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| World Cup 2014: America’s Love Affair With Tim Howard May Be Fleeting | World Cup 2014: America’s Love Affair With Tim Howard May Be Fleeting |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| When United States goalkeeper Tim Howard knocked down shot after shot in Tuesday’s game against Belgium — recording 16 saves, the most in a World Cup match since at least 1966 — the viewing experience wasn’t at all like watching LeBron James score 60 points or Peyton Manning drill a pass through three defenders for a last-second touchdown. | When United States goalkeeper Tim Howard knocked down shot after shot in Tuesday’s game against Belgium — recording 16 saves, the most in a World Cup match since at least 1966 — the viewing experience wasn’t at all like watching LeBron James score 60 points or Peyton Manning drill a pass through three defenders for a last-second touchdown. |
| No, it was better than that. It was sweeter than that. It’s partly why so many children, after hearing the roar of the crowd with every spectacular save, now want to be goalkeepers when they grow up. Forget “I want to be like Mike,” or Venus and Serena, or Tiger. America has fallen in love with someone new, and something new, and sporting goods stores will stock up on goalie uniforms if they know what’s good for them. | No, it was better than that. It was sweeter than that. It’s partly why so many children, after hearing the roar of the crowd with every spectacular save, now want to be goalkeepers when they grow up. Forget “I want to be like Mike,” or Venus and Serena, or Tiger. America has fallen in love with someone new, and something new, and sporting goods stores will stock up on goalie uniforms if they know what’s good for them. |
| Watching Howard during the game, my 2-year-old daughter even said, “I want to do that!” and insisted that she would be a goalkeeper someday, even at the expense of surrendering her tutus. | Watching Howard during the game, my 2-year-old daughter even said, “I want to do that!” and insisted that she would be a goalkeeper someday, even at the expense of surrendering her tutus. |
| Serious stuff. Howard did all he could to save his team in a 2-1 loss to Belgium, but he may ultimately have a much larger role: as a game-changer for soccer in the United States. | Serious stuff. Howard did all he could to save his team in a 2-1 loss to Belgium, but he may ultimately have a much larger role: as a game-changer for soccer in the United States. |
| Why? The answer is simple. Timothy Matthew Howard, a 35-year-old keeper from central New Jersey and a son of a truck driver, elicited more cheers than perhaps any other player in this World Cup for single-handedly holding off Belgium for most of the game. At a basic level, he was out there on his own, sacrificing his body to protect his country’s team when the other lines of defense had caved in. | Why? The answer is simple. Timothy Matthew Howard, a 35-year-old keeper from central New Jersey and a son of a truck driver, elicited more cheers than perhaps any other player in this World Cup for single-handedly holding off Belgium for most of the game. At a basic level, he was out there on his own, sacrificing his body to protect his country’s team when the other lines of defense had caved in. |
| And Americans love that kind of daring, don’t they? | And Americans love that kind of daring, don’t they? |
| Belgium was trying to sink the United States with relentless attacks, and Howard, a mortal turned superhero in cleats, had fans’ hearts beating loudly, like freight trains, and bursting with joy. He knocked away shots with his hands, his feet, his legs and his chest — and probably, as his legend grows, every last strand of hair in his dark, long beard, too. | Belgium was trying to sink the United States with relentless attacks, and Howard, a mortal turned superhero in cleats, had fans’ hearts beating loudly, like freight trains, and bursting with joy. He knocked away shots with his hands, his feet, his legs and his chest — and probably, as his legend grows, every last strand of hair in his dark, long beard, too. |
| Fans held their collective breath and then exhaled with his every save, and you could almost hear the nation erupt in relief and support: Tim Howard for president! Well, at least that’s what the Internet was saying. | |
| Casual sports fans — and there are fewer and fewer unfamiliar with the national team anymore — most likely didn’t know Tim Howard from Ron Howard before Tuesday’s game. But as the contest wore on, the entire World Wide Web was getting to know him, the newest great American. | Casual sports fans — and there are fewer and fewer unfamiliar with the national team anymore — most likely didn’t know Tim Howard from Ron Howard before Tuesday’s game. But as the contest wore on, the entire World Wide Web was getting to know him, the newest great American. |
