SNL’s Leslie Jones became a huge soccer fan over the weekend

Posted by on Oct 31, 2016 12:04

People become soccer fans for various reasons. Some become fans because they may have played when they were a kid. Some gravitate to the free flowing nature of the sport. Some see the camaraderie of a supporters group and want to be a part of that atmosphere. For Saturday Night Live and Ghostbusters actress, Leslie Jones, she got into it for the men.

Jones, a very active Twitter user who has shown some great sports commentary live tweeting the Rio Olympics recently watched the Barcelona/Manchester City Champions League match from a couple weeks ago and quickly noticed the attractiveness of some of the players and coaches.

Well I guess that’s one reason soccer is called “The Beautiful Game.”

This wasn’t a one time thing as it got Jones to watch soccer all day Sunday, live tweeting the Premier League matches in the morning along with the MLS Conference Semifinal matches all afternoon and evening. Now quickly becoming one of us, watching soccer all morning, afternoon and night, Jones seems to be learning about soccer as she watches. And getting suggestions from fans of just about every team to get her to become a fan of theirs.

New York Red Bulls manager Jesse Marsch and Colorado manager Pablo Mastroeni caught the eye of Jones.

Even the referees were getting attention

Jones got to learn about some of the nuances of soccer like red cards. Hey, you can’t learn if you don’t ask.

But it seemed like the player who really caught Jones was US Soccer legend and Colorado Rapids goalkeeper Tim Howard.

Jones also questioned why players are holding kids’ hands as they walk out onto the field. I’m going to be honest, while it’s a great idea to incorporate kids into the experience as mascots, that part is probably a bit creepy for those new to the sport.

But in the end, Jones got to see some great soccer and it seemed like the more she watched, the more she got to know the game and even gave some astute analysis by the end.

And apparently will be heading to Yankee Stadium for the NYCFC/Toronto match next Sunday.

And I get it, if this was the other way around and a male comedian was watching NWSL or the U.S. Women’s National Team and saying the same thing, it would sound (and would be) incredibly creepy and wrong. Yeah, it’s arguably a bit of a double standard but at the same time, it’s pretty ridiculous for somebody to complain that someone is sexualizing male players once when it happens a lot more often in women’s sports and pretty much everywhere else for women and in that instance, it can be a very dangerous situation.

Leslie Jones kept things rather light and comical instead of going creepy and awkward. She’s getting a handle on the sport and while she’s learning, spending over 12 hours in a day watching soccer is a great start to becoming a diehard fan. And if it had to take the attractiveness of the players, coaches and referees to get her to become a fan, so be it. Everyone has their own reasons that got them to be a soccer fan so I say welcome to the newest soccer fan and if you’re reading this and you would like to write a guest column on 32 Flags, the offer is out there Leslie.

[Photo: Getty Images]

About Phillip Bupp

Producer/editor of the Awful Announcing Podcast and Short and to the Point. News editor for The Comeback and Awful Announcing. Highlight consultant for Major League Soccer as well as a freelance writer for hire. Opinions are my own but feel free to agree with them. Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @phillipbupp

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