"I'm Mad As Hell, And I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore!"

Dude, You Sum It Up Perfectly

I’ve said repeatedly over the past few years that I won’t let the soccer-bashers get to me. Their numbers are dwindling, and there have actually been 1 or 2 that have converted into fans, or at least, their hatred and fear of the game has diminished. And then you have this piece by Free Lance-Star Editor Ed Jones. The Star, for those of you who don’t know, is the Fredericksburg area’s primary newspaper, with a pretty wide circulation. My family has subscribed for more than 35 years, and I’ve grown pretty much accustomed to their ignoring of soccer. However, this editorial (and I use that word loosely) is full of so many wrong and ridiculous statements that I can’t just let it slide. So, dear readers, here is my open response to Mr. Jones. Yes, I sent him a personal email saying these exact things. Let’s see if he responds.

Mr. Jones, I'm sure you'll get a decent amount of responses to your vitriolic and ugly column about why you dislike soccer and the World Cup. As a journalist myself (I have covered all levels of soccer for 15 years in television, radio, and a variety of internet columns), I respect your opinion although I obviously take issue with virtually your entire piece. I hope you will take a moment to read my questions to you below, and at least ponder some of the counter arguments I would present.

1. I can't stand NASCAR or baseball, yet I have more friends than I can count who do. I have never felt the need to write a column that belittles either one of them. I respect them as sports and the people who follow them. Why, as the Editor of a widely-read newspaper, did you feel the need to write something attacking a sport that is enjoyed by many of your readers? I have noticed that the FLS has no problems taking advertising dollars from FASA, SASA, and other soccer organizations in the area, though.

2. You cite that the Cup was "widely, and accurately, perceived to be boring." Yet I noticed you failed to cite any other "experts" who agree with you. Again, as a journalist, if you're going to make such an accusation, you might want to have some facts to back you up. I'm sure you could do a quick search and find some guy named "Bubba" from Mississippi who wrote how soccer sucks, but a majority of the sports media (including notorious soccer bashers such as Jim Rome and Mike Greenberg from ESPN) said they enjoyed large parts of the tournament. All 4 of the U.S. games produced as much drama as anything I've seen in sports in recent memory.

3. Yes, the vuvuzuelas were annoying. I will agree with you wholeheartedly on that one. Part of what makes the in-person soccer atmosphere so great is the singing, chanting, and camaraderie you see from the fans in the stadium. That was largely muted by the sound of those horns which sounded like thousands of bees.

4. Population of the country doesn't matter. You questioned why we couldn't beat Slovenia. I'm sure you're unaware of this, but Slovenia actually beat Russia in a playoff series to make the World Cup in the first place, so does that mean you should disparage the Russians for not beating them? And when the U.S. baseball team loses to Cuba and Central American countries in the baseball equivalent of the world cup, will you feel the need to bring up the population differences then? And if population of a country should influence sports performance, why aren't India and China kicking everyone's tail in soccer? Again, your argument doesn't stand up.

5. Again, I will agree with you about officiating. It was fine early in the tournament but got progressively worse.

6. Your statement about the Americans' scant opportunity to watch the games because they were during the day is also inaccurate. The ratings for this World Cup were as much as 40% higher than any other Cup in the U.S. Thousands upon thousands of fans crowded bars, restaurants, or (like me) just took off work to watch the U.S. games and many others during the day. The weekend broadcasts of the games on ABC were some of the highest-rated sporting events in the network's history in those time-slots. And this is probably something else you didn't know; there were more Americans who traveled to South Africa for this World Cup than any other nation on Earth. The ticket sales are proof. And what's more, I've read dozens of stories from media outlets around the globe how much everyone embraced the U.S. team and its fans for their guts, determination, and just overall fun to be around. U.S. soccer fans did more to help our international reputation than any U.S. leader has done in more than a decade.

7. Last one; I have had the opportunity to interview and meet numerous sports stars over the years. Far and away, soccer players appreciate their fans and their game more than other athletes (again, in my experience). Yes, the French players were ridiculously childish with their behavior; but again, don't condemn an entire group based on such a small number of idiots. Stereotyping is lazy. You're better than that.

Mr. Jones, I don't intend to try and change your mind about soccer. You don't like it; fine. As I stated before, we are all entitled to our opinions. But you do need to realize that this sport, while it will never be as big as football, basketball, or baseball in this country, is here to stay. Major League Soccer will soon have 20 teams, almost all with their own stadiums, solid fan bases, world-class players, and legitimate mainstream media coverage. The World Cup, and the U.S. National Team, is only going to get bigger and more popular (just wait until we host the Cup in 2018 or 2022, which is widely-rumored). You don't need to be on board, but do you really feel the need to be such a detractor?

Mark Bushman

http://my2cents-bushman.blogspot.com/

If you feel as strongly as I do about this, please feel free to email him or send a letter to the Editor as well. His email is edjones@freelancestar.com, and for the newspaper, it’s letters@freelancestar.com.

As always, thanks for reading, and now let's get ready to dive headfirst into what I think is going to be a tight and exciting race to the MLS Championship (seriously!)...

Could This Tournament Be Any More (insert adjective here)?

"It's ok! Columbia wants me to be their coach! They're paying me in cocaine!"

Yep, it's really cheap to kick a man when he's down, unless that man is Diego Maradona. What a jackass! Instead of preparing his team for what was going to be the biggest physical and mental challenge they would probably face in the tournament, he spent time calling out German players in the press conferences and having his players sing and dance during training. In the span of 2 hours, he went from resurrecting his legacy to being a bum once again. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Now go hang out with Chavez and plot the "downfall" of the U.S., Diego.

Moving on, I seriously think this has been the craziest World Cup since I started watching in 1974. I didn't say the best; the '82 Cup had 3 or 4 of the best games I've ever seen, but as a far as drama, this one's already in the history books. Now, before I head back out on vacation and not rejoin you until the Monday after the festivities in South Africa have concluded, let me drop 10 little observations from the quarterfinals, make my semifinal predictions and then who will win all the marbles a week from today.

1. Asamoah Gyan owes Walsh and I $2k each - They said nobody felt worse than him Friday night after his missed penalty. How about Walsh and I, who had them at 70-1 in Vegas? I will not offend you with the insults hurled his way from the two of us around 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday. But seriously, even in defeat, you gotta admire the way he came back as the 1st KICKER in the penalty tiebreak and buried the 1st shot. Is it out of reach to say that it, mentally, it was tougher to make the 2nd one after missing the 1st?

2. Diego Forlan might be this Tournament's MVP - Maybe not for the whole tournament (I'm guessing David Villa is in the lead right now), but is there any other player more valuable to his team than Forlan is to Uruguay? Even though Luis Suarez has as many goals, it's Forlan who runs the show. After a dismal opening round tie with France, he exploded to bury the home South African side in game 2, was a rock in games 3 and the 2nd round, and scored a wonderful free kick to tie Ghana on Friday as an entire continent backed the remaining African side. Then he took and buried the 1st penalty in the shootout. I've always thought the 1st penalty shooter had the most on his shoulders; if he makes it, it calms the other 4 down. If he misses, then the rest have added pressure to make theirs. I've always liked Forlan, and am glad this World Cup is is giving this underrated player a chance to shine on the big stage.

3. The U.S. could be in the semifinals right now - Yeah, I know, I'm not saying anything new, but after watching the Ghana/Uruguay game on Friday, I kept thinking "we're as good if not better than both of these teams." Makes you wonder just what would have happened if Sideshow Bob's repeated brain farts in starting Ricardo Clark and Robbie Findley would have been replaced by any combination of Edu, Feilhaber, Holden, or Buddle into the starting 11. I need to jump off this subject as I can feel my blood rising once again.

4. I told you so - For all the talk about Brazil, the Netherlands matched up perfectly against them and didn't wilt in the face of pressure. Going down a goal early, and could have easily been 2 or 3 before the end of the 1st half, the Dutch held their composure and slowly chipped away at the Brazilians. They started finding holes in Dunga's much vaunted (but much despised back home in Brazil) defensive formation. Eventually, the duo of Robben and Sneijder exploited the cracks, with Sneijder scoring (way to make the correction, FIFA) both goals to get the 2-1 win. For the 1st time that I can remember, a Brazilian team also lost their composure, as Felipe Melo's stomp of Robben led to his ejection, and , therefore, any chance Brazil had to get the tying goal. Speaking of Melo...

5. Has anyone had a worse game on such a big stage? - Seriously, the guy did maybe the greatest 180 in the history of the Cup. He made a jaw-dropping through ball that set Robinho up perfectly for Brazil's opening goal, and then imploded. He interfered with goalkeeper Julio Cesar on Sneijder's high cross, and the confusion led to the ball being in the back of the net. Minutes later, he loses Sneijder on a corner kick, and the smallest man on the pitch scores the game-winner on a header. You can probably count on 1 hand the number of times the guy has scored like that. Then Melo's version of "Stomp" on Robben sealed his, and Brazil's, fate. Good thing he plays his club ball in Italy, or Melo would receive worse treatment than David Beckham did after his ejection in the '98 Cup.

6. Hey Dunga, it didn't work - It's been said that Brazilian would rather lose 4-3 playing beautiful soccer rather than win 1-0 in boring fashion. Well, they got the worst of both worlds in a 2-1 loss in which a Brazilian team seemed to actually run out of ideas in the final third of the field against the Dutch. Never seen that before, either. Kaka, although he wore the #10 shirt, really isn't a true #10 in the way of Pele or Zico. He's an attacking, not necessarily a creator, and that's what Brazil lacked this time around. Gotta put that on the coach. Do you think Ronaldinho was sitting at home and laughing during that 2nd half, or kicking his tv because he knows he could have made a difference?

7. Maradona - see my opening paragraph...

8. Germany - The Germans are on a roll in every sense of the word. They have annihilated their competition in 3 of their 5 games in the tournament. They are disciplined, smart, skilled, fast, young, and oh, yeah, they don't let up. They really didn't need to score that 4th goal yesterday, but they did because they could. Maybe sending a message to Spain that they better be ready come Wednesday? We'll see if the message was received because:

9. Spain is doing just enough to get by - That's been fine so far against teams that don't seem to want to score on them (Portugal and Paraguay, although, surprisingly, Paraguay gave them a better game than Portugal), but it won't work against Germany in the semis. Germany is not going to get shutout, so the Spaniards will need to get someone else on the scoresheet other than David Villa if they want a crack at the Title. And why is Fernando Torres still on the field while Cesc Fabregas warming the bench? That needs to change for Spain to win. If Torres isn't going to score (and there are no indications he will do so), they might as well have another playmaker to try and break down the vaunted German defenses. Oh yeah, as Walsh texted me yesterday, if Spain keeps hitting goalposts, "they should pay to repaint them."

10. Predictions -

Holland over Uruguay (1-0) - The Cinderella story comes to an end for the team that barely escaped a playoff series with Costa Rica just to make it to the last 32. As great as Forlan has been, no Suarez lets the Dutch concentrate on shutting him down, while Robben and Sneijder run the midfield at will. This will probably be a slow, methodical game, which, until this tournament, has always hindered Holland. Not so this time around.

Germany over Spain (2-1) - This will be one heck of a game. Although both teams feature explosive offenses, both can play some solid defense as well. I don't think it'll be a track meet, but there will be plenty of opportunities at both ends. Based on current form, and the fact that nobody else has mentioned that Iker Casillas has not exactly been steady in goal this tournament, Germany will put 2 past him. One of them will be a howler.

World Cup Final - Germany over Netherlands (2-1) - A great rivalry and some amazing history between these 2 clubs is on display for the world to see. After sitting out the semifinal for yellow cards, Thomas Muller returns and makes the difference for Germany, getting the game-winner after the 75th minute to send the Germans into a frenzy...and we know the French ALWAYS get nervous when the Germans are in a frenzy.

Thanks as always for reading and to Walsh for putting up some very interesting pieces while I was out.

1 more thing; Fire Bob Bradley!!!!