I'd say three World Series wins would be equivalent to a World Cup win, just based on how far the USMNT would have gone to win, including the 4 year wait between chances.
I'm a fan of the New Orleans Saints (since 1977). For years "When the Saints make the Super Bowl" was used the same as "When Hell freezes over." The Saints winning the Super Bowl was literally unbelievable, but I still don't think it would equal the US winning a World Cup. Maybe 3 Saints Super Bowl wins in a row would equal one US World Cup win.
1) Wofford College/USMNT (It would be a tough choice for me to choose between a WC final with the US and Wofford in the NC game in Frisco, TX. Tough. Faustian even.) 2) Atlanta Braves 3) <-- SC Freiburg/Bundesliga 3) College football teams that run the triple option Otherwise, I am a fan of leagues. Big fan of the NBA and have sympathies for the Hawks. Enjoy the NFL, especially in the playoffs, and have sympathies for the Falcons/Panthers/Bucs (who of course all play in the same division). I grew up a big Georgia fan, my Father is still a season ticket holder and I have very fond childhood memories (the 1980s) but where I went to college trumps UGA on every level.
In 2005, I was spending a long Labor Day weekend in Chatham MA when I started calling around bars to see who would be showing the USA v Mexico qualifier. No one, Notre Dame and the Red Sox were playing. I got in the car and went west, stopping at exits looking for a bar and asking in please they had a small tv in a corner, no luck. Some didn't even have the channel. Frantic. Sagamore Bridge. 40 minutes to game time? What do do? I leave my family and drive all the way back to my apartment in Cambridge to watch in Spanish. 198 mile round trip. Get back that night, gone at least 7 hours, kiss my wife say "we won, traffic was bad."
I have purchased the USA Away 12/13 authentic jersey (players version). I stayed home to watch the Russia Maatch. I Consistently take peeks at my phone in class to check match progress. I yell at my TV screen when Bradley doesn't make a pass or Altidore doesn't make as run. And a lot more.
If we are doing bad (which is often it seems) I have a little diddy that I like to play on my guitar to increase our chances of winning. If I play it just right then maybe Donovan will make that perfect pass to whoever, resulting in a goal, and I can then give my guitar a rest. Conversely, if I'm playing it wrong, then it's bad luck to the team and I'm the reason the team is doing poorly. My wife knows about this ritual and doesn't find it crazy, but rather amusing. She ends up leaving the living room during most games though, as I can get overly expressive when we are playing bad (which is often).
Landon Donovan's Algeria goal is the one thing in sports that has ever made me tear up. And that's really enough said.
Colombia probably means a tiny bit more to me due to the father/ son bonding connection and reminiscing about games past. The USA gives me more of a patriotic feeling and pride. I like going to matches and having people chant U-S-A and wave flags and banners. There's not too many sports that give you that passion and nationalistic feeling of happiness. USA-Mexico 2005 in Columbus has been my best live soccer experience.
My emotions get wrapped up in the team. If we suffer a bad loss, I'm so depressed. 2010 against Ghana I didn't recover for a good long time. I was a lost cause at work after Algeria - way too hyped. I live and breathe this team - after all, I'm on Big Soccer nearly daily! That should be an indicator. I hope in my lifetime I get to see the US win a World Cup. I really really really do. Love the team, love the boys. I'm fascinated by soccer. I watch MLS and the EPL and root for an MLS team to make it to the Club World Cup for the first time. It's my #1 sport across all those teams even though I'm also a diehard 49ers and Giants fan. I like the business aspect and growing the sport in the US too. But country >club any day of the week. Can't believe there was a time when I didn't follow this sport (though I've followed the national team for years). What was I thinking?
You probably have already, but in case you haven't, watch the LD goal vs. Algeria synchronized with Andres Cantor's call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ALJu7YPMNBI <iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ALJu7YPMNBI?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> (Anybody can probably load the video better than I can. . .)
In terms of emotional investment 1. Clemson Football 2. USA Soccer Gap 3. Other Clemson Sports/Panthers/Bobcats/Braves I'm in a perpetual state of disappointment. I follow MLS pretty heavily, but don't really have a team.
