That's a pretty famous essay, here (and I did not expect you to know anything about it! Umberto Eco must be even more popular aborad that I expected, or you are very informed about Italy, Peter! ).

Still, while I have to agree with Eco about soccer, I really hope I did not sound as snobbish as he does in his writing(s). A great scholar, Umberto Eco is also unbearably pompous to me; in all that I have read by him, I seem to perceive his desire to state how much he knows, more than anything else.
In this, I believe Eco and I disagree
So, just not to be misunderstood, I don't get soccer, but that's just me being insensitive to it, not at all "superior" in anyway to anybody who likes it. Most my friends and people I value love soccer.