| On an image of Mount Rushmore, someone replaced Thomas Jefferson’s face with a photo of Howard. Someone else inserted his picture on the Wikipedia page for the United States secretary of defense. | On an image of Mount Rushmore, someone replaced Thomas Jefferson’s face with a photo of Howard. Someone else inserted his picture on the Wikipedia page for the United States secretary of defense. |
| A petition was submitted to the White House to change the name of Ronald Reagan National Airport, in Washington, to Tim Howard National Airport because he “has shown himself to be a national treasure, Minister of Defense, Friend of Joe Biden.” It urged the change “to recognize his accomplishments and meritorious service to the United States of America.” | A petition was submitted to the White House to change the name of Ronald Reagan National Airport, in Washington, to Tim Howard National Airport because he “has shown himself to be a national treasure, Minister of Defense, Friend of Joe Biden.” It urged the change “to recognize his accomplishments and meritorious service to the United States of America.” |
| The hashtag #ThingsTimHowardCouldSave began trending on Twitter. He was everywhere, in thousands of posts: Howard could have stopped Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal during the 1986 World Cup. He could have kept Luis Suárez from taking a bite out of Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder. He could have saved Bambi’s mother from dying, or Simba’s father in “The Lion King,” or the Titanic from sinking, or the movie rental company Blockbuster from falling into bankruptcy. He could have spared dinosaurs from extinction by batting away a giant meteor. He could have saved your parents’ marriage. | The hashtag #ThingsTimHowardCouldSave began trending on Twitter. He was everywhere, in thousands of posts: Howard could have stopped Diego Maradona’s Hand of God goal during the 1986 World Cup. He could have kept Luis Suárez from taking a bite out of Giorgio Chiellini’s shoulder. He could have saved Bambi’s mother from dying, or Simba’s father in “The Lion King,” or the Titanic from sinking, or the movie rental company Blockbuster from falling into bankruptcy. He could have spared dinosaurs from extinction by batting away a giant meteor. He could have saved your parents’ marriage. |
| Just think how much the United States missed by not paying more attention to Howard before this World Cup. For years, he has been one of the top goalkeepers in England’s Premier League, which means that for years, he has been one of the top goalkeepers in the world. | Just think how much the United States missed by not paying more attention to Howard before this World Cup. For years, he has been one of the top goalkeepers in England’s Premier League, which means that for years, he has been one of the top goalkeepers in the world. |
| If the United States hadn’t been paying so much attention to Donald Sterling’s racist rants or the Real Housewives’ plastic surgery, it would have realized there was an American waiting to do miraculous things for his country. | If the United States hadn’t been paying so much attention to Donald Sterling’s racist rants or the Real Housewives’ plastic surgery, it would have realized there was an American waiting to do miraculous things for his country. |
| Early in the World Cup, I described Howard as being in the loneliest place in sports — the one between two white goal posts. But on Tuesday, that wasn’t the case at all. | Early in the World Cup, I described Howard as being in the loneliest place in sports — the one between two white goal posts. But on Tuesday, that wasn’t the case at all. |
| Sure, he was still there, between those white posts, but millions of fans were there with him as he scrambled forward, lunged left and right, leapt into the air to swat away shots as if he were a human missile defense system. | Sure, he was still there, between those white posts, but millions of fans were there with him as he scrambled forward, lunged left and right, leapt into the air to swat away shots as if he were a human missile defense system. |
| And when it was done, even his opponents — some of them friends, a few of them rivals — threw their arms around him, acknowledging his greatness. | And when it was done, even his opponents — some of them friends, a few of them rivals — threw their arms around him, acknowledging his greatness. |
| But love is fleeting, is it not? | But love is fleeting, is it not? |
| Maybe Americans still feeling the rush of a new crush don’t realize it, but Howard will be 39 when the next World Cup rolls around, in 2018. That means he may not be there. Even at the height of his powers, he can’t turn back time. | Maybe Americans still feeling the rush of a new crush don’t realize it, but Howard will be 39 when the next World Cup rolls around, in 2018. That means he may not be there. Even at the height of his powers, he can’t turn back time. |
| So here’s a warning to fans who are headed to a tattoo parlor for a permanent Howard memento: Most affairs that run this hot never last long. | So here’s a warning to fans who are headed to a tattoo parlor for a permanent Howard memento: Most affairs that run this hot never last long. |