When I was in London in 2008, I spent a couple hours…
““When I was in London in 2008, I spent a couple hours hanging out at a pub with a couple of blokes who were drinking away the afternoon in preparation for going to that evening's Arsenal game/riot. Take away their Cockney accents, and these working-class guys might as well have been a couple of Bubbas gearing up for the Alabama-Auburn game. They were, in a phrase, British rednecks. And this is who soccer fans are, everywhere in the world except among the college-educated American elite. In Rio or Rome, the soccer fan is a Regular José or a Regular Giuseppe. [...] By contrast, if an American is that kind of Regular Joe, he doesn't watch soccer. He watches the NFL or bass fishing tournaments or Ultimate Fighting. In an American context, avid soccer fandom is almost exclusively located among two groups of people (a) foreigners—God bless 'em—and (b) pretentious yuppie snobs. Which is to say, conservatives don't hate soccer because we hate brown people. We hate soccer because we hate liberals.””
About This Quote
This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.
Soccer fandom in the US is split between outsiders and pretentious elites; mainstream Americans often reject it, associating it with liberalism.
In simple terms: Americans view soccer as foreign or elite.
Key Takeaway
Bridge cultural gaps to broaden appeal.
Themes
sports culture
identity
politics
Mood
analytical
critical
Type
sociopolitical
observational
When to use this quote
- college campuses
- community leagues
- sports bars
- media coverage
Key Concepts
sociology
media representation
regional differences
Questions to Reflect On
- Why do some groups reject soccer?
- How can sport unite diverse audiences?
A Different Perspective
Stereotypes persist; political polarization fuels division.