Some thoughts about what whole soccer thing

Now that the United States has been eliminated from the World Cup, we can now concentrate the soccer story that really matters ... by which of course I mean the question of What It All Means For Soccer In The United States.

To be honest, I have no idea. I don't think the ratings (including non-U.S. games) and watch parties mean soccer is finally destined to leap into a lead spot on the U.S. sports landscape -- I have, at times, noticed that soccer has been the sport of the future for 35 years -- but they have to mean something. It's just a matter of what.

If I had to guess, the audience has been part rooting for the United States, part people who are soccer fans already and part loving big events, but it's hard to believe that the World Cup hasn't resulted in any new fans at all. Maybe they'll take in an MLS game (which by the way, I never have, not in person, anyway, and I haven't watched much on TV, either) or stop on NBC Sports Network this fall if Everton is playing because they remember that's who Tim Howard plays for.

In short, this year's World Cup will probably mean another incremental increase in the sport's popularity in the United States, that soccer will be a little closer to "success" and "arriving" here, whatever either of those two terms mean.

I just wish people would realize something I've said at least a couple times on Twitter already ... that liking soccer doesn't preclude someone from liking other sports, because sometimes I wonder if people realize that. Take, let's say, a certain sports columnist in Boston whose ability to make people hate him is so sublime he should be the hero for every professional wrestling heel working today.

While I've long thought his act had elements of shtick to it (depending on the situation, he can play idiot Boston fan, guy who mocks idiot Boston fan, troll and, once in a great while, columnist who writes something that makes sense), I do sometimes feel the "I don't like soccer and you can't make me" attitude that he and people like him have is a fear that appreciating soccer means they can't like baseball or football or whatever they like.

So they trot out "there's no scoring in soccer" (not always in baseball, either, and baseball has a lot more standing around when literally nothing happens) or "you can't use your hands" (quick, other than walking, running or kicking things, are they any activities that aren't easier by virtue of using your hands) or my new favorite, "you can't tell how much time is left" (because when does a baseball game end, exactly, and not knowing when the ref will call for time can sometimes make things more dramatic, not less).

I just wonder how they would do in a place like England, where soccer is basically the only major sport there is, where being able to see most any American sport, including the precious NFL, would be a novelty.

But they're not in England; they're here, and if they don't like soccer, they're still allowed to like whatever they do like.

There are just more people all the time who think they have it wrong.