Fascinating stuff this morning from Fox Sports Radio’s Dave “Softy” Mahler, who argued the United States’ poor recent showing in the World Cup, if not soccer’s struggle to emerge as a major sport in America, can be traced to “no one knowing who the best American player is.”
(annoying, untalented person with little of interest to share about sports. On the left, Dave Mahler.)
Though I’ll admit it doesn’t help matters if Tyler Twellman isn’t even picked for the team, Mahler went on to extrapolate that “the game has no stars, no personalties”, hence, it was unlikely to ever catch on, stateside.
Contrary to Mahler’s claims, you can purchase a jersey with the name and number of an American player — there’s a shop right down the street from my house that sells ’em, and I’m not in a town with an MLS franchise. That soccer’s elite players aren’t Americans may or may not be a decisive factor in whether or not kids take up the sport, but what will happen to the NBA once it becomes common knowledge that Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki, aren’t in fact, from North Carolina?
Over on ESPN Radio, Doug Karsch sought to add some calm to the Ozzie Guillen Fag Furor, opining that it would be unfair to disparage someone “for choosing that lifestyle” just as it would be unseemly to berate a friend “for dating an ugly woman.”
Later, Karsch took a call from a gentleman who argued that “society has a double standard” when Guillen is punished, “but there’s so much cursing on the television.”
“…well, the cursing on television and radio, that’s something the FCC is trying to do something about,” mused Karsch, “and they rule with an iron fist overseas.”
I wasn’t aware the Federal Communications Commission’s powers had extended beyond the U.S., but when you wake up early on a Saturday, you’re bound to learn something useful.