The World Cup is now under way. We’ve made it through a chunk of the Group Play stage and its influence on our every day sporting life is undeniable.

Whether you’re wishing you could stop hearing about it, you’re feverishly watching every game on your phone when your boss has his back turned at the office (*Editor’s note: and inadvertently maxing out your data plan) or whether you’re just glad there’s something trending on Twitter besides The Fault in Our Stars it really is World Cup Season.

The staff at No Coast Bias, be they experts or attendees at the World Cup Player Hater’s Ball, would like to weigh in with another edition of the NCB roundtable. If you’d like to see the prediction roundtable from prior to the World Cup beginning, check here.

(Special thanks to Dave Feit for sending in the questions)

1) Scale of 1 – 10, what is your level of excitement for the World Cup?

Dave Feit (@feitcanwrite): I am at a very definite 1 – and would probably go lower if I could. Soccer just doesn’t do much for me, and when the coach of the U.S. team says we have no shot at winning, it tells me that I don’t need to pay much, if any, attention to the World Cup.

Chris Hatch (@burnpoetry): It’s at a solid 9.5 on the KICK-ter scale!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, I’ll be here all post. Don’t forget to tip your waiters and bash me on Twitter.



Seriously, I get that some people don’t care about the World Cup. I get that some people (like me) enjoy watching soccer but aren’t die hard fans. But here’s something that always jumps my crunk meter into Lil Jon territory: The U.S. competing against other countries in anything. That’s why I’m an Olympic junkie, gorging myself on the buffet of weird and unpopular Olympic events that are on at 2 AM on CNBC every four years and why, every time the World Cup comes around I find myself ballooning with an absurd amount of national pride. Was I angry when Takeru Kobayashi was beating our morbidly obese nation at our own game, crushing hot dogs at mach 10? You bet your ass. So, put the US on the biggest stage in the world, put a red, white, and blue logo over the hearts of a group of athletes at the pinnacle of their athletic prowess? (Make that a 10 on the excitement scale for me.)

Corey Rockower (@crockower): Personally I’ve never taken much interest in soccer, so I would say my excitement level is around 2 or 3. That said, I have many friends from nations around the globe and totally understand the frenzy behind it. I would say I’m more intrigued than excited, because soccer is undoubtedly a growing sport in the US and this kind of event that only occurs every four years is definitely something that will at least grab my attention.

Seth Morris (@SethMorris7): I’ve honestly only become a soccer fan through the FIFA video games. That being said, I’m at about an 8. Slap USA on the jersey and I’ll watch almost anything. Throw in the atmosphere that comes with watching the games with the American Outlaws and that will even get non-soccer fans excited to cheer on Team USA.

J. Parker Adair (@TheCoachAdair): 30. as in Uruguay 1930 when the USMNT dominated all but Argentina en route to a third-place finish in the World Cup, the best ever by a non-European/non-South American side. The next time the US played a World Cup in South America was 1950 when they had the greatest upset in the history of the sport, defeating England. America wins in South America. It’s fact, and this is the year we make 1930 our second best finish.



2) Should soccer fans try to convert the “haters”?

Dave: In my Open Letter to Soccer Fans, I asked the true believers of soccer to not evangelize the sport to us on the outside, and I stand by that. A commenter noted that if I gave the sport a chance, I’d probably enjoy it. And he’s probably right: if I knew more about the sport – the strategies, the talents, the full rules, I would likely get some enjoyment out of a match. But there are just some sports that I will never, ever understand (NASCAR, MMA, soccer, to name a few). I’ve made my peace with that. If that changes, I want it to be on my terms and not because somebody is trying to recruit me to the Cult of Futbol.

Chris: I don’t really think so. I think that this topic in particular has gotten overblown by the ever-present riptide of social media, pulling us out to a sea of unnecessary debate. (*Author’s note: ridiculous analogy, I know.) I do find myself to be in a particularly strange hinterlands on this question, however, as I can’t fully say that I’m a “soccer guy” even though I unabashedly love the World Cup. My relative dearth of knowledge about professional soccer compared with National Team play disqualifies me as a legitimate expert but I still feel the need to extol the virtues of the World Cup to any ears that will listen. In short, I think that soccer fans neither want nor need the “haters” to join the fray, particularly, but that they should be welcoming to those who decide to do so.

