There are two sports I really enjoy that I can't believe Americans don't get into. Perhaps it is the American arrogance that keeps people from watching soccer and cycling. I have heard all the excuses about why American's don't get excited about soccer, but I have to say that if people stopped watching the World Cup after the pathetic American showing than they really missed out. The quarter finals and semi-finals saw some incredible games. The Germany-Argentina, England-Portugal, and the final of France-Italy were all extremely entertaining. People often say soccer is boring, but in reality it should fit American lifestyle well. No commercials, no breaks, no timeouts. Heck the players don't even know the official time of the game. If people really think that soccer is boring and probably is because that don't understand the game. Before moving to Boston I was a very casual baseball fan. I would watch some of the playoffs and the world series but thought that the game was too boring (and long) to follow during the regular season. Now that I understand the game better, I also appreciate watching and observing the subtleties of the game. Regardless of how Americans do in soccer, I hope that sports fans across the country will tune in.
Another sport, cycling is equally baffling why American don't tune in. Armstrong was a great force in bringing cycling up in popularity, but I couldn't believe it when OLN said viewer numbers were down on its TDF coverage. For the first time in 8 years we actually have an exciting Tour de France. Only 2 real days of cycling left (with a ceremonial last leg) and the yellow jersey is completely up for grabs. An American may or may not win the yellow jersey and it just doesn't matter. The excitement and intrigue of this year's tour as had me at the edge of my seat at work keeping up to date with the www.velonews.com live feed. Here is a sport where people get on a bike for 21 straight days and ride more than 100 miles per day up grueling hills, across flats, and sprint up to 70 kph. For an interesting take from an amateur on one of the climbs they do take a look at this article. This year's tour has seen a guy come from 30 minutes back to claim the yellow jersey. A tour favorite bonk on the hardest stage (Landis) and go from wearing yellow to more than 8 minutes back. Then the very next day he attacks and rides solo for almost 130 km to reclaim all of his time but 30 seconds and be back in contention. Armstrong was great in that he was so dominant, but at least we actually have some intrigue this year. Who will wear the maillot jaune on Sunday in Paris?
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