USA Beats England 1-1

Or somesuch.

I tend not to pay attention to various sports out there - hockey, basketball, soccer, tennis - generally, the ones at which I have zero skill, as opposed to the ones where I have a slight modicum of skill. Also foosball, but that's much more rarely televised than those previous four.

But when championship season rolls around, for any sport, I perk up and pay attention. I think it's because I know that in the playoffs, I will start to see the real cream of the crop. I mean, let's be honest, I am probably good enough at hockey to play for the Edmonton Oilers, who finished last in the NHL in points and apparently shit the bed this year.

So I can do without watching hockey teams shitting, or even playing badly. But by the time the conference finals roll around in any of the commonly-televised sports I couldn't care less about, I know the checks will be more vicious, the shots on goal will be from farther away, players will sink more shots from beyond the arc, David Beckham would bend it if he hadn't retired, and so on and so forth.

And so I watch the World Cup of Soccer. And I actually care about what happens in this quadrennial event. I mean, honestly, who normally cares what happens to the Czech national soccer team three years out of four? Nobody, except the Czechs, and maybe whoever they're playing against. Maybe. But during the world cup? All of a sudden, Pavel Nedved is a household name again in places besides Prague or...well, whatever other cities are in the Czech republic. I must admit my ignorance on their geography.

That, I think, is why today's 1-1 draw between the US and England (no, seriously, that guy does play for England) is such a boon for American soccer and such a loss for English football. People like me - the less-than-casual fan - all of a sudden will start to care about soccer, and the sport will continue to grow here in the US. This isn't about MLS, or about amateur soccer - it's about mindset, it's about perception, and it's about the idea that all of a sudden this sleeping giant might pick up its club and start swinging it around the football world.

(by the way: inspiration for this post's title)