I don’t know if it’s the propensity of Americans (or more specifically Texans) to become uninterested and bored of things too easily or it’s the fact that America’s pastime and “football” are non-existent in any other part of the world, but you can almost guarantee that for most of this country, soccer doesn’t exist until June and becomes slightly relevant once every four years.

“Soccer isn’t a man’s sport,” or “the only thing that matters is the World Cup anyway” or most people’s response, “It’s boring” are just some remarks my peers bark humorously when I start to rave (or rage) about a surprising Chelsea- Arsenal slaughter or a disappointing (and rare) Real Madrid loss. But the unfortunate reality is that you can do nothing to convince anyone in the south that soccer can be just as exciting to watch and follow as Bowl Season.

I can’t criticize America’s opinion of soccer too much however, because  Major League Soccer hasn’t exactly given soccer the best image; this might be one of the biggest struggles a soccer fan living in America has to face. If you tell someone to give soccer a try for a change they’re naturally going to explore their own country’s league just like you wouldn’t consider following basketball in another country. But sadly if you find yourself at  a MLS game, you might check out before they even check the ball. You’ll find a few general sports fans, a couple of soccer players and a good chunk of us hopeless international soccer lovers trying to fill their live soccer void. And because of this, they turn their backs on the beautiful game and watch grass grow as they wait for the fall when the “real football comes around”.

It is nice that soccer is given a little bit more credit when the FIFA World Cup does come around but I can’t say it makes up for the year round unawareness for the sport. People will continue to laugh when I try to say soccer can be just as enjoyable as basketball or baseball and will try to cut me off in disinterest when I start to fume about David Moyes’ management or a faulty Sergio Ramos red card in one of the most important clashes of their season, but I will still wake up at 6:45 in the morning to catch a Chelsea game or struggle to find a working live stream of a Madrid match and wear my jerseys of teams no one has heard of, even if I’m the only one.