5 Reasons Why Women's World Cup Soccer Works

1) Patriotism

In few other sporting competitions does the entire country band together and root for the same team. En masse. The Olympics are a largely individual competition and we as americans don't really care that much about most other sports' international competitions. Basketball was a little interesting for a while. I was kind of into the gold medal game in last year's winter Olympics. But, usually we're rooting against each other. High school against high school, city against city. We compete from within. It's very uniquely american. Part of what drives us and pushes us beyond most other countries. So, when we all have a common cause to throw our collective weight behind, it's something special.

Couple that with an underdog attitude born from the fact that we have yet to establish world dominance in soccer (more predominantly on the men's side) and the snowball of fans can build quickly.

2) British Announcer

I've seen many replays of the 1999 women's team winning the world cup. If you listen to the broadcaster for this game, it's an american who knows very little about announcing a soccer match. And likely very little about soccer in general. He gets overly excited on every foray into the opposing team's half. He build drama when there is no drama there and it leads to so many false hopes for excitement, you become disenchanted with the game. You start to think soccer is boring.

Soccer is a game of buildup. It's a moving chess match and needs a play by play man that understands this. Soccer contrary to popular american belief isn't boring at all. Contrary to our four major sports, there are actually NO stoppages of play. Baseball has about 3 minutes of actual action every game. Football is in a constant state of start and stop. Soccer though is ever moving. And bringing in a seasoned british announcer who understand how to harness that excitement makes all of the difference in the world.

3) Women are unathletic

I've actually started to prefer the women's game to the men's. Well, that's a lie.... but it does have a certain quality that makes it a little different to watch on TV. Women, through no fault of their own (blame God!) just don't have the quick twitch muscles needed to make athletic moves. So, they rely more on skill or "technique" as soccer fans put it, rather than raw athletic ability. The field seems to be spaced better allowing for more eloquent buildups and intricate passing. It seems to flow better at times. I feel like goals are possible at every turn. This is more exciting.

4) There is absolutely nothing else on

This time of year is traditionally a down time for sports viewers. There is only one major sport, baseball, going on and it's terribly boring to watch on TV without alcohol. I can sometimes survive on golf majors and maybe Wimbeldon with the current trio of brilliant men's players, but this weekend, I had neither. The only football and basketball news revolves around lockouts, and hockey is... for canadians. So, really it's a perfect time for this event.