By: William Hinkle
As I christen this blog with my initial post, LeBron has arguably been the biggest sports story in the U.S. over the past week. Because a LeBron story is obvious to the point it would be cliche to write about him now (not to mention the captivation of the American audience by LeBron, as opposed the globe's premier sporting event - the World Cup), I will try to refrain from discussing him for the time being. Instead, I will focus on an annually appropriate topic in the month of July: the Summer Sports Doldrums.
Because I wasn't much of a baseball fan until my freshman year at Boston University when the Red Sox broke the curse (2004), there was never anything I could devote myself to as a spectator in the summer (this can also partially be attributed to my religious attendance of basketball and both varieties of football camps during childhood summers). Of course, when the Summer Olympics or World Cup come around every two years, I get a definite sports boner. Unfortunately, however, these two events always seem so fleeting - like a summer fling when you were a teenager. And, to be honest, since I'm so emotionally involved with Wolfpack basketball and football, my capacity for additional emotional "fanhood" is limited and it will be impossible for anything to fully satiate my sports thirst when these 2 off-seasons coincide.
Despite my biases, the fact that baseball doesn't command the nation's attention like it once did is not diminished. Because my sports jones would have already reached critical mass without this year's World Cup, I'm committing my annual Thanksgiving "what I'm thankful for" to even-year summers bringing us either the World Cup or the Summer Olympics. Luckily for me, I was immersed in the World Cup culture this year as I spent the opening rounds in Prague. Unfortunately after yesterday's final, we've entered the heart of the Summer Sports Doldrums where the occasional PGA Major will eclipse the excitement provided by the boys of summer. I'm sorry, but I just have a hard time getting pumped up for tonight's Home Run Derby, the Midsummer Classic, and the rest of baseball season. I'll keep myself informed and watch the occasional game, but there won't be a can't-miss sports viewing option every day/night or even every other day/night until the end of August (unless of course pre-season football in mid to late August really gets your blood pumping).
With my two slowest sports month of the year beginning to progress at a snail's pace, I leave you with my final observations from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa:
- 1-0: In order for soccer to get the respect it deserves in the States, it is imperative to avoid a final match in which the only goal that was scored took 117 minutes to get to. In today's world of instant gratification and A.D.D. most Americans won't wait two scoreless hours to arrive at the game's only defining moment; instead, their understanding of what happened will be limited to a mere clip on Sportscenter. 17 out of the 64 2010 World Cup games finished with a score of 1-0.
- Diego Forlan: The Uruguay striker deservedly won the Golden Ball as the Cup's most outstanding player. Forlan was easily the tournament's most exciting ball striker.
- Missed Opportunity at Immortality: Asamoah Gyan squandered a chance at African football immortality when his PK to send the Black Stars of Ghana to the semifinals caromed off the crossbar. Excluding U.S. soccer, this was the most memorable moment of the Cup to me, not for what it was but for what it could have been.
- Landon Donovan: Not only did he provide U.S. soccer with one of its all-time goals against Algeria, he consistently asserted himself as the country's most reliable and clutch player. In doing so, he emerged as the footballer Americans had hoped he was in 2006 (you can't convince me this isn't a result of being on loan from the L.A. Galaxy to a real football club, Everton). After last year's 2-0 defeat of new Cup champ Spain and a showing in South Africa that can be labelled encouraging, among other things, I'd like to think I can be optimistic about the future of U.S. soccer (especially of Jozy Altidore develops some ball skills to complement his tremendous athletic ability).
- Jersey Colors: If your country's jersey includes colors not on your national flag, I'd like to know the back story. A quick Google search combined with a minimal knowledge of world history explains the Dutch Oranje, but why does Spain sometimes don blue jerseys? And what about the Italians? Do they really wear blue because of the royal Savoia family? There must be a method to all this color-confusion madness.
- Vuvuzelas: Count me as an observer who will miss the buzzing vuvuzelas and other sounds of the 2010 World Cup as we enter the abyss that is the Summer Sports Doldrums.
