The following link is to an article on espn.com by pop-culture hound Chuck Klosterman, author of "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs". Here is the pertinent passage: "What's intriguing about this particular dichotomy [that he has a conservative worldview with sports while maintaining an apolitical stance otherwise] is that I'm clearly not alone; for whatever reason, the default worldview for most serious sports people (and especially for members of the sports media) is staunchly unprogressive. Frank Deford and Jim Rome both lean hard left on almost all social issues, but they openly loathe the proliferation of soccer. And that position is important: For all practical purposes, soccer is the sports equivalent of abortion; in America, hating (or embracing) soccer is the core litmus test for where you exist on the jocko-political continuum." http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=klosterman/051108 Is following soccer progressive? Is soccer really the equivalent of "abortion" in the sports landscape? One of the many reasons I am so attracted to this sport might just be because it is outside the mainstream. I thought this was an interesting take though, and wanted to pass it on to the bigsoccer audience.
Following Soccer does require more of an internationalist perspective, which, i think is why it is seen as progressive.
I agree. Progressive internationalist people are more likely to be exposed to soccer and more likely to be fans because of that, but I doubt many people think being a soccer fan is progressive on its own.
Geez. The political bells are going off in my head since progressive has a lot of political implications these days. I wish he would have used a better adjective such as cutting-edge, avant-garde, cultivated, innovative, enlightened, etc. It sounds so much better to be "cutting-edge" or "innovative" than "progressive". But yeah, being a soccer fan tends to be [avant-garde] ...
I agree, his language is harsh, but I tend to believe most fans I meet in this country to be more "enlightened" than your average American I am not defending his diction, but the progressivism he is speaking of is meant to be devoid of its political connotations, only suggesting that soccer's relationship in the American sports landscape is progressive (small "p").
To a certain extent, the structure (FIFA, international cups), media, and history of soccer does mean that a soccer fan may tend have more of a "internationalist" outlook, i.e., seeing the spirit of the sport [for lack of better wording] as having an equal footing among nations and bound to it at an international level. This is something that is only approximated by hockey in american sports culture. Basketball and Baseball are a bit more international, but no where near as soccer. NFL even less so. But neither NFL, NBA, or MLB feel bound to a Law of the Sport that is international nor does it hold tournaments of weight that define the best of the very best at an International Level.
It's certainly progressive. It's a blue state sport, which is why its not very popular in parts of the deep south, which lean red. It's a sport that is traditionally played by immigrants, who, well, arent the biggest heros of some people in red states. Which is why that Nike ad is so great, because it shows that despite that type of thinking, soccer indeed is an American sport.
WHAT?! This is a very bad overgeneralization and makes no sense at all. Missouri, the traditional home of soccer in this country is actually a red state. Indiana, the Carolinas and Virginias where there is a strong soccer tradition are red states ...
I think he did more than drink the Kool-aid, I think the Kool-aid man just burst through his wall. I'm from Ohio, which is also known for it's soccer. Ohio is also a red state.
I'm a soccer fan because I enjoy watching the US kick the crap out of other countries in any possible venue. Internationalism can blow me. We'll kick your ass at soccer and we'll kick your ass at everything else too.
So many people in this country are racist and xenophobic, and they hate soccer as well. Of course, those people are conservatives. It's not surprising that soccer fans are more liberal.
Yes, because everyone chooses their favorite sports based on whether or not they're racist or xenophobic. I love soccer and don't particularly like baseball or basketball, that must make me pretty anti-American. Of course I'm also a diehard football fan, so I guess that evens it out, and the fact that I love hockey must make me pro-Canadian or something. The fact is that nationalism will draw more people to the sport in this country than internationalism ever will. I became a soccer fan because the World Cup was here in 1994 and at the age of 10 I loved cheering on my country's team (not that I didn't have fun at the Italy-Norway game my dad took me too, but I was really mostly interested in the US team). Of course, I've since begun to appreciate the sport in its own right and I follow some of the European leagues and other international competitions, and of course MLS, but without the element of country-vs.-country competition I likely never would have become a soccer fan in the first place.
Salt Lake City is actually not that conservative. Democrats are voted in often there... All the time I lived there the mayor was a democrat.. It's a lot more "cosmopolitan" than most think.. Now once you get out of SLC proper, it's a different story..
I'm not from St. Louis so I don't know ... but I do know that the State is a Republican State. Here in the OC (Orange County, California) we are very conservative but we're in a very liberal state.
As political has the game has been in the past i perfer my soccer as what it is soccer. A place to get away and play a beautiful game that is underappriciated by schmucks like jim rome.
excellent point soccer fans cheer with other soccer fans no matter...unless they root for the metro stars
The spirit of the thread is an interesting question. I think in general a safer assertion may be that inherently soccer fans may be more 'open minded.' Seeing as how soccer is not exactly a traditionally popular sport in the US, I have a feeling its fans may be a bit more non-traditionalist than the average American sports fan. I don't think that nessicarily makes them 'progressive' but I suppose you could make that argument. I think many times too we over exagerate 'Joe Six Pack,' a phrase around here that I actually find quite offensive, because we assume that the fans of the Big Four sports share the oppinions of sports radio idiots and hack columnists. I don't know about you but here in Boston we have plenty of loud mouth jackasses in the papers and on the radio. One of the things that upsets most true Boston sports fans the most is that these people pretend to represent 'us' when that couldn't be further from the truth. The flip side of all of this is that assuming soccer fans are some kind of social misfits might not be all that far off the mark. There used to be a line I'd use on these boards where I claimed that a lot of Bigsoccer posters would be into punk music instead of soccer if they weren't so afraid to venture out to a concert. There definately is an element, on these boards at least of Revenge of the Nerds. Myself, I've always said that I can't wait for the American Soccer Community to get off the internet and onto a barstool. I don't romanticise soccer because it isn't 'bigtime.' I don't think MLS or its players are more pure because they aren't millionaires. I'd just assume have Freddy Adu's comments being plastered all over the sports world as opposed to Terrell Owens'. I'm not dying for that to happen. I'm fairly comfortable with soccer's place within the American sports landscape. I've generally always considered myself a fairly well rounded person, and my soccer fandom is part of that. However, I'm very much a Republican and very much a patriotic american.
What he said! It's all about nationalism for me. Soccer is usually the only sport I watch and it's because of the USMNT and the chance to root for my country. (I also watch the olympics and anything else that's USA vs some other country.) I was 20 during the 1994 WC, but my story sounds similar to dfb547490. The 1994 WC was my first time seeing the USMNT (my first time even seeing soccer at the pro level), and since then I've become a big enough fan to watch any soccer game that may be on TV. But, it wouldn't have happened without the USMNT. Even now, my "club team" is the USMNT, and I follow any teams that have Americans playing on them. As far as my politics, I'm definately conservative and not progressive. Though most of the posters I read on BS seem to be on the left, it's encouraging to me to see more and more from the right.