The Beautiful Game
"There are many beautiful things about being an American fan of men's World Cup soccer - foremost among them is ignorance. The community in which you were raised did not gather around the TV set every four years for a solid, breathless month. Your country has never won. You can pick whatever team you like best and root for it without shame of reprisal. You have not been indoctrinated into unwanted-yet-inescapable tribal allegiances by your soccer-crazed countrymen. You are an armature, in the purest sense of the word." - from a great article on "Why the World Loves Soccer" in this month's National Geographic.
I am just about the newest football fan on the planet. Three short weeks ago, I could have care less about the matches that always seemed to be on Eurosport and the ridiculous amount of time BBC spent on reporting the scores. Then the World Cup started and it all changed.
I now have watched almost every match to date, either with thousands of cheering fans at one of the many places Geneva has set up huge screens for fans to watch, or with friends at a bar or restaurant (EVERY bar & restaurant in town now has a permanent TV set up for viewing) or cheering alone in our apartment. I’m actually a bit surprised by my sudden interest (dare say passion?) for the game.
Living in Europe you cannot help but get swept up in all. It's what everyone talks about. Entire businesses shut down so their workers can catch the 3:00 game. All over town you see flags hanging from apartment windows... Brazil, Italy, Japan, Croatia, Ivory Coast... and of course, Switzerland. Cars honking (for hours sometimes) with the victorious drivers waving flags out their windows after every match (even after the late games that end at 11 pm). You don't even need a schedule to know who is playing on any particular day, people are decked out in their country's colors, flags wrapped around them. Every store sells something world cup related (World Cup wine anyone?) and the department stores have dedicated huge areas to sell their World Cup wares. And this is all in Switzerland... not even Germany where it's actually happening!!!
There are many reasons to love soccer. Watching the players in the World Cup, it never ceases to amaze me what these guys do with their bodies. The players have speed, grace, accuracy, strength, and agility, which they use with no inhibitions, just to get that elusive goal. All the while they make it all look so easy. The games themselves are like a mini-drama full of suspense. Things can change so fast, at any moment. You can never be sure of a victory until the final whistle has blown.
But it is so much more than the players or even the game itself. It's a game that can be played anywhere with almost anything. The rules are simple. It transcends all aspects of society. Wars have been started over football but it also has the power to unite the world. It is the only truly international sport. One fifth of all humanity will be watching the final on July 9th, that is over a billion people!
Now that I'm returning to the US, it won't be quite the same. There won't be the same level of fanfare or celebrations. And I hope I can catch at least a few games on television. But I'm now a fan for life, permanently part of an international community of football-crazed people.
I am just about the newest football fan on the planet. Three short weeks ago, I could have care less about the matches that always seemed to be on Eurosport and the ridiculous amount of time BBC spent on reporting the scores. Then the World Cup started and it all changed.
I now have watched almost every match to date, either with thousands of cheering fans at one of the many places Geneva has set up huge screens for fans to watch, or with friends at a bar or restaurant (EVERY bar & restaurant in town now has a permanent TV set up for viewing) or cheering alone in our apartment. I’m actually a bit surprised by my sudden interest (dare say passion?) for the game.
Living in Europe you cannot help but get swept up in all. It's what everyone talks about. Entire businesses shut down so their workers can catch the 3:00 game. All over town you see flags hanging from apartment windows... Brazil, Italy, Japan, Croatia, Ivory Coast... and of course, Switzerland. Cars honking (for hours sometimes) with the victorious drivers waving flags out their windows after every match (even after the late games that end at 11 pm). You don't even need a schedule to know who is playing on any particular day, people are decked out in their country's colors, flags wrapped around them. Every store sells something world cup related (World Cup wine anyone?) and the department stores have dedicated huge areas to sell their World Cup wares. And this is all in Switzerland... not even Germany where it's actually happening!!!
There are many reasons to love soccer. Watching the players in the World Cup, it never ceases to amaze me what these guys do with their bodies. The players have speed, grace, accuracy, strength, and agility, which they use with no inhibitions, just to get that elusive goal. All the while they make it all look so easy. The games themselves are like a mini-drama full of suspense. Things can change so fast, at any moment. You can never be sure of a victory until the final whistle has blown.
But it is so much more than the players or even the game itself. It's a game that can be played anywhere with almost anything. The rules are simple. It transcends all aspects of society. Wars have been started over football but it also has the power to unite the world. It is the only truly international sport. One fifth of all humanity will be watching the final on July 9th, that is over a billion people!
Now that I'm returning to the US, it won't be quite the same. There won't be the same level of fanfare or celebrations. And I hope I can catch at least a few games on television. But I'm now a fan for life, permanently part of an international community of football-crazed people.
posted by Swiss Miss | 15:40
1 Comments:
I'm with you, I am HOOKED!!. And I am SOOOO jealous. I only wish they had the kind of coverage here that they have over there. They weren't even going to air the US vs. Italy game live on ABC b/c the station wanted to run a Monarch's game instead!!! Luckily enough people called in to complain and they ran the game live. I've been catching a lot of games on Telemundo, at least one local station is into the World Cup!! All I can understand is GOL!!! and "offsides," but getting the watch the games is worth it. I'm going to have to look into getting an Internet or cable package to watch the Europe teams in their regular season this year.
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