by Johnny Guatemala
Oct. 26, 2007
DALLAS--
Ken Whittenger, 32, begrudgingly read soccer scores from the sports section of the Dallas Morning News during breakfast Monday morning after becoming aware of nearby Major League Soccer team FC Dallas from a flyer. The flyer, from his daughter Kaile's soccer practice, highlighted a footwork clinic to be held by some of FC's star players.
Adding to his lukewarm curiosity was the arrival of international soccer star David Beckham in Los Angeles, prompting the need to brush up on soccer a bit, since it was obvious from Sportscenter coverage that the sport was making a bid to overtake hockey as America's fourth-most popular sport.
"I've been intrigued because I see Kaile running around and having a good time. They have penalty kicks and offsides penalties, and the best part is its only 45 minutes long. There's teamwork, fun, and it fits into my small attention span," he said.
Whittenger was not aware that a regular soccer match lasts 90 minutes and features more ballhandling strategy than the average kid's league shootout.
Orange juice is an appropriately sour drink to represent Whittenger's mood after seeing a slew of tie games.
The foray into less popular sports is not a first for Whittenger, who always had a pipe dream of becoming a sports news announcer. Last year, he started a fantasy hockey league. Although member participation fizzled after a couple months, he now cites that he is vaguely familiar with names like Jaromir Jagr and Mike Modano and knows they are good players.
Whittenger also tuned in for tennis not only for the Wimbledon finals, but for the Australian Open, which he proudly pointed out was "won by Rafael Nadal" who "is number two behind that Federer guy." Additional ventures into lesser-watched sports included learning that 16th-seed Harvard upset 1st-seed Stanford in the 1998 women's NCAA basketball tournament, and sitting through five minutes of a televised NASCAR event.
Whittenger dutifully read the soccer box scores for the opening round of MLS playoffs, keeping in mind a sense of fair play for the remaining 10 percent of his sports attention span not devoted to football, baseball and basketball. However, he declined to read a quarter page personal interest story on how Los Angeles-based playoff contenders Chivas USA were being overlooked because of David Beckham's star appeal for the Los Angeles Galaxy.
"I don't anticipate reading it unless I end up sitting next to someone at the bus stop who looks like they want to tell me their life story. Then I can pull it out in order to look busier than I am," said Whittenger.