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Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism. | 
 enlarge | Authors: Andrei S. Markovits, Steven L. Hellerman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 493951
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 362
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 5.9 x 1
ISBN: 069107447X
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.3340973
EAN: 9780691074474
ASIN: 069107447X
Publication Date: May 1, 2001
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Condition: 2001; Paperback; No notes/hiliting; Clean pages; Lightly edgeworn cover; No dog-ears; Strong binding; lightly grubby top edge;; **Daily shipping Mon-Sat. Striving for perfect service! Our feedback is hard to beat!; sku79915:
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Product Description
Soccer is the world's favorite pastime, a passion for billions around the globe. In the United States, however, the sport is a distant also-ran behind football, baseball, basketball, and hockey. Why is America an exception? And why, despite America's leading role in popular culture, does most of the world ignore American sports in return? Offside is the first book to explain these peculiarities, taking us on a thoughtful and engaging tour of America's sports culture and connecting it with other fundamental American exceptionalisms. In so doing, it offers a comparative analysis of sports cultures in the industrial societies of North America and Europe. The authors argue that when sports culture developed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, nativism and nationalism were shaping a distinctly American self-image that clashed with the non-American sport of soccer. Baseball and football crowded out the game. Then poor leadership, among other factors, prevented soccer from competing with basketball and hockey as they grew. By the 1920s, the United States was contentedly isolated from what was fast becoming an international obsession. The book compares soccer's American history to that of the major sports that did catch on. It covers recent developments, including the hoopla surrounding the 1994 soccer World Cup in America, the creation of yet another professional soccer league, and American women's global preeminence in the sport. It concludes by considering the impact of soccer's growing popularity as a recreation, and what the future of sports culture in the country might say about U.S. exceptionalism in general.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 What the authors overlooked February 19, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
As a soccer standout in my youth (I played goalie and fullback), I relished weekends and flinging my body at the ball, sliding in the mud and generally abusing my body to prevent the ball from getting past me. That was in the 1970s. I served 17 years in the Army, and as recently as three years ago, we played soccer for our physical training, and I was surprised how at the age of 39, my instincts for goalkeeping never left me.
That's playing the game. Watching it is rather boring. And, I do not think this is solely due to inept American sportscasters and technical crews (they are). It is because there is a monotonous quality to the game that does not lend itself to television the way other sports have going for them. Even when I watch Italian or Spanish-language broadcasts, I've noticed the rather businesslike pace of the game. It is like viewing a game of pinball, though played by people.
The grit and drama onfield for some reason do not translate to the tube. Don't ask me why. Baseball is prima facie more boring, but it translate to the small screen wonderfully. Perhaps the cinematography of the camera setups bring great drama to the sport that is not as readily apparent.
Football is simply chess on the field as played by titanic men. I can't get enough of NFL football, because it is literally war for the 60 minutes of playing time.
In Europe, people beat each other up over soccer games. It's like everyone in England is like a Philadelphia Eagles fan in a different body and country. For America to have the same zeal for soccer, we'd have to use well-seasoned NFL cameramen. I truly think this is why soccer hasn't gone over well in the U.S.: It's covered from a distance, and the play seems so *polite* compared to real football.
 Interesting, though not captivating, reading May 10, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
In addition to being a fan of most pro sports, I also happen to volunteer in my local youth soccer league. I have seen the sport grow and, in a way, start to decline. I say decline because the recreational youth leagues that promote fun over winning are seeing a decrease in registration while the "select" or "club" leagues that focus on individual performance and dreams of college scholarships are gaining in popularity. No matter the level, soccer still remains a game for children to play more than an adult game to watch. And that is the point of this book-Why is soccer still not a marquee sport in the United States? What keeps people from embracing and devoting themselves to soccer the way they do the "big three and a half," as baseball, football, basketball and hockey (the 1/2) are referred to by the author?
"Offside" reads like a history textbook. First, the authors outline the history of baseball, football, basketball, and hockey. They point out how nationalism, marketing, and competent, though controversial, management all contributed to the flourishing of those sports in the United States. I will say it is more interesting reading than exciting reading since only sports "junkies" may enjoy knowing how the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL came to be what they are today. Then we get a history of soccer and learn all the factors working for and against its growth in the United States. Finally, we are brought up to modern day when the U.S. hosted the 1994 World Cup and soccer took center stage here. The authors review both the good and bad ideas that had the sport on the brink of rising to perhaps number four. Alas, we also get an analysis of how that momentum was lost when the American team did not do so well at the 1998 World Cup. The success of the women's game is mentioned but the women's professional league folded shortly after the book was written.
I enjoyed this book kind of like a magazine in a doctor's office; it is a nice time-filler and you may learn something you didn't know before. If you are involved with soccer at any level and enjoy sports history or biographies, you may like this book. Otherwise, think twice before "kicking" back with this one.
Its less boring to read about it than to watch it May 11, 2005
8 out of 15 found this review helpful
This is a sociological study aimed to explain why ' soccer'(
To the rest of the world 'football') has not become one of the major American sports. The authors speak about American exceptionalism what differentiates its culture from Europe. Among the elements are America's freedom from a feudal heritage, freedom from concentration on class war, emphasis thanks to cheap land and great space on individual economic development. The more crowded Europeans look to collective entitlements while the Americans rely on the individual to achieve his own wealth and happiness.
This American exceptionalism helps explain why baseball, football and basketball are the sports of what they call ' cultural hegemony' in America. More people may fish and play billiards but the big three are the ones talked about, written about , endlessly pre-gamed and post- gamed, the ones at the heart of the common culture.
In the course of telling why ' soccer' is left out in America the authors present a serious analysis of ' sports' in industrial nations. This alone would make the book highly worthwhile.
The Issue and the Explanation March 13, 2005
6 out of 12 found this review helpful
I learned a lot about sports (not just soccer) and how culture works in general from this excellent and enjoyable book. Even though certain parts (especially the first chapter) are written in an academic style with that sort of jargon, it is not a difficult book to read, nor are the concepts overly complicated.
Even psuedo-intellectual anti-American "multi-culturalists" like the so-called "International Sportsman" (posted on this page) could learn something from this book and enjoy it. Too bad our "Sportsman" couldn't be bothered to attain some knowledge.
A Must Read March 9, 2005
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
This work sheds new light on a very fascinating question. In fact, this book is the basis for some of my own research within the field. I highly reccommend this book from both an academic and sports fan's viewpoint!
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