As we wake up on this July 4th, we are all getting ready to go out and celebrate this nation on its 250th birthday. We’ll go to Barbecue’s and bars and ballgames, have drinks with our friends and family and watch fireworks. It should be one hell of a party, befitting of a milestone like this! But in many ways, at least in my mind, the party and good feelings surrounding this time started a few weeks ago, with the sports WORLD leading the way!

The World Cup came to America’s shores on June 11th and in the run up to it Americans did what we sometimes do best, complain. Complain about traffic, complain about noise, congestion pricing, which city/state was going to make money off the games, and even the names of the stadiums. But the negativity and complaints have given way to the kind of fun and positivity that only sports can create. All of that has seemingly reminded us of the best things in life and the kind of qualities we should all strive to live up to.

Our friends from across both ponds, to the south and to the north, have come here (or hosted) and brought just about as good a vibes as one could. They came with an open mind, looking to enjoy all the best things they could squeeze in during a trip to America. So many of these visitors became stars in their own right, like the German fans Freddy and Sebastian who toured the south and northeastern parts of the nation, taking in the sights, sounds, and food along the way.

Not to be left out there was the Algerian National Team, and their fans, who were based in Lawrence Kansas. Their supporters and players were such a breath of fresh air for the locals, that they were adopted as the team to support by the throughout the tournament. So now instead of Rock Chalk Jayhawk, it’s Rock Chalk Algeria…still needs some fine tuning as lovely as it is.

Norway’s supporters have been in on the act, doing their now infamous “row” in just about any spot they can find. Time Square, AT&T Stadium, flights to their next game, it doesn’t matter, they have had a blast rowing the boat to victory. England and their 60 year World Cup drought have taken the world by storm as well with their group sing a long of Oasis’ 90’s rock classic Wonderwall after matches.

These fans (and all the others) haven’t just had fun doing their traditional chants and celebrations and Oasis karaoke routines. They along with their fellow travelers have connected with people on a personal level. They’ve taken our culture, our meeting places, and everything else in between and become a wonderful part of it all. They respected our cities by cleaning up after their mega parties and partaking in some of the events unique to those locations. The best example of this was Boston, and the love affair it came to have with Scotland’s “Tartan Army” of supporters. The Scots came in and out drank the local Irish population, visited all the landmarks, and brought more joy to Fenway Park than the Sox have all season. The city and “the army” thanked one another in touching fashion after Scotland was eliminated in the group stage.

In spite of all these good feelings being an authentic statement of joy off the field and humanity, any sporting event and the culture around it is only as good as the action on the field…or pitch in this case. This World Cup dialed the action up to 11, with scintillating moments taking place in seemingly every match. We have been blessed to watch the individual talents of Messi, Harry Kane, Mbappe, and so many others that have dazzled the World over these weeks. We’ve seen Mexico play a beautiful attacking style backed by 80,000+ roaring fans in the Azteca. Scrappy underdogs like Cabo Verde and Morocco slay giants as they advanced through the tournament. And the cherry on top, lots and lots of late goals and penalties (not PK’s Alexei Lalas) that keep your heart pounding.

It’s almost feels like I’m leaving something out. Oh, that’s right, the United States team has the largest of the host nations dreaming big. When this tournament started, the consensus, was that a good result for this team would be winning its group and maybe a knockout game if they got a good draw. So far they have checked all those boxes, but they’ve looked very good doing it as this young team full of swagger is pulling us all even closer together. Their Wednesday night victory over Bosnia Herzegovina saw the whole country (or at least it felt like it), explode in joy when Malik Tillman bent his free kick to the back of the net. It was all capped off by another stirring rendition of John Denver’s Take Me Home, Country Roads, the new unofficial anthem of the National team that the players sing with the crowd.

There’s something beautifully ironic about a song commonly associated with American College Football in West Virginia becoming one of the stand out anthems of a tournament centered around World Football. It’s worlds colliding on a level that no one probably could have imagined, and its power isn’t lost on the players, or their manager. Team USA’s manager Mauricio Pochettino is one of the more accomplished managers in the world over the last 10+ years. The Argentine native had an extremely successful run at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League and he’s once again in demand in Europe. But he’s put everything into this job and he’s loving every second of it, feeling more and more apart of a big project with each match.

“When that song starts to sound in the stadium, it’s impossible not to sing. It’s impossible! Because it’s an amazing song, no? It’s very emotional. And after winning again, no?” – Pochettino on Country Roads

“I am 200 per cent Argentine… But you feel part of something bigger. Things that we are building. I enjoy being part of the amazing project.” – “I love to be involved and be part of the party.” – Pochettino on feeling apart of USA soccer

Everything I’ve described to you above is just further evidence of something I have believed and tried to write about (unsuccessfully) for some time. Sports, as a whole, are a “third place” for society. A “third place,” is defined as a social space separate from your home and your workplace. It’s where we socialize with others, exchange ideas and culture, be friendly, and above all put aside our differences. Sound familiar? It certainly should if you’ve read this far. It’s not about whether you were at the matches in person or at the bar or at home watching along with your friends and family. By taking part in this event in one form or another, you’re taking part in something the whole world is a part of, that brings out the full range of authentic human emotions. That shared and uniting authenticity is something we should treasure and promote, in what is an increasingly artificial and divided world.

I know to some I may sound like I’m on my soap box, naively droning on about the good a soccer tournament can do for the world. But I defy you to prove me wrong about what this World Cup has exemplified, or any other communal sports gathering does for people. This is not and never should be about which odious organization runs the event, or which politician said what about the countries coming to play the games. It should be about the genuine togetherness we’ve seen that almost nothing else in the world can foster.

Because only in sports can an Argentine national fall in love with John Denver and be “one of us.” Only in sports can a nation can a small island nation dream bigger than it ever imagined. Only in sports can a 39 year old wizard still leave your jaw on the floor. Only in sports can people from every corner of the globe have a dance party with one another on match day. Only in sports can people who’ve never met before, nor had any reason to at all, have their lives intersect and make a connection that will last forever. That’s the beauty of life when it’s lived to the fullest.

Before I go, it wouldn’t be the Fourth of July if I didn’t leave you with my favorite movie scene about this nation. If you’ve read this blog long enough you know how poignant I find James Earl Jones speech from Field of Dreams. It speaks to both our love of sports and how America is always growing and can overcome anything in its path. That through the good and the bad we persist and carry on with hope that the best is yet to come. It feels even more fitting to include in this piece, because after all, people did come for the World Cup Ray…and maybe they found the peace they lack.

We’ll have more thoughts on the World Cup as it wraps up. For now, have a happy and safe Fourth of July, and happy birthday America, 250 looks good on you. Go Team USA!

Check out our Instagram feed,  @thebroadwaybreakdownsports for special gameday and promotional content. Our podcasts are available on Spotify. Visit the Rangers Ed Shop by clicking the link on our homepage. Check out our mailbag page to join the conversation here on the site and on our friends show, The Rangers Ed Podcast! We’ll be back with more soon.