The World’s Game/Beckerich
by JOSH BECKERICH
Soccer, or “football” as it is known in every other country besides America, is the most popular sport in the world today. To me, soccer season is my favorite time of the year. Every summer I would look forward to July 15, the usual start date for practices. Also it has a very sentimental value. In grade school I was anything but in shape, and then I started playing soccer again after a good three year absence and I became skinny again; it was awesome. There is just something about the game that is exciting. The rush that is felt when you are chasing down a 50-50 ball trying your best to beat the opponent to it is simply indescribable. While some mock soccer as a pansy sport due to its seeming lack of contact, they do so ignorantly. I personally can attest to this, as I was somewhat of a bruiser in my day. Some also complain about the lack of high scores, which makes the game “boring.” Again, personally I find this very ignorant and closed-minded. While the score is usually low in soccer, this just goes to show that the game is truly one of the most challenging games in the world.
I mentioned being in shape earlier. The professional soccer player has been called the most in-shape athlete in the world of sports, next to marathon runners and other athletes who only “run for the sake of running” if you will. The soccer field, or “pitch” as it is more commonly known, is about 120 yards longer than a standard American football field and about 20-30 yards wider. Also, a typical professional soccer match is 90 minutes (two forty-five minute halves), compared to 60 minutes of actual play in American football (four fifteen minute quarters). Granted there is much more allowed contact in American football, some of the players, namely linemen, can be up to 400 plus pounds whereas on a soccer team every single player must be insanely physically fit since most players play the entire duration of the game, with each time only being allowed to substitute three times per game.
So, why the rant about why soccer is better than American football? Because I for one am tired of the typical response of laughter when I tell people I play soccer. I fail to see how American Football is so much better than The World’s Game. Every other country can see it, why not America? I personally enjoy American football in all honesty; however I would take a good soccer match over it any day. The immense amount of skill that it involves is far superior to any amount of skill that it takes to play American football. The game is just smoother; in American football there is a play, a break, then another play. In soccer play only stops for injury or if the ball goes out of bounds. This, along with all the other reasons, is why soccer is superior to American football.
