3:00pm, the pre-game ceremony begins. Students leave school early, employees jump in cabs to the nearest bars and bank tellers turn their backs to the windows to garner a better view of the TV. 3:25pm the opening ceremonies commence. Businesses are at a standstill for the next two hours. Not even public busses roam the streets. The games are watched with heavy concentration. Huge sighs of relief are let out for missed shots. Broken glasses, as a result of fist pounding for a faulty call on the referee’s part, are left to be dealt with after the game. And of course, the ever-popular GOOOOOOOOOAL is the cry heard round the world. The final whistle is blown and the fans go wild. The main streets are flooded with people. Air horns, bull horns, car horns and vuvuzelas compete with loud cheers. Flares and firecrackers light the sky. Grandmas join in song with teenagers singing songs of the nation. “Soy Celeste! Soy Celeste! Celeste Yo soy!”

If you haven’t caught on by now, I’m describing the celebration that occurred after Uruguay had won any game in the World Cup. Never would you see this in the U.S. Yea sure, we were happy when we advanced. I saw the you tube videos. People were hugging and clapping. But they sure as heck weren’t singing, “I’m read white and blue!”… all in unison… for hours on end.

So why is that? Why has soccer never been popular in the U.S.? With America being as diverse as it is, with citizens of European, and South and Central American decent (Both of which have seen soccer become incredibly successful), why did soccer never catch on? After reading some articles, asking a few friends, and a little brainstorming, I’ve come up with some plausible reasons, which I will list below:

It wasn’t created in America: What do baseball, basketball and American football have in common? They all began in the good ole U.S. of A. It makes sense that our most popular sports, also happen to be ones we can claim ownership of. Yet even Tennis (created in the U.K.) and Golf (created in Scotland) find more popularity in the U.S. than soccer. What gives?

It’s a very low scoring game: Can you imagine sitting in one place for 90 minutes only for the score to remain 0-0? Well I have, and I’ll put it out there, it’s rough. It’s hard not to get distracted!  Some of my most intense moments of watching, are not when the team I’m routing for is on the offensive, it’s when they are showing a replay of a goal they FINALLY got it in. Don’t get me wrong, I understand how difficult it is to play soccer, (e.g. you don’t see me playing), but we just don’t have the attention span. It’s a wonder we watch golf the way we do. So adding another slow sport to our agenda, just not happening.

It’s hard to advertise during a soccer game: That’s a 90-minute slot of time for which you are not able to bombard the viewer with the latest sports drink, or a new medical innovation to improve performance, or even the best beer brand. Though we as the viewers appreciate no interruptions, it’s not very profitable, and probably the reason sports channels are unable to provide extensive soccer coverage.

Economic reasons: Soccer in other countries is viewed as a more viable way to make money, than say becoming a doctor or an accountant (which is quite the opposite in the states). In one episode of Vanguard (a documentary TV series), Soccer’s Lost Boys, one father commented saying he’d much rather his son play soccer than go to high school, otherwise he wouldn’t have a chance of being discovered as a soccer player.

And lastly, it’s because we call it soccer! If we had named American Football- soccer, and left football, as it’s universally known name, maybe it would have seen more support! After all, American Football seems to do pretty well for itself, and the game barely has anything to do with feet! It must be something in the name that gives it its success.

“People have not learned to appreciate the game in the U.S.,” said Ileana Betancourt, a member of the Cornell Women’s Club Soccer team. “There’s still a lot of creativity in the game, unlike other sports, like baseball,” commented Isa, her twin sister, and also a member of the team.

However, soccer may be coming into some newfound popularity soon enough. Philadelphia recently built a new stadium to host their recently created team; now a member in the Major League Soccer (MLS). In addition, USA’s very own Landon Donnovan broke an internet traffic record! After scoring the winning goal in the 91st minute of the World Cup Game against Algeria, internet traffic reached more than 11.2 million visits per minute! Over 2.5 million more visits than when Obama won the presidency!