The U.S. was ahead of Brazil 2-0 and lost. It's the biggest thing in the history of soccer in this country.
Posted: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 12:00 am
The U.S. was ahead of Brazil 2-0 and lost. It's the biggest thing in the history of soccer in this country.
It will put soccer on the map. Of course, the map was already dotted with the Americans' win against No. 1 Spain a couple of days before.
I didn't watch. The Cubs were busy losing 6-0 to the White Sox. The day was nice. So after the sixth inning, I put down my vuvuzela and went out to play really inexpensive golf at a city course.
Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano gave up most of the runs. He lost his cool, of course. Hit a guy. Hit another guy. Got yanked. This guy has more talent and more fire and more unreached potential than many of the Cubs of unrealized pitching potential of the past.
The Cubs lose six of seven last week and drop three of five to the White Sox.
The White Sox.
Did you ever sip from a can of pop that somebody used as an ashtray? That's what losing to the White Sox is to a Cubs fan.
Their manager, Ozzie Guillen, said he hates Wrigley Field. Nobody hates Wrigley Field. That would be like hating mustard on hot dogs. He called Wrigley a bar. He's not stupid. He said the reason the fans showed up for the Cubs-Sox series at Sox park but not the Sox-Dodgers series earlier in the week was because Sox fans are not idiots, they know their team sucks.
Then, there are reports that a White Sox employee leaked the details of the discussion between Cubs manager Lou Piniella and Cubs misanthrope and this year's complete waste of money, Milton Bradley.
White Sox fans, and I'm sure there are some even in the years they don't win the World Series, can make you despise the Sox. White Sox fans are jealously bitter about the love of the Cubs.
I can understand that too much Cubs is not much fun, either. It's a lot like watching videos. After awhile, there is not much joy in the kitty playing a piano, the dog chasing the Roomba or the ever-popular foreign object hitting the adult male groin.
With the Cubs, you get "wait until next year."
With soccer in the U.S., you get "wait until the next decade."
We're riding the short crest of another wave of soccer enthusiasm.
The same chills were felt when the U.S. beat Argentina in 1995, Brazil in 1998 and showed up in the World Cup in 2006.
We've been promised that soccer was the sport of the 1980s, 1990s and 2050s.
Want to know how popular soccer is here? Just ask any soccer fan who the U.S. plays in the opener of the CONCACAF. (sounds like an old Plymouth I had).
That's the tournament that starts this week and pits us against countries we have invaded and beat, or allowed mad scientists to mess with, such as Costa Rica and Jurassic Park.
We get Granada in the opener. Then Honduras.
It's not a big-time tourney. The U.S. won the last two tourneys. But maybe the U.S. can get some momentum and get excited about finishing as an also-ran in next year's World Cup.
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.