New York City Life Soccer still sidelined By Bob Yampolsky	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
アメリカ人にとってのサッカーとは？ アメリカンフットボール、バスケットボール、野球などに比べてアメリカ人に人気のないサッカーが、Ｗ杯代表チームの活躍によって、国内で注目を集めています。「これで一気にサッカー人気が高まるのでは？」という期待の声もありますが、筆者は一時的な盛り上がりに過ぎないだろうと考えています。

Like many Americans, I found myself in the unusual position of actually caring about a soccer game the other day. This was, of course, the quarterfinal match against Germany. The game started at 7:30 a.m. on a Friday. I turned the television on and I watched the first half. Then I took the kids to school.

Much has been made of America's newfound love of soccer. People certainly are more interested in soccer now, but considering that prior to the World Cup there was next to no interest, this isn't necessarily saying very much.

As evidence of soccer's popularity, you are told that network television actually broadcast parts of a soccer game live! Or that 5,000 people gathered in an arena in D.C. to watch the game on a large-screen television!

In New York, there was the same insipid reaction. After I dropped the kids off at school, I knew the game was over, but in the more than 20 blocks I walked to my office, there was nothing to tell me which team had won. No rioting, no diving into canals, no blaring of horns, no public mourning.

I looked into a cafe with a television playing a sports station, but they were talking about yesterday's baseball games. I saw one verifiable soccer fan, a despondent fellow with his hair dyed in the pattern of the Union Jack, and I did not have the heart to ask if he knew the score. A bar advertising the World Cup was already closed and cleaned up, the sign put away, and there was nothing to indicate which team had won.

This isn't to say the World Cup hasn't inflamed passions here, but the passion is very localized. Northern Boulevard in Flushing, Queens, which has a large Korean population, saw a spontaneous parade of horn-blowing, flag-waving cars, at 5:30 a.m. after South Korea's victory over Spain.

Meanwhile, it seems to me that the many Mexicans in the city have been particularly glum of late, and men in pizzerias, who often are immigrants from Italy, have been putting on brave faces. A nearby Turkish restaurant has plastered its windows with photos of soccer stars, and little Brazil has been the site of noisy celebration. But for the general population, involvement in the World Cup has been simply a matter of turning the television on.

Despite all this, soccer is actually quite popular in New York. It's just that people are much more likely to play it than watch it. In parks all across the city, you'll see patches of dirt that are understood to be fields for pickup games of soccer. These games are often played at a high skill level, with quick deft passes and moves in a very limited area.

The other great soccer playing population is children — both boys and girls. It's a favorite at recess at schools, and there are numerous soccer leagues with games and practices on weekends and parents doing the coaching, refereeing and cheering. The skill level of these games is often quite low.

I think I was typical for a city kid. I played baseball, basketball and football, but I was in seventh grade when I first touched a soccer ball. But kids from the suburbs and kids who went to sports camps were often quite dexterous with a soccer ball. In many ways soccer has been a sport for the privileged: At New York private schools, it's accorded more prestigious than football.

As for professional soccer, New York actually has two teams: the Metrostars (men) and the Power (women). Prior to the World Cup, the best-known U.S. soccer players were women: one appeared in commercials with Michael Jordan, and another tore her shirt off after scoring the decisive penalty shot in the Woman's World Cup finals against China. The pro teams have only limited support and receive very limited press coverage.

This is actually the second time we've had a professional soccer league in the U.S. In the '70s, we had the North American Soccer League, and stars like Pele and Franz Beckenbauer played for the New York Cosmos. For a while there were great crowds, but the talent was all foreign (each team was required to have at least two Americans), interest waned, and the league eventually folded.

The current Major League Soccer was born in the excitement over the hosting of the World Cup in 1994. WUSA, the women's soccer league, was born in the excitement of the Women's World Cup in 1999. It's always the same story: a burst of excitement and then a gradual fading of interest. I have no doubt the same thing will be true this time.

I don't think Americans have anything against soccer. People complain about the low scores, or the fact that you can't use your hands, but I think the real reason we can't get enthusiastic about it is that we simply have so many other sports that took up space in our hearts earlier. There's just no room left for soccer. Even when the U.S. beat Portugal in its opening game, it was the final item on the sports report — after basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis and horse racing.

Personally, I like it this way. There should be some global forums where the U.S. is an underdog. And if other countries really care that much about soccer, then I really think it's better that they beat us. I could go on, but the Yankees game is about to begin and I have to go.

Shukan ST: July 5, 2002

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