Duncan, you write:

Many years ago, the sport was embraced by yuppie parents eager for their children to play a game that provided good exercise and was relatively safe. It has long boasted high rates of youth participation across the country. But its association with snobbish Bobo liberalism — along with the way it has been championed by certain left-wing critics of American exceptionalism — has triggered an anti-soccer backlash among some conservatives.

I think the analogue here is liberals’ distaste for NASCAR, a sport most popular among blue-collar conservatives living in red America. Journalist and soccer nut Dayo Olopade and I discuss in today’s episode of bloggingheadstv: