Admittedly, this entry makes me seem perhaps more feverish than I actually am for soccer/fooball/futbal. I'm not a true fanatic about any sport. And in fact, I would get quickly busted if pushed to any sort of knowledge of the rules/regs of the game, team trivia (or even team names for that matter - did someone say Arsenal? Real Madrid?), hot players (how 'bout that Pele - oops, ancient history! - maybe Beckham (b. 1975, practically an old man) or Ronaldo? But, I recognize hot when I see it) or great moments in sports history. But I am easily caught up in the historical sports moment - be it Venus facing off her sister Serena in the finals at Centre Court at Wimbledon, Michael Phelps swimming for his record gold, and yes, that World Cup final, semi-final, quarter-final match.
Despite my limited depth here, I do have a special appreciation for the game. I love that it is played all over the world, and is accessible to all. I have seen soccer played by kids on the side of the road, barefoot, with a makeshift, heavily duct-taped ball in Mexico. I have watched people gather around a tiny, black-and white television full of the fuzz of bad reception outside a kiosk shop or watering-hole-cum-former-shipping container to watch the Africa Cup final in Malawi. I adore the fans' undying allegiance to their team. And while I find the whole hooliganism thing a turn-off, I do appreciate their passionate, vehement - ok, alcohol-fueled - raucous energy they bring to a match. I also enjoy the Adidas brand's longstanding affiliation with the sport - co-branded practically when nobody else was looking. (Adidas = "All Day I Drink And Smoke, "All Day I Dream About Sex."Am I the only one who remembers that?)
So many sports are nation/culture-defined. Cricket? - So British, or really, more Indian these days! Curling? - I think Nordic Vikings. Baseball? US, plus some Cuba and Japan (how random is that?)! Football? - Now that's completely American! Rugby? UK and Australia. Hockey? US and Canada. Other sports are obscure, elite, and require special equipment. Tennis - rackets and whites. Golf - a set of archaic clubs and acres of rolling hills of manicured greens (environmental nightmare). But soccer - of the people, by the people, for the people - has low barriers to entry, cuts across the class divide, and as best as I can tell, is played pretty much everywhere.
So World Cup is upon us - and I will be following. At least as much as someone who calls herself La Nouvelle Observatrice, and whose long-term plan is to give Nigella Lawson a run for her money, can be expected to follow these sporting thingies.
And in fact, I would get quickly busted if pushed to any sort of knowledge of the rules/regs of the game, team trivia, hot players, or great moments in sports history.
ReplyDeleteOK, we'll make it easy on you: identify at least six of the eight famous faces in the new Nike advert.
And I'll give you two for free (Homer Simpson and Kobe Bryant ;-)
So busted!
ReplyDelete