I never can remember in my 21 years, a time where a sport caught wildfire like soccer did when the United States made the knockout rounds. I was sitting in the Milwaukee Brewers press box with a mix of guys, some knew a lot about soccer and others were asking for explanations about extra time amongst others things. But everybody was pulled in and wanted the US to win. That didn't happen on Saturday as they fell in defeat to Ghana 2-1.
I am not going to be a Monday Morning Quarterback as I am with other sports because frankly, I am an average fan of soccer and do not know enough from a tactical perspective to talk about the decisions that Bob Bradley made. I talked to my buddy Ron on the phone that night and believed Bradley cost us the game with having Ricardo Clark out there plus Robbie Findlay being out there was absolutely puzzling in his opinion. According to others on social media and other things, people believed the same sort of stuff that Ron told me.
I am just happy people like Jim Rome who spoke countless times about how he hates soccer decided to have three guests on his show that were soccer-related. First off, it shows how much of a professional Rome is but secondly, he gets the big picture aspect of things. Before Saturday, soccer was the hottest topic in the United States and people wanted to talk about as much as possible. But there are many people who believe that the soccer hype will fizzle out once the World Cup is over and just come back like the Olympics.
I think the way to keep this going is to try to promote Fox Soccer Channel to basic cable like they did with the Big Ten Network. The reason Time Warner, Charter, Comcast, and others should do this is because the NFL and NBA might lock out in 2011. If that happens, soccer would be the perfect equation for professional sports fans. It wouldn't be hard for a sports fans to find a team to jump on their bandwagon, and hopefully soccer will stay alive for years to come.
-Charlie.
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