Beautifully played
While watching the World Cup last week at a sports bar in town, one of those "Joga Bonita" Nike commercials blared on the oversized flat screen in front of me. As I watched Brazil's Ronaldinho expertly knife his way through a group of helpless defenders I overheard a guy ask his buddies how anyone could consider soccer beautiful. He argued it was too boring and seemed pointless. "They kick a ball around, what's beautiful about that?" As I suppressed the urge to haul off and deck the jackass -- had his collar been popped there would have been no restraining me -- I pondered just how ignorant Americans are when it comes to the real football. On the whole, we simply don't get what it means to the rest of the world and probably never will. I'm here to try and bridge the gap and tell you why I love soccer and how I think it can change the world.
