Bah, the World Cup is for the Unpatriotic

Another dissapointing game for the American soccer faithful. If only McBride had not been called offsides; if only the referee was not so trigger-happy with the redcards; if only more people gave a damn about American soccer. Unfortunately, the faithful are few and far between. Soccer has never caught on in the United States, celebrating only a short success during the Women's team run at the gold, but never for the also very adept men's team. Compared to all other sports practiced in the US, soccer's popularity can be found somewhere between bowling and badminton. Americans cannot fathom the notion of a sport where hands are not the norm limb of athletic display; or when a scoreless outcome can be called "riveting" by its fans. We want biceps, we want numbers on the board, we want grandiose displays...we want male attributes in our sports.
Kicking a ball around appears to be as skilled as swatting a fly or pushing a cart--where is the skill? A simple answer: everywhere. Personally, I see soccer as the most physically and mentally demanding sport. Period. The length of the field to be covered over and over again is a test of stamina and strength (of the legs, not biceps). The chess-like strategy is only a necessary part of the game, looking for an advantage, a proper movement of the ball through the other team's (mental) gaps. Depending on the movement of your other teammates more than your own makes the sport one of the most team-oriented, and necessary for thorough study. Sprinting faster while dribbling the ball than some do without any other worry is worthy of much praise. According to studies, David Beckham, one of the most popular players of the sport, runs an average of 8 miles per game. PER GAME. That is, he runs 8 stop-and-go miles within 90 minutes. Seeing a Brazilian team weave effortlessly through other teams is a thing of beauty. The skill is definitively there. So why no fuss about the US's performance?
We don't like unAmerican sports. Caring for a sport most of the world loves is like caring what other countrie think about our death penalty system, or our lack of social safety net, or our enfatuation with Branjelina. Our idea of sport is only interesting when WE are on center stage, when we call the shots, when it is on our court. When we play the World Series, how many countries are represented? Is New York a country? When we praise the NBA World Champions, what language do we say they speak? Unless it is the Lakers, we will be safe to say that English is the toungue of choice. The ratings on all these are indicative of our interests in wordly sports. The worst ratings for a World Series (last year's White Sox run) were much higher than World Cup numbers.
The idea of "World" sports or championships is not appealing to us when other actual members of the world participate. We do not wanna deal with Uzbekistan on the basketball court if we don't have to. I don't want to admit this, but, unfortunately, at the core we are very nationalistic. Olympics, PanAmerican games, World Cup, Tour de France, all that is just a different version of UN bologne. If you are a Wilsonian, you most like did not miss today's tied game.
While the interest is lagging, it has shown a lot of improvement. I hope I eat crow...tofu crow.