Here's something intersting I thought of for the Texas Sports Column's latest What If Column, What if Soccer replaced football and basketball as the dominant American Sport Pre WWII. Let's say for the sake of argument when the 1932 Olympics were held in LA, the IOC allowed soccer to be played even though it wasn't to popular in the US. Then a hodgepodge teamwins the Gold and soccer captures the nations heart before football and basketball become established (This also makes the Olympic Competition the default big world torunament for soccer instead of FIFA World Cup which was created because soccer weas not played at the 32' Olympics). From 32' onwards it's just Soccer and Baseball in the US with all the big football and basketball stars growing up in a soccer oriented world and their skills (especially OTL running backs) translating onto the pitch (is pitch right
) instead of hardcourt or gridiron. Personally for the record I firmly believe that if our nations best talent grew up wanting to play soccer, the US would be just as dominate in the game as the Brazilians and Europeans. So without further ado, What if the US was soccer crazed...
With the Beijing Olympics coming up soon, the world has their collective eyes on the centerpiece of the games, the Olympic Soccer Tournament. Every four years ever since the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles when the makeshift US National team won it’s first gold medal (The California Miracle) and Soccer Mania swept the country (and subsequently turned football into a novelty game favored by frat boys in Southern and Midwestern colleges), the Olympic Tournament has been the gold standard of International Soccer competition and the source for international athletic bragging rights.
Now 76 years and seven Gold Medals later, the US is once again the favorite going into the games. The US Dream Team made up of MLS Hall of Famers and young guns and lead by legendary coach Phil Jackson is looking to roll over the Brazilians, Argentineans, and Italians and make it back to back Gold Medals for the first time since the Dream Team accomplished it in 88’ and 92’ before the National team went into the slump. The Slump of course referring to the period from 1996 to 2003 when the US National team could not win a major game in international competition to save its life.
That team was characterized by lackluster players that sported amazing talent but little desire to compete hard game in and game out. A team led by Allen Iverson, Shawn Kemp, an aging Michael Jordan, Dante Culpepper, Derek Jeter, Barry Sanders, and an aging Brett Favre. Those teams under old US national coach Joe Torre could skate by on talent many a night but in big time international matches had trouble keeping pace with more motivated teams with, for the first time in a long time, better athletes such as France’s Zinadine Zidane and England’s David Beckham. These facts coupled with off-field issues and the fact that Kemp was a womanizing mess and Sander’s retired early kept the team in constant turmoil and public limelight for all the wrong reasons.
However a resurgence of Patriotism and a restructuring of the team in 2003 boosted America back to dream team status. A youth movement, coupled with better veterans, and a new coach in Kansas City Wizard’s head coach Phil Jackson, has created the perfect storm for soccer resurgence in the US. Now a team once characterized by lack of effort, quest for Sports Center highlights, and a desire to only cash a fat MLS check in free agency has been replaced by a can do squad of youngsters and veteran wisdom. LeBron James, LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Chad Johnson, Dwayne Wade, Jimmy Rollins, Tom Brady coupled with Peyton Manning, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Randy Moss dominated the 2004 Olympics in Greece and now they look to do it again in China. Let’s not forget to mention the US teams absolute domination of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
This team reminds me so much of the original dream team when the powerful MLS and commissioner David Stern decided to allow professionals to play in the Olympics alongside their EPL and other European and Latin American league brethren. Until then the Olympics had been dominated by the college greats such as Lew Alcindor at UCLA, Jim Brown at Syracuse, Larry Bird at Indiana State, Hershel Walker at Georgia, OJ Simpson at USC, Walter Payton of Jackson State, Archie Griffin at Ohio State, Earl Campbell at Texas, and the other greats.
When Stern allowed the MLS players to compete patriotism and confidence swept the nation as players like a young Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Jerry Rice, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, and Rickey Henderson all joined the team. Houston’s Olajuwon and Los Angeles’ Johnson joined and managed to build a great friendship even though just months earlier the two Hall of Famers engaged in an on-field brawl during the Supermatch! Under Coach Bill Walsh then Jimmy Johnson the experiment thrived with the Dream team winning Gold by record setting margins in 1988 and 1992.
