Why I'm Excited for the World Cup

As most of the world knows, but few Americans do, the FIFA 2010 World Cup begins this Friday, and I am totally stoked about it.  Soccer is the worlds most popular sport but you wouldn't know it in America.  The sport is a distant fifth behind the four majors and NASCAR and finds itself jockeying with lacrosse as the most popular "alternative" sport in America (although if you ask the Jeff Report, lacrosse wins out every time).

However, regardless of how much people in the US care the World Cup starts this Friday and it is every bit as popular worldwide as the Olympics, if not more so.  There are a few reasons why I care so much and why you should care and I will outline them for you all:

First, and definitely most important - Everyone is on the same page.  By this I mean everyone is rooting for the same team and the same cause.  With the teams I root for I spend a large amount of my time rooting against their rivals.  The likes of the Denver Broncos and the Missouri Tigers don't get much love from The Jeff Report and a lot of time is spent arguing with opposing fans of my teams.

The World Cup is not like that.  The greater majority of people in this country are born and bred Americans and, as such, all like to root for America.  This means that no matter what teams you root for during football, basketball, baseball, or hockey season, we can all root for the same team here:  the United States of America.  This is one of the great parts about the World Cup, the nationalism it fosters for the countries involved.



Next, you will get to see some of the greatest athletes in the world perform at a skill level as great as any athlete you will ever see.  In America, the money goes to football and basketball so that is where the great American athletes go.  For the rest of the world, it is soccer and the athletes go there.  Imagine if athletes like Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James competed on the soccer field their entire lives and gave everything to soccer they gave to their respective sports.  Would America be the international punchline it is today in soccer?  I don't think so.  But this is the way it is, however, it is getting better in America and the rest of the world sends out all their athletes.  If you like to see world class athletic competition this is the best venue for it.

Finally, this is an event geared towards the crowds and the fans.  People root heartily for their countries and FIFA knows this, appreciates it, and encourages it (so long as it's all done with class and safely of course).  Never will you see an event that's more focused on the fans and never will you see an event where fans will get as hyped up.  This is truly a great sporting event and everyone should watch and enjoy, after all, it only comes around once ever four years.