The L.A. Dime

With the exception of cycling, I’m pretty much a traditional fan of the big three American sports: football, basketball, and to an ever-lessening degree, baseball. That said, I do like to watch Wimbledon, The Masters, and every four years…The World Cup.

My greatest involvement in soccer was as the starting keeper for the Florence, KY YMCA Strikers for one year when I was seven, so clearly, I don’t know a whole lot about the game. But since this is absolutely the worst time of year on the sports calendar, and because I have an extremely enthusiastic friend who follows U.S. soccer religiously (and sings “Olé, Olé, Olé” all day long) I was fairly excited to watch.

This was a chance for the #5-in-the-world-ranked U.S. team to prove it belongs amidst this planet’s largest, most-beloved sporting event. A chance to shine a positive light on our nation in a time when much of the globe reviles our very existence. This was to be the best soccer team ever assembled under the Stars and Stripes…and they blew it.

The Czech game was an unmitigated disaster. Against Italy, our boys showed the fight, heart, and passion this nation expects from its athletes, but still they failed to score (an Italian own-goal was the only tally). And today, in a must-win finale against an unproven Ghana side, the U.S. squad was simply not equal to the task. Our most experienced player, Reyna, gave up the ball just outside his own goal box. Bocanegra attempted to clear a ball on the far right wing, but sent it directly in front of his own goal, leading to a foul and a penalty kick. Sure, the foul was an atrocious call, but the failed clearance was more to blame than the referee’s decision in this disheartening 2-1 defeat.

Announcers, commentators, former players – they all say we have enough talent to compete with the world, but our players and coaches simply fail to finish. I have to agree with them. We do have enough talent to compete. But all of our best athletes happen to play for teams like the Heat, the Steelers and the White Sox. And given that fact, I’m not sure if even a Miracle-On-Ice-like run in 2010 could pull our young athletes off the grid iron, hard courts and diamonds, and onto the pitch. That’s okay though, because we’ve still got T.O., Barry Bonds, and Ron Artest to cheer for every year.

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