I follow MLS pretty heavily as well, but there just is no comparison for me when it comes to the experience of watching the Nats take on just about anybody. Even if it's our B Team or less vs. Poland's B Team in some friendly I'm on the edge of my seat. I wish that I could find that same passion for an MLS team, but I've yet to feel gutted or elated over an MLS result like I do with the Nats.
I was at Abby's in Baltimore for the Algeria game with a few friends and my 18 month old son. The place was completely packed. I spent the entire second half trying to anticipate exciting moments so I could cover my son's ears before the throngs erupted into shrieks, as he didn't quite understand what was going on, and became more and more upset as time elapsed. When Donovan scored, the place exploded, and I managed to find a way to cover his ears with one arm, while high fiving everyone within a ten foot radius with the other. This is the one team in any sport that I follow at every level, and in every facet. I would consider myself a diehard fan of Oregon State and Penn State football, but neither comes close to way I feel about the USMNT. For no other team do I know the names/attributes of a significant number of 16/17 year old potential players, or in a few cases (Ben Lederman, for example) 12-14 year olds. My three most visited sites on my phone are SBI, BigSoccer, and NSC. I can't really explain it either. I was always a fan, but the obsession began around '08, a when Michael Bradley went on his scoring tear with Heerenveen, and I started following the gameday threads here, waiting for Johoann Dersken to post the latest gif of his goals. This site in particular helped bring me to where I am today as a fan. Hell, I spent the last for years in professional musical theater, and before that, I earned two degrees in operatic voice. I was lucky to find a friend interested in sports period, let alone soccer. Here I found a community of like-minded individuals that has allowed me to take my fandom to another level, and I have developed an appreciation/knowledge of the team that only comes from informed discussions and debates with other fans. So thank you internet, and thank you BigSoccer
Your Father must resent you if you root for Georgia Tech over Georgia As for me, I was never into the whole "patriotism" thing...the whole concept just does not make much sense to me, but I'll be damned if I don't tear up during the National Anthem at USMNT games I'm in attendance for. Maybe some would deem it pathetic or misguided that I feel that emotion for a sports team and not a country, but I patently disagree. Not to get too personal but sports are the one thing for me that constantly bring emotion out, and while the USMNT are forever second to the Red Sox in that regard they can still take solace in the fact that they probably mean more to me than most everything else, at least in that moment, when they are playing...
As someone whose ancestors literally escaped the religious and economic tyranny of the English to befriend and settle next to cultures that they were completely foreign to, that National Anthem is a glorious remnant of the spirit of the people who gave us so much. If you can't find cause for patriotism, you need to look harder.
One of the great things about going to a USMNT game is it's one of the few events you'll ever attend where people sing the National Anthem with real enthusiasm instead of just listening to some singer or just murmuring the words. Gives me goose bumps every time I go.
My heart bonded with the USMNT in 2002 when, as a youth soccer player, I got up in the wee hours of the morning and watched them outplay Germany in the world cup. They were a team of giant slayers out to prove the world wrong. How could you not root for them? The fact that we lost on a questionable no call sealed the deal for me. I was only 12 at the time, and for some reason, the injustice of it all seared deeply into my subconscious. I think I invest so much emotion into this team, because I feel a sense of unfinished business and desperately desire that they be given a fair shot at the cup. 2006 didn't do much to help things either, what with the disallowed goal against Italy and the terrible penalty call against Ghana. The red card nonsense of the confederations cup was also painful. I did, however, feel an enormous sense of pride in our 2010 team for the way they were able to succeed, even in the face of some truly terrible refereeing. (Edu goal, Dempsey goal etc...) The heart breaker that year, of course, was seeing Charlie Davies and Gooch go down right before the world cup. That fact that we were undone by the lack of depth at these position is made even more painful by the fact that Rossi and Subotic got away from us. Considering our easy path to the finals along side these misfortunes, I couldn't help but feel a similar sense of frustration as I felt in 2002 -- like we were somehow robbed once again of a fair shot. I realize that our undoing in 2010 had little to do with refereeing, and logically I realize that things like injuries and dual citizens choosing to play elsewhere are part of the game, but that doesn't change how I feel emotionally. Honestly, there are very few things on this planet which I am as emotionally invested in as US soccer, and my emotional connection to the team goes far beyond pride of country. I think, on some level, my rooting for the USMNT is a manifestation of my desire for a cosmically just universe. The love I feel for my other favorite sports teams pales in comparison.