With Sports, Amateurs Rule

It’s been more than three weeks since the crowning of the 2026 World Cup champion. So you might consider the topic old hat. I beg to differ. I think the five-week-long event spanning North America awakened a generation of Americans to soccer in ways not previously seen.

Until the Cup came to our shores, I didn’t understand the spectacle it represents. Players and fans from dozens of nations descending on the US, Canada, and Mexico gave me an up-close look at why soccer is the world’s most popular sport.

Not mine. Now, my interest has risen lately, especially after our great-grandson became starting goalie for his high school team last year. But I think fascination with a particular sport has a lot to do with playing it when you grow up.

So, with my interest in pro basketball and pro baseball fading in recent years, I’ve landed almost by default on football. To me, it is three separate sports: high school, college, and professional.

A Whole Game!

Still, for the first time in my life, on July 1 I sat down to watch a soccer game from start to finish. I cheered heartily as the U.S. defeated Bosnia and Herzegovina (how two countries are one is beyond me) 2-0, despite losing a player to a red card in the second half.

A red card that I considered capricious, unreasonable, and almost as bad as the nitpicky offsides calls that negated a pair of U.S. goals that night.

That the U.S. team went on to play flatter than an IHOP pancake in the next round against Belgium pretty well killed my interest.

I kept a flicker alive for England, though, since the friend who edits these blogs before they see the light of day is a British native.

But when the Brits fumbled away a 1-0 lead to Argentina in the waning moments, there went any of my concern for who won the title.

Looking Ahead

Now that 2026 play is over, I see millions eagerly looking ahead to 2030, when Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will host the 100th anniversary of the World Cup.

In addition to grasping the Cup’s expansive nature, this year’s version brought an awareness of the universal nature of human beings.

As in America, soccer fans across the globe love to gripe about the officiating and grumble about the coaches (i.e., England).

Just like Americans, they get enmeshed in conflict, political maneuvering, and ugly threats against players. The latter were most likely driven by how much money the grumblers had bet—and lost—on the match.

While I don’t want to sound simplistic, I think the enormous amounts of soccer wagering circulating in North America in June and July underscored money’s corrupting influence. (Or, as 1 Timothy 6:10 puts it: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.”)

This element of greed is one reason that, as my hair gets grayer, I find myself appreciating youth, middle school, and high school sports much more than the pros.

Watching young men and women largely play for the love of the game, enjoy camaraderie with their teammates, and boost their school and community typifies the best of sports.

So this fall, I will be watching both high school football and soccer, cheering on great-grandsons on the field, and a great-granddaughter marching at halftime. As the Old Milwaukee Beer commercials used to say, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”