Forget Title IX. Forget gender discrimination, Facebook groups, available talent pools and the feasibility of a women’s ice polo ribbon dancing equestrian team. There is one argument in the debate over a men’s soccer team that has been completely overlooked; a key fact so vital, unequivocal and utterly apparent that its neglect borders on criminal: The game of soccer is, by far, human-kind’s greatest achievement.
Some may balk at such a bold assertion, others, especially those bred on pigskin football, chili dogs and the American way, may find it downright treasonous.
Truth be told (as my extensive research shows), the beautiful game is the embodiment of all advanced culture.
This is not to say soccer is the “best” sport, as that would be purely trite and subjective and could very well guarantee mass riots and burning effigies of Ronaldinho, Thierry Henry and other foreign terrorists. As a game, it is merely entertainment, like all other sports (disregarding curling, croquet and NASCAR, of course).
What can be empirically proven, however, is that the game of soccer transcends the trivialness of sport. Its ability to simultaneously reflect, alter and explain the world merits it a place in the universe next to gravity and s’mores Pop-Tarts.
Take, for instance, last summer’s World Cup. France’s recent immigration riots and uproar manifested itself with the infamous head-butting incident, involving a certain Algerian immigrant/messianic figure being racially harassed. This singular incident prompted months of debate and controversy, that, as soccer often does, reached beyond the game and into France’s most immediate social concerns. Rivalries abound all over the world both reflect and amplify cultural differences.
The Catholic-Protestant rivalry has carried over into Scotland’s two most supported teams, the Celtics and Rangers.
The Real Madrid v. Barcelona matches in Spain are mired in socio-political history, and often the fate of the teams on the pitch mirror its supporters’ status off the field.
As the world becomes more globalized, so does soccer. Eastern European club teams, once famously nationalistic and homogenized, have a sudden appreciation for Nigerian forwards.
The best teams in England, Spain, Italy and elsewhere sport squads of imported superstars, while teams that stick to tradition falter.
Soccer’s rise in the U.S. coincided conveniently (for this theory) with the end of the Cold War, bringing an end to irrational concerns about the sport being a front to Communism.
This is strange however, as football’s salary caps and player draft is considerably less capitalistic than the monopolization of European soccer dynasties in their respective leagues.
But that is another argument for another time.
Sean Patrick Armstrong is a junior communications major. He covers tennis for The Reflector. He can be contacted at [email protected].