NBC has been airing arena football games on weekends. Just the fact that it’s on national TV would have you believe that the sport is gaining popularity in this country. I mean, how else would the game be broadcasted against such powerhouse program as golf??
Arena football, I realized, is quite the opposite of my favorite sport, soccer. It is a derivative of American football, but all the rules that inconvenience any effort to score have been changed to promote high scoring. The game is fast paced, and rarely do you see a team execute a running play, so all elements of surprise and strategy are removed from the game. It’s just a series of throwing, catching, and guys who aren’t good enough to play in NFL celebrating in the end zone before you know what really happened. It probably would be a similar experience to watch a modified basketball game where the hoop is 5 feet high and about 20 feet wide.
It is no surprise that this ridiculous excuse for an athletic event gets a national coverage, while U.S. men’s national soccer team — the guys who represent this country in the most popular sport in the world — almost never receives bigger exposure beyond ESPN2. In fact, the only place that I could find showing the friendly match against New Zealand this past Sunday was a Spanish speaking channel.
The American public has no patience for soccer. The American public is unable to respect and appreciate the beauty that the rest of the world somehow manages to fall in love with. The American public is embarrassingly ignorant about its position in the world and how it is regarded by everyone else. The American public deserves arena football, all day, everday.
