As a soccer fan and player in the United States, one is always asked some derivation of the question, "When will soccer be big here?" People talk about the growth of the game and comparisons are made between soccer and other major American sports. Every 2-4 years someone asks the what-if-our-best-athletes-played-soccer question seemingly ignoring the fact that the sport's most transcendent talents are rarely the biggest, fastest, or strongest players in any given match.

I don't think most actual soccer people in the US really get too vested in these kinds of conversations, but they can be amusing. As for me, I'm pretty confident soccer will continue to grow in the United States in both popularity and quality. I'm not losing much sleep over it. For those of you who are, however, I present the following pieces of evidence as proof that soccer in this country has traveled light years in a relatively short time.

Exhibit A:

Clint Deuce Dempsey's Nike Rap



Word. Also, please pour one out for Big Hawk. Be E Z, Dawg.

Exhibit B:

What the fuck?!



This is easily the gayest thing I've ever seen. Seriously. I feel like the D.A.R.E. officer at my elementary school just wrote a super funky rap to keep me off drugs. How far has soccer come in this country? You tell me.