Written by: Jamie Lazaroff
Edited by: Bob Lazzari
I have been watching a lot of soccer recently (specifically the Women’s World Cup and the English Premier League) and also just read the book “How Soccer Explains the World” by Franklin Foer. There is a chapter on how soccer relates to and tries to explain the American culture wars. Well, this got me thinking about this subject.
First, Franklin makes a good point that since soccer was not invented in the U.S. Like baseball, basketball and American football, the American people have not accepted it as their own. If you’re a part of the first generation of immigrants, the love of soccer has come over with you but if you were born in the USA, I think it’s more difficult to love the sport. As I've said before in this column, Americans like to play soccer-- not watch it. I think the media has a lot to do with it. Don’t get me wrong-- there is more soccer on TV now than there was five years ago, but it’s not on regular TV; you need to buy additional packages from your cable provider to get the 'good' stuff (no offense, MLS). I’m talking about the European leagues. I know that ESPN shows the European Champions Leagues every two weeks in the fall, but it's televised in the afternoon when we are all at work! And if you can’t see these club teams in their domestic leagues on the weekend, you will have no idea how they are doing coming into the Champions League games.
I think another reason Americans like to play soccer rather than watch it is because it is divided into two 45-minute halves with no timeouts. There are no breaks or timeouts, but if there is a stoppage due to an injury or the like, time is added onto the end of the half to make up for the time lost. You have no idea when the game or half will end because the referee keeps the time on the field. I feel that the American people truly have a low level of concentration. Every American sport I know of has timeouts. Yes, soccer has halftime, but we need more breaks in order to talk about what we just witnessed and soccer does not let us do that.
As I said before, I watched the Women’s World Cup. This was the first time it was televised all the way through-- not just the USA’s matches. I love women’s soccer; it is a lot less physical than the men’s game but a lot more technical. Between 2001 and 2003, women had their own league in the U.S. (Women’s United Soccer Association); it folded after the 2003 season because of financial trouble. In 2008, the league is coming back for another try. I hope it works this time and can enjoy better TV coverage than in the past.
It may look like I’m putting down MLS (Major League Soccer), but that's not my intention. The league has a lot of great players and terrific games but the problem I have with it is that the local team, the New England Revolution, doesn't have its games televised outside of Boston; I can’t watch them unless they are on ESPN-- which is not all the time. The other problem I have with the league is that it doesn’t stop play for international game dates so the league's best players are with their national teams and not with their club teams. In contrast, the English League doesn’t play any games when the England National Team or any other National Team play on a FIFA (world governing body) international game date.
* This week in China featured the Special Olympics World Summer Games. This week’s spotlight is on one of the great athletes involved. This profile comes from the Special Olympics website and was written by Tim Wendel:
Sipho Mjoka/ Special Olympics South Africa
Sipho Mjoka’s passion is swimming and the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games in Shanghai, China, have become his coming-out party. The 18-year-old from South Africa took gold in the men’s 50-meter freestyle finals on Friday, 5 October, and will race again in the 100-meter free on Saturday. Before a packed house at the Shanghai Pudong Natatorium, Mjoka brought the crowd to its feet by winning the Division 5 Finals in 29.40 seconds. “He swam a fantastic race,” says Brenda Saville, head swim coach for Special Olympics South Africa. “He’s always been a coach’s dream for me. He listens and then goes out and does his best. What more can a coach ask for?”
Abandoned by his mother as a child, Mjoka grew up in an orphanage in Durban, South Africa, which he still calls home. Ann Janssens, who is on the Board of Directors at the home, flew 16 hours to see her favorite student race. “Certainly it’s a long way to come,” she says, “but I had to be here to see him race. Our orphanage has about 200 children and he’s one of the ones you look out for and hope things work out for in the future.”
Beaten as a child, Mjoka took medication that eventually caused permanent brain damage. Years later, he is still bothered by headaches and often struggles in school. Sports became his outlet and he runs as well as swims. “Coming here, being in these Games, is more than I ever could have dreamed of,” Mjoka says. “It got me out of my world.” Asked if he enjoyed the Opening Ceremony, competing in a distant land, Mjoka smiles and simply says, “Yeabo” – South African lingo for yes.
