Davis

ItÕs a good thing readers of The Enterprise know The Wary I for the incorrigible wag he is. A serious-minded stranger might wonder how the columnist could compare goal-tending in basketball to the task of a goalie in soccer (June 25).

In the former, the ÒgoalÓ is a hoop not much wider than the basketball, and itÕs no wonder goal-tending is illegal. In the latter, the goalie must try to block shots directed at a goal eight yards wide. But of course the point was not to suggest eliminating goalies in soccer (or in hockey?).

Certainly not. The point, despite the columnistÕs professed reluctance, was, indeed, to Òpile onÓ and endorse his colleagueÕs ÒjabsÓ at soccer as a Òboring, monotonous game.Ó Heck (as The Wary I might put it), itÕs almost obligatory for true red-blooded Americans to characterize soccer as boring. If only the scores were higher, goes the (monotonous, eventually boring) complaint.

Yet soccer is not the only sport that has been thus maligned. The superficial and unobservant have had similar complaints about baseball, once called our national pastime. Unmoved by a great pitcherÕs achievement of a no-hitter, they, too, have demanded higher scores. Insensitive to any of the fine points, they have well deserved what Red Barber said of them: ÒBaseball is dull only to dull minds.Ó

SoccerÕs detractors hardly deserve a more favorable judgment. Disregarding light and shadow, they have seen but not observed. They have assumed that more goals would necessarily make for a better game. And they have failed to properly appreciate the goals when they do come, perhaps ÒLike angel visits, few and far between.Ó

Julian Irias

Davis

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