Though, if/when the USMNT DOES win the World Cup, I'm also anxious and/or scared to see how the rest of the world would react.
The USMNT is by far my favorite. I grew up playing club ball at a time when playing competitive soccer was not necessarily socially acceptable. My football coaches didn't understand why I'd play soccer rather than football. I was a good player and I loved to play. I loved the travel tournaments, loved the scrimmages and game days. I loved the competitiveness of the Classic leagues. So I was part of a counter culture that was fighting for legitimacy. We wanted to get to see soccer on TV. We wanted to play it at our middle schools. We wanted soccer equipment sold in regular sports stores. We wanted a professional league to watch. Crammed in that experience were the obligatory ODP (Olympic Developmental Program) trials and teams. Those ODP experiences were an introduction to the National Team system. I never made a national team, but during that time all of us young American players all over the country were full of fight and optimism. Belief was not a problem. Its that environment that gave me an intimate rooting interest. Some of the guys I played with ended up on National Teams and some of those guys played with some of the seminal players of the era, playing professionally all over the world. So I got to hear all the stories. So the team is not just a franchise for me, its something that I am tangentially related to. I feel like those guys are, in some way, proxies for all of us who came before. They are the best of us, and they fight for us.
Interesting stuff. My dad, in a fit of some sort of liberal, elitist pique in the mid 70s, pushed my older brother and I toward this strange egalitarian game as a response to some sort of disgust with little league and their "insufferable" parents. All I knew is that he would preempt our Saturday morning cartoons on our only tv to put on some extrememly boring [to my 5-6 year old sensibilities] show on PBS with some funny sounding and funny English guy would obsess about Germans and some boondass something or other. By 3rd grade I was sporting an "official" Stuttgart jersey in Billings, Montana with "Müller" and a number 10 and arguing with older brother that the guy on his "official" Hamburg jersey named Kaltz sucked because he wasn't mentioned in that weeks Globe Kicker magazine. (Oblivious to the fact that the shirts were identical but for the names and numbers. I remember being heartbroken when Germany lost to Italy in 82 and again to Argentina in 86 and super jealous that my Mexican-American best friend and teammate was at Azteca for the final on the field level as his father had bribed several security guards with a couple hundred bucks, and had the temerity to only bring me back a pendant with "Alemania" on it. Regarding head injuries, I have been hyper-sensitive about them since my son, now an 18 yr old senior, sustained a concussion while playing hs soccer as a freshman (a reckless teammate head butted him rather randomly while running for the ball). This was a year or two after another kid in NJ--football player at Montclair High--died from a head injury and all manor of protocols were put in place for athletes state wide. Real Sports has done a few very good specials on this and I find myself increasingly troubled. Anytime I see little kids playing football in our football mad [and soccer mad] town I feel an impulse to try to persuade them to play soccer. *random t-shirts made at the mall by my Dad
I have never played a day of soccer in my entire life (until recent pick-up games starting 3 years ago-after the 2010 WC) but my love for the USMNT is incomparable to any other sports team. I vaguely remember the 2002 World Cup, but can remember the 2002 US/Canada Gold Medal Hockey Game for some reason. I remember the disappointment after the 2006 World Cup, that was pretty rough. My most unforgettable/passion igniting moment was the 09 Azteca game when Donovan went to take a corner and received a beer shower from the Mexican fans, it really ignited my fan-hood from "watched most games", "to die-hard". As a politics major in college, I take a lot of pride in the US Flag and nothing makes me more proud than being in the AO section during the National Anthem of a USMNT game. Growing up in NJ, a lot of kids root for Italy or some other country. Although my Grandparents are from Italy, I just never felt the tie, especially after 9-11. When people ask me my Nationality, I say "American" proudly. I love this country and cannot wait for the hex. I personally believe that this team in the World Cup captivates the country unlike any other. We have all seen the Donovan Goal Reaction Video, I know at least five of my friends who have taken a huge liking to soccer because of the 2009 Confederations Cup and the 2010 World Cup. I plan on going to every US World Cup Game for the rest of my life. This team is the best, and we are moving in the right direction, I have no doubt about that.
My feelings exactly growing up in Indiana during the Reggie years is the only thing i can even compare to my love of the USMNT
Oh the memories. The 94 and 95 team that should have made the Finals, 8.9 seconds, all the Davis Boys missed free throws, how I loved Haywood Workman, Rik Smits and Jalen Rose, the missed Ewing layup, the most bullshit 4 point play of all time, not being able to stop Shaq and the Lakers...and oh, the horror of the 1998 Game 7 meltdown....Jordan is so fortunate to have that 6th ring/
There will be riots in the country that loses to the USA in the final. I'd say, at least a 90% probability.
