands of the world. They outplayed the Italians when it was 11 vs. 11, 11 vs. 10, 10 vs. 10, and even 9 vs. 10. Even more impressive, they didn’t let an early goal, 2 dubious red cards within the span of 5 minutes, or even a disallowed goal (albeit it was the correct call) get in the way of their collective goal.

Was this even the same team that took the field 5 days earlier against the Czech Republic? Everything the team lacked in their first game: energy, passion, aggressiveness, a pulse, they possessed in spades on Saturday.

From the very first minute of the game, you could tell this game would be different. The team was tackling, pushing players forward, and just looked like they wanted the game more (cliché but apt to describe this game). Against the Czechs, I was waiting for something to go wrong. Against Italy, I was waiting for something to go right. Even when we were down to 9 men, I still felt the team could win the game, and they nearly did.

Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly given the team’s performance on Saturday, America actually tuned in to watch their team’s performance against Italy. Soccer, a sport that some have gone as far as to say that ‘hating soccer is as American as apple pie’ (Tom Weir, USA Today, December 1993), was the center of the American sporting world for at least a day. Don’t believe me? Hah! Read and weep…

“Sorry, had my head in my hands. An incomparable performance by the national team in the modern era. And listen to those fans. Football just arrived in America I think, the players and fans played and cheered with the true passion of a footballing superpower. The U.S. may not win this World Cup, they may not even qualify for the next round, but this performance continues to lay the groundwork for the future. In fact, watching the performance of those players lifted in communion with their fans, I think they just completed the basement and the first five floors. – Michael Davies (currently blogging the World Cup for ESPN.com)

Even more impressive may be the fact that on a recent ESPN.com poll which asked what was the most interesting sporting event out of the World Cup, the NBA finals, and the US Open, the World Cup won with 47% of the vote.

How bout the fact that Sportscenter, traditionally one of the most blatant of anti-soccer representatives in America (watch the anchors try and do soccer highlights - comedy of the highest level), led its Saturday night show off with ‘the biggest story of the day’, the American tie with Italy.

Or the fact that the US-Italy game drew a 5.2 overnight rating on Saturday, the highest rating for a soccer game televised in America since the 1998 World Cup final between France and Brazil. To put that rating in perspective, the NHL finals have been averaging an overnight rating of around 1.5 (sorry Joe, nobody cares about the NHL right now), and the NBA finals have been around 8.0.

Plain and simply put, soccer is arriving in America. And that’s all the more reason why this Thursday’s match against Ghana can NOT be missed. While the US team was in danger of losing every shred of credibility they had earned from their impressive 2002 performance after the Czech Republic game, they earned every bit of it back if not more with their inspired effort against Italy.

Hence, we arrive at the ever pivotal third match of the group. While the US has already made a sufficient point at the 2006 World Cup along with showing the growth of soccer in the country, it has a chance to make the leap forward this Thursday. A win versus Ghana coupled with an Italian defeat of the Czechs allows the US to emerge from ‘the’ Group of Death. More importantly, it forces even the most anti-American Europeans (of which there are many) to begrudgingly admit that American soccer has taken the next step.

Even more importantly, it makes a statement back home while setting up an even greater opportunity. Getting to the second round would grab the attention of even the common American sports fan. As if that wouldn’t be enough, the USA’s second round opponent would be, you guessed it, Brazil.

That game would be a free chance for American soccer to do something that simply can’t be ignored. Beat Brazil and American soccer has the moment to point to showing when American soccer arrived. Lose to Brazil and America still has proven that they belong among the world’s best.

Still, none of that happens unless the Americans can get past Ghana, and that makes the game must see TV.

World Cup Preview (continued…)

3) Brazil

What’s that you say? They don’t score enough in soccer, it’s too long, too boring. Well, obviously, nobody who’s made any of these ridiculous claims has watched the Brazilian national team.

There’s a reason this team is compared to playing in a samba orchestra. When Brazil graces the field, they don’t just play, they make music. There’s a telepathy in their passing, a uniqueness in their dribbling, a creativity that is unmatched by any team in any other sport.

If you still don’t believe me, go to youtube.com and search Ronaldinho. The ensuing 4 minute video should make a believer out of even the most ADD American. While not every player on the Brazilian team is Ronaldinho, they’re cut from the same mold, and the end result is pure pleasure to watch.

