"Once in Lifetime"...Let’s hope not
by Brendan Berry
“Soccer will be bigger than baseball and football in America,” or so people thought during the rise of the New York Cosmos. Soccer, or “football” basically everywhere else, is arguably the most popular sport on the planet. Just not in the United States, at least not now.
Once in a Lifetime is a documentary directed by Paul Crowder and John Dower that captures the rise and fall of the Cosmos, the first professional soccer team in New York created by Steve Ross, owner of Warner Communications. In the 1970s, the NASL (North American Soccer League) was regarded as somewhat of a joke among professional athletic leagues. I admit, before seeing this film which hit theaters two months ago, I had not heard of it either. The movie itself gives an insight into just how much of a "joke" the league was, showing scenes of games being played before a crowd of at most 30 people. John Battsek, who received an Oscar for One Day in September, does a tremendous job turning to the popular game of soccer and the story of the Cosmos. The film itself uses mostly archive footage and turns to interviews with many of the players who were on the Cosmos at the team’s peak. This well executed documentary takes a look at just how quickly something embraced by millions of Americans can flicker away into obscurity.
As pathetic as Cosmo games were, that was easily changed by a common American ideal - if you don't like what you have, you can always buy something better. This ideal led Ross to create something in America that had never been seen before, and arguably might not be seen again: a soccer team people wanted to watch. After much negotiation, financially and politically, Steve Ross acquired Brazilian superstar Pele. Pele was the catalyst for the great experiment that was the NY Cosmos. After he arrived, so did other professionals from Europe and South America. Names like Chinaglia, Beckenbauer, Cruyff and Alberto graced the backs of Cosmos jerseys and entered the lives of Americans, who for the most part had been oblivious to European soccer. This led to something unheard of in American households: a soccer team people wanted to cheer for. After seeing the movie, I asked myself where that enthusiasm for soccer in this country went, and how do we get it back?
The sport of soccer throughout the world today is important in many aspects, from the cultures affected by it to the money involved. Once in a Lifetime showed that soccer could have a place in the United States again, and the outlook is somewhat promising. Soccer is held in extremely high regard in European countries; that type of enthusiasm is absent in the U.S. even in the most popular sports. I don't want to say soccer is completely taken for granted in the States; the MLS is slowly gaining recognition, but it's hard to imagine it ever becoming as popular as the European leagues.
The documentary made a strong point. We as Americans like to be entertained, and watching a game for 90 minutes in which the ball is constantly passed back and forth and scoring is rare, is not our idea of entertainment. As a society, we enjoy quick action-packed events, as apposed to a constant flow of movement without much change. This point alone presents an obstacle in soccer’s path to gain ground in the United States.
Although the film shows the rise and fall of this sport in our own country, it raised the question of why it fell. The documentary gives an idea of the problems within the club from the cultural clashes between players to leadership battles on and off the field. Money, jealousy, and greed all played an issue; problems like these are a common occurrence in professional sports today. However, for the Cosmos, these problems proved fatal. The documentary gives viewers great insight into how "football" was regarded in the U.S. thirty-something years ago, and some of these opinions still linger today. The film itself is well edited and its soundtrack adds to the atmosphere, keeping you entertained throughout the entire 97 minutes. Once in a Lifetime is a remarkable film for anyone interested in the sport of soccer, as well as those who aren’t. I can only hope that the world’s most popular sport doesn't live up to the name of the film.
