A national anthem for soccer?
Yesterday, Amy posted a comment about the new Gatorade commercial featuring the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Amy says that, as a baseball fan, she’s offended by Gatorade using what is essentially baseball’s national anthem, Take Me Out To The Ballgame, in their soccer advertisement. I’m not sure her offense is warranted; however, her point is well-taken.
My questions to you, gentle readers, are these:
1) Do we have a distinctly American soccer anthem?
2) Do we need one?
3) What should be included, e.g., what is soccer’s response to peanuts and Crackerjack?
I’m serious about this. If we need to write an anthem, let’s get at it already.
36 comments
It’s A Whole New Ballgame…
Best catch-phrase for a soccer ad in the US yet……
“I’d have no problem with the commercial if they’d be creative enough to write their own damn song.”
I think that was the point. We don’t have a song, we don’t have an identity, we are the red-headed (ginger) step-children of American sports.
“Gatorade is doing nothing to win over baseball fans with this one, that’s for sure.”
I’m not sure if you noticed this or not, but the commercial was not about baseball. It was about futbal. Basically Gatorade was letting you know that since your sport can’t stop dope fiends like Barry Bonds from tainting the game, they would be focusing, if only for a month, on a far more interesting international competition – the World Cup.
Which, by the way, actually is an international competition wheras your “World” Series isn’t. Unless of course you consider the “world” North America.
Now to Josh’s five questions…(three questions)…er, three questions.
1.) “Ole” is about as close as it gets, though I feel the need to shoot myself for bringing it up. (I can just hear the England fans in Chicago singing “You only know one song”.)
2.) No, not really and especially not The Deuce’s “Don’t Tread on This”
3.) Well, there really is no answer to this since I answered no to number 2. I think our own song is something that will come with time. For now we can just steal other people’s chants and change the words.
Great post, Josh.
First, and totally divergent from the main point of my post, any offense taken by baseball fans to the use of “Take me out..” in the Gatorade ad speaks to just how silly Americans are when it comes to soccer. You know what? Relax! No one is trying to steal baseball’s thunder. It will always be America’s pastime (whatever that means) and the thinking man’s game (ditto). The point of the ad, in my opinion, was to demonstrate that a) soccer exists, b) it’s damned exciting, and c) other countries are as fanatical about soccer as we are of baseball (as evidenced by the shaking ceiling, which totally ruled). Don’t get your panties in a bunch about it. Everything will be fine.
I don’t know that it’s imperative for the U.S. to create an ‘anthem’ for American soccer. Enlgand doesn’t have one, per se, though artists do inevitably create trite and peppy hooks before the major tournaments, which the tabloid media exploits for everything they are worth. What England fans do have, in abundance, are songs about how great England is and how bad everyone else is (particularly Scotland). ‘Rule Brittania’, “Two World Wars and One World Cup” (to the Germans), “If it weren’t for the British you’d be Krauts” (to the French), and “Are you Scotland in Disguise” to everyone else. I think this is the formula to follow in the creation of soccer songs for the U.S. I must confess ignorance about the state of American soccer songs, but I’d like to see the U.S. move in this direction.
Soccer, ultimately, is how many nations define themselves on the world stage. It’s really the last accepted form of outright nationalism. Without jingoistic expressions, soccer loses much of its luster. The U.S. has other outlets to express its national pride, so it hasn’t been critical to phrase how great we are in soccer chant. Let’s change that.
Several points.
First I don’t think Gatorade was trying to write an anthem. I guess we all understand that. They are pounding in the point that this is a “brand new ballgame”. No not to the rest of the world and not even to us futbal fans, but to the rest of the U.S. that are not yet fans. In that regard they are correct and it is effective. No offense taken on my part. I am not a huge baseball fan but I have always seen a commonality between baseball and soccer in that it is a game of tension. There are always a lot of “almost’s” moments in both games and only great individual feats of skill and effort keep the other team from scoring.
When Philips was a sponsor for the U.S. National team they came up with a theme song for the U.S. team. This was done in the form of a contest that people could enter. This was all done (I think) shortly before the last World Cup. The song was about as lame as they come and it was quickly forgotten…thankfully!
So I pose a question, do most countries have a theme for the Nat. team? I am guessing not. Why do we feel we need one?
And for our Brit friends across the pond who may be singing, “You only know one song”. I reply by singing, “We have dentist”!
Sorry to Three Lions. We were evidently writing at the same time and made some of the same points.
More appropriately, U.S. fans should chant “We have fluouride in the water!” Contrary to popular belief, England has an abundance of dentists (which are all free or charge, thanks to National Health). It’s the lack of fluouride in the water over the last several generations which has led to the rotten, yellow, cavity-ridden appearance of British teeth.
Americans could also chant “We have orthodontics!”, since it’s obvious that the sceptered isle is severly lacking in the use of retainers and braces.
Yea, I know they have destist but the “We have dentist”, is much funnier and has a better flow than “We have orthodontist”. The point is you have bad teeth and we don’t. “We have orthodontist” just sounds a bit pompous. But then again that is a bit of a British trait is it not?
