It's all about the experience

Have you ever been to a soccer stadium in Brazil, to experience one of our most famous derbies? Probably not, I know and I fully understand, once soccer is far from being the favorite sport here in the U.S. But regarding to me, I had the pleasure to watch Chicago White Sox vs. Cleveland Indians at the U.S. Cellular Field last Sunday. And now I'm here to tell you how different things can be between the most famous sport in Brazil and one of most popular sports in the U.S. And believe me: all the differences can go far beyond these games rules.
At a baseball stadium, everything is on set, on the right place. Everybody has their sits (and nobody takes other's place, people are used to do the right thing even if there's no one to check sit's numbers). Minutes after the entire family make themselves comfortable, usually the father goes to some place inside the stadium to buy hot-dogs and sodas. Everything is very organized - even the emotions. In three hours of game, I didn't see anybody so excited that was not able to breath, I didn't see not even one person screaming so loud that could make the person next door about choosing that sit.
And when the game starts, everybody is sitting waiting for their idols catch the ball - ok, not everybody, because some of them spend more time at the gift shops rather than watching the game. But everyone - including those who are in the gift shop - wait, since the very first beginning, for more one victory of their team.
In a soccer game in Brazil, the things can be extremely different. You can smell barbecue two blocks away from the stadium. The main entrance is chaotic, it's really hard to get into the stadium. It's so hard that the feeling is that you are there not only because you paid for, but specially because you deserve to be after all the sacrifice you had to pass through. But do you really think people care about that? It's part of the show, is part of the experience. You can hear the crowds screaming songs about the team, using not just polite words, from miles away and those are the people who couldn't get inside yet.
And finally you get inside the Maracanã Stadium, in Rio. It's not as comfortable or organized as in Chicago. There aren't individual seats, but who cares? The crowd will have 90 minutes of an intense game when people won't seat at all. Almost a hundred thousand people will be singing several songs together, raising their giant flags, taking special part of the show and anxiously hope for the goal. And when it finally comes, I definitely can't describe the feeling. It's something so strong, so huge that nobody can explain how you could keep that inside.
That's the most important difference. It's sociological, it's anthropological, it's about how hard people can get involved with the game. It seems to me that baseball here in the U.S. is a familiar entertainment and it's good the way the things works. But, soccer in Brazil is about passion. To chose and defend a team is more than hopes that it will win the matches. It defines an important part of who you are, it's almost like caring about yourself. A soccer game in Brazil you don't watch, you experience, you live, you surrender and let the magical aura guides your feelings to the edge of the insanity.

That's why it's so unique.