I grabbed a bite and watched the last quarter of the USA-Slovenia soccer game.  That was quite a finish - the US was down 0-2 and made a furious rally to score two goals.  It was probably one of the more exciting soccer games I've seen.  AND IT ENDED IN A TIE!!!

I really want to see the US do well - just like I always root for the US in any international event: basketball, hockey, synchronized swimming, table tennis, curling, midget wrestling, wet T-shirt contest, etc.  Maybe if they make a decent run in the World Cup, it'll spur some more interest in soccer in the US.  But soccer, especially in its current form, is never going to be a premier sport in the US.  NEVER.

It's pretty shocking that professional soccer is so unpopular in the US considering it is probably the most widely played sport in schools.  I like watching all kinds of sports.  I even enjoy watching a lot of perceived boring sports, like golf, the America's Cup, darts, etc.  Soccer reminds me a lot of NHL hockey before they made those rules changes to allow for more scoring.  Way boring before, less boring now.  I'm not saying soccer needs to be a scoring frenzy, but having the possibility of a lead change or two would dramatically improve its appeal.  Someone was telling me that at a FIFA discussion a long time ago, someone asked what would make soccer more popular in the US, and the reply was to increase the goal size by two feet.  Maybe.

A less boring soccer would still struggle in the US.  The US viewer probably has the most sports / entertainment options in the world, and it's just difficult for soccer to compete with the big three of football, basketball and baseball.  At the end of the day, for soccer to gain more viewers and fans, they have to take that time away from something else.  Considering there are always new ways of people blowing their free time (like facebook, itunes, video games, etc), I just don't see how soccer is going to be compelling enough to take time away from another activity.

The two words I would use to describe soccer is BLUE BALLS.  All this frantic activity and nothing.  More frantic activity and nothing.  Rinse and repeat.  And whenever there is a goal, it is so fast and furious that it can only be described as premature ejaculation.  And just like after a prolonged bout of blue balls, the end (even when it leads to a score) is just not that satisfying.  So I hear.   :-)