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Ann Coulter doesn’t want to hear this but Americans can learn a lot from watching World Cup soccer, namely some of the changes that need to occur in the most popular sports in this country. It is first important to acknowledge that World Cup soccer is not perfect. There is still much too much flopping and the occasional lack of scoring, especially in the ongoing knockout rounds, is perplexing. But, on the whole, the 2014 World Cup has opened many Americans’ eyes to the beauty and efficiency of soccer.

Let’s start there, efficiency. Watching a World Cup soccer game is a modest investment in time especially when compared to the dedication and patience required to survive a MLB game or the final 2 minutes of a NBA playoff game. A typical World Cup match takes less than 2 hours and this includes limited interruptions for commercials. In the crunch time of a playoff basketball game it is impossible to keep track of all the stoppages in play and the continuity of the game is greatly disrupted.

Basketball should take its cues from soccer and limit, or eliminate, timeouts. Coaches won’t appreciate this idea because they’ll claim that this will affect their ability to strategize and make adjustments but isn’t that what practices and halftime are for? Networks like ESPN will object because this could impact advertising dollars but fewer commercials has not affected the ratings/revenue of the World Cup. Throw a few logos and endorsements on jerseys, a distinct possibility in the NBA, and corporations will still be getting their money’s worth.

Managing the clock, or lack thereof, in baseball is much more difficult but should be discussed because, and I know a lot of purists don’t want to hear this, our National Pastime no longer captivates the attention of young people across wide swaths of this country. This is a gross, irrational generalization because baseball is alive and well in certain regional pockets of the United States but as a 35 year old former college baseball player it’s very hard for me to sit through all 9 innings of a MLB baseball game.

If baseball wants to recapture the imagination of Americans as a whole then it needs to be more like World Cup soccer and come up with a few inventive ways to shorten the length of an average game. The obvious time saving measures are to put pitchers on pitch clocks and prevent hitters from stepping out of the batters box. But how about MLB really take a page from the World Cup and only allow teams to make 3 substitutions per game? Pitchers, especially relievers, would have to grow accustomed to throwing more pitches but just imagine all the time saved when you no longer have managers meandering out to the mound every other batter to make another late inning lineup adjustment.

We Americans consider ourselves leaders not followers but as this World Cup is proving, it’s time to learn from others and make changes to improve the entertainment value of our most popular sports.

 

What follows is a continuation of an ongoing email exchange between me and my buddy Chip, two guys who shouldn’t be wagering any money on soccer matches, as we make predictions for the upcoming knockout rounds of the 2014 World Cup starting with the round of 16 Saturday.

from JL

After a long layoff it’s time to get back to our 2014 World Cup predictions. This time we focus on the start of single elimination play, a format most Americans are familiar with unlike the circutitous nature of the round robin group stage. I don’t know about you but I have never taken as much pride in cheering for a defeat like I did when the U.S. lost to Germany 1-0 on Thursday. As for Christiano Ronaldo, always loved the guy. In fact he may be my favorite athlete in the entire world!

On to the Sweet 16 where we will make our picks in order starting with Saturday’s games Brazil v Chile and Columbia v Uruguay. It doesn’t take a hard core soccer fan to tell that Brazil is a really talented side (Ian Darke speak) but I was underwhelmed by what I saw from the favorites in the group stage, except for Neymar, that guy is good and well deserving of the #10.

Chile’s fans are amongst the most passionate at the World Cup as evidenced by the stampede through the media center in Rio. (How does that happen by the way? After that crowd storming episode the Brazilian gov’t should focus even less of their attention/money on the poverty/crime ridden favelas to ensure that all those wealthy folk fortunate enough to afford a ticket to a soccer match can do so without fear of being run over by a mob from Santiago. 

Brazil can turn it on and off when necessary and I have a feeling green means go for the home team on Sat. Pick: Brazil over Chile.

As for Columbia v Uruguay, without Hannibal Lector in the fold for Uruguay this is Columbia’s game to lose. What bothers me the most about Luis Suarez is that he must believe biting gives him a competitive advantage which is totally counter intuitive. If anything, it has worked against him in both the short and long term. He is one of the most disliked players in the world. And for good reason. Maybe he needs to eat more for breakfast.

from Chip

I watched more soccer in the past 10 days than I have in 33 years combined.  Here are a few of my takeaways: 1. I love God and country as much as anyone, but when they started “I believe we will win…” at the bar today, I just couldn’t get sucked in, nor did I join in the “U-S-A” chant after we LOST.  I will continue to watch and pull for the US, but I have still not caught the fever; 2. Soccer announcers are fantastic. They have total command of the game and of the language. It is like listening/watching the great Doc Emerick; and 3. I don’t think it should, but the bandwagon aspect of #USMT is  starting to get under my skin.  Does that make me a bad American? [Read more…]