armchair cultural observation since 1995

You’re now allowed to say Americans watch soccer

“A lot of Americans watch soccer. You’re actually allowed to say that now because, well, it’s true. More and more people are tapped into the success, failures, and frustrations of the U.S. National Teams. ESPN went all out with their 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 coverage. And Twitter is punch-drunkenly active early every Saturday morning when the English Premier League kicks off.”

-Ryan O’Hanlon, in a Buzzfeed article titled “How To Complain About Soccer Like You’ve Been Watching It All Your Life

Just don’t tell that to the soccer-hating trolls who somehow find the time to write “soccer blows/sucks/is for girls, etc.” comments on seemingly every article written in a mainstream publication in the U.S. about the sport (which, by the way, made A1 of the New York Times today).

If I had a dollar for every time I read comments like that and ones making fun of Americans for calling it soccer, a word coined by the British to distinguish association football from rugby football, I would be able to put a bid in for the second MLS team coming to New York.

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