No doubt he is the most eloquent of soccer haters. But number one on my list is MARK GIANGRECO in Chicago. He actually stated on a live broadcast: "Soccer is just plain un-American".
Someone should email him a picture of the Italian national team and say hating soccer is un-Italian. Considering most Americans of Italian blood still think they're Italian on some level, it'd go right through him.
He just thinks soccer's unAmerican because it takes a certain level of intellect to watch/play the game. Given that he's not up to par, and a little bitter about it to boot, I think we can cut him some slack...
I had a short but unpleasant e-mail discussion with him last year. He is an old fart , a pompous ass. Who cares what he thinks?
A good guess, but no. Andy runs Yellow Card Journalism: http://www.ibiblio.org/footy/collections.php I run the American Soccer video archive: www.DaveBrett.com Dave
by the way i have tremendous respect for both of you and your dedication to US soccer ( M/W ) is second to none.
True Frank Deford sucks and soccer is awesome, but this attitude about equating soccer to intellect reminds me of one good reason why Americans don't like the game: those middle-brow fans with pretensions. Soccer is NOT a game that needs intellect anymore than basketball or hockey. Less so than football and baseball. It's a great game where points are hard earned and it requires players to be skilled beyond belief, athletic, and quick thinking. But so what most games do. Don't cop an attitiude.
I actually think intellect correlates with soccer more than any other popular sport. There are multiple accounts of hugely successful traders who actually attribute their success to soccer. Arguably the richest man in Chicago, Mr. Griffith/Citadel Trading, grew up with soccer in Florida and plays in 3 leagues. At least in the US I find that soccer fans/players tend to have apparently higher IQ's. Part of me wishes soccer never becomes bug in the US. I have used soccer as my personal competitive advantage. I honestly feel that someone who grew up with baseball, golf, football cannot possibly compete with me in the workplace. I will run them over like a Gattuso or Keane.
more like soccer takes something above the average-american's attention span to watch. no nacho and beer breaks at tv timeouts and between innings.
I have no idea who Frank DeFord or that other fello are...don't care... And, if anyone really thinks you have to be smart to play soccer, they should really listen to some of the biggest names in the sport when they are interviewed. It's not at all unlike hearing NBA or NFL players interviewed in the US.
I thought this whole thread was about copping an attitude!! What is blasting soccer-haters if not that??? But actually, I was talking about Mark Giangreco, so mea culpa, I shoulda been more specific as to whom I was actually referring. And more generally, I hate it when anything is called 'un-American'. It's amazing how quickly anything that makes $$$ becomes American, lemme tell ya. Given that this country is THE melting pot, and given all the immigrant populations and religions that are accepted here, there's very little that is un-American. Fascism is pretty un-American, but that's about it. So when somebody goes off about something as harmless as soccer being un-American, it shows a real lack of intellect, and I think there's nothing wrong with calling Giangreco on it. And for the record, I love just about every sport (excluding golf and NASCAR), so I don't place soccer on some mythical pedestal. I just happen to like it a little more than baseball, that's all.
Whom are you referring to, Wayne Rooney? Beckham? Others, like Maldini and Figo, are very eloquent. I would suggest that in every sport you'll find both meatheads and intellectuals.
Well...Rooney and Beckham would be 2 good examples. Of course, you will find elequent, articulate people scattered about in any profession. I don't speak Italian and/or Purtuguese, so I can't really comment on Maldini or Figo, except to say I do greatly admire Maldini as a player. I'm just saying the notion that soccer players are somehow intellignet by definition is absurd. You came up with a couple easy examples right off hand. And if you watch interviews, you mostly see guys repeating back rote platitudes just like you do in sports over here, mostly looking nervous and stammering through. Most soccer players in the world are guys from working class background with little education who have dedicated their life to the rather unintellectual pursuit of sporting glory. I have no problem with it, but its silly to act like they somehow are intellectual giants because they kick instead of throw a ball. And, yeah, I know the arguement usually talks about how players have to think on their feet in soccer, but so do basketball players hockey players, etc...
I don't speak Italian or Portuguese either - I was referring to how articulate and at ease they are when speaking English actually. Certainly you are correct, there is no reason why soccer players should inately be any more intelligent than anyone else. That view is probably held only in the U.S., and it might have something to do with the fact that a significant proportion of professional soccer players in America are college educated and are often the product of affluent suburban upbringing and have access to a higher standard of education. Certainly in Europe soccer players don't have a reputation as being more intelligent. A couple of good quotes come to mind. One was made by Mehmet Scholl at a news conference. After answering the first part of a two-part question, he said: "I forgot the second question. I am a soccer player after all." Another one is very recent. I forgot who said it, but the reporter asked the player if the reason why he'd been scoring more of late was because he had stopped thinking so much in front of the goal. His reply: "I wouldn't have become I soccer player if I wanted to think."