Soccer Gives Kids a Respite From Simpson Saga

I set out last week to write about how the World Cup has spawned impromptu games of soccer all over the city. From South-Central and Highland Park, even to the street I live on, normally baseball-playing kids have caught soccer fever.

The kids have learned that dribbling isn’t just done on a basketball court. Playing a game without using your hands is a challenge they enjoy. It’s a skill not easily learned. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the pickup games, especially since “Mexico” always seemed to win.

The United States? Stick to baseball, the kids say.

I was happy to chat about the Cup, but eventually the conversation turned to O.J. Simpson. The kids talked about the freeway chase, the alleged ski mask and the 911 tapes. They’ve seen it all on TV.

To my surprise, not one of the several dozen soccer fanatics I talked to over the past week took a position on whether Simpson was guilty. What I heard over and over was summed up by Rudy, a likable 11-year-old who said during a break in a game at Echo Park Lake: “Everybody knows you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty.”

*

I say I was surprised because judging from the calls I received in the newsroom during the past week, it seems everybody has an opinion.

“He’s guilty!” one woman insisted.

“Leave him alone,” another pleaded.

There’s also the sense that we reporters have helped create a climate that has set up a celebrity for a very public fall from grace.

So I thought I’d run into much the same sentiments as I searched for soccer games in playgrounds, in schools and on the streets.

Instead, the soccer kids and their parents say they haven’t been sucked in by all the O.J. coverage.

“If O.J. was in the World Cup, then perhaps I might care,” said Ron Perez, whose three sons have got the soccer bug at Griffith Park. “But he isn’t, and I think people are making way too much out of this tragic case.”

Added friend Ray Smith, whose two sons are ready to join the powerhouse Argentine soccer team, “It’s much ado about very little. It’ll get settled in the courts and that’ll be that.”

The soccer folks I came across feel sorry for Simpson. But that’s all. They aren’t transfixed by the case.

In a weird way, the Simpson saga has helped spark the excitement over the World Cup.

“I got tired of all the TV stuff on O.J.,” 12-year-old Alberto said at Will Rogers Park in Watts the other day. “So we get out of the house to play soccer.”

The kids on my street said the same thing. Jose Villarreal, age 14, said, “It’s either watch all that (O.J.) stuff on TV or play real football in the street. So we play in the street.”

The kids set up their games with simple rules. Almost anything can mark the goal line--garbage cans, a utility pole or even an unsuspecting parent who has nothing else to do.

In choosing up sides, the shortest kid usually is selected to be the goalie. No tackling is allowed, but firm tugs of clothing are permitted. Rarely is a foul called.

I got to play in one game, but I was quickly pulled from the action when I allowed two goals by the opponents.

When a goal is scored, everybody joins in the customary call every Spanish-speaking announcer employs: “Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool!” By the way, the longest scream by a kid was 12 seconds.

And, oh yes, one side inevitably dubs itself the Mexican team. Opponents range from Cameroon’s Indomitable Lions to Argentina.

None of the kids picked the U.S.

Why?

“This isn’t a soccer country,” Alex, 12, answered in East Hollywood.

“The U.S.A. team was lucky to beat Colombia,” said friend Max.

“Hey, be serious,” still another said.

I know my soccer survey was very unscientific, but I was happy to find there are some people out there who aren’t into the Simpson case. With each new “development” in the story, my telephone in the newsroom would ring and ring.

As I was fielding these calls, I kept wishing I was back outdoors with the soccer-crazy kids, arguing whether Carlos Valderrama of Colombia or Diego Maradona of Argentina is the best player in the tournament.

I also remembered what Rudy of Echo Park said.

“I don’t know if (Simpson’s) guilty,” he said the other day. “But let’s be quiet about it for now. Let’s enjoy the summer and the World Cup. I also predict that Mexico will win!”

He’s right on both counts.