Soccer...Fun With Balls!!!!

Yes, I am American, and I love the NFL, but there is a place for soccer in this world as well...

The world cup brackets came out today and millions watched, like 350,000,000 people (no joke). Comparing that to last years Superbowl (75,000,000), the rankings show is 4.6 times more popular than the NFL championship. Why is America practically the only country that doesn't care about soccer? The answer is easy: 1) we're a country with way cooler sports on TV like football, baseball and basketball and we don't have time to watch soccer; and 2) everyone kid knows that if you want to get chicks in high school, the easiest way to do it is by playing football in the fall, not soccer. If soccer was the only thing on in the coutry you lived, you'd have to like soccer by default, not choice.

Go America!
Yay for freedom of choice!

For those of us who watch soccer once every four years, the World Cup is a short time away. Looking at the rankings and the brackets, the U.S. is in some serious trouble:

(country/international rank according to SI)(Note: teams without a top 50 ranking were given a 55)

Group A----> Winner: Germany (home field advantage)
Germany 15
Costa Rica 20
Poland 26
Ecuador 55
Total 116

Group B----> Winner: England (I'm half English)
England 9
Paraguay 55
Trinidad 55
Sweden 13
Total 132

Group C----> Winner: The Netherlands (I'm half Dutch)
Argentina 4
Ivory Cst. 48
Srb & Mont 42
Netherlands 2
Total 96

Group D----> Winner: Mexico (Ci guay!!)
Mexico 6
Iran 21
Angola 55
Portugal 10
Total 92

Group E----> Winner: U.S. over the Czechs (I'm biased)
Italy 12
Ghana 55
U.S. 7
Czech Rep 3
Total: 77

Group F----> Winner: BRA-zil (Duhhh)
Brazil 1
Croatia 19
Australia 55
Japan 16
Total 91

Group G----> Winner: South Korea (I hate France)
France 5
Switzerland 38
South Korea 29
Togo 50
Total 122

Group H----> Winner: Tunisia (Africa has to win at something)
Spain 8
Ukraine 39
Tunisia 27
Saudi Arabia 31
Total 105

Looking at the total rankings for each group, it shows that the U.S. has the hardest grouping (a 77 total with three countries in the top 15) and England has the easiest (two countries not ranked). However, in light of the hardest grouping, group E will serve as the most intriguing group in the cup. Perenial favorite Italy has been grouped with two very good and very young teams in the U.S. and the Czech Republic. The U.S. and the C.R. are newcomers to the top tier of international soccer, so this is a great test of the future of those country's soccer hopes.

With the MLS dreadfully sucking in comparison to the soccer leagues in the rest of the world, the U.S. hopefuls may show that the MLS has some talent and the U.S. just doesn't care. I see a rise in viewers in the coming six months after the cup, but beyond that, soccer just does not have any hope in the U.S. due to the competition. I look at soccer in the U.S. sports realm like the salad at McDonalds, when you could have a Big Mac, Chicken McNuggets or a Quarter Pounder, why one earth would you want a salad? (Unless you are a girl) I honestly hope that the MLS would catch on in the U.S., but reality shows that just won't happen.

Anyway, you won't hear much about soccer from here on out, for those of you I have offended for not talking at length about real sports, I'm sorry.

Later,

Herm