Not Everyone Hates Soccer

I started playing soccer when I was 8; it is the only team sport I have ever played and decades later I still love it. My wife played soccer much longer than I did and was very successful; she played club soccer and continued into her college years but had to stop due to injuries. We both love soccer.

Our first experience watching the World Cup together was in 2006 when Germany hosted and France and Italy fought it out in the Finals. We both distinctly remember when Zinedine Zidane committed the head-butt heard around the world and for many, cost France the title (kinda). Fast Forward to this year’s World Cup in Brazil and the games were entertaining, the US team did great, and Germany deservedly won the final. Ignoring the protests, the crazy amounts of money spent on stadiums, the mafia-like behavior of FIFA, and the legitimate objections to the World Cup by the people of Brazil, it was a resounding success!

Now the point of my article; I recently read Ann Coulter’s blog post about hating soccer and the subsequent follow-up. I don’t read Ann Coulter and I don’t watch cable news so I am not that familiar with her besides she is divisive, her writing comes off as mean, and she really hates liberals.

When I first started writing this article I was going to respond to each of her nine points but in my opinion my article was becoming too long and boring. After thinking about it for a while I realized two things; 1) Ann Coulter is not a fan of soccer (duh) and 2) she has a beef with soccer moms.

Not a soccer fan:

Ann Coulter is not a soccer fan and that is okay; I know a lot of people who are not fans of soccer. My favorite sports are soccer and football, NFL and college. I have my own issue with college football and the money part of the NCAA. I also like basketball, but only when the Suns or the University of Arizona are playing and I like baseball, but only minor league. Because I grew-up in El Paso I have no experience with hockey but I am not to write an anti-hockey article just because I do not watch the sport…

To be a fan of soccer you have to like soccer. When I was young I first really started watching the Mexican League on Univision, it is all we had in El Paso. I got into English soccer when Blackburn won the title back in the early 90s and got back into it during Berbatov’s first year at Tottenham and have been a fan of the north London team ever since. Everytime Tottenham plays I root for them! When they play Arsenal it is a huge rivalry game; when they play Manchester United, City, Chelsea, or Liverpool I just hope for the best. But when Tottenham is not playing and I watch a game like Crystal Palace v. Sunderland I really don’t care who wins and it can be boring. I have the same feeling when the Cleveland Browns plays the Atlanta Hawks, I like the NFL and can appreciate what is going on but I don’t care about those teams. Again, like any sport, you have to like it to be interested and if you do not like soccer, no worries.

Soccer moms:

It seems like most of Ann Coulter’s ire is really on soccer moms and youth sports. Are soccer moms annoying at times? Sure, but their hearts are in the right place. I am not sure if Ann Coulter does not like that some women chose to be soccer moms and put family first but I assume since she is a conservative one of her core beliefs is family values.

I have a hard time thinking that football moms, baseball moms, basketball moms, hockey moms, lacrosse moms, or tennis moms who equally care about their children’s well-being would be any different than soccer moms. If a football mom’s kid got hurt in a game would she not help them and love them or just say tough luck? If a softball mom’s kid was humiliated in front of their friends, family, and peers would she not use it as a learning moment or just rub it in her kid’s face hoping that will make her tougher?

Exposing your children to an organized sport at a young age is a good thing; teamwork, cooperation, and working for the good of the team. Maybe when kids play soccer at age 8 no one loses but by the time they play club and high school soccer there are distinct winners and losers and the injuries start piling up.

In the end, sports are good for children. Sports teach you many things such as how to win, how to lose, how to play fair, how to fight hard during the game, and how to be civilized after the last whistle is blown.