Uh huh. More spazzy, you're avg fat-assed major league dh or first baseman? John Kruk and Trot Nixon, who can barely walk, or the great Ronaldhino? Your avg American "football" lineman or the sublime Rooney?

It's so funny. I'd be willing to bet you've never seen a proper football match.

It's almost as amusing as the time you tied yourself in knots trying to explain why a system of relegation/promotion was wimpy, but the American system of letting losers hang around decade after decade in a league was the height of machismo.

Meanwhile, I've already watched two great end-to-end football matches this morning from the epl, ManUtd over Spurs 2-1 from London, with Rooney, the white pele, scoring both for the Red Devils, and Chelski sewing up their 2nd title in a row with a 3-0 demolishing of Everton.

Both games were infinitely superior watching to the two steroid ball games I saw yesterday here in Chicago, let alone to the unwatchable nba and nfl games. Talk about your snooze fests. You get get a good nap in between pitches at your avg steroid ball game these days.

Arod and Brady are a 1/10 of the athletes Eric Cantona was, or Rooney and Ronaldhino are.

And more and more Americans are realizing it. And even more will as our Mexican brothers come in their numbers. Bwwahhhaahhha.

But, go and ahead and side with the nativists on this one OJ. Ye shall know them by their friends.

John Kruk was all state in soccer in High School. But he could throw overhand so he quit.

I saw Pele. He was great. But it's an easy game.

proper football match.

Jim in Chicago: Yeah, but it ain't football season. We hold that in the fall. College football is usually played on Saturday afternoons and Pro football is usually played Sunday. Over the weekend in Nebraska we did have the culmination of spring football, something called the annual Red-White game. Finally, it ain't called a match, it is called a game.

Seriously, you are really in a minority. Soccer could only wish for the television numbers that the NFL gets (even the numbers a Detroit Lions game gets in week 13). For a vast majority of Americans, watching soccer is akin to watching the WNBA. Soccer is a popular participatory sport in America; it isn't a popular spectator sport. This will remain the case for a long long time. Spainish ESPN even shows NFL games.

I believe Kruk's autobiography was titled "I Ain't an Athlete, Lady." I tend to agree.

Baseball is a highly skilled game but not a physically demanding one. You're sitting on the bench almost half the time. That's true of football too.

I find it pretty annoying that so many people on the right are blind to soccer's virtues, both as a spectator sport and a participatory one. It's an easy game to understand, but it's not an easy game to play and a very difficult one to master. Contrary to what disinterested observers prefer to believe, it has its subtleties. To paraphrase the classic (Red Smith?) line about baseball - soccer is a dull game only to dull minds.

George;

Everyone understands its attraction as a participatory one, which is the same as why it's a terrible spectator one.

Pretty nifty footwork. Still have the urge to tell them to pick the darn ball up and run with it. It's unnatural not to use your hands in sport. The spectacular moves remind me of many of the diving catches in baseball. Exciting yes, but lots of times due to the player being out of position or a slow break to the ball.

"Spazzy"...better watch out, OJ...Tiger got in trouble for saying he "putted like a spaz" after the Masters. Apparently, their are anti-spasmatic defamtion groups out there. The group that went after Tiger was in the UK, I believe.

I think it's the only unscripted thing Tiger has said since he told the lesbian joke to the GQ writer about 7 years ago. I bet he never utters a non-cliche in public again.

Ah, another tirade against the King of Sports by Orrin. It's becoming amusing to watch his desperate raging against reality.

Anyway, who on earth are Tom Brady and Alex Rodriguez?

Jim: Yeah, more and more Americans like soccer. Sure.

I couldn't find a more recent result but from The Harris Poll® #54, September 24, 2003, the per cent of people who considered soccer to be their favorite in the US was 3 per cent in 1985 and 3 per cent in 2003. Tied with track and field! It did beat tennis though. Demolished bowling! No word on its status versus curling.

No change in 2 decades. At this rate, it will pass real football in about how many years? Never?

oj's last point is a good one, and even more true of hockey. I never enjoyed playing a game more than hockey, but never enjoyed watching one less.

Just watch the the commercial in question, of Ronaldhino as a boy interspersed with shots of him today, and tell me real football is not the beautiful game.

