Before you read this, keep in mind that I am not an anti-soccer writer. In fact, quite the opposite. I've been a fan of international football since I was about 13 years old, watching Toby Charles narrate Bundesliga highlights on my local PBS station. I've closely followed every World Cup since 1974 and have covered the game in the media since 1994.

But I'm also well connected to the average American, who doesn't really "get" the world game. My Dad is a football coach - gridiron variety - and while he's more sophisticated than most, many of his friends and colleagues are strictly meat and potatoes guys when it comes to sport.

I've lived in urban areas, where basketball was the be all and end all, and soccer balls weren't welcome. Then again, baseballs weren't either. I've also lived in rural areas, where a spaceship materialising from the sky would be less foreign than a black-and-white ball being kicked down main street.

So I think I have an understanding of how soccer is viewed in the States. And once again, this World Cup has reminded me that the sport has a long, long way to go before gaining acceptance with the mainstream American sports fan.

Here are a few things that Joe Average (or Joe Bob Average) struggles with:

Draws

Ask most Americans about a draw (or a "tie") and they'll say it's "like kissing your sister." That quote, often attributed to legendary Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant, sums up the American attitude towards drawn games. All US sports have some form of overtime, and while ties still occur, they're rare. And detested. Greg Baum wrote in The Age that "...the US does not understand any result other than victory." He meant it critically, but American sports fans would take it as a compliment.

This is directly related to the draw. My first international football experience was on the terraces at Upton Park, watching West Ham play Swansea. When the match ended in a draw, the fan behind me cheered lustily and yelled "well played, lads." That, my friends, is about as un-American as it gets. Cheering teams off the pitch after a draw is anathema to any American sports fan. A win, yes. A loss, possibly if it's a noble one. A tie? No chance.

The tackling example

A good tackle in soccer is when a player slides in and takes the ball from his opponent. A good tackle in American football is when a player hits his opponent with enough force to knock him to the ground. That not-so-subtle distinction is partly what makes it difficult for fans of American football to embrace soccer. American football is a game of violent collisions, a macho sport that - like it or not - many view as manhood defining. Soccer, especially in the States, is just not like that.

Faking injuries

See above. In American football, like the rugby codes and Australian Rules football, you're taught from a very young age not to let your opponent know you're hurt. You keep playing until you are dragged off, either by the training staff, a stretcher or (God forbid) a motorized cart. I'm not saying soccer players aren't tough, but compare the blatant diving and gamesmanship that go hand-in-hand with injuries in that sport with those in American football. For the Average Joe, there's no comparison.

Terminology

This is especially challenging now that ESPN's World Cup coverage in the US features Martin Tyler, Ian Darke and a plethora of British callers. In Middle America a "kit" is a bag, a "pitch" is a baseball term, a "side" is what comes with your main meal and "football" is a sport with a helmet and shoulder pads.

The offsides rule

To the soccer neophyte, this is confusing as hell. Throw in contentious calls by optically-challenged linesman and it makes even less sense.

Arbitrary decisions and no video review

The average American sports fan watching the USA play Slovenia would have jumped with joy at Maurice Edu's apparent game-winning goal. Then - like most of us - he would have been completely baffled at why it was waved off. Unlike major American sports, there was no clear-cut explanation given at the time. There was also nothing afterward, either from the referee himself or from FIFA. In addition, video review has made its way into nearly every American sport; FIFA doesn't even use it to determine what is or isn't a goal.

Supercilious soccer snobs

Aka "the rest of the world argument." Like the World Cup, this line of thinking rolls around every four years. Usually put forth by a pseudo-intellectual world traveler, the idea is that the United States should be considered anachronistic for not taking "real football" seriously. The problem with this argument is that most Americans don't care. They're very happy in their own little world, watching the NFL and college football. Unlike Australians, most average Americans don't travel the world and really don't care if they don't know where or what the Cote d'Ivoire is or who plays in goal for Denmark.

Don't get me wrong, soccer has made tremendous inroads in the States. The MLS is a very professional league that for the most part, does things properly. ESPN has been a wonderful partner for the sport, beaming English Premier League, La Liga and World Cup games into millions of American homes. Even the loudmouthed shock jocks have eased off the "Soccer is Socialism" rhetoric. But it's still a niche sport and will remain one for many years.

Let's end with an example: On the eve of the World Cup, the biggest sports story by far was the possible shift of the University of Texas from the Big Twelve Conference to the Pac Ten. That my friends, is football in America.