During the course of the World Cup, there have been quite a few articles and many more blog posts about the meaning of soccer (yes, I know it should be called football but I just can't) and how the United States fits into that.
Here a few that found very interesting...
The first, from collision detection, looks at how the design of the game doesn't translate easily to Americans who are used to the higher scoring sports of basketball, baseball and football. Because the games aren't higher scoring, Americans don't feel compelled to follow it. Wizard Prang continues that discussion and adds more thoughts to it, many comparing soccer with various American sports and how the media covers it.
Slate has been putting out some great content related to the this as well, from the look at the intellectuals following the game to an excerpt from The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup.
Finally, who would have thought you could study game theory based on penalty kicks.
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