Bob: go to a park in a city like Chicago, or I'd bet lost of the west and swest, with large Mexican populations. Everyone's playing pick-up football on the weekends and evenings with trash cans to mark the goal posts.

The future.

And even a good sport like baseball will lose out to true football unless they do something about the four hour plus games.

What nonsense, if God wanted us to play soccer, he wouldn't have put arms on us.

Jim: Kids have played soccer since I was a kid, and enthusiasts are always talking about those kids will grow up and watch the game. It hasn't happened yet and won't anytime soon. The whole point of soccer is that it can be played by poor kids with zero technology. What about that is going to appeal to Americans? Now, if the players were armed and could shoot the ball, you'd have a game.

David: That last line. LOL

Jim: Plenty of kids around me play soccer too. Good kids game, lots of aimless running. They don't go to games, they don't watch it on tv. The future? Maybe, but not in my yet unborn grandkids' lifetimes. Let's talk in 200 years.

I'm not talking about only kids playing in leagues.

What I was talking about is pickup games with adults doing the playing, often at a fairly high level.

And both kids and adults watch games and attend them. Most of the audience for Fire games here in Chicago are Polish and Mexicans, immigrants or first generation.

Do you guys even get stations like Univision etc? My local channels on Directv in Chicago have almost as many Spanish language channels as English.

And they show wall-to-wall futbol on weekends, mostly Mexican league but also internationl matches as well.

And last I checked, Univision et al do quite well in getting an audience.

Look, I played soccer as a kid in between baseball and basketball seasons, and went to a few NASL games before forgetting about it. Was then in Europe one summer, 92, and got sucked into the Euro championship, which led me to start watching the champions league on ESPN in the 90s. Once FoxSoccerChannel took off showing EPL, the most exciting sports league in the world, I was sold.

You guys need to get out more. It's not all about the white suburban kids.

Watch the sports highlights show on Univision, or maybe its Telemundo, on Sunday mornings sometime. While they show clips of NBA and major league baseball -- mostly the Latin players -- mostly its futbol, Mexico, Spain, Italy etc.

As the nativists remind us, there's lots of immigrants from Mexico and Central America, and futbol is their game, and they're not abandoning it.

The future.

It's just joyless. Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch is relentlessly depressing. The baseball flick is a joy.

David Cohen:

And some of us never got into it from the very beginning. Somewhere in my parents' house, there's a videotape of my five-year old self (I asked my folks if I could be "unsigned up" after my first soccer practice) watching listlessly as my teammates kick the ball around, my coach yells at me to get into the game, and I pick my nose with my yellow jersey.

Speaking as a former kid, soccer was probably one of the better youth activities I was forced into by my Mom. Worst, would have to be flag football. Karate and basketball are in there somewhere.

By the way, my team's record was losing every game except the last that was called a tie because the sprinklers went off during the game.

I think the world can be excused it's fascnination with soccer, but an American becoming a fan as an adult. ...that's not something to brag about.

Soccer: The sport of the future. And it always will be.

You guys need to get out more. It's not all about the white suburban kids.

Okay Jim: Blacks kids are playing basketball (both organized and pick-up), they are also playing organized football. Asian kids are studying. Hispanic kids are playing soccer and baseball.

Jim: According to Wikipedia (I know not the best source but why would it be wrong here), the attendance for the Chicago Fire:

"Average attendance
regular season/playoffs

1998: 17,887
1999: 16,016
2000: 13,387
2001: 16,338
2002: 12,992
2003: 14,005/14,871
2004: 17,153/missed playoffs
2005: 17,238/11,193
All-Time: 15,419"

Compare 1998 to 2005. What do you notice? Yes, soccer is surging in popularity.

Twn is right but keep up the faith, Jim. In 200-300 years, you may be right.

If being a great game for kids meant anything, there would be a professional Capture the Flag league. Now, there's a great game.

David:

Kick the Can.

My 4 year old twins played fall soccer this year. Over the winter, we asked them what they wanted to do this spring - soccer or T-ball.

I'm off to T-ball practice right now.

And the coaches in the soccer league all complained that they only had girls playing in the spring league.

David:

We're on the case.

I hear franchises are going very cheap if you want to get in early.

David, OJ:

Dodgeball. Great fun, even if it was mostly a gym sport. I always liked it because I had lightning-fast reflexes.