re: Open Letter to ESPN re: World Cup

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"I now make the observation that..."

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You were whining about a commercial!

So, SIUYA and GIRUY.

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I love soccer, but I completely understand why people are turned off by soccer fans. While I have no sympathy for anyone starting a thread to bash a sport (that just makes you an a-hole), in their defense of soccer, several fans have taken it upon themselves to rip on football, baseball, and hockey... proving they are no different than anti-soccer people

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Baloo, I think the some of the sentiment against other sports shown by soccer fans stems from a defensive stance that many soccer fans have to constantly take for their sport. No other sports fan in America (outside of maybe NASCAR) has to constantly deflect criticism like soccer fans. If a person meets another guy who is a huge hockey fan, the non-hockey fan probably won't diatribe against hockey because it's an established sport. I've encountered several people who feel like bashing soccer is acceptable because they feel like they have the false pretense of the backing of the American sports fan.

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Because they are ILLEGAL immigrants. Someone was trying to prove that Americans are enjoying soccer at a rapid rate. I was stating it is skewed some because the TV ratings do not take into account the number of illegal immigrants watching soccer.

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Wouldn't it skew all sports some?

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the fans who bought the most tickets to the WC are U.S. fans...

I can't find the thread but I'll look.

So yeah...Americans obviously don't care about soccer...or maybe it's just backwoods hillbilly people.

And their children will be Americans. So I guess those numbers are only 10-15 years premature.

I honestly don't think the number of "illegal" immigrants skews television numbers that much, but even if they do, it doesn't change the fact that soccer is growing in popularity within the United States.

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I am an American. I do not care about the World Cup. I know you know I am a U2 fan, but hiring Bono to tell me to care about the world cup will not work either. ESPN, you are smart. You should know that there is nothing wrong with us Americans being indifferent to the "world's game." Just because most other countries think their entire self worth depends on how their team does in this tournament, it doesn't mean we have to care too.

I am asking nicely that you quit trying to make me interested in this silly world cup. I have never cared for this sport. I never will. It bores me. Let the world have their sport. We have College football, NFL, and a bunch of other things that are more appealing to our American sensibilities. And that is fine. Doesn't make us any less sophisticated. Doesn't mean we're ignorant. It just means we prefer other sports to soccer.

So, ESPN, please quit trying to make me interested in the world cup. It's awful. I'm never going to get into it. Not now. And not when some chick takes her top off after a goal. OK - that part I liked, but not the 90 minutes leading up to it. Let the world have its cup. Let us have our stuff. Quit wasting your energy trying to make us care.

Thank you for your kind attention to this matter.

Sincerely,


Ben HOGan
Football Fan & American

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You don't have to care, but there are millions and millions in this country that do. A number that will blow away anything else they try and put on tv during those time slots or any baseball game they might show. Also, if you are a sports fan at all the World Cup has to have some appeal even if you're "indifferent" to the sport just because of the scale of the event. Luckily for you though nobody will force you to have your dial tuned to ESPN/ESPN2/ABC for the next month so instead of writing a whiny letter to ESPN why not just turn the channel like the rest of us do when baseball comes on?

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it doesn't change the fact that soccer is growing in popularity within the United States.

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Just because more people go to Sounders games than Mariners games, or Dynamo games than Rockets games, or Galaxy games than Laker games, doesn't mean soccer is growing in popularity.

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The point was made earlier that AMERICANS interest in soccer is increasing. Is an illegal immigrant an American? As soon as you answer this, you should understand my point. If not then you are more dense than I thought

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The point was made that soccer is growing in America. Illegal immigrants aren't Americans. But when it comes to money and investing, the people promoting and growing the sport don't care if the money comes from an immigrant or an American, as long as it is coming in.

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the people promoting and growing the sport don't care if the money comes from an immigrant or an American, as long as it is coming in.

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I understand, but my posts have been directed toward the poster who stated soccer is growing rapidly amongst AMERICANS and to say illegal immigrants are skewing the numbers equally for all of the sports is ignorant.