I am a big fan of the World Cup, a view that has been enhanced by the first 102 games of the quadrennial tournament that will come to an end this weekend.
Excellent article but I do wonder a bit about its enduring popularity in the United States. Your points about growing the sport are especially important, particularly as football, etc. with the NIL focus offering prospective players a great deal of money right out of high school. Won't this undermine the willingness of the big leagues to draw on their own resources to promote early development, or is college football shooting itself in the foot?
As an aside, while I watched with more interest, and began to appreciate the talent of the players, I could not overlook the "falls and painful expressions" after which a person got up and ran around, and worse, the continued running of the clock literally for minutes while nothing happened, even in the so-called overtime. At least in American football, despite the huge physical effort and violence, everyone gets up or is carried off, and the clock stops frequently, with only limited opportunities to burn time by doing nothing.
Very interesting US insight. Thank you. It will take quite a bit of time for the US to develop the sport infrastructure to compete at the highest level.
It is curious how some sports take and others bypass eg Pickelball and Padel
Haven - that piece was so insightful & fun to read. I'll confess to having my June & July turned "upside down" as I watched all or part of 40 games of the tournament!
Soccer is not a sport I follow, but that was a beautifully written and thoughtful analysis, as always. The USA doesn’t have to be better at everything, they could just let nature take its course with soccer?
Rather than a rapid improvement of your international status in soccer it might be more logical to expect greater American representation in Formula One drivers (currently, none). An American company ‘owns’ the sport, there are two American teams, Haas and Cadillac, both of whom also have factories in the UK, and the USA hosts three Grand Prix each season. Formula One is heavily dependent on industries which America is very good at, including software and engineering. What’s holding you back?
PS I don’t know why I have the ‘Hardliner’ sobriquet in Substack, but I’m sure you know who I am, by the subject!
They start aged from 5 racing karts. The best ones rapidly move on. There is a very dominant European karting and junior single seat series, which is where the F1 scouts spot the talent (the current leader of the F1 drivers championship is 19 years old…).
Ah, ha, you say, “hence no US drivers”. Not so. Senna. Fangio. Piquet. Reutemann. And many other SOUTH American drivers. I think Senna moved to England as a teenager, from his family’s wealthy lifestyle in Brazil to a wet, windy factory in Norfolk, and living in a farm cottage….the rest of that story is history.
This also happens in lawn tennis?
I should apologise for overlooking one N American driver, Lance Stroll from Canada, whose father owns an F1 team. Lance at least makes up the numbers, if little else….
Haven, I most enjoy your writing and analysis. Soccer and squash were two sports that I played for all the reasons you identified. Golf was in third place. Rick
Excellent article but I do wonder a bit about its enduring popularity in the United States. Your points about growing the sport are especially important, particularly as football, etc. with the NIL focus offering prospective players a great deal of money right out of high school. Won't this undermine the willingness of the big leagues to draw on their own resources to promote early development, or is college football shooting itself in the foot?
As an aside, while I watched with more interest, and began to appreciate the talent of the players, I could not overlook the "falls and painful expressions" after which a person got up and ran around, and worse, the continued running of the clock literally for minutes while nothing happened, even in the so-called overtime. At least in American football, despite the huge physical effort and violence, everyone gets up or is carried off, and the clock stops frequently, with only limited opportunities to burn time by doing nothing.
I guess we will see but I suspect the last 6 weeks have guided the US toward progress rather than backsliding.
Very interesting US insight. Thank you. It will take quite a bit of time for the US to develop the sport infrastructure to compete at the highest level.
It is curious how some sports take and others bypass eg Pickelball and Padel
Haven - that piece was so insightful & fun to read. I'll confess to having my June & July turned "upside down" as I watched all or part of 40 games of the tournament!
ATB Tony Villa
I have welcomed the June July disruption as well. Thanks for the comment
Soccer is not a sport I follow, but that was a beautifully written and thoughtful analysis, as always. The USA doesn’t have to be better at everything, they could just let nature take its course with soccer?
Rather than a rapid improvement of your international status in soccer it might be more logical to expect greater American representation in Formula One drivers (currently, none). An American company ‘owns’ the sport, there are two American teams, Haas and Cadillac, both of whom also have factories in the UK, and the USA hosts three Grand Prix each season. Formula One is heavily dependent on industries which America is very good at, including software and engineering. What’s holding you back?
PS I don’t know why I have the ‘Hardliner’ sobriquet in Substack, but I’m sure you know who I am, by the subject!
I did figure it out without even seeing the PS. Here’s a question: how are F1 drivers developed?
They start aged from 5 racing karts. The best ones rapidly move on. There is a very dominant European karting and junior single seat series, which is where the F1 scouts spot the talent (the current leader of the F1 drivers championship is 19 years old…).
Ah, ha, you say, “hence no US drivers”. Not so. Senna. Fangio. Piquet. Reutemann. And many other SOUTH American drivers. I think Senna moved to England as a teenager, from his family’s wealthy lifestyle in Brazil to a wet, windy factory in Norfolk, and living in a farm cottage….the rest of that story is history.
This also happens in lawn tennis?
I should apologise for overlooking one N American driver, Lance Stroll from Canada, whose father owns an F1 team. Lance at least makes up the numbers, if little else….
Haven, I most enjoy your writing and analysis. Soccer and squash were two sports that I played for all the reasons you identified. Golf was in third place. Rick
Excellent piece - both reporting & clear analysis? Robo