The Beautiful Game pt. I
Those of you who have been around me for the last month or so know two very distinct things that have been going on in my life right now. The first is the baby (obviously) and the second is the WORLD CUP. For most Americans, this game means little due to the fact that soccer is basically a second tier sport in the US, right down there with archery and cockroach racing. It doesn't have the glitz and glamour of basketball and football, nor does it keep the attention span of most ipod wearin', insta-coffee drinkin' citizens of this country. It's a game of patience, precision and passion- and though some think the sport dull and slow, I'm loving it! It only comes around every four years, making each game BIGGER than the Super Bowl (regardless of what Nizzle thinks) and peaks the interest of the b-b-b-b-billions of people who have been watching each game in awe. If you don't believe that each game is THAT big, please click on the link to below to pigentoes (aka"The Crooked Foot") for a first person account of the hysteria that is The World Cup. While you're there, send him a kind hello- even if you don't know him. Jordan definitely appreciates random things like that....
http://pigeontoes.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006/06/si_se_puede_oka.html
Weeks before the 32-team tourney began, I was excitedly walking around like a giddy little kid getting a bomb-pop at the neighborhood ice cream truck. I was planning what games to watch, who to root for and where I would go to watch the games amongst complete strangers. Even the commercials themselves got me excited. The one I love the most is a three part Adidas commercial where these two kids pick today's most celebrated international soccer stars for their imaginary teams, Cisse, Zidane, Beckham, Kaka, Beckembaur (okay, he's from 1972...but who cares!) etc. They play a short game on a dirt field amongst old tires, bed frames and rusted-out cars and after a disputed goal, little Jose's mother yells from a balcony to tell him he has to take his little ass home. It reminded me of my own childhood when I was playing with friends 18 blocks from home and I STILL heard my mom calling for me to do the same. It's nice to know that certain cultural elements of the family aren't so different thousands of miles away! And that is what this tourney is all about (at least for the most part), different countries and cultures coming together from far and wide to witness a sporting spectacle that rivals major organized religion. Sunday will determine who will travel home with the golden trophy and for two hours, I'll be non-existent to the world...
posted by paz y amor at 4:40 AM
2 Comments:
Whatever man! Ain't nothin' better than the Super Bowl?
Fri Jul 07, 03:19:00 PM
okay. so i am so with you on many points here. i will never look at the WC the same after having lived the passion in south america.
and let me say that being away highlights some of the ways that people see the u.s. from afar. one way is definitely as the selfish evil empire. iraq--and some of our policy--really makes us look bad.
and of course the entire world is watching and loving the wc, and we are the only country in the world that calls it soccer--please see pt. # 1 about how the US is seen...people in the states, in general, couldn´t care less.
being here has opened my eyes--the similarities between poor blacks in brazil who play soccer to the similarities of the poor blacks in the u.s. who play hoops or football (and how folks love their blacks when they are on a field winning but not when they are living in same neighborhood; the differences in style between countries; the way countries cheer for their teams; women care about the sport and talk with their grandkids and know all the players´names and argue over this and that....this is one case--the WC--where i think it does matter what other countries think.
it is the biggest spotlight in the world. i mean ronaldinho is like jordan in his heyday--the best player in his sport on the planet. now consider if everyone on the planet wanted to be like jordan (many, but my guess is not as many as in pele´s heyday)...that´s ronaldinho! everyone in the states wanted to be like mike (hello me!)--everyone in every other country around the world wants to be like ronaldinho. and have you seen him play? that is the most beautiful thing. really! breathtaking. and you know you are watching absolute greatness...like after the bulls won the championship. he has floored me so many times this year. and people all over the world are watching.
and don´t get me started about how other countries have started making a mark in the nba. we can´t consider a u.s. championship a world championship anymore...time to get aboard this soccer thing. enough it´s all about us in the u.s.
sorry so long, man. but you got me going.
Mon Jul 10, 11:32:00 AM
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