World What?

This has probably escaped your notice, but there is a monumental athletic contest taking place among many nations of this world at this very moment. This event, like the Olympics, is held every four years, and like the Olympics, each participating nation becomes gripped by sporting fever, feeling a personal stake in the drama unfolding upon the fields.

Well, almost every nation. This is World Cup Season, which for many is the pinnacle of all soccer (indeed, all sporting) championships and, oh yeah, the Americans are in it again.

To be fair, I did spot a World Cup poster or two during my recent trip, but they were at 'pub' style bars that already had one eye pointing toward Europe anyway (like those people with the wonky eyes who always seem to be talking to someone standing just behind your left shoulder so that all during the conversation you keep turning around to see who's there). But otherwise, America is largely ignoring the most important athletic tournament since, well, since the last World Cup.

How little do we, as a nation, care about the World Cup? In 1994, the US hosted The World Cup. Did you know that? Neither did I.

I don't know why we all ignore world class soccer; we love sports. Look at our national fascination with, of all things, baseball. Perhaps it's because we don't really 'get' soccer. Oh sure, it is being played in schools because the equipment is cheaper than football gear and you're less likely to have various bones broken due to over enthusiastic tackles, which keeps the insurance premiums under control, but once out of school the concept of soccer doesn't really stick with us as on a primal level. Have you ever witnessed a group of youngsters starting a pick-up game of soccer in the local park?

It may also be that, unlike baseball's World Series, in the World Cup, they let other nations play. It's not hard to be the champion when the only country you're playing is yourself; in this World contest, we stand a chance of losing--a very good chance, as it turns out, as we have never won it--and Americans are just not very keen on watching their teams lose.

I think the most likely reason we don't follow soccer on the global stage is the annoying habit all the other countries have of referring to soccer as 'football.' This, in and of itself, is a good enough reason to ignore it.

How are we supposed to fully embrace ‘football’ when we already have a wildly popular sport of the same name? Just imagine the expense and confusion it would cause to introduce Football II. No, I think soccer will remain an activity best left to other countries, which is a shame, because we're not so bad at it:

The US has qualified for 19 consecutive World Cup competitions; only Brazil has a better record than that. In the 1930 competition, the US placed third and in 2002 we made it to the quarter finals.

But none of that impresses the average American; indeed, the average American isn’t even aware of it. So every four years the World Cup drama is played out, and every four years the Americans ignore it, just as I would if I still lived there.

Here, I can’t ignore it. Everything is covered in motifs of the English Flag or the English flag itself (a large red cross on a white background, not the blue, red and white criss-crossy thing; you’re thinking of the Union Jack, the flag of the erstwhile British Empire). On game days, it is not unusual to see hordes of people walking the streets with their faces painted red and white sporting England shirts, England shorts and capes made out of English flags. England bunting is everywhere (no, I mean, everywhere, in the banks, in the bakers, in the opticians; some farmer has even painted English flags on his livestock); our high street looks like the aftermath of an explosion in a red cross factory.