MIAMI - JUNE 23: (L-R) Freddy Hurtado, Wilfredo Hurtado and Sergio Lambur celebrate the USA soccer team's win while watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group C match between USA and Algeria on television at Churchill's pub on June 23, 2010 in Miami, Florida. The United States team will advance to the second round at the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Algeria. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
MIAMI - JUNE 23: (L-R) Freddy Hurtado, Wilfredo Hurtado and Sergio Lambur celebrate the USA soccer team's win while watching the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group C match between USA and Algeria on television at Churchill's pub on June 23, 2010 in Miami, Florida. The United States team will advance to the second round at the World Cup with a 1-0 win over Algeria. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
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Decisions, decisions. Watching Rugby, watching paint dry, or watching “The World Cup.” They are all so equal it’s really hard for me to make up my mind. However, every four years the rest of the world goes bonkers over a bunch of people kicking a black and white ball around a very big field.

When I lived in San Diego I did have season tickets to the “San Diego Sockers” indoor team. That was fun because it was fact paced and there were scores. Scoring less than ten goals was a lame game. We American’s are used to games where a lot of scoring occurs. And we hate ties. A tie is like kissing your sister.

I realize there are pitchers duels in baseball and those are low scoring games but we like home runs, base hits, steal, etc. Pro basketball games score in the hundreds on a regular basis. Even our version of football has lot of scoring.

Fun Facts About The World Cup (If you really care)

  • Who Google’s The World Cup most? That would be the tiny Solomon Islands just northeast of Australia. And they don’t even have a team in the event.
  • What city in the US leads the Google race in World Cup searches? That would be Sheridan, Oregon (Pop. 7,000) beating out New York, L.A., and Miami.
  • What award does the top scorer in the World Cup receive? Why the “Adidas Golden Shoe Award” of course. The last winner was Thomas Müller of Germany.
  • Over forty-six percent of the world population watched the 2010 World Cup.
  • Brazil hosts this year’s World Cup and they have won the most World Cups winning in 1958, 1962,1970, 1994, and 2002.
  • Which country is most excited about the World Cup? That would be Indonesia (61.3%), and as you might expect, the U.S. ranked dead last with only 11% showing much interest.
  • Yes, it’s true. Kim Kardashian is as popular as the World Cup and even more popular than Cristiano Ronaldo, the Portuguese soccer star.
  • The 2018 World Cup will be held in Russia followed by the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Make your travel plans now and avoid the rush.
  • Games in the 2014 World Cup will be played in twelve Brazilian cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Cuiaba, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, and Sao Paulo.

Some Final Thoughts

Will soccer in America reach the popularity level it enjoys in the rest of the world? Yes, eventually it will. Just like hockey had an evolution here in America, over time, as more kids become interested in the game and understand how it’s played popularity will increase.

I’m guessing it will take about 20 plus years for that to happen. As kids who played it become parents they will create and interest that binds families. Plus it’s a game that both boys and girls can play.

The way some parents act at little league baseball games I can’t wait to see what they do at soccer games based on the actions of European fans. I think I will stick with our good ole fashioned American football for now. At least I won’t have to wait four years for some action.

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