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I'm Drew Breunig and I obsess about technology, media, language, and culture. I live in New York, studied anthropology, and work in advertising technology.

These are reactions to things I feel are important.

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90:00, +3

After watching the USA lose to Ghana, I’m placing my bets regarding soccer’s football’s soccer’s popularity in the USA. I believe it’s not going to catch on, mostly because of that damn clock.

Many will be optimistic, but in the end we’re not going to care. Pundits will blame the bad calls or the loss to Ghana. I blame the clock.

The clock counting upwards would be bad enough, but when combined with penalty time audiences have only a rough idea of when the game is actually over. In America–-for better or for worse–-that’s not going to fly. We want buzzer-beaters. We want games won when the chips are tangibly down, not just late goals. Sure, Baseball might not have a clock either, but even then games aren’t over when a ref looks at their watch and decide enough time has passed.

Without an impartial clock, we lose drama that the lowest common denominator can understand. The person stumbling into the room with nothing vested in the game can see the score change right before the clock runs out. The athlete beating the other team isn’t as obvious as the athlete beating the clock. You don’t need to know the history of the Lakers and Celtics to gather the drama if the seconds are running out. Without a countdown clock, Americans need to grasp soccer first before they’re rewarded. And my bet is we’re not going to work for our entertainment.