God Hates American Soccer

When Derek Jeter's 3,000 hit sailed over the Yankee Stadium wall last week, it once again became obvious that God loves the Yankees.  Not only did Jeter get number 3,000 in front of his home crowd (thanks in part to an injury the week before), but it was part of an afternoon that seemed scripted by Hollywood.  "DJ3K" finished the day with five hits, had the game winning RBI single in the eighth inning, and the homerun ball was caught by a kind-hearted fan who returned the ball to Jeter free of charge (he did receive some suite tickets and signed merchandise in return).  It was a moment, and a day, that only Yankees fans, players and media could even hope for.

Unfortunately, U.S. Soccer doesn't seem to get any of the storybook moments that come so naturally to the Yankees.  In fact, after today's gut-wrenching U.S. women's loss in the World Cup final against Japan, I'm starting to think that God wants to torture American soccer fans.  First, the U.S. men come off of an incredible round-robin win over Algeria in the 2010 World Cup, only to lose in the elimination round to an injury-faking Ghana squad.  Earlier this summer, the U.S. men's Gold Cup run concluded with a 4-2 loss to Mexico in the finals in a game that they lead 2-0.  Despite these other heartbreaks, today might have been the worst of all.  After the U.S.'s incredible last second victory over Brazil, the women's squad seemed destined to take the 2011 World Cup championship.  But after leading the finals 1-0 and 2-1, the U.S. blew the game and lost to Japan on penalty kicks.

Just like the U.S. men did last summer, the U.S. women made major strides this July with their impressive World Cup run. Sports fans are now familiar with players like Hope Solo, and the Wambach game-tying goal against Brazil is a moment that people will remember for a long time.  At the same time, though, American soccer fans were once again robbed of a sport-altering moment.  Had the women taken the title, they would have been all over mainstream American media - nightly news programs, late night talk shows and amateur sports blogs.  Now, people will be talking about U.S. women's soccer, but for mostly the wrong reasons.  The amazing run to the finals will be lost among reports of what could have been, as people inevitably focus on the team's inability to close out Japan instead of the amazing moments and contributions that lead them to the finals.

Despite all of these disappointments, I'm still excited for the future of U.S. soccer.  I've been looking forward to the 2014 men's World Cup in Brazil since the moment I returned from South Africa last summer, and nothing is going to change that for me.  But I do worry that the same can't be said of other, more casual U.S. soccer fans.  How many stomach punches can the average soccer-wary American really stand?  It seems like if the sports gods get their way, sooner or later we'll unfortunately get to find out.