I Thought We Were at a Soccer Game?

“F’king kick the ball into the goal already!"

Although it may sound contradictory, I have to say that I’ve never been a fan of watching sports even though I consider myself athletic, having done competitive swimming throughout my life. It was not until high school that I watched the summer and winter Olympics for the first time and most recently, the World Cup. While I was at AU this summer, a lot of the people from my STEP program were hooked on the World Cup, watching every match as the country they supported played. When it came to the last match, Spain vs. Netherlands, I told myself, “Oh, what the heck, let’s give it a try.” I have to say that it was, by far, one of the most intense experiences I’ve felt while sitting in front of the TV. Each time a team scored or missed, the loud “Ah!” could be heard all over the floor coming from Anderson’s sixth floor lounge.

Unlike the summer, however, the experience I got from the soccer game we attended on Friday night was definitely not what I was expecting. Being that it was the first professional sports game that I was attending, I was hyped up and was even ready to sing the “Waka Waka” song at any minute. Once I sat in the stadium, though, it did not take long for my excitement to die down. The empty seats in the upper level and the lack of spectators in general made me feel a bit out of place. Were most of the people supporters of the teams or were they attending a DC United game for the first time and possibly never coming back? As the game went on, I couldn’t help but turn my attention to the people in the crowd instead of the game. While loyal fans from the other side of the stadium and the few immigrants here and there cheered throughout the game, the rest of the people sat quietly. It was then that I came to a conclusion that I’ve heard many times before: “Soccer is not a sport for the United States.” The soccer culture that is celebrated in other countries, the culture that Foer describes in How Soccer Explains the World is definitely not one that has developed in the United States yet.

Not only was the lack of support from the crowd killing my excitement, but seeing our team play so badly wasn’t helping out either. We decided to check out the other side of the stadium where a bigger crowd of fans were sitting. As loyal as they were, many people were getting irritated as each shot from United kept missing. “F’king kick the ball into the goal already,” was shouted out when one individual couldn’t take it anymore. In the end, I felt bad for the team because small sports team like these usually end up dying down with the loss of fans and games.

P.S. – my experience did not get any better when one of the sellers dropped a box of opened beer bottles on my leg either.