Americans Not Catching Metric Football Fever

Team USA got trounced in their opening round game at the World Cup and may be on their way to an early exit. According to this article, most Americans won't care:

Standing near an RV in the infield at a NASCAR race, the subject of soccer and the World Cup came up, quite unexpectedly. "What's the World Cup?" asked race fan Rich Possinger.

OK, so he admitted he actually did know a thing about the world's biggest sporting event. But like many fellow Americans, Possinger was not setting aside time to watch the U.S. team, which took the field for its first game Monday.

"I'm waiting for the bug to bite," he said, "and it hasn't yet."

Might not happen anytime soon, either, given America's dispiriting 3-0 loss to the Czechs in the opener. Four years ago, the U.S. made a surprise run into the quarterfinals that sparked a bit of soccer madness back home.

Four years, however, is a long time to milk a couple of wins.

"Soccer is just a sport that's still not dominant in the United States," said Randy Chavez of Albuquerque, N.M. "I'd rather follow baseball, football or basketball, rather than what the rest of the world calls 'football.'"

Indeed, the world's most popular sport is big only around the fringes in the United States _ played by plenty (mostly kids) but watched by few (mostly diehards).

This pretty much confirms my opinion on the whole thing.