UEFA, the governing body of European soccer, has decided to ban the vuvuzela from all of its competitions, citing a desire to decrease fun by 30%. The ban will be enforced for all UEFA competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, Europa League, and Euro 2012 qualifiers. I don’t see what the problem is. It’s not like vuvuzelas are any more obnoxious than Eagles fans.

“European football’s governing body has informed its 53 member associations that it has taken the move for reasons related to Europe’s football culture and tradition, saying that the atmosphere at matches would be changed by the sound of the vuvuzela,” said UEFA in a statement.

“In the specific context of South Africa, the vuvuzela adds a touch of local flavour and folklore, but UEFA feels that the instrument’s widespread use would not be appropriate in Europe, where a continuous loud background noise would be emphasised.” –NBC Sports

“Continuous loud background noise,” you say? Since when were vuvuzelas replaced with Ron Jaworski? According to UEFA, the horn takes away from the pageantry of the game. Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you like it or not, the World Cup has certainly helped soccer’s case for a spot in the American sports landscape. Sure there was diving. Sure there were Europeans everywhere. And sure, there were vuvuzelas. Despite all the reasons to hate soccer, Americans, for the most part, still cared about the World Cup. What else were we going to watch for the last month? Baseball?

Initial ratings for Sunday’s World Cup final in which Spain defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in overtime appeared to be flat compared with the 2006 tournament, ESPN officials said Monday, though other figures indicate that more people may have been tuned in.

Sunday’s pre-game activities and match on ABC and ESPN scored an 8.6 rating among the nation’s top 56 “metered” markets, exactly the same rating that the final in which Italy defeated France on July 9, 2006, according to ESPN spokesman Bill Hofheimer. The ratings figure is the percentage of households watching the match.

The match itself, which ran from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. EDT, posted a 9.9 rating, Hofheimer said, but comparable figures for the 2006 match were not available. “Fast national” ratings, an indication of the entire country’s viewership, are expected to be available later Monday. –WSJ

Soccer’s ultimate prize was not the ratings bonanza ESPN was hoping for, most likely due to early morning and afternoon start times. However, viewership was up from the 2006 World Cup. How did such a thing happen, you ask? I’d put my money on the combined efforts of Larissa Riquelme and TeamBJ. As a red-blooded American sports fan, you’re bound to get my interest perked with promises of Latin American boobs and Scandinavian fellatio. Read the rest of this entry »