Pompous and bad teeth….hmmm, maybe we could get something going with that one?
Contrary to popular belief, England has an abundance of dentists (which are all free or charge, thanks to National Health).
Not a glowing endorsement of National Health.
Soccer, ultimately, is how many nations define themselves on the world stage. It’s really the last accepted form of outright nationalism.
You said in two sentences what Franklin Foer said in a couple chapters. I don’t know if that means you’re a great writer or a terrible writer; maybe it just means that you aren’t writing a book.
You talk about the good old England standards, but you left out the “Eng-land, Eng-er-land, Eng-er-land” song/chant. I think we need something like that.
It depends how you define nationlism. I think sports provides at least a few other examples: the Olympics, the new World Baseball Classic, the Ryder Cup, etc. One could argue that soccer’s nationalism often has a more violent…er, passionate bent, but they certainly haven’t cornered the market on nationalism.
The point is you have bad teeth and we don’t.
You clearly haven’t been to the Ozarks or Appalachin country recently. Ack. Talk about anti-dentites….
It depends how you define nationalism. I think sports provides at least a few other examples: the Olympics, the new World Baseball Classic, the Ryder Cup, etc. One could argue that soccer’s nationalism often has a more violent…er, passionate bent, but they certainly haven’t cornered the market on nationalism.
Fair enough; but, Ghana isn’t going to produce an Olympic ice skating champion, England won’t produce a world-class baseball team, Mexico won’t carry any bags to the Ryder Cup, and the U.S. won’t see the first inning of the ICC World Cup. Of the few things these countries have in common, soccer is the most prominent.
Yes, the nationalism produced by soccer is passionate. It’s also the only kind that is globally understood.
Talk about anti-dentites.
Classic.
“Kramer: You’re a rabid anti-dentite! Oh, it starts with a few jokes and some slurs. “Hey, denty!” Next thing you know you’re saying they should have their own schools.
Jerry: They do have their own schools!”
I liked the Gatorade commercial and thought the use of Take Me Out to the Ballgame was sweet. It’s a new spin on an old idea that still doesn’t hurt it.
Nelly Furtado has a soccer song (Forca) on her last album, but she’s Canadian/Portuguese, so that’s a bit of a stretch of US soccer. Someone call Drew Carey, see if he can do one of those fun dance numbers to a song we can co-opt for soccer.
It depends how you define nationlism. I think sports provides at least a few other examples: the Olympics, the new World Baseball Classic, the Ryder Cup, etc.
Likening the nationalism on display at these events to, say the World Cup, is like comparing a U.S./Mexico soccer match to the Super Bowl: A majority of Americans might know the U.S. is playing a match against Mexico, but few really care or will choose to watch the event. To the contrary, nearly everyone cares about the Super Bowl (for reasons which totally escape me).
Such is the case with tennis/golf/Olympics, etc. People care, but not to the extent to which they care about soccer. Honestly, I think the reason you haven’t seen a war in Western Europe for the last 60 years is because they determine the national pecking order on the football pitch. Fans of England and Argentina don’t hate each other like fans of the Vikings and Packers do; they hate each other because of the Falklands. So when Argentina beats England, the country practically riots because it’s like they’ve fought the war all over again, but came out on the winning side. Due respect, but the country doesn’t react in any such manner when David Nalbandian beats Tim Henman.
My corny but true closing: I love soccer because when I see my country’s team on the pitch, I see them rise transcend the mortal coil. They ARE England in every substantive way. When they win, I share in the victory and my despair is endless when they lose. No other sporting experience illicits such a reaction from me.
I would argue that there are plenty of nations that will never produce a World Cup champion either – do we really think Liechtenstein, San Marino, Palestine, Madagascar, Burkina Faso, Tonga, St. Vincent, et al., have a realistic chance? Not sure how many nations have teams (probably similar to how many have Olympic teams), but only seven have been crowned champion, so it’s a pretty select group. In fact, the only “new” team to even show up in the final match since ’74 is France (who can likely attribute at least part of its success to being the host nation).
As far as soccer’s nationalism being globally understood, I would beg to differ, if for no other reason than it has failed to garner a captive audience of any real significance here in the States. That might sound rather US-centric, but if you’re looking for something to be truly “global”, I think it needs to include the US.
Someone call Drew Carey, see if he can do one of those fun dance numbers to a song we can co-opt for soccer.
Well, we know he’s a fan. Also, he could just replace the words to the theme song for the Drew Carey Show (which I just learned was written by The Presidents of the United States of America).
Three Lions – well said, and I can identify with that feeling, but for me, watching the US in events like the Olympics can elicit the same response (I was fairly young when it happened, but I still get goosebumps every time someone replays the “Miracle on Ice” video).
if you’re looking for something to be truly “global”, I think it needs to include the US.
It’s just semantics, really. If 190 of the 192 countries in the world (get with it, Vatican City!) can field a team to compete for the World Cup qualification, that’s about as global as it gets.
Global, yes, but the point offered was that soccer’s passionate nationalism is globally understood – that’s where I disagree.
I reckon I understand it and many in England (read: the elite) don’t.
But, you’re right; it isn’t understood here on anywhere near the same level as it is around the world.
