SITTING IN THE CHEAP SEATS: Time to care about soccer again- for a little while

Once every four years, Americans care about soccer and that time is here again. Normally not the most popular sport in the country, America has suddenly become soccer-crazed. I’ve seen Alexi Lalas on SportsCenter more than I’ve seen Barry Melrose in the last two weeks. Record numbers of people are tweeting about and including soccer in their Facebook statuses. I’ve even seen Heyward 22s being replaced by Donovan 10s on casual Fridays.
It’s not hard to see why soccer and the World Cup have suddenly become so popular in the U.S. While soccer fights to stay at the top of our thoughts nationally, soccer is undoubtedly the most popular sport there is internationally. Soccer is a religion in places like Italy, Brazil and Mexico in the same way that college football is religion in places like Athens, Gainesville and Tuscaloosa. The World Cup is the rest of the world’s Super Bowl. So, naturally, Americans have temporarily adopted the sport, because if there’s one thing Americans love, it’s getting the chance to flex our muscles globally.
While the Americans are considered a long shot to win the World Cup (Brazil, Italy and Spain are among the favorites) crazier things have happened when it comes to America versus anybody else (see: Lake Placid-1980, Yorktown-1781 and Rocky IV). And while the World Cup is the ultimate prize for the 32 teams competing, most Americans should be thrilled to beat rival England and win Group C. Once the 16-team playoff starts, though, who knows? Anything can happen.
Could I name five players on the U.S. team (Landon Donovan and … um…)? No. Could I name the entire Atlanta Braves 25 man roster? Yes. Would I rather the U.S. win the World Cup or have an Atlanta team capture a championship? The latter, but that’s just me. Will I be glued to my TV, rooting like hell when the U.S. takes on England Saturday? You bet your butt I will.
The World Cup isn’t going to bring soccer into the American mainstream once it’s done. Kids aren’t going to be trading in their baseball bats and football helmets for shin guards. We’ve had that debate before and the answers are clear. But, nonetheless, the World Cup will make great TV for a month, and you have to appreciate anything that can bring the globe together for competition that doesn’t involve firearms and oil.
STRASBURG WITH A HEYWARD-LIKE DEBUT…
I thought Curt Schilling was smoking something pretty strong when he previously stated that Stephen Strasburg would be the best pitcher in the major leagues the first time he put a uniform on. But after watching Strasburg’s seven-inning, 14-strikeout debut Tuesday (thank you MLB Network), Schilling may have just been right. Strasburg actually exceeded the massive amount of hype surrounding him. In front of a standing-room only crowd in the nation’s capital, Strasburg was magnificent.
"I really can’t put into words any better than what you just saw," Nationals manager Jim Riggleman said. Strasburg’s fastball was consistently 97-99 miles per hour. His curveball made knees buckle, and his changeup made batters quit. Perhaps more impressive than the 14 Ks was the fact that he had no walks, showing that Strasburg was in command of his stuff all night. His 14 strikeouts were the second-most ever in any MLB debut and he did it in seven innings, with his coaches trying to limit him to around 90 pitches (he ended up throwing 94). Karl Spooner and J.R. Richard each recorded 15 strikeouts in their debuts, but both were complete games. After striking out the last seven batters he faced, it’s likely that had Strasburg gone out for the eighth and ninth he would’ve set a new record.
Before the season, Strasburg and the Braves’ Jason Heyward were widely considered far-and-away the two best prospects in the majors. Heyward put on a show in his debut, hitting a three-run homer on his first swing and later driving in another run on an RBI single. Strasburg, like Heyward, fed the hype machine in his debut Tuesday. The two will likely be linked to each other their entire career, as the NL East could feature the best hitter and the best pitcher in the game for the next 10-plus seasons to come. The two will likely get their first crack at each other June 30 at Turner Field, where Strasburg is scheduled to start. It will certainly be a showdown for the ages.
HAWKS COACHING CANDIDATES UNEXCITING…
It’s been a month since the Hawks season came to an end and the team is (supposedly) close to naming Mike Woodson’s successor. The favorites said to be Dwane Casey, who I have to say isn’t exactly thrilling to me. Casey failed to turn around the Minnesota Timberwolves. Avery Johnson was recently hired by the Nets, but I wasn’t thrilled with hi either. I’m not necessarily saying that the Hawks should have kept Woodson, but sometimes you should be careful what you wish for. If I’m Rick Sund, I wait for the Finals to end and do anything I can to bring in Doc Rivers. Rivers is rumored to have said this would be his last season in Boston and the former Hawks player already has a championship ring and a better track record than anyone that the Hawks have interviewed so far.