Brilliant satire? Or people with heads buried so far up their own asshole that the person who pulls anyone out will be crowned King Arthur?
This is particularly evident in New York creative circles, where the game’s aesthetics, Europhilic allure and fashionable otherness have made soccer the new baseball — the go-to sport of the thinking class.
Gone are the days, in other words, when you could make a wisecrack about David Beckham’s latest hairstyle and be done with the topic (note to newbies: Mr. Beckham, retired from the sport, is now an underwear pitchman). Nowadays, smart-set types are expected to be conversant in European soccer. “It’s like the way you expect somebody to know what’s happening in ‘True Detective,’ ” said David Coggins, the editorial director for the Freemans Sporting Club fashion label, who writes about European soccer for A Continuous Lean and Valet. |
| “It’s almost guaranteed that almost any male literary person under the age of 45 is going to be somewhat versed in soccer,” said Sean Wilsey, a writer who helped edit “The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup,” a 2006 compilation of essays by the likes of Dave Eggers and Robert Coover. As a conversation topic, it has become inevitable at book parties, in part because it is both sophisticated and safe. “Isn’t it sort of a relief to talk about the English Premier League instead of the sad state of publishing?” he added. “It’s a great default topic.” |
“You buy into the history and the tradition, the values of the club,” said Bryan Lee, a digital brand strategist who grew up in Southern California and lives in Greenpoint. He showed up in a vintage gray Liverpool away jersey. “Historically, Liverpool has been a blue-collar port city,” added Mr. Lee, 24, as thoughtful as if he were delivering his orals at graduate school. “The politics of Liverpool was really sort of anti-Thatcher. It’s become the people’s club. Those hardworking blue-collar values never really left, even though it’s been ushered into the modern era of the club being a global franchise.”
In a neighborhood that places a premium on authenticity, soccer offers plenty — at least compared to garish, earsplitting telecasts of American team sports. Unlike American football, there are no commercial breaks to disturb the balletic flow of action for 90 minutes, except at halftime. The rest of the world already knows soccer as “the beautiful game.” Aesthetically minded Americans have finally figured this out, too.
“Soccer is perfect for this neighborhood — it’s the alternative sport, it’s the too-cool sport,” said Michael Coogan, 30, a production assistant with flowing dark hair who lives nearby. “Williamsburg is too cool for everything.” |
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Perhaps hasty generalizations are hasty?
But I've sort of discovered the sport on my own. At least it feels that way. It started with a buddy of mine getting the FIFA video game. I played it a couple of times. Loved it. Sort of grew to appreciate the flow of the game and began losing my connection to the barriers I created between me and the sport (the clock ticking upwards, the offside rule that defied logic to me... you shouldn't be punished for getting behind the defense," etc.
Soon I started watching the games. Been learning about the players, the structure of the leagues in Europe. Before I was even aware of it, I was a fan... growing into a pretty big one. Right now, I'm more excited for the World Cup than I am the NFL draft. I'm still (much) more of an American football fan than a soccer fan, and granted, the World Cup is the biggest sporting event in the world... but the fact that anything about soccer is bigger to me than anything regarding American Football is crazy.
But I'm in. I'm a fan now.
Twatty fans like this have always been around. Luckily, they represent a small fraction of the viewing population and will eventually migrate elsewhere.
I think the issue here (if there has to be an issue, which on BBI there always seems to be) is the lack of a distinction between the "thinking, creative class" and hipsters. Both types of people "claim" to value the same ideas, though true thinkers of course put them into practice and maintain them beyond the length of the ideas' trendiness.... and both types of people also seem to be getting into a soccer at the moment.
The author makes references to both types of individuals throughout the article without establishing a distinction.
This is where some are getting tripped up.
Hockey and Soccer are the "4th" and "5th" most popular sport in America behind Football, Baseball, and Basketball.
What a shock that the favorite sport of most of these wannabes are the 4th and 5th most popular? Going against the grain man! It's Europe's favorite sport man, I'm so smart and modern!
So many fucking wannabes. I have nothing against soccer and hockey and I get into the World Cup and the NHL playoffs, and the majority of the fans in those sports are "real". But the amount of fans who fit the profile of what the writer is talking about is increasing and it is a very annoying segment of people.
Cringe-worthy article btw
Rest of the world, most importantly Western Europe, loves soccer, therefore it must be better than whatever the unwashed American plebs like. It's also a sign of intelligence and aesthetic.
I imagine saying these sorts of things at a pub full of Liverpool supporters in Liverpool would be a riot.
Hockey and Soccer are the "4th" and "5th" most popular sport in America behind Football, Baseball, and Basketball.
What a shock that the favorite sport of most of these wannabes are the 4th and 5th most popular? Going against the grain man! It's Europe's favorite sport man, I'm so smart and modern!
So many fucking wannabes. I have nothing against soccer and hockey and I get into the World Cup and the NHL playoffs, and the majority of the fans in those sports are "real". But the amount of fans who fit the profile of what the writer is talking about is increasing and it is a very annoying segment of people.
Cringe-worthy article btw
As I alluded to in my last post Osi, there's a ton of truth to what you say, and I do think the article doesn't distinguish enough between hipsters and people who are truly discovering soccer for the right reasons... but I do think the article is spot on in a lot of ways.
I'll use myself as an example. You can say a lot of things about me, but I'm definitely not a hipster and am certainly a "real sports fan." My favorite sport is American football. Is there anything more trendy than that?
So with that caveat in mind, as I said earlier, I'm becoming a much bigger soccer fan lately. The article talks about how baseball grew with the radio, football with television, and now soccer is perhaps growing here in the states with the Internet. I think that's true. It's a game that is/was primarily popular overseas, so it makes sense to me that, if it were going to blew up, it would be in an age where video and scores from oversea became accessible with the click of a button.
I'm genuinely enjoying the sport when I never thought I would, and I know a handful of fellow non-hipster, true sports fans experiencing the same thing.
the whole thing is just article just displays a complete group think.
If any group can make something ironic enough to be popular it's hipsters.
Quote:
As I alluded to in my last post Osi, there's a ton of truth to what you say, and I do think the article doesn't distinguish enough between hipsters and people who are truly discovering soccer for the right reasons... but I do think the article is spot on in a lot of ways.
I'll use myself as an example. You can say a lot of things about me, but I'm definitely not a hipster and am certainly a "real sports fan." My favorite sport is American football. Is there anything more trendy than that?
So with that caveat in mind, as I said earlier, I'm becoming a much bigger soccer fan lately. The article talks about how baseball grew with the radio, football with television, and now soccer is perhaps growing here in the states with the Internet. I think that's true. It's a game that is/was primarily popular overseas, so it makes sense to me that, if it were going to blew up, it would be in an age where video and scores from oversea became accessible with the click of a button.
I'm genuinely enjoying the sport when I never thought I would, and I know a handful of fellow non-hipster, true sports fans experiencing the same thing.
There are a lot of diehard soccer fans. And the growth of it's popularity is about a lot more than hipsters. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, like you said the internet has probably helped it a ton.
You mentioned FIFA and that's a great point. Because that's one of the ways I got into soccer years ago after not playing it as a kid. It's a great multi-player video game compared to almost every other sport. It's also fun to play by yourself and rip shots. I get that. And I'm not calling every fan who likes soccer a hipster.
But there is certainly a solid portion of soccer fans who just like it because it goes against the grain of American sports-entertainment. And the fact that it is considered "Global/European" and "not very big in America" makes it more appealing to these people.
Phonies.
As a fan of the NFL, NBA, MLB, what's wrong with enjoying foreign league soccer? It's beautiful, and the game i played primarily since the age of 5.
Shouldn't its worldwide popularity suggest that there is something inherently enjoyable and valuable there? isnt there a little evidence to that.
There will always be douches, but the inferiority complex that turns everything classist is even more insufferable.
Lots of people in the federation think that we miss out on really good talent in the US, because underprivileged athletes can't afford these clinics, basically preventing them from being noticed. They think the whole scouting system basically sucks in the US.
So I can see why it has been developed into an "thinking class" sport. To be quite honest I hate the Soccer Snobs which generally lobs those thinking class people into that category anyway.
There are a few "wankers" who might go over the top a bit, for the style points. And screw them.
Terms that make me roll my eyes are "Authentic", "Grassroots" and "Organic". I'm relatively sure anyone who has come into contact with Euro Snob/Poseur types know exactly what I'm talking about.