Another Installment of……..

………. only in America.( Thank you Jay and the Americans for the song.) The quadrennial event known as the World Cup is ongoing in South Africa. As of this writing, the American team has just been eliminated  by Ghana for the second  consecutive time. Still advancing out of group play was an accomplishment for  a team ranked about 15th in the world.

I’m no soccer expert and not much of  a fan except when the Lady Tar Heels play. But I will admit to hoping the American team does well. That thought doesn’t  hold true with some prominent American sportswriters, namely William Rhoden of the New York Times and Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation. Bet that’s a real shock about  Mr Zirin. In a book I read recently about Calvin Coolidge, his magazine was  even then gleefully bashing conservatives . But back to the soccer.

First  Mr Rhoden who proudly admits to rooting for Ghana, the last African entry. He thinks that their success could be  along-term psychological boost as well as ” continuing the push to keep this important giant( Africa) on track.” Perhaps he should tell the South Koreans, their next opponent.

Now Mr Zirin is a  different story. He seems inclined to do a little America bashing as well as attacking Glenn Beck, etc. for using sports as  an avatar for  ” racism and imperial arrogance.”  Translation, if we do not excel at  a sport, it must be useless.

Lastly there is sportswriter and social commentator Bethlehem Shoals who sees American interest in soccer as  a refuge for the shameful actions of our government, translation, the evil Bush and his cronies.

What a shame to miss the pure enjoyment of goalllllllllllllllllll. Bet all  the Brazilian media types are  rooting for their team.