I don't give an eff if you're not watching the World Cup.

See? The World Cup brings people together.

As the title of this entry implies, I have a bit of an issue with some sports fans. Namely, people who are proud that they're not watching a sporting event that billions of people across the world watch.

Now, I'm not a huge soccer fan. Outside of the World Cup, the only time I catch a game is when literally nothing else is on television. I like the peaceful noise in the background, assuming those blasted vuvuzela aren't involved, that a soccer game provides. Do I think it's the world's greatest television sport? Not especially.

However, I don't understand the knee-jerk, deeply rooted hate some people have for soccer and the World Cup. Yes, ESPN is running a lot of publicity for it. Summer just started folks, so if you're not into the World Cup, your other "summer storylines" are baseball, Lebron and Wimbledon. I don't think its fair to slam ESPN for covering the heck out of the World Cup, since it is the biggest event going and appeals to many casual sports fans in the same way the Olympics do.

On my way to work today, all the morning show guys on WEEI wanted to do was complain about soccer. Listen, I can understand that some people just don't like the game. As I previously said, I'm not the biggest soccer fan in the world. I don't understand the desire for others who allegedly hate the game to spend vital radio time making unfunny jokes about it. (Between this and the constant politics talk on Dennis and Callahan, I mostly listen to music in the mornings instead of WEEI.)

The thing I find oddest about this is that the hosts and callers seemed proud to really, really hate soccer. I dislike carrots and Sex and the City - It's not like I take a deep pride in ether. They're just facts. They also mentioned their extreme dislike of the metric system, which always seemed to me like a perfectly reasonable system, so maybe I'm just not enough of a xenophobe.

If you don't like soccer, stop spending hours lecturing your audience about why they shouldn't like it. Instead, talk about something you do enjoy - It's not like the Boston sports landscape lacks interesting topics to talk about, between the Celtics recently losing in the NBA finals and their uncertain roster situation, the Red Sox surging, and the Patriots' uncertain contract situations in Brady and Logan Mankins.

Visit my friend Mike for comprehensive World Cup coverage

I'll have an actual entry later tonight, and I might actually blog about soccer, depending on the outcome of the game today between England and the United States. However, if you are looking for some timely, good write-ups on most of the games, check out my friend Mike's blog here. He's a sophomore at URI, and a sports writer, and he's doing a pretty good cup covering all of the various games so far.

Also, because I really like the game, here is a picture of Nintendo World Cup.

Rhode Island edition: Crazy women's soccer highlight

Remember how last night, I linked to a crazy soccer clip from a game between two college teams? Well, apparently high school players were deeply, deeply effected by the clip, as a fight broke out between players on Tolman and Woonsocket, two Northern Rhode Island high schools, during the championship game between the two last night. Click here for the original story from WPRI 12.

Now in this fight, both players are eventually throwing punches, although it seems like the girl in maroon is more of an instigator. She throws the first punch, and a second before she does so, the other player was backing up and making the "wtf?" face because of the shove. I realize we can't see any of the play from previous in the game, but that isolated 10 seconds suggests more culpability on the maroon player.

The odd thing is that I can't find anything about this on the Projo blog or in the Journal sports section, at least online. I guess they didn't have anyone at the game, which seems odd for a state championship in a sport.

Super crazy women's soccer highlight

I think most people have seen the above soccer fight, but if you haven't, then please allow me to bring it to your attention. Just take a minute to drink it all in...

Okay. The nuttiest part is definitely when Lambert yanks down on her ponytail so powerfully that her body is snapped into the ground. That's just utterly ridiculous, like something you would see in exaggerated professional wrestling. It must have been a combination of 1) Lambert being surprisingly strong and 2) the other girl being completely unaware of what was coming.

My sister used to play soccer, and I remember things getting vicious in those games as well. I mean, not this vicious, but my sister was also playing rec soccer, not even high school. It seems like every crazy international sports story also revolves around soccer crowds or hooligans. There is something about the game that seemingly brings out the worst in everyone involved.

Once upon a time, I played on an indoor soccer team. It was my senior year of high school, and since I had never played before and was kind of out-of-shape, I wasn't anything special. But I could play a credible defensive back, because the rules about contact were fairly relaxed for the game. I can see why tempers flare in soccer, because I was a fairly chippy and cheap player, and when so much hinges on a single goal, I imagine you have more explosive outbursts than in something like basketball.