“Odd how expectations change – my mom never came to watch, even though she was the model of an Involved Parent. My dad? He was working. Dads didn’t leave work to watch their kids kick a soccer ball. For that matter, kids didn’t kick soccer balls. I don’t think they had soccer balls in North Dakota until 1981… . No, we had baseballs. Hard, unforgiving, painful, American baseballs. When it came at your head you got out of the way. Now in the space of a single generation we’ve trained the young to stick their heads into the path of an oncoming ball.”
—James Lileks
This actually concerns me. What will the differences in America be in a generation or two that will be due to everyone growing up playing soccer instead of baseball? Somehow it doesn’t seem like it will be a positive effect.
I remember reading a article a few years ago—I think on Slate but I can’t find it in Google anywhere; I wish I could—it’s one of those that you don’t think is very important at the time but it sticks with you. It contrasted baseball and football in terms of America’s identity, arguing that baseball is the more “American” sport because it emphasizes individualism whereas football is more imperialistic and socialistic in nature emphasizing teamwork and conquering territory. I’d love to see that same analysis applied to soccer (or, as James Taranto calls it, metric football).
This actually concerns me. What will the differences in America be in a generation or two that will be due to everyone growing up playing soccer instead of baseball? Somehow it doesn’t seem like it will be a positive effect.
I remember reading a article a few years ago—I think on Slate but I can’t find it in Google anywhere; I wish I could—it’s one of those that you don’t think is very important at the time but it sticks with you. It contrasted baseball and football in terms of America’s identity, arguing that baseball is the more “American” sport because it emphasizes individualism whereas football is more imperialistic and socialistic in nature emphasizing teamwork and conquering territory. I’d love to see that same analysis applied to soccer (or, as James Taranto calls it, metric football).