I reckon I understand it and many in England (read: the elite) don’t.
Not to go all tautological on you, but if there were “many” elites, they wouldn’t be elite.
Passionate nationalism in soccer is globally EXPERIENCED almost everywhere else in the world except the U.S. Because people in the U.S. do not EXPERIENCE passionate nationalism in relation to soccer does not mean that people in the U.S. cannot UNDERSTAND other people’s passionate nationalism. You just said yourself you EXPERIENCE passionate nationslism about “Miracle on Ice”, so how can you not UNDERSTAND millions upon millions of other people might feel the same way about soccer.
I would say the Olympics are about the only other place where passionate nationalism may exist, but it is in no way close to the violent, outrageous and sometimes disturbing things that happen in realion to this one sport – soccer.
Don’t get me wrong – I’m in the camp of soccer supporters – I love the World Cup and can certainly understand the passion that people have – all I’m trying to say is that most people in the US couldn’t care less.
I’m also not sure that “violent, outrageous and sometimes disturbing things” is something on which to hang your hat. I would say that soccer evokes far too many images of hooliganism, riots in the stands, etc., for the casual US observer.
To the contrary, nearly everyone cares about the Super Bowl (for reasons which totally escape me).
I think a big part of the reason I care about the Super Bowl is simply tradition. Kids in other countries grow up in a culture where people care about soccer and where the World Cup is The Big Thing. In America, the Super Bowl has been The Big Thing for 40 years, parly because it’s the only “major” team sport with only 16 games a season and a one-and-done playoff schedule. The Super Bowl is the culmination of a season of games that matter.
Growing up, my family didn’t even have a soccer ball; but we went through 20-some Nerf footballs playing touch football in the backyard. We watched the pro games every Sunday, and two every Thanksgiving. Americans have been resistant to change in all parts of their lives since the country was born, and the sports they choose to follow is no different.
I think soccer has a chance, because yeah, it really is exciting to see one team for our country go against another country (and I agree that the “Miracle” is a good example, though I still wonder if it would have had the same impact outside of the Cold War). But the casual American observer, who prefers more home runs, more touchdowns, more slam dunks, and less hockey, isn’t going to just jump on the soccer bandwagon because of logical argument. Before there can be a tradition of soccer born here, people need to see either more action or more big U.S. victories (remember when people briefly cared about women’s soccer?).
Probably the best chant to come out of the England/USA friendly last year in Chicago was the
“we have dentists” chant. For awhile there was audio of the chant but I can’t find it at this moment. The BBC guys who were in front of SamsArmy were smiling and laughing when they heard that one.
Not to go all tautological on you, but if there were “many” elites, they wouldn’t be elite.
There can be “many” in real numbers, but few in proportion.
There can be “many” in real numbers, but few in proportion.
My wife and I went back and forth over this point all weekend. She won. Which, indirectly, means you did too. Congrats.
My wife and I went back and forth over this point all weekend
Your home life both frightens and confuses me.
Your home life both frightens and confuses me.
You’re not alone….
You really need a catchy tune for your US “Soccer team” although 95% of the world call it football.
Your “world series ” Baseball only includes one Canadian team (and did a Japanese team try sneak in >?)
How about United we stand …
There’s nowhere in the world that I would rather be
Than with you my USA
And there’s nothing in the world that I would rather see
Than your smile my USA
For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We’ll be together, together, you and I
For united we stand
Divided we fall
And if our backs should ever be against the wall
We’ll be together, together, you and USA
And if the world about you falls apart my love
Then I’ll still be here
And if the going gets too hard along the way
Just you call, I’ll hear come bomb ya!
Nate,
While it may be true that since Holland in 74, no “new” team has made the WC Final (bar France in 98), there’s so much more to the World Cup than the final.
First up, are the regional qualifiers, in which aristocrats of the game (France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, Argentina and others) have to “earn” the right to play in the World Cup, every single time (except when being hosts)
In these qualifiers, they will actually play teams like Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and San Marino.
The best teams of the qualifiers will play in the World Cup itself, in which every game matters and almost any win is huge. For instance: when Belgium (a country of a mere 10 million) made it to the semis in 1986, the welcoming-back party could hardly have been bigger had they actually won the tournament.
Last thing, in terms of the game being a “global” game: let’s not forget that “other countries” account of roughly 95% of the world’s population, so capturing every country bar the US would still make it as “global” as sports games get.
The chant that was chosen for the USA for the 2002 World Cup is
Our legs shall never tire!
Our hearts will see us through!
Goals! Goals! Goals!
For the red, white, and blue!
As far as exciting goes…
Next time you watch an “American” football game, listen to the endless stream of meaningless statistics as the anouncers try to keep you amused between plays. Then really time the game – the amount of time that they are actually moving, works out to about 10-15 minutes, for a whole game.
I like football, grew up playing football like any US kid, but it has way too many opportunities for me to tune it out. Soccer is different in that unless someone is injured, you are captivated by the action.
TRM – Very well said.
Max – I couldn’t agree more with the tuning out thing. I’m way to ADD to watch 47 replays of the same thing.