Don't forget Frank DeFord's comment. A reporter from Europe once asked him why soccer was not popular in the US. DeFord replied that Americans like sports such as baseball and football which rely on the use of the hands. DeFord noted, "Use of he hands is what separates us from the beasts of the field."

[T]he other believes in American exceptionalism, views Europeans as lax and degraded...

One would have to be fairly uninformed to not believe these things, although one can of course take exception to the ways in which Americans have used their mighty powers, (the genesis of which is luck & pluck), or quibble over the extent and reach of European degradation.

"The distinction is even simpler: there are people who throw like men and people who throw like girls."

[cough] steroids [/cough]

"A reporter from Europe once asked him why soccer was not popular in the US. DeFord replied that Americans like sports such as baseball and football which rely on the use of the hands. DeFord noted, "Use of he hands is what separates us from the beasts of the field."

Or maybe it's the fondness for wearing tight pants.

If you know anybody that needs to learn how to throw like a guy I can teach them, but they'll have to supply their own towel, broomstick, tennis ball, catcher's mitt and dartboard. It's a fun skill to teach: you start with the feet and work up until you get to the point where they realize what it's supposed to feel like.

It's a pleasure to see our president throw like a man after either years of watching Clinton throw like a girl. I am a girl and I can throw better than bubba.

As I once famously said, "watching soccer is like going to Churchill Downs to watch the jockeys play an endless game of kick the can in the infield."

So which one are you, OJ?

Matt:

The slowest white man on Earth, so they always had me pitch.