The first thing I noticed when we entered RFK Stadium last night was its vacancy. In How Soccer Explains the World, Foer was definitely accurate on how “hating soccer is more American than apple pie” (240). This sport that is so wildly adored outside the United States, is only half-heartedly embraced here. Looking around at the game also demonstrated that its crowd tends to be “yuppie soccer fans” or immigrants. When examining why there is this unreasonable hatred, it can only be explained by xenophobia.
The “yuppie soccer fans,” also known as liberals, are the group normally affiliated with international ideals and “Europhilic cosmopolitanism” (248). The immigrants, for lack of a better term, are simply celebrating a sport that they are used to celebrating. The group of Hispanic people sitting behind us in the game was the source of most of the enthusiasm on our side. Therefore, if the only supporters of soccer are the ones that see past the United States borders, then clearly the opposition has some fear of the outside world.
However, I cannot fail to discuss the other side of the stadium, where the beloved hooligans resided. We ventured over in order to get a real feel for the game, and we definitely did. There was always a constant stream of cheers, even if the game was not reciprocating in excitement. I especially enjoyed their originality in creating profanity. There also was the intense hostility towards Columbus Crew, which became the most entertaining when Crew fans decided to take a lap around the stadium with their yellow and black flags. The disgust and anger was evident in the eyes of each D.C. United fan. It’s hard to fake passion like that. That side of the stadium truly felt like a European soccer game; so it looks like globalization is having an effect, no matter how xenophobic some of us are.
I don't know if I agree with the statement "it can only be explained by xenophobia". That's a bit like saying "The 40-year-established local diner gets four times as many customers as the upstart, five-years-in Polish place - it can only be explained by xenophobia". I think that, although SOME of soccer's inability to stick here is due to crazy nationalism/xenophobia, I think more of it is due to the fact that sports fans in DC have grown up with football and basketball, not soccer. I love soccer, but I'd still watch baseball or football over soccer any day, because that's what I'm used to - that's my brand identity working. Just like I prefer McDonald's over Burger King any day - even though they are virtually the same - because, when I was young, I was taken to McDonald's predominately, the joys of soccer take a backseat to more "American" sports in many minds simply because we all grew up watching the World Series every year, not the World Cup. Actual xenophobia probably has little to do with it. I suspect that, if you check in another generation, kids that HAVE been raised by parents who watch the World Cup will have a lot more love for it.
ReplyDeleteThat poses the question with why didn't the parents expose their children to soccer as much as others? I could be wrong, but does it have to do with being more internationally minded?
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