Offside: Soccer and American ExceptionalismSoccer 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. |
Contents
3 | |
7 | |
The Formation of the American Sport Space Crowding Out and Other Factors in the Relegation and Marginalization of Soccer | 52 |
Soccers Trials and Tribulations Beginnings Chaos Almosts Obscurity and Colleges | 99 |
The Formation and Rearrangement of the American Sport Space in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century | 128 |
From the North American Soccer League to Major League Soccer | 162 |
The World Cup in the United States | 201 |
The Coverage of World Cup 98 by the American Media and the Tournaments Reception by the American Public | 235 |
Conclusion | 264 |
Appendixes | 273 |
Notes | 299 |
341 | |
353 | |
Other editions - View all
Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism Andrei S. Markovits,Steven L. Hellerman Limited preview - 2001 |
Offside: Soccer and American Exceptionalism Andrei S. Markovits,Steven L. Hellerman No preview available - 2001 |