The funny thing is that just looking at their results, Brazil should be the most hated team in soccer. They’re the New York Yankees of international football (I will occasionally refer to soccer as football due to the fact that football is the correct term). They’ve won 5 World Cups (next closest is Italy and Germany with 3), and they’re a threat to reach the finals in every single tournament. The truth is just the opposite, though. Everybody LOVES Brazil. Go to your nearest convenience store and ask the clerk who he’s rooting for in the World Cup. Assuming he’s not American or from a country that qualified for the World Cup, he’ll say Brazil. I guarantee it or you get your money back.

They all root for Brazil because the boys from Rio de Janeiro are just so damn fun to watch. If you’re willing to give soccer a try, watch Brazil. You won’t be disappointed.

2) African nations

Lets start with the fact that their names are just so freaking sweet. Antonio Lebo-Lebo, Arsenio Love, Joao Jamba. Smoothie flavors, or names of players on Angola. Honestly, I couldn’t make this stuff up.

On a much more serious and somber note, the African sides who qualified for the 2006 World Cup show the true global uniting power that football has. The Ivory Coast, in the midst of a vicious civil war for multiple years, finally called a cease-fire about a month ago… because their team qualified for the World Cup. The team, comprised of players from both the northern and southern regions of the country (the two feuding factions), have given a divided country something to rally upon as the entire country has stopped solely so they can support their team in this month’s World Cup.

More importantly, the team has set an example for their country to follow. If this team can survive with players from both the feuding regions, maybe the rest of the country can follow suit. A successful run by the Ivory Coast (and believe me, they have the talent to do it) can only help their country’s attempts at peace.

It’s not only the Ivory Coast that is using football as an attempt to improve things at home. Angola was torn apart by civil war for 3 decades until an unsteady peace was reached a few years ago. The team is trying to use this month’s World Cup as a step towards rebuilding their country by giving their people something to actually be proud of and, just maybe, earn a little bit of respect on the global scale. Their captain has been quoted as saying something to the extent of ‘we want the world to know that Angola is more than just war and oil’.

If you can’t root for countries like Angola and Ivory Coast, what can you root for?

1) United States

The other day, I read something that compared America’s soccer team to Gonzaga, but that comparison is clearly lacking in multiple ways. First off, at least to my knowledge, the US is clearly lacking the top shelf porn star edge that Adam Morrison brought to the Zags. More importantly though, America hasn’t earned the right to be compared to Gonzaga, yet…

I’m going to switch sports for a second, but I would say that the US soccer team is more closely paralleled to Connecticut football. First off, Connecticut football is practically irrelevant. When you think of Connecticut athletics, you immediately think of their basketball team with the football team more likely to be the punch line of a joke. It’s the same thing with US soccer. Nations around the world have scoffed at American soccer saying we only know how to play the other kind of football.

In 2003, however, football took a major step forward posting an impressive record of 9-3. A statement that, just maybe, Connecticut could build a respectable football program. Just one year earlier, the US soccer team made their historic quarterfinal run at the 2002 World Cup in South Korea/Japan. Both were impressive steps forward, but neither was enough to convince the skeptics that either Connecticut football or United States soccer had become a power to be taken seriously, permanently.

Starting just over 11 hours from when I write this, the US will have the chance to take that permanent step forward by proving that 2002 was no fluke. Emerging from a group with the Czech Republic and Italy will force even the most scornful foreigners (of which there are many) that US soccer has reached the next level.

After their promising 2003 campaign, Connecticut made a real mess of their chance culminating with a disastrous 5-6 finish last season supporting the claim that 2003 was a fluke. Will the US waste their chance like Connecticut with 2002 fading into obscurity? Or will they seize the moment and accomplish something that simply can’t be ignored? Something that gets even the common American sports fans attention. Something that puts soccer on the American sports map. If they do, even the comparison to Gonzaga won’t do them justice.

World Cup Preview

Wait a second. Let me get this straight. America is actually starting to care about the World Cup? No, I’m not talking about the minivan-driving suburbia-hailing soccer moms and their families. I’m referring to mainstream America.

In a market already saturated with everything from the interesting (NFL, MLB) to the irrelevant (no, people watch the WNBA… I swear), Americans are beginning to find a little time to let the beautiful game into their life. If there’s one thing America is built upon, it is democracy, and I suppose that Americans have decided that several billion people can’t be wrong.

