The venerable Slate Magazine has a few features on football, or as we call it, soccer (even though our version involves little foot-to-pigskin contact), that are worth reading. Dave Eggers does
a semi-tongue-in-cheek analysis of our complicated affair with the sport, while Seth Stevenson praises Nike's new spots. Although it's somewhat fashionable (and easy) for Americans to deride soccer and its fans, it occasionally smacks of elitist isolationism, particularly popular among those who never have and never will leave our great borders. As the Olympics have become a bland mix of melodramatic NBC montages and obnoxiously tepid Bob Costas interviews, the World Cup is the biggest remaining stage for communal appreciation of internationalism, even if some would argue exactly the opposite. Here is maybe the only place where Togo, Angola, and Serbia can become news items for non-horrific reasons. Nike's new Joga Bonito ads are fascinating to watch, though they could benefit from a little more outreach to some non-European countries. We already know the French, Germans, Italians, etc. are pretty good. Still, soccer can often be really really boring to watch (0-0 draws, or Italy's renowned ability to preserve a 1-0 lead by killing any semblance of momentum). At the same time, some who write off the sport for that same reason claim to be baseball fans, forgetting Homer's observation about how "boring this game is without beer." I think it's simply a matter of watching enough games to gain an appreciation for the details - not just waiting for the HGH-fueled three-run homer, or the diving header just beyond the keeper's splayed fingertips. The "sport" we really should be knocking is televised poker; it's just a clever commie scam anyway.
a semi-tongue-in-cheek analysis of our complicated affair with the sport, while Seth Stevenson praises Nike's new spots. Although it's somewhat fashionable (and easy) for Americans to deride soccer and its fans, it occasionally smacks of elitist isolationism, particularly popular among those who never have and never will leave our great borders. As the Olympics have become a bland mix of melodramatic NBC montages and obnoxiously tepid Bob Costas interviews, the World Cup is the biggest remaining stage for communal appreciation of internationalism, even if some would argue exactly the opposite. