If It Moves, Kick It is a tumblelog.

Those selfish groovy cat American soccer-lovers

ESPN.com’s Jeff McGregor assesses America’s experience at the World Cup, and wonders if soccer means anything to most of the huddled masses, and if it ever will:

“Weirdly, while the rest of us struggle, some of the original American fans, the deep believers and postwar pre-modern footie zealots don’t want to let the game go. They want to keep it for themselves, keep it small and cool and solitary. Like when you were a teenager and you discovered a passion of your own and you held it close and tight; and as soon as your parents found out about it, or even your friends, it was ruined. No matter what you say about soccer, it seems to them like the wrong thing to say about soccer. If you don’t believe me, read the comments on any American soccer thread on the internet. There’s a core constituency there holding the game in trust only for themselves. Holding it hostage, like a priesthood.

“These are the same kind of folks who loved jazz to death in this country, smothered it with the same ‘You can’t understand the beauty of this’ condescension and obsession. Come to think of it, that’s another strike against soccer in the American mind, too: It’s too much like jazz. Too improvisational, too fluid, too ungoverned. Maybe that’s why jazz as a going concern fled this country to Europe all those years ago. We tend to prefer games and melodies that keep us thinking inside the box.”