Last week, New York Times sports columnist George Vecsey called the USA-England World Cup match "the most anticipated American sports event in many years, perhaps decades." It turns out that the game drew a 7.5 overnight rating, less than any of the NBA Finals. So in fact the soccer match was the most anticipated sporting event in... almost two days. To put a 7.5 rating into context, by the way, it's lower than the last episode of "The NFL Today," a pregame show.
Of course it's possible that the USA-England 1-1 tie proved so gripping to the American audience that this, finally, is the event that launches soccer into major-sport status. But I remain skeptical.
Like all other world events, this was predicted years ago by the Simpsons. Notice the score on the scoreboard:
It's all here: Fast-kickin'! Low-scorin'! And ties? You bet!