Is Soccer About to Blow Up?

Bill Simmons thinks so.

If you love basketball - real basketball - beautiful basketball - you'll also love soccer. The same pleasures are in both sports - the passing, vision, speed, creativity. They are very similar sports. But basketball is cursed by time-outs, ruining the end of NBA games. In soccer, there is no such problem. The biggest "problem" in soccer is difficulty in scoring and how teams can really collapse and defend if they score an early goal or play for a tie. But then again, there are pleasures in watching teams try to break down this style of play.

If both sports were sex - basketball would be a quickie and soccer tantric. There is something to be said for and against each.