Why US soccer’s Lone Star can be a homecoming hero
“Yes,” they agree when they take a step back, “football and the World Series, two of our quainter misnomers.”
It could become even more absurd if a suggested new rule rids America’s most popular sport of kick-offs. “Yeah,” they admit laughing, “football with less chance of getting a foot on the ball, it doesn’t make much sense.”
According to New York Giants co-owner John Mara, a discussion about safety between him and his fellow NFL chiefs raised the possibility of restarting games without resorting to a deep kick which sets up a potentially lethal face-off between teams.
There’s no doubt about the danger involved when a kick returner hares towards a group of huge athletes hell bent on burying him into the turf. There’s no doubting its excitement either. But as the NFL bids to crack down on the potential of their players having their brains tossed around in their craniums, the good old fashioned kick-off could be set aside and if that happens, punt returns might not be far behind.
American football has been forced to soak up a few big hits against its overbearing pride recently.
There were all those bounty revelations at the New Orleans Saints (from yesterday coach Sean Payton is not allowed near his team for a whole year). Less seriously, the father of one of the players who helped Alabama win the national college championship accidentally smashed the €25,000 Waterford Crystal trophy awarded to the Crimson Tide at the weekend. And then newly-signed New York Jets curiosity Tim Tebow was booed by baseball fans at Yankee Stadium when he popped up on the big screen on Sunday night while watching the Bronx Bombers beat LA’s Angels.
If ever there were a moment when Clint Dempsey could stake his claim for a permanent place in American hearts, this next year might be his time to step up.
When a Texas boy does good, it offers light relief from the many depressing quirks which give the Lone Star State such a unique reputation.
What makes it more impressive is that Dempsey is doing it for Fulham, a middle-of-the-road team who, without him and his 16 league goals, would certainly be at the side of that same road, flirting with a potential relegation battle.
To be an American soccer player in Europe requires a lot of patience. An essential requirement is knowing that whenever you set foot back on home soil, there is an abrupt comedown from the adulation enjoyed on the other side of the Atlantic.
You know you can never fully convince the majority of the country that what you do is legitimate. There will always be that patronising enjoyment but soccer will never usurp the NBA or baseball play-offs and even the most insignificant NFL game will always overshadow anything its distant ancestor has to offer.
Landon Donovan provided one of US sport’s greatest moments with that dramatic last-minute winner against Algeria in the World Cup almost two years ago but he has chosen his own path in his own weak domestic league, thereby isolating an incredible moment as an exciting anomaly.
However, Dempsey, who was unlucky to have a goal disallowed in that same game, has proved this season that his durability on the foreign stage could see him become the first truly elite player to emerge from the US>.
If, as is rumoured, he moves across London and becomes an Arsenal player, as shallow as this seems, it could be the biggest shot in the arm for the profile of soccer in the US provided by a single player since Pele played in New York. Professional football can only dream of playing second fiddle to either forms of the gridiron version over here. It would be silly to become high and mighty and play the tedious game of which is the better sport — NFL followers simply brush soccer of their lapel.
I’m reminded of one of my favourite newspaper stories: in 1974, star reporter Ron Rosenbaum of the Village Voice approached his new boss, ripped up a pay cheque and declared no amount of money could keep him at the paper before storming off in a huff. The newly-installed editor, Clay Felker, barely raised an eyebrow, simply asking: “Who was that?”
Clint Dempsey has set down a marker for how seriously the world’s most popular game is taken in the world’s most intimidating sporting market. His amazing season could mean the end of condescension. If he steps up the ladder, he too could one day be booed by Yankee fans in the Bronx. And if you can make it there...
* john.w.riordan@gmail.com Twitter: JohnWRiordan