A couple of tell-tale signs that the World Cup will, at the very least, draw more American viewers than Rome Is Burning:

1) The morning after the USA's historic 3-2 victory over Portugal in their opening game of the 2002 World Cup, I was worried that it wouldn't achieve top headline status on ESPN.com because the NHL playoffs were going on. THE NHL PLAYOFFS. Seriously, can you even name the 2 teams that are playing in the Stanley Cup finals right now. Now, ESPN.com is running regular stories leading up to the World Cup even deeming the tournament worthy of the vaulted status of a section on the “spotlight” portion of the webpage.

2) Every important “American” publication has given significant preview coverage of the World Cup - Sports Illustrated, ESPN the Magazine, the Houston Chronicle… all went into great detail to provide their loyal readers with in-depth coverage of the World Cup. ESPN gave it a full 15 pages worth of coverage. No, seriously. That’s 15 pages that could have been devoted to Albert Pujols’ torrid start to the season or Shaq’s resurgence in the NBA playoffs. I guess America is curious if Ronaldinho will lead Brazil to an unprecedented 6^th World Cup title.

3) Sportscenter televised the unveiling of the US World Cup roster live (yes, it

was on the 6 p.m. show, and yes, it was 30 minutes into the program… but that’s beside the point). The point is that even 4 years ago, the thought of Dan Patrick interviewing Bruce Arena (the US Head Coach) as the roster was revealed was implausible if not downright absurd.

As if I needed any more reason to be excited about the World Cup. But for those of you out there who remain skeptical about devoting your precious television viewing time this summer towards the World Cup (what else are you going to be watching, Room Raiders…), I’ll give you 5 reasons to watch.

5) England

The entire country suffers from an acute case of extreme pessimism every time the World Cup rolls around. And not without good reason. I mean, England has only won 1 World Cup in their entire history (1966 – the World Cup was held in England which gave them a significant advantage), and they’re the people that invented the game of soccer. Imagine for a second that the World Baseball Classic actually meant something, and then imagine if the US only won it 1 time over the next 80 years.

Every 4 years, the English side is loaded with talent, yet they always seem to fall short. Combine this with the fact that England has the mast passionate obsessive fans in the world, and, all of a sudden, Alex Rodriguez playing in New York is a cakewalk compared to the pressure that the England players face each World Cup. 2006 is no different as the team is considered to be one of the favorites despite the fact that the playing status of their star wunderkind forward Wayne Rooney (think a slightly lesser version of Lebron) is up in the air due to a broken metatarsal bone.

Will Rooney be fit to play? Will England be able to compete with the best if he can’t? Will the Queen’s men finally bring the trophy home to their starved fans? Undoubtedly one of the most intriguing teams to follow throughout the World Cup.

4) Germany

Perhaps the most boring style amongst the traditional soccer powers. Think soccer’s version of the 2000 Baltimore Ravens – fantastic defense, offense good enough to get by. Why then does Germany crack the top 5? Because they’re vulnerable.

No host country (the World Cup is in Germany this year) has ever failed to make it out of the group stage. Think about that for a second. In all 19 World Cups, every single host country has at least made the second round, even the United States made it in 1994. Some would conclude that the host team must have an advantage, and this is true to some extent. The host team has the comfort of playing in familiar surroundings and in front of thousands of passionate supporters. They also tend to be the beneficiary of some ‘questionable’ officiating (I’m looking at you South Korea).

There is, however, a flip side. No team is under more pressure to perform than the host country. Partly because they’re playing in front of all their fans and partly due to the success that host countries have enjoyed in past World Cups, the host country is always expected to show well. In Germany’s case, one of the most respected soccer nations in the world, they’re expected to show very well. Anything less than a quarterfinal appearance will be considered a national embarrassment that ranks somewhere between the Berlin Wall and World War II. That’s only a slight exaggeration.

If this vulnerable German ties or loses to Costa Rica in their opening game (first game of the World Cup, 11 a.m. June 9^th), I don’t know of any adjective other than uber to describe the pressure that this team will be under. Do I think that scenario will arise. No. But if it does, Germany vaults to #1 on this top 5 list.

Due to the deadly combination of laziness, work, and watching season 1 of 24 (damn you Jack Bauer), the final 3 reasons to watch the World Cup were unable to be completed before the start of the first game. Have no fear, though, reasons 3 through 1 will be up within the next day or two.