That game you play with your feet

I'm not really much of a soccer fan, though I can appreciate it when it's played at the highest levels--which, living in the U.S., basically means I watch the World Cup and the Olympics. I might be more of a fan if MLS was as good as some of the top-level leagues world-wide, or if those other leagues were easier to watch (they probably aren't really that hard, but they'd still require me to make an effort to figure that out). But I do really enjoy the game when I watch great teams. I also have to confess that I don't go out of my way to watch many women's sports; women's basketball, and softball, just seem like such different sports, though I suspect if I liked watching tennis, Serena Williams and a few others would be a draw.

All of which is why I thought it was worth a brief post on watching the U.S. Women's National Team win the World Cup last weekend. I hadn't really realized the tournament was coming until it started, because I was a lil bit busy, but I happened to be out of town when it started, and given that I'm old and I hate the night life except when it involves a book, my girl, and/or bed, I seized the opportunity to watch all of the games. I watched with Americans and Germans, soccer fans and non, with colleagues and with family, and I enjoyed it all. One of my favorite features of soccer, compared with sports we see more often in the U.S., is its unfriendliness to commercial interruptions--how amazing to watch a sporting event with continuous action without being constantly bombarded with bullshit advertising. That wouldn't matter if I wasn't watching compelling action, of course, and the women provided it. The closer games were gripping, obviously, but the final--and Carli Lloyd's hat trick--was just thrilling. I hadn't seen Alex Morgan play before, and she didn't have a spectacular tournament, but wow that woman is fast and creative on the field. Abby Wambach just seems to be in the middle of everything when she plays. I couldn't help but compare what I was watching with the U.S. men, and that comparison does the men no favors--watching a team that isn't especially competitive and is clearly outclassed isn't tons of fun, which I think tends to describe the men. But the women clearly belong, and are clearly contenders on the world stage (while not dominant).

I love the athleticism, the ball control, the aggressive strategy, and the toughness they display (so many fewer players falling, flopping, writhing on the ground, nursing injuries, etc--who was the woman who went down briefly, the popped up with the bloody head and jogged to the sideline for a quick treatment and then returned to the field? I saw this at least once). And I got to watch the final with my daughters, who now this year have seen the USWNT win the World Cup, and American Pharoah win the Triple Crown (they were asleep when the Giants won the World Series). Not a bad year in sports, even for Minnesota (Vikings and Twins) fans.