So the “award-winning” New York Times Magazine has succeeded where no amount of macho posturing by ex-NFL players could in setting back the cause of football sorry, soccer – in the US for many years. In case you’re wondering why, it’s apparently because it’s seen as the game played by teenaged boys and girls in the suburbs and therefore is a safe alternative to American Football and other dangerous games, like, err athletics.
This past Sunday’s magazine had a feature on Clint Mathis, an overview of why the rest of the world watches football in a different way to Americans (seemingly the only type of feature that is getting written in the US media about the World Cup prior to its start) and then a highly bizarre photo shoot called the “Boys of Soccer.”
It featured the aforementioned Mathis, Landon Donovan in a compromising position with a water fountain and Brian McBride in tight, paisley cotton Prada pants. The accompanying text was something to behold, e.g. ” Originally from Argentina, Pablo Mastroeni plays defense but not in his Roberto Cavalli turquoise-studded shirt, $1,138, and linen pants, $350. At Roberto Cavalli boutiques.”