Thanks to Jay Callahan for being our guest blogger. He's a bit of a soccer geek and as the head coach of a NCAA Division III women's soccer team, I think he's a bit of an expert...hey, I'm a bit partial, he's my younger brother...so here's what he has to say about the approaching World Cup game at a/perture...
In six days, the United States plays in arguably its biggest soccer match in history. As a former player, a current coach, and major fan of soccer, I have been looking forward to this match since it was announced several months ago. At the time of the World Cup drawings, I never would have guessed that I would be able to watch the U.S. vs. England game on a movie screen. Now that a/perture has added directv to their repertoire, they can broadcast the game live. Who could ask for more than to watch the game on a huge screen next to other fans all while drinking a beer? (btw...a/perture will have Yuengling on special for the Yanks and Newcastle the Rooney fans).
I am a major fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers/Penguins/Pirates and the WVU Mountaineers. It is hard for me to miss any of my team’s games (except for maybe the Pirates) and to cheer them on with everything I have. It is a great thing to root for your favorite city or your alma mater, but to be able to cheer for your country is on an entirely different level. Sure people say that's what the Olympics are for, but cheering on curlers or synchronized swimmers just doesn’t quite do it for me. The World Cup is the world’s biggest sporting event for a reason; we just haven't quite realized that yet in the States. On average, 100 million viewers watch each World Cup game and 750 million to 1 billion watch the finals. That is four times the number of those who watch the Super Bowl.
The US National team really is a “melting pot." We have team members with parents from Nigeria (Oguchi “Gooch” Onyewu), Haiti (Jozy Altidore), Brazil (Benny Feilhaber), Scotland (Stuart Holden), Mexico (Hercules Gomez, Jose Torres, Carlos Bocanegra), Canada (Landon Donovan), and Jamaica (Edson Buddle). If you need to watch an inspirational story to really get behind the team and its players, just check out this ESPN story about U.S. star Clint “Deuce” Dempsey.
I am not sure that we will be able to get a result from England on June 12, but I do know that we are better equipped than we have ever been to make a strong run in this World Cup. This year's team has players who play professionally in the U.S., Germany, England, Scotland, Spain, Denmark, France, Mexico, and Italy. If you are superstitious like me then you have to love the fact that the 2010 World Cup is being played outside of Europe and that it has been 8 years since we last had a strong run. Just look at our past five World Cup performances:
-1990 in Italy (Europe): Did not make it out of our group
-1994 in the U.S. (North America): Final 16
-1998 in France (Europe): Did not make it out of our group
-2002 in South Korea/Japan (Asia): Quarterfinals
-2006 in Germany (Europe):Did not make it out of our group
-2010 in South Africa (Africa): Semifinals maybe?
I do not have to explain our long history with England. We are allies now on all fronts, but there is still a competitive feeling you get when you think about the country that used to rule us. I am sure that England would love nothing more than to beat us handily this Saturday. On paper it looks like they will have no problem, but the game will not be played on paper; it will be played at a/perture and hopefully you will be there. This could be a once in a lifetime experience for you to support the Yanks against the Redcoats in the World Cup, unless of course you actually were alive and remember the last time the two countries faced off in the 1950 World Cup:
See you on Saturday...and don't forget to dress up as there will be prizes for the most spirited fans!
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