I heard some all-too-common comments the other day.

"I hate soccer--it's so boring," someone claimed. "Nobody ever scores."

This statement, unfortunately, reflects the opinion of a large percentage of Americans.

Otherwise, there would be a popular American soccer league, and soccer would be as prevalent on national television as football and basketball. (Notice, I didn't mention hockey or baseball.)

Now what is it about soccer that Americans don't like? They would watch almost anything that moves on television--two examples would be monster truck meets and lumberjack events (I'm not kidding--watch ESPN2 sometime).

I was discussing the issue with my uncle this past summer during the Argentina/Rumania World Cup match. His response was different than anything I had ever heard about the unpopularity of soccer, but I think he has a very good point.

It is not that soccer is boring or that the referee is the only one knowing how much time is left. Baseball is untimed and has many dull parts, as do basketball and football when everything is a time-out or a foul/penalty.

Rather, he said, it might be the very nature of the game itself--look at the sports that Americans excel in. You have baseball, basketball and football.

The one thing that is common about all three sports is that they involve throwing a ball.

Why is Roger Clemens so popular? Well, the guy can throw a baseball consistently in the 90 m.p.h. range.

How about Dan Marino or John Elway? Likewise, they can take that pigskin and throw it with precision and throw it fast, in addition to being able to heave it over 60 yards.

Basketball is all about throwing an object into a net. Michael Jordan was probably the best and most popular player ever because of the near-perfect touch of his hands.

Then there is soccer--except for the goalie, nobody is allowed to even touch the ball with his/her hands or arms, let alone throw one.

Soccer takes away the one aspect of sports that our country seems to excel in. Other nations don't produce nearly as many people who can throw a ball hard or far or who even have good throwing mechanics.

While kicking a ball well or knowing how to pass to another player requires as much skill as throwing a ball, it doesn't seem to be a feat impressive enough for most Americans to appreciate.