Sunday, June 13, 2010

Remember, We're All Humans

I'm watching the World Cup. I find this to be the only sporting event I get excited about at this point in my life. This is probably because:

+ Obviously I'm a Communist
+ Scoring and Winning is meaningless to me
+ I could care less about American character
+ All illegal immigrants should be given citizenship
+ I'll do anything Europeans do
+ I wish I was European and try to stretch my family lineage that way when asked by others
+ I don't want kids to get hurt or fail
+ I don't want kids to learn anything about life from American Sporting
+ I care about other people in the world more than Americans
+ Seeing men run after and kick balls is exhilarating
+ I have a foot fetish
+ The drama in pretending to be injured should be brought to the attention of the Screen Actor's Guild
+ I never have and never will vote Republican

Some truth in the matter is that America is average at Soccer. We don't dominate the rest of the world like we do in just about every other major sport (the ones we invented). This is a game that requires humility, finesse, and patience, not exactly the adjectives you use when making a pitch to the American Consumer Market. I think the idea that America has to get lucky and work very hard in order to be successful in the World Cup is frustrating to some media-ists.

THIS ARTICLE prompted this Blog post. Originally, I was going to do a more personal, passionate post about the World Cup, how I've ordered cable and DVR because of it and how it is a great way to enjoy something that is truly meaningful to a lot of people <<<< humans, you know, the things that WE ARE.

I could care less how popular Futbol becomes in America, obviously Americans care about other sports more, fine. What I do care about is when when something like the World Cup is used as a political vehicle to ambiguously lay claim to "the way America really is." I wouldn't question any of our contributors or readers dignity by responding to many of the wildly irrational points raised in the aforementioned article. The best thing to remember is that...

The World Cup isn't about America, it's about People Coming Together to Play a Game.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...
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YaYaYaDonTKnowMe said...

I've been watching Kickball too. Saw the US tie England on Saturday, and saw the Germans annihilate the Australians.

US seemed lucky to score the goal they did - I mean it was amazing and obviously it happened because God wanted it to, because God is an American, duh. But I rarely saw the US in control of the ball.

The Germans were so calculated, it's almost as if they are just following orders and were following a Master Plan of scoring goals. It's still impossible for me to hear positive commentary of Germany without thinking of WWII.

JlikeBoB said...

Haha... yea, Ze Germans are a great team to watch play futbol. They've won a handful of cups... as West Germany of course. That striker Klose could make a run at the all time Goals record for the World Cup... held by Ronaldo. Like I was telling Emily, futbol is one of those sports where the cliches and stereotypes about cultures, nationalities, and ethnicities are pretty much true and reflected in a Team's style of play. It can be very interesting to watch on a futbol pitch.

The Americans didn't play great, but they have a great keeper and a very solid defense. You're right, it's not pretty to watch, but I think we'll do ok.

I've seen most of the games so far thanks to a very rocky relationship with Time Warner's DVR service. Besides Germany's match, most games have been relatively tame. And I'll pretend you didn't refer to it as Kickball.

YaYaYaDonTKnowMe said...

Ha! See you Friday!