为什么美国人不喜欢足球？

Schelfaniel

Why Soccer Is Not Popular In America?
by Steven M. Warshawsky, 05-15-2009

Despite decades of strenuous efforts to promote soccer to American youth and sports fans, and despite the phenomenal success of the American women's soccer team in international competition, soccer remains the neglected stepchild of the American sports scene.

So why don't Americans like soccer? There appear to be two basic explanations. The first is that the "marketplace" for sports in this country already is filled with baseball, football, basketball, and (to a much lesser degree) hockey, leaving no room for soccer to grow in popularity.

I'm not convinced. Marketplaces are inherently dynamic. If soccer were a worthy object of the American sports fan's interest, then it would enjoy greater popularity. But it doesn't. Which brings me to the second common explanation for its lack of popularity: soccer is boring.

In my opinion, a lack of scoring is not merely an incidental aspect of the game of soccer —— it is its essence. That is, the ultimate purpose of soccer is to engage in lots of furious activity to accomplish . . . absolutely nothing. Not surprisingly, when that elusive goal is scored (if it is scored), ear—shattering howls of euphoria erupt from players, announcers, and spectators alike, as if their very souls were being released from the depths of hell.

Goals are indeed a rare commodity in soccer, so much so that soccer is, essentially, a zero sum game. The "pie" of goals not only is meager, it never grows. So it is fought over with an intensity that is almost never found in American sports. This isn't boring, but it is deeply unsatisfying to Americans.

My theory is that Americans have neither the belief system nor the temperament for such a sisyphean sport as soccer. We are a society of doers, achievers, and builders. Our country is dynamic, constantly growing, and becoming ever bigger, richer, and stronger. We do not subscribe to a "zero sum" mentality. We do not labor for the sake of laboring. And we like our sports teams to score. Scoring is a tangible accomplishment that can be identified, quantified, tabulated, compared, analyzed, and, above all else, increased.  This is the American way.（World’s Most Popular Jersey．）

Schelfaniel

尽管美国国家男足和女足近年来在世界大赛上的表现都非常不错，但足球这项运动在美国始终无法被大部分人所喜爱。



    一直以来大家普遍认为这是因为美国的运动传统已经被棒球，美式橄榄球和篮球占据，因此足球在美国已经没有发展空间。这一点固然有道理，但是作为一项容易参与的运动，足球既然能在其它地区都流行，在美国却那么衰败一定还有其它更深层次的原因。



    我认为在传统的美国人眼里看来，足球是一项没“劲”的运动，用英文说就是boring。美国人很难接受没有得分的体育比赛，而90分钟0比0的结果在足球比赛里可谓是司空见惯。即便是有进球，足球比赛中也很难出现高分，这一点不符合美国人看体育比赛的习惯。在美国，人们没有耐心去苦苦等待足球比赛中进球那一刻所带来的激情，美国人所需要的体育比赛，是时时刻刻都充满的刺激。



    美国是个充满激情和创造力的国家，美国人天性就喜欢挑战和竞争，平局的结果不会被大众所迎合。在美国人眼里，自己的球队一定要不停的得分，而且还要得高分才能表现出真正的实力，所以足球这项运动很难满足美国人的这点欲望。 （全世界哪位体育明星的球衣最畅销？ ）