Now the quest for Eight begins in a few months. Here’s to another Red, White, and Blue Gold and the continuation of American Excellence at Soccer.
) instead of hardcourt or gridiron. Personally for the record I firmly believe that if our nations best talent grew up wanting to play soccer, the US would be just as dominate in the game as the Brazilians and Europeans. So without further ado, What if the US was soccer crazed...With the Beijing Olympics coming up soon, the world has their collective eyes on the centerpiece of the games, the Olympic Soccer Tournament. Every four years ever since the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles when the makeshift US National team won it’s first gold medal (The California Miracle) and Soccer Mania swept the country (and subsequently turned football into a novelty game favored by frat boys in Southern and Midwestern colleges), the Olympic Tournament has been the gold standard of International Soccer competition and the source for international athletic bragging rights.
Now 76 years and seven Gold Medals later, the US is once again the favorite going into the games. The US Dream Team made up of MLS Hall of Famers and young guns and lead by legendary coach Phil Jackson is looking to roll over the Brazilians, Argentineans, and Italians and make it back to back Gold Medals for the first time since the Dream Team accomplished it in 88’ and 92’ before the National team went into the slump. The Slump of course referring to the period from 1996 to 2003 when the US National team could not win a major game in international competition to save its life.
That team was characterized by lackluster players that sported amazing talent but little desire to compete hard game in and game out. A team led by Allen Iverson, Shawn Kemp, an aging Michael Jordan, Dante Culpepper, Derek Jeter, Barry Sanders, and an aging Brett Favre. Those teams under old US national coach Joe Torre could skate by on talent many a night but in big time international matches had trouble keeping pace with more motivated teams with, for the first time in a long time, better athletes such as France’s Zinadine Zidane and England’s David Beckham. These facts coupled with off-field issues and the fact that Kemp was a womanizing mess and Sander’s retired early kept the team in constant turmoil and public limelight for all the wrong reasons.
However a resurgence of Patriotism and a restructuring of the team in 2003 boosted America back to dream team status. A youth movement, coupled with better veterans, and a new coach in Kansas City Wizard’s head coach Phil Jackson, has created the perfect storm for soccer resurgence in the US. Now a team once characterized by lack of effort, quest for Sports Center highlights, and a desire to only cash a fat MLS check in free agency has been replaced by a can do squad of youngsters and veteran wisdom. LeBron James, LaDainian Tomlinson, Larry Johnson, Chad Johnson, Dwayne Wade, Jimmy Rollins, Tom Brady coupled with Peyton Manning, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, and Randy Moss dominated the 2004 Olympics in Greece and now they look to do it again in China. Let’s not forget to mention the US teams absolute domination of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
This team reminds me so much of the original dream team when the powerful MLS and commissioner David Stern decided to allow professionals to play in the Olympics alongside their EPL and other European and Latin American league brethren. Until then the Olympics had been dominated by the college greats such as Lew Alcindor at UCLA, Jim Brown at Syracuse, Larry Bird at Indiana State, Hershel Walker at Georgia, OJ Simpson at USC, Walter Payton of Jackson State, Archie Griffin at Ohio State, Earl Campbell at Texas, and the other greats.
When Stern allowed the MLS players to compete patriotism and confidence swept the nation as players like a young Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Hakeem Olajuwon, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Jerry Rice, Eric Dickerson, Barry Sanders, and Rickey Henderson all joined the team. Houston’s Olajuwon and Los Angeles’ Johnson joined and managed to build a great friendship even though just months earlier the two Hall of Famers engaged in an on-field brawl during the Supermatch! Under Coach Bill Walsh then Jimmy Johnson the experiment thrived with the Dream team winning Gold by record setting margins in 1988 and 1992.
Now the quest for Eight begins in a few months. Here’s to another Red, White, and Blue Gold and the continuation of American Excellence at Soccer.
