I want to follow soccer, I really do. It was my favorite sport playing as a kid and its global presence appeals to my cosmopolitan leanings. The problem is that we are saddled in Country that really doesn't care and surrounded by a culture that sees the sport as effeminate and soft.
I don't love the sport enough to make the effort to try to navigate the arcane European soccer sites and I'm not a poser so I'm not going to conveniently jump on the current hot club club out of England or Spain. Also, did I mention that the MLS still is pretty much little league and I'm just not charitable enough to put my precious sports viewing hours into a product that isn't that great and rarely compelling.
I was a man lost at sea until I stumbled across this article on Grantland. It opened my eyes to a new club that has the potential to appeal to me on so many levels. First of all, who doesn't love a good underdog. The dirty grit of these guys would make the Bad News Bears proud. Second of all, it appeals to my love of Italy. Specifically the disregarded and chaotic southern part of the peninsula. These guys don't have the snobbery and money of AC Milan or the folks up north. They have a Rocky-like everyman appeal.
Those two reasons should be enough for me to care. I've tried over and over to care about soccer, and outside of a few US team moments, I haven't become a fan. We'll see if this works. Check in with me in a few months. If I am wearing one of those silly soccer scarves with the Napoli colors then you know it took.
1 comment:
how about you try watching the Sounders and then make your determination that they aren't compelling. MLS is a top 10 league in the world. Sounders dont need your "charity" but you would do well to embrace them and their supporter culture.
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