Why I’m Blogging: No Soccer "Watercooler Talk" Around

It’s not always easy being a soccer fan in America…

True, things have gotten much better here in recent years: Soccer's popularity is generally on the rise. There’s increasing TV coverage with the likes of Fox Soccer Channel and ESPN (still wish I could get GolTV with Comcast), the MLS league is growing steadily and of course there's the internet. All of this is great but there still remains a Maracanã sized hole for one’s basic need to talk about all this stuff!

The majority of my friends simply don't follow the game (gotta love 'em for trying though). And you're lucky if there are two or three people at your work that know what’s going on. And by that I mean they really know what’s going on. They know the difference between club and country, they understand how the domestic and European leagues work and they know more than three players (not including Pelé and one of the Ronaldos). But that's two or three out of what? A few dozen, a hundred people.

Whenever I’m out and about and I hear a foreign accent nearby, I can’t help but drift closer to the person and ask: “Where are you from and who’s your team?” And boom! I’m in business talking to someone about the real deal. They know the history, the current events…Czech, English, Dutch, South American, it’s all good.

I liken this problem to a hardcore NBA/NFL/MLB fan living in Europe – they’d be dying over there – here they have it all and can take it for granted.

So all that said, this blog will attempt to serve as an outlet for expressing my many opinions about the Beautiful Game. Hopefully it will clear my head a bit, allow me to be more focused at home and work, and if I’m really lucky, I’ll even get a reader or two.

Here’s my disclaimer: I am not a news reporter or a journalist and, if you couldn't tell from the blog’s name, I definitely lean towards the German perspective.

So, bis später and Prost until next time.