What is an affinity? It was defined in the Encarta Dictionary as “a natural liking for or inclination toward somebody or something, or a feeling of identification with somebody or something.” It seems that in the case of the book How Soccer Explains the World, by Franklin Foerr, the affinity is soccer. Millions of people internationally take part in what is practically the worship of the wonderful sport of soccer. The games draw fans from all over and in numbers that dwarf the attendance of an American football game. Why do these fans put so much importance on this fantastic sport?

I’ve been a sports enthusiast for almost my entire life. I started playing soccer when I was eight and moved on to baseball two years later. I had my favorite professional sports teams and all the merchandise to show for it. I was part of a larger thing, a fan base.

When high school started I quit playing team sports and adopted more self-oriented activities like mountain biking and rock climbing. Those affiliations I previously was part to dissipated. All the sports memorabilia I spent those years collecting slowly disappeared into storage boxes and was replaced with cycling and rock climbing equipment. The types of friends I had changed from team oriented ‘jocks’ to a looser structure of ‘independent athletes’. I still went to high school football games and cheered, but my connection to the fans around me was lessening as the years passed.

After high school everything changed. It always does. I started getting back into professional sports. Mostly baseball at first, but then football and basketball followed closely. Still my involvement was minimal in comparison to most fans. That is until I turned 21 and began bartending. As a bartender I had many tasks and one of them was staying informed on the sports scene. The majority of patrons were sports enthusiasts whose sole purpose in life was to back their sports affiliations. Proficiently understanding multiple sports was most beneficial in interacting with customers, so the second wave of interest was developed for different reasons than those in my childhood. I had an interest in sports, but I wouldn’t say I had an affiliation or affinity with ‘serious’ sports fans.

Now I look at my interest in professional sports and can’t really tell what purpose it serves. I watch football games, golf, fishing, and everything else on TV and wonder, “Where do my loyalties lie?” I do enjoy a good football game, but in reality I would much rather watch fishing or golf. I guess I’m just more of an ‘independent athlete’ than part of an affiliated fan base. So when I read the book How Soccer Explains the World I have a hard time truly understanding this incredible bond that these strangers share. I understand there’s a lot of history behind these countries and their rivalries. Maybe soccer is a continuation of these rivalries. Maybe soccer simply serves as an out let for these patriots. Soccer team loyalties could possibly be viewed as parallel to being loyal to their country. Is it really soccer these fans want to see or is it the victory of their country they want to see?