Not until this afternoon was I willing to say that soccer is the greatest sport in the world. And it's not because it's the most liked or the most followed or the only sport the whole world cares about. First, I'm going to explain my arguments for College Football and for Rugby, then my reasoning for calling soccer the greatest sport in the world.
Yes, I know I should be posting about Dia de la Raza and the weekend and the game in Quito but this is more important.
First, College Football. A college football game is the only game in the world at which everyone in the stadium is always standing. I have a very strong preference for standing in the stadium during the game; you feel more engaged and involved in what's going on on the field or the court. It's also an incredibly dramatic game; there are tons of tense moments that test the wills of both players and fans alike. Also, a college ballgame is a full-day event. If you're going to the game, and you're doing it right, you get to the stadium in the morning to tailgate and party and drink beer and eat grilled food all day until it's time to go find your seats in the stadium. Then, after the home team wins, the entire city celebrates until it passes out just before sunrise. Also, college football is a very momentum-driven game. And when two equally talented teams take the field together the one with more passion for the game and a greater desire to win will conquer. Even when the teams aren't evenly matched, a David can have the "want to" to take down any Goliath. For example: The USC Trojans against any other Pac-10 team. Sorry, had to be said.
Rugby. Rugby is my favorite sport to play. And momentum in rugby trumps momentum in any other sport. I also love games that require discipline and teamwork and passion and you get all three in incredible abundance with rugby. If any one of the fifteen people on the field for either team can't hold their weight, or is feeling lazy or hung over from the night before, the better disciplined team will take advantage. We say in American Football that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, talking about defense. That is so much more the case in rugby. I also love the physical nature of rugby. Granted, my favorite position is tight-head prop. I also love how raw rugby is. But unfortunately, rugby isn't for everybody. It's not any boy or girl, man or woman who can survive a rugby match. In fact, I will say this: Rugby is the greatest game in the world for the elite and for those who can take and give a hit and get up and do it even harder the next time. But that's not everybody. In fact, that's a small minority of the people of the world.
And now for soccer, and the reason why I've finally given in that soccer is the greatest game in the world. It's not because soccer is "The World's Sport" and that it's the only sport played on every corner of the earth. And yes, I went to a World Cup qualifying match in South America (last weekend) and the ambiance is incredible. I loved the experience of sitting in the stadium drinking beers and shouting songs with the Ecuadorians around me. But they sit during the game when their team isn't about to have a chance to score. And they're not the most sports-intelligent fans either. They shout and scream and sing and chant for their team at moments when Ecuador needs complete focus, to score on a corner kick or a free shot just outside the box. I also hate that there's so much chance involved in winning a soccer match, and that one team can play better and be better the entire game but make one small slip-up and lose (...Ecuador...). There are times when I hate soccer for being all about which team got lucky instead of which team got good. But still, there's one last argument for football that I didn't realize until today.
Everyone plays it. EVERYONE. Today, last period of the day I had the 2nd-graders for gym class and I was waiting for them to come down to the cancha to play, so I invited so guys sitting around not doing anything to come practice and goof off and take shots against me. The caretaker of the school and general handyman, a random construction worker and the company accountant all came down to play. And they were all better than me despite the fact that I play for at least an hour every day. Anywhere you go in Ecuador you'll find people who either actively play or used to play and still have most of their moves.
I was joking with somebody the other day that if you throw a soccer ball into any crowd of people, if they're nice they'll kick it right back to you and if they're mean they just juggle it and pass it amongst themselves until you go take it back from them. If you throw a frisbee into a crowd of Ecuadorians they just look at it as if it fell from Mars. They aren't even willing to touch it because they're not sure what it'll do.
But back to the story. The caretaker, random construction worker, accountant and I ended up playing soccer against the entire 20-kid 2nd-grade class. And all three of the other guys just danced around with the ball and made brilliant passes to each other while I watched.
How many American Football fans, percentage-wise, still go out and play football with their buddies? How many rugby fans actually play rugby? I'm finally willing to say that Soccer is the world's greatest sport, but not because it's the world's most popular sport. Soccer is the world's greatest sport because everywhere else in the world everyone PLAYS soccer. EVERYONE.
