Ron Rhody

Like any good, patriotic American, I've spent my life ignoring football, while occasionally baffling over what all those other silly nations were going on about. Then, I happened to be in Mexico during the UEFA cup in 2008, and soccer was on every day in the hotel at dinner. So I started watching and, lo and behold, I got a bit hooked on it for the duration of that business trip.

Fast forward two years, and the World Cup is upon us. I realized with dismay, on the eve of the opening, that while I enjoyed my soccer spectating experience and was able to understand the game at a very high level (score more goals than your opponent!) I was missing some of the rules and general strategies. What are strikers and midfielders? What’s up with yellow and red cards? How does offside occur?

Enter Ron Rhody, and his helpful little book. Ron is a grandfather whose son played soccer from age 6 through college and now Ron’s grandchildren are playing. He says in the description that most of the soccer books on the market are about playing or coaching and he's right; I know because I looked for a book to help me, a new spectator, understand the game better. I can gladly say I found it.

Rhody is not a soccer professional. He doesn't mention ever playing or coaching, just watching his son and now his grandchildren. His son edited and proofed the book, so what results is the informal, chatty writing style, much like a chat with a friend or your grandfather, coupled with a level of authority provided by the input from this son. The book reads easily, there isn't much to bog down even a soccer dummy like myself.

The basics of the game are discussed: the field, players, positions, layouts, and general strategies. Rhody also discusses the rules you most need to know, without performing a mind-numbing dissection of all of the rules. The book is short, something Rhody states up front. His goal is to provide a high-level view for spectators new to the game. The reader looking for a full end-to-end description of all rules, strategies, and techniques will find this book lacking, but they aren’t the target audience for this book.

Rhody does fall into the trap of defending soccer’s worth a little and trying to sell the game to a new audience, but that is only because of how much he enjoy it. All of his enthusiasm is genuine and warm-hearted. At times he uses a term before defining it later, but the reader is able to work through this.

For anyone who doesn't know much about soccer, but wants to know some more in order to watch and enjoy a game, this book is a good choice.… (más)