I happen to love both hockey and soccer, but I am in the minority.
Let’s be honest…the real reason most Americans don’t like hockey or soccer is because we didn’t grow up on it. They’re not “American Made” so to speak. It really applies to any sport not threaded in the fabric of America. I can certainly understand why a lot of the world sees the US as arrogant. And although sports snobbery is a light-hearted example, it is a symptom of a larger issue. Americans have a poor world view. It’s a fact. Our national pride is ingrained inside our new born minds from the start. And we are very staunch creatures of habit and familiar comfort. It really is frustrating, because we are missing such amazing aspects of life because we prefer to stay holed up in our red, white and blue bunkers. So, what do we do when an alien concept invades our golden shores? We take a sport the rest of the world knows as football, and give it a new, more American name – “soccer”. And while we’re at it, let’s go ahead and take that word “football”, and build a completely different – and American – game around it. Also, before this other past time becomes entrenched in Americana, let’s fabricate our own version and call it “baseball”. After generations and generations of limiting ourselves to such a confined perspective, it’s easy to see why sports like hockey or soccer never seem to sustain a national affection. Except when our country is participating against others – oh, it’s on then. Until it’s over anyway.
Don’t misunderstand me – I’m proud to be a member of this nation. But we are missing the great irony of our existence. The United States was, is and will always be a nation built by the rest of the world. Why then, do we resist anything that same world has to offer? We are the greatest example of “forgetting where you came from”. And we miss so many rich opportunities to improve our quality of life, as well as our fellowship with the human race as a consequence.