Posted on Wednesday, 26th August 2009 by Pete Larocki
Last Saturday, the greatest sporting event in the world kicked off. No, I’m not talking about any strictly American sport, nor am I talking about MMA, basketball, or baseball, cricket, or any other sporting event that immediately comes to mind. Am I talking about the UEFA Champions’ League, the soccer glamour competition that ESPN and Fox Sports have created into a pretty common event in America? The answer remains no.
This is the FA Cup, a one of a kind tournament, the likes of which can’t be compared to anything that takes place in the US. This is a massive tournament that allows soccer teams of all sizes to compete equally against one another for a chance at glory.
Just how big is this tournament? It’s huge. 762 unique football teams have a chance to compete against one another, in a single elimination format that spans 14 rounds. Can you think of any other tournament like this that goes as deep as 14 rounds? I can’t.
Huge teams like Manchester United compete against virtual unknowns. Think of a baseball team, not even a minor league team. A team that plays in some kind of regional league that you’ve never heard of. To put it into baseball terms, teams like these have chances to compete against teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, giving every English soccer club a fair chance at glory.
Giant killers have become urban legends, to a certain extent, in FA Cup history. In the 1988-1989 FA Cup, non-league(meaning that they were below the 4thtier of English soccer)Sutton United upset top flight team Coventry City. In 1969, third division Mansfield Town upset West Ham United (who were currently sixth in the top division) 3-0. Perhaps no better giant killing story exists than the story of 1975 Wimbledon FC. The team, who was a non-league team at the timebeat top division team Burnley 1-0 in the third round and then followed that up by holding reigning first division champion Leeds to a 0-0 draw before narrowly losing the replay.
One of my favorite things about this tournament is the opportunity that it gives non-professionals to share the big stage with some of the best clubs in the world. There are so few situations in sports that allow people to do this, and this is what the FA Cup is all about.
So why should you, as an American, care about the FA Cup? Because it’s essentially a giant version of March Madness, that is the best way that I can describe it to you. From August 15 until the final on May 15, teams from all over England will fight for the right to lift the most storied trophy in English soccer. With the knockout aspect, teams can’t afford to slip up; one game can be the end of your Cup run. The excitement of the FA Cup is unmatched and is something that really should be witnessed. Any game, literally, has the chance to have history attached to it. For all you know, you could be turning in to watch the next great upset and that is something that cannot be overstated. Could the next great run in FA Cup history happen this year? Could a non-league team upset a Premier League team?You never, ever know.
Instead of two weeks of games, it’s 10 months of them. Imagine 10 months of March Madness. We’re sure that Dick Vitale would agree when we say that it’s truly awesome!
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