"Soccer Sucks" the 20th Century Sports Radio Meme Should be Dead

But it isn't.

It strikes me as funny that a radio station that I have so frequently praised for their respect to the sport turns around and gives a program to a man who feels an entire show should be dedicated to this absurd meme. Even funnier, this isn't one of the older hosts, but a younger man. Brian Abker is in the generation that has fueled the surge in soccer love in the United States. That surge has led the World Cup to get ratings exceeding the NBA and NHL.

Maybe he's desperate for afternoon ratings.

Or maybe he just doesn't fit the soccer demographics that the Seattle Times highlighted as part of their series on soccer mad Seattle.

Except that if he was desperate for ratings, and typical advertising he would talk about soccer more, as a fan.

You see Seattle's soccer fans are smarter, younger, wealthier and more likely to travel the globe than the other two pro teams in the Seattle area.

While in the rest of the world soccer is the sport of tradition, here in the USA and Seattle soccer is the sport of Gen X and Gen Y as we enter our dominant buying years.

If his complaint is about diving, I would point out that every receiver in the NFL does it. If he uses the word flop I'd point out the NBA charging calls. If he points out referee gaffes, the easy response is Jim Joyce. Closing one's mind to an idea does not make you a good radio host.

There's a reason why nobody listens to Jim Rome anymore, copying him isn't the way to get ratings. Welcome to the 21st Century. It started a decade ago, but you can join any time.