World Cup Fever
Every four years I spend one month following sports. I don't get that excited about the annual rituals around football or baseball. The Olympics are cool but just don't do it for me.
What gets me to go out of my way to watch sports on television, read about players, learn about the game, and really get excited is soccer (or football if you prefer). For the last month I've joined the countless millions around the world who reorganize their lives to be able to watch as many games as possible live from Germany.
I watched matches in Spanish, Korean, and English. Every time Korea played my neighborhood filled with fans wearing red in solidarity with their team. Brazilian and Mexican flags were out in force when their teams played. The English fans proudly donned the banner of St. George.
For games that were on while I was at work I either watched them at lunch or followed them with the Joga.com Firefox plugin. My computer would yell "Gol Gol Gol" in my headphones and my English boss whose office is a few feet away would almost always also be following the match.
This ritual truly connects the world like no other event. More people watch this Cup than the Olympics or our American World Series and Super Bowl, the petty lip service we pay to global sport. This is truly a World Cup.
I cheered for America at first but found myself delighting in the quick play of Ghana as we lost our last match. I cheered for Spain after that but their fall has left me cheering for France.
Today's final match has been wonderful. I missed most of the first half because I thought the game was at noon. Fortunately one of the vendors at the Hollywood farmers market had a TV so I caught the kick-off. We raced home to see the action live and have been delighted with the match.
Viva Futbol! I can't wait for the next I get to watch sports on TV... in four years.
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Who is this guy?
So many Americans are so ignorant--and arrogant!--in presuming that just because OUR country seems to worship the baseball-football-basketball trinity (NHL hasn't quite made it to that status this side of the Canadian border), those are the sports considered most important by the rest of the people on this planet. Thankfully, soccer/football/futbol is catching on among increasing numbers of young people in this country, including females! "Back in the day" (1980-88) when I was in high school and college, girls' & women's soccer teams were nowhere to be found at schools or colleges here in central IL. And now...well, I'm jealous.
Aw, man! 4 years seems SO. FAR. AWAY.!!!