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July 22, 2002
Just To Tide You Over

Well, I'm off to the Big Apple today, to begin yet another week of traveling. By next Monday I should have 4500 miles under my belt. It's ironic that the reward you get for too much travel is frequent flyer miles enabling you to . . . travel.

In any event, in lieu of an engaging essay this morning, I've got something for you from Jonathan Chait in last week's New Republic, which is relevant to our earlier debate about the sissified status of soccer:

"What the soccer elites don't grasp is that Americans, not unreasonably, associate soccer with weakness. In football, the kicker is the smallest, wimpiest player on the field -- so presumptively unable to defend himself that there is a special penalty -- "roughing the kicker" -- to prohibit the other players from harming him. The kicker is like the near-sighted, asthmatic cousin your parents forced you to include in your game: Necessity compels his participation, but he is treated more gingerly than everybody else and is mildly scorned for it. When Americans see soccer, they see a game consisting entirely of kickers. (My high school football coach would not even deign to utter the word "soccer" -- he called it "communist homosexual activity.") But the simple truth is that no football-playing nation has ever lost a war to a soccer-playing nation."

Posted by Woodlief on July 22, 2002 at 08:41 AM


Comments

For what it's worth, the guy who scores the most points on most teams is the kicker. The all-time leading scorer in NFL history is undoubtedly a kicker.

This business about kickers and quarterbacks being wimps who need the protection of special rules has always bugged me. It makes me sick to see some 280 lb. defensive player doing a sack dance after he managed to blindside an unprotected 210 lb. QB at full speed. As far as I'm concerned, the tougher man is the guy who has the balls to stand in the pocket and try to get the pass (or the kick) off, knowing that he is going to eventually get drilled by a charging animal.

Still, I find the whole discussion about the sissiness of soccer to be hilarious yet, in some strange way, profound.

Posted by: jim at July 23, 2002 11:06 PM

Frequent flyer miles don't just allow you to travel. They allow you to:

  • Bring your family along on your travels (reward tickets)
  • Confirm first class upgrades, so you can travel well
  • Get merchandise discounts (a la Milepoint.com)
  • Get free hotel stays and car rentals (admittedly travel-related)
  • Make a whole bunch of money on Ebay (admitted against the rules of most programs, but still done)
  • And lots more.. just ask me if you need some ideas...

Posted by: Gary at July 24, 2002 7:03 AM