Mild case of World Cup fever

Thursday, June 22, 2006

The sports world is broken down into several distinct divisions: Guys who love NASCAR, guys who hate NASCAR. Guys (and when I say guys I mean girls, too, you guys) who like the designated hitter vs. guys who like watching pitchers strike out.

Shaq guys, Kobe guys, but no Shaq and Kobe guys. Tiger fans, Phil fans. Yankees fans, Red Sox fans. Fans of the X Games, fans who don't get the X Games. The list goes on and on, and thank God it does because it provides much of the fuel for daily discussion.

The talked about division this month involves those who can't get enough soccer and those who ignore the sport completely. It happens every four years when the World Cup rolls around, and the same old arguments come from the non-soccer crowd. Not enough scoring, you can't use your hands, too many silly rules. I have to admit, I've made some of these myself.

But soccer vs. non-soccer is only a subdivision of a larger more important division: The USA vs. the World. It works like this. Everything that happens here is great and everything that happens out there is inconsequential. We'll welcome foreign players into our leagues, but we couldn't give a rat's behind what happens in your league. This trumps the soccer argument, I believe. How many times have you heard this? Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, mate. Yeah, well the rest of the world can kiss my gridiron.

Often the soccer argument comes down to soccer vs. football because here they compete for athletes in the fall. Like most Americans my age, I was raised on football -- high school games Friday night or Saturday afternoons, college games on Saturday and the pros Sunday.

I never even watched a soccer game until long after my high school days, but that doesn't mean there isn't room for more than one fall sport on my plate. In fact, when you consider ESPN is now showing poker and billiards on a regular basis, there's probably room for a half dozen.

I've got to admit to a mild case of World Cup fever, this coming from someone who always thought those were volleyballs when I was growing up. The fans are loud, colorful and rowdy and there's a constant din from beginning to end of each game. Although it's whittled down to 32 teams, the World Cup is everything the Olympics aspire to be.

Fans are patriotic to a fault and the way they party makes your Saturday afternoon tailgate look like a birthday celebration. I haven't watched one game yet from start to finish but I've looked in on a half dozen and have yet to be disappointed. The players are skilled, athletic and don't dare dog it on the field the way some American athletes do from time to time, or the fans let them have it. Come to think of it, the first team accused of dogging it was the American side.

I've even watched enough games to voice a couple of complaints. There's not as much of a difference in styles of play as you expect at an international event of this scope. That's because most of the top players play in Europe. Every member of the Brazilian team, for instance, participates in a European league.

And does every player who gets fouled have to act like he was shot? Yeah, referees have clamped down on this acting somewhat but it's still hard to tell who's injured and who's not. But that's about it. As for lack of scoring, that only heightens the anticipation and allows most games to go to the wire.

I know there are fans who watch every game while others would rather watch Leave it to Beaver reruns. For that great uninitiated American group in the middle, though, give it a try.

Gary Hawkins -- 621-5638

ghawkins@centralmaine.com