Euro Cup, Copa America, does anyone care?
I had to rank my favorite sports in order it would go like this:
1. Basketball 2. Baseball 3. Soccer 4. Football 5. Dodgeball
Okay, I was lying about the 5th one, but you get my point.
If you’re a true sports fan, your toes are curling up at all your viewing options this season. The NBA finals which might be close to ending, the Stanley Cup, the Copa America Centenario and the Euro Cup (hosted in France). The story lines are abundant – The Dubs trying to go back to back like Drake, France trying to rally it’s country after last November’s terror attacks, the US hosting and participating in its first Copa America and Sid the Kid trying to go for his 2nd Stanley Cup against 1st time finalist San Jose Sharks.
This post is more about soccer and the US’ reluctance to catch on. We’ve seen more of a following since the last world cup, which the US squad made it to the quarterfinals, only to be eliminated by a young Belgian team. Had it not have been for the heroics of Jersey native, Tim Howard, the US would have probably lost 8-1.
Last night, I watched France vs. Romania, the opening game of the Euro Cup. Because of the time difference, I cannot catch the NBA Finals game unless I force myself to stay up or I wake up extra early to catch the 2nd half. Maybe that’s why aside from the western conference finals, I’ve found the NBA finals to be boring. This first game of the Euro Cup saw the emergence of Dimitri Payet, the French attacking midfielder who plays for West Ham in the Premier league. He stole the show with his fancy footwork and how he led the star-studded French National team, to an exciting 2-1 win over Romania. Despite my prejudices towards the French, who colonized my country of origin - Haiti and a large majority of Africa, you felt the crowd rally behind this team of diverse nationals. Payet’s goal, which was a sexy left-footed shot that curled to the top left corner, came in the 89th minute ignited the Stade Saint Denis that was attacked back in November 2015. Before the end of the game Coach, Didier Deschamps took Payet out so the crowd could reward him for his great play. He came out the game, crying, not just little tears, but the type of tear you produced at age 5 and when your ass got beat for talking back to your mom. Dude was caught up in the moment. Putting your country on your back after it’s been through so much.
Similarly, the Copa America, which again Americans could give 2 shits about, has been pretty exciting in its preliminary stages. First off, they are celebrating their 100-year existence and we Americans are lucky enough to be able to host such milestone in Latin American soccer history. Aside from Haiti, getting embarrassed 7-1 (Still rocking my Haitian Jersey) by Brazil, there have been so many exciting moments. We saw Leo Messi, arguably the best player in the world, be the first player ever to score a hat trick coming off Argentina’s 5-0 beat down vs. Panama. We’ve seen the US National Men’s team come up big vs. regional rival Costa Rica in an impressive 4-0 win to prove to naysayers that they are a player in the region. I do think, however that the most impressive team of the tournament thus far has been led by Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez. Chicharito is one goal away from being the all-time leading scorer in Mexican history.
Regardless of if it’s the Copa America or the Euro Cup, there is something cool about watching players put everything on their line for their country. I am watching this transpire, while the one by one NBA stars is finding reasons to pull out of the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pinky hurts, toe is jammed, just keep it real and say you don’t want to get Zika. The point I am trying to make, the 2 soccer tournaments are the hottest shows in town. The NBA finals have been whack. Period. Last night, watching the Cavs lose game 4 to the Dubs officially made these NBA finals boring as hell. This is the first time I’m actually ok with the talk of changing how the NBA thinks about its playoff format. Maybe if western conference finals were the actual NBA finals, I wouldn’t be writing an article about how the current 2 world soccer tournaments going on is way more entertaining than the snoozefest of finals. So far the talk of the finals has been Roni Rose looking at Steph Curry like she was ready to sop him up with a biscuit. So once the dubs wrap this up in 5, give these Copa America and Euro Cup a try.
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