Nashville Predators: Hockey is the Best Sport in the World

Soccer: The Less Relevant International Sport

Like so many suburban children, I played soccer through most of elementary school. I learned the trials and tribulations of being a goalie when I was younger because YMCA boys don’t come out to play, they come out for blood. I took a soccer ball to my stomach and it carried me off my feet and into the goal. Despite my suffering and my bravery, I was not awarded a YMCA Soccer Purple Heart – instead, the pimply high school volunteer referee gave the opposite team a point because the ball went in the goal.

I’m not saying I’m bitter, but I certainly have not forgiven or forgotten. Maybe this event has perverted my view of the sport, or maybe I’ve realized that soccer isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Sure, World Cup time is fun because I’m ridiculously patriotic and the memes online are on point during the Cup. But after the World Cup? What then? I’m not going out of my way to watch soccer matches on TV. I’m not clamoring to play the latest FIFA installment. Why?

It’s because soccer is only really relevant on a national scale once every few years – just like speed skating, dressage, and synchronized swimming. Otherwise, I’m just cheering on FSU’s teams because of pride in my school, just like I cheer on Team USA because pride in my country. While national interest in soccer comes and goes, hockey still remains in our minds and our hearts. 

As a bonus, the Miracle on Ice effectively started the fall of communism and put cracks in the Berlin Wall. Let me know when soccer puts Kim Jong Un in his place.

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