"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter.
Ernest Hemingway
You wonder why I start this blog with a quote from Hemingway? I watched all the U.S. vs. Ghana soccer match Saturday; it's the first soccer match I've ever watched beginning to end. And, earlier this week I wrote a satirical blog on World Cup that, well, you remember how the dog ate the homework, it was my computer actually. So, I've decided I should put up something about how I really feel about soccer, and if you keep the Hemingway quote in mind, while you read this, you'll have a better understanding of my point of view.
I'm sure to the uninitiated and the rabid fan, soccer is the "beautiful game", certainly the players seem to draw some lovelies to the grand stands, which by that fact alone makes it relevant from my perspective. However, the aspect of the game that I could not brook was the disingenuous nature of the players in regard to their injuries and perceived trespasses by their opponents. Crybabies, they are the scourge of sport, and my sport certainly had their share, but in soccer it almost seems as though it's a prerequisite.
I've never considered myself a tough guy, I tell people that I played one on TV; however, after watching the World Cup, I may have sold myself a little short. Our football and hockey players are like dumb animals when they are injured; they are matter of fact with little or no fanfare (although from what I recall, Big Al is an exception to that statement). They have an unusually high tolerance for pain on average, which, when you consider the nature of those sports is contact oriented, particularly football, it doesn't take long to see the little drama that's produced by the soccer game itself pales in comparison to the histrionics of the players.
I know soccer has it's share of legitmate injuries; I'm just having trouble with buying into all the ambulance chasers down on the pitch. What would those guys do if you told them to lay out for a ball over the middle. I guess I hunted armed men long enough and liked it!
