June 20, 2010 – While little airplanes are dive bombing around us because of an “air race” on the Hudson this weekend, and we get a little taste of what Europeans and the rest of the world calls “sport,” the World Cup soccer festival continues to fuel the “football” debate here in the U.S. Red Bull, the energy drink that sponsors the New York area’s prime pro soccer unit, appropriately the Red Bulls, is also sponsoring an air race off Ellis Island where Snoopy-like dogfighters dodge in and out of giant cones. Like soccer, the event is noisy, slow to determine a winner and impossible for a fan to know how its officiated.

As an American football, baseball, basketball and hockey fan, I’m actually watching and enjoying soccer. I’m also engaging in the debates with all the transplants that want to argue how its the world’s greatest game. As a sportsfan, I’ll give it to them that its a good game, just don’t get too carried away with trying to convince me about its nuances, because flopping, not being able to use your hands and whining are never going to be dear to an American’s heart.

I watched referee Koman Coulibaly from Mali, beat the U.S. into a tie Friday against Slovenia and followed the complaints for justice as they fell on deaf ears at FIFA. Nothing new to us here. Jim Joyce meet Koman Coulibaly. FIFA meet Bud Selig, David Stern, Gary Bettman and Roger Goodell.

The post game coverage is entertaining. I like to get mine from Reuters to get an outside-the-U.S. perspective. We’re the Yanks out there and here I thought the Yanks were in the Bronx. We say the French are pissy toward us, but the Brits are really no better. They fouled the air about our team before and after the 1-1 tie with England, much like they fouled the Gulf of Mexico.

The news from Reuters was not about Coulibaly disallowing the U.S. winning goal, but how Slovenia blew a 2-0 lead. England goalie Robert Green’s mishandling of what turned out to be an American goal was somehow an unforgivable act by England, while their early goal through a tense, tightly wound and mistake prone U.S. defense was all skill. So was England’s saving Jozy Altidore’s attempt between Green and a post. U.S. goalie Tim Howard’s save of a dead-on blast by England was also characterized as “poor shot selection and lucky for Howard.”

Because we don’t play cricket, race open wheel Grand Prix cars, have any good tennis players besides the Williams sisters, care too much about Motorcross or play Rugby, we’re reduced as targets to golf and soccer. America’s World Cup showing is especially gauling because the U.S. golf tour dominates the world and Ryder Cup victories and occasional “outsider” wins are all they have to feast on. There were no sore sports here last week when Lee Westwood was cheered as he won the St. Judes. Unless you are an unfriendly like Colin Montgomery, we don’t jeer or whine. Which we learned to do from the Brits.