82 was in the cards after the semifinal but the 86 was, to quote Chick Hearns, a hearrrtbreak. Uhm, different Mannschaft we are talking about. Btw, WRT to being crushed, 86 has nothing on 70.
Also depends on the country that loses in the final. Either way, there will be riots in Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Los Angeles as well. And that's the short list. Riots will be bigger in those cities if the loser happens to be Mexico.
another WIsconsinite here was fanatical about the Milwaukee Bucks especially during the Cassell, Ray Allen, Big Dog years things would get broken in their losses, especially in the playoffs age, and an understanding of the business side of sports has lowered ALL of my fandom for sports but i still find myself a bigger fan of state and local sports, then others in WI, there is Green Bay Packers coverage 24/7 so u dont have to try and follow them, everything is available to u and shared all day every day ive been a fan of the World Cup for a while and a fan of the USA team but have only been following the American players, for the last 4 years i now spend most of my sports time following the players and the USA soccer team my sports time used to be allocated like this 44%nba, 44%nfl, 12%soccer, mlb, and the rest now it is 35%soccer, 30%nfl, 25%nba, 10%mlb and the rest 1.Bucks winning NBA championship (cause it would mean that the NBA has fixed all of its $ and competition issues) 2.USA winning World Cup 3.Greece winning World Cup (i am American/Greek) 4. Packers winning SuperBowl (have all ready enjoyed/seen 2)
Well, as much as I love my Bucks (and still root for them in the off chance that the NBA actually becomes less like pro wrestling and more like, well, basketball), I'd trade them for an NHL team in a heartbeat.....even if they ARE locked out. More of a chance than having an MLS team here though :/
It was bigger during the late 70's-mid-80's Nellie reign - Lanier, Moncrief, T. Cummings, Johnson, Pressey, Pearce, Winters, Bridgeman, Buckner. I assume it was even bigger in the 70's with Kareem, Robertson, Dandridge, McGlocklin. But it's hard to remain an NBA fan in small markets these days.
2 times we had a group trying to get funding and plans for a Soccer stadium, to get a team for the MLS. both times they couldnt get the $ or city support IF/WHEN, we lose the Bucks NO other professional team will ever come to MKE * mid80s, i started to understand what was going on. id say from 86' on. too young for those 70s teams
So in the first situation, you're saying Mexicans, whose team would not theoretically be in the final, would riot in those areas because the USA won? That doesn't make much sense.
How do you think a lot of the irrational Mexican fans would react if the USA won the World Cup? Like I said, this is only theory.
1) USMNT 2) Tampa Bay Bucs ... ... ... 3) NY Mets (I despise baseball and only care about the Mets. I don't even watch the World Series nor any other game. In fact I avoid watching the Mets because if they lose I will be pissed I wasted 3.5 hours of my time and just get frustrated. I follow them as a kid who lived in LA in the 30s would follow the Baltimore Orioles, the only difference is I read reports on the internet instead of a newspaper. However, a World Series win by them will be almost as good as a USA World Cup in my eyes.) 4) Miami Heat 5) Georgia Southern Football
The USMNT is the only team that I still run around the room screaming like an idiot when they score. No youtube,sorry.
The only team whose televised/live stream games I forewarn my wife with at least a couple of day's notice. She watches, too.
It would actually have less to do with Mexico NOT winning it, and more to do with witnessing their hated archrivals winning it. On the other hand, Mexico City DID have minor riots after they were knocked out of the '98 World Cup by the Germans.
Riots are common. Hell, we (US) have riots when our teams win the superbowl/worldcup/nba finals. Riots are all sports bastard cousin.
What if I were to tell you that this rivalry that you speak of doesn't exist outside of the USA. This is only a way of sparking up interest between Mexican American fans and US fans. If you don't mind me asking, what leads you to believe that your'e Mexico's arch rivals?
Well, Rafa Marquez's flying karate kicks, refusing to shake hands after a loss, the booing of the national anthem (even moreso in Mexico, but used to be fairly common in LA as well), the infamous "Osama" chants in Guadalajara in '04, etc. Granted, it's only increased in bitterness in the past two decades. A lot of hatred for a supposed rivalry that doesn't exist. And I'm not denying riots are common, only difference is that we riot when we win, not when we lose Anyways, I'm getting off topic, might as well end it here before we're told to take it to the WR forum