Corey: I say no, and the reason is because I hate when the opposite occurs. Being from New York and seeing the Stanley Cup Finals take place locally, there was definitely an increased interest in hockey from people who would otherwise be indifferent, but many hockey snobs shot them down for being “bandwagoners.” My feeling is if people don’t like something, good for them, and if they want to start getting into something, good for them as well. I’m not a big fan of intervening in people’s interests.

Seth: In my opinion, the worst thing you can do is tell an average American they should like something because every other country does. The best way to convert a “hater” is bring them to an American Outlaws bar during a game. They’ll have a blast, I guarantee it.

J. Parker: You can’t squeeze blood from a turnip nor can you get it to understand soccer. It’s just going to sit there in the ground, braindead as you enjoy the beautiful game and the world’s best athletes.

3) If the USMNT keeps winning, their fan base will explode. Are bandwagon fans okay when it is a national team? Or should the once every-four-years-fans stay home?

Dave: Normally, I abhor bandwagon fans. As somebody who has stuck by the Kansas City Royals since they last made the playoffs in 1985, I don’t have a lot of tolerance for fans who base their favorite team off of the standings. But things are different when it is the U.S. of A. I’ve always been a fan of the Olympics. And when the Games are on, I’m always going to be rooting for the American to win – even if I hadn’t watched bobsledding, modern pentathlon, or swimming since the last Olympics.

I probably won’t join the American Outlaws or even make a big effort to watch a U.S. match unless they somehow make the championship, but I won’t judge anybody who wants to jump on the red, white, and blue bandwagon. USA! USA! USA!

Chris: This is a fascinating question, and one that I’ve thought about a good deal over the past year. As a long time Nebraska basketball fan, I was faced with similar questions and ideas from other Husker Hoops fans who found themselves seated aboard a big red bandwagon for the first time in years this winter. My take? The more the merrier.



I’ve never understood the inherent need by some fans to place their own level of fanhood above anyone else’s. Do we really need to run to the front of the line and wave our hand in the air to shout, “FIRST!” like a 9-year-old boy in line for the drinking fountain post-recess? I understand that some people identify their own uniqueness with being part of a smaller subset of fans, but I don’t understand why they are so stridently against opening the door for other fans to enjoy. It’s why VIP sections exist in the club, why people get mad when they can actually hear their favorite bands on the radio because they’ve “sold out”, and why there’s 140 characters of beefing going on right now on Twitter. I’ve never been a fan of exclusivity in any form and I don’t know why, especially when it involves the country, our country, anyone would want to celebrate with fewer people when we succeed.



I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if there’s one thing that I loathe, it’s Fans telling other fans how to fan. (Obviously I could go on for days. Brevity is not my strong suit)

Corey: I think when it comes to national teams, it’s natural to feel some sense of pride, and that should be encouraged. It will only benefit the sport in the long run if enough people take interest, even if it really only happens every four years. When people use social media to disparage the “once every four years” crowd, I usually take it as a way for those people to get attention by telling the world how they, and only they, are the big time fans.

Seth: I view the USMNT similarly to any other American international team: by in large they are only relevant to most people every few years if they are winning. Think how many “fans” jumped on the Michael Phelps bandwagon. Seriously, there aren’t many swimming fans in the US but who wasn’t glued to the screen trying to watch that half human/half dolphin hybrid trying to bring home the gold for Team USA.

J. Parker: Soccer is America’s sport of the future since 1972. The fan base has grown massively since 1994. It will continue to grow. And the only way it grows is by accepting and educating new fans. When those who previously has themselves planted in their ways finally see the sunlight that is a Messi run, a Van Persi alley oop goal or Captain America playing nearly an entire match without the ability to breathe, that’s when you turn to those vegetables and turnip the volume for the angel tongue of Bob Ley.

(Stay tuned for more WC Roundtables from your NCB staffers)