Stephen H. Webb wrote a Jeremiad titled “How Soccer is Ruining America” to address those who think that soccer has more purpose than just the enjoyment of people playing the sport. It catches the attention of both people who enjoy soccer and people who really think that soccer is just a foreign “ruining America”. Readers initially think that he is insulting the game of soccer, but he uses an ironic tone to bring up the points that people think soccer is ruining competition of sports: “Every kid is a winner, and nobody is ever left behind, no matter how many times they watch the ball go the other way” (267). The low scores of soccer games and games that end in ties expand his point that every kid leaves a winner and the game doesn’t allow room for any failure.
In his first point, he makes claims about how hands are a divine part of the body and feet are disgusting and animal-like: “We have the thumb, an opposable digit that God gave us to distinguish us from the animals that walk on all fours” (268). Webb then goes on to explain all of the great things people use their hands for and would never even think about using their feet to do. Feet are described as inhumane and not as divine as hands are. The point Webb is trying to make is why would God want people to play a sport where they act like animals, instead of using hands and the opposable thumbs he gave to humans.
Webb then makes an analogy in his second point when he speaks about baseball. He uses this to talk about competition and how a sport should influence being a tough competitor, rather than having each game end in a low score or a tie: “Thus, you had to face the fear of disfigurement as well as the statistical possibility of striking out” (268). Baseball gives a person a sense of either pride when the walk up to the plate and hit the ball, or failure when they walk away from the plate unsuccessful. The reader can even assume that he has a bias towards baseball because it uses solely the hands and it is an American sport.
The overall tone of this Jeremiad is sarcastic and its sole purpose is irony. At first, the reader is made to believe that Webb is being completely serious because he states his credentials as a religion and philosophy professor in the beginning and one would believe a professor to be serious when writing about the topic he is passionate about. At the end, however, Webb reveals that he is being completely ironic by giving a personal account of his life: “Last year all three of my kids were on three different soccer teams at the same time. My daughter is on a traveling team, and she is quite good” (269). If the reader was to think deeply into this, it could be taken seriously as if soccer is really ruining America and the speaker fell into the trap as well, but he uses irony to catch the readers’ attention and show them that soccer is just a fun past time that he enjoys with his family, as well as many others do across the country and world.
In his first point, he makes claims about how hands are a divine part of the body and feet are disgusting and animal-like: “We have the thumb, an opposable digit that God gave us to distinguish us from the animals that walk on all fours” (268). Webb then goes on to explain all of the great things people use their hands for and would never even think about using their feet to do. Feet are described as inhumane and not as divine as hands are. The point Webb is trying to make is why would God want people to play a sport where they act like animals, instead of using hands and the opposable thumbs he gave to humans.
Webb then makes an analogy in his second point when he speaks about baseball. He uses this to talk about competition and how a sport should influence being a tough competitor, rather than having each game end in a low score or a tie: “Thus, you had to face the fear of disfigurement as well as the statistical possibility of striking out” (268). Baseball gives a person a sense of either pride when the walk up to the plate and hit the ball, or failure when they walk away from the plate unsuccessful. The reader can even assume that he has a bias towards baseball because it uses solely the hands and it is an American sport.
The overall tone of this Jeremiad is sarcastic and its sole purpose is irony. At first, the reader is made to believe that Webb is being completely serious because he states his credentials as a religion and philosophy professor in the beginning and one would believe a professor to be serious when writing about the topic he is passionate about. At the end, however, Webb reveals that he is being completely ironic by giving a personal account of his life: “Last year all three of my kids were on three different soccer teams at the same time. My daughter is on a traveling team, and she is quite good” (269). If the reader was to think deeply into this, it could be taken seriously as if soccer is really ruining America and the speaker fell into the trap as well, but he uses irony to catch the readers’ attention and show them that soccer is just a fun past time that he enjoys with his family, as well as many others do across the country and world.