The world cup passes America by

Whilst the rest of the world follows the world cup, the United States looks on with bemusement. This article in the Weekly Standard pretty much sums up the parochial attitute of many Americans.

There are many theories as to why football (or soccer as the Americans call it) has never taken off. One theory is that the TV networks didn't see any commercial viability in a game that goes on for 45 minutes without a commercial break.

That being said, there is a major soccer league, the sport is popular amongst schoolchildren and university students, and there are soccer summer camps all over the country. I was counsellor at Camp Ramah some years back, and we used play co-ed soccer regularly. Not only were the players very good, the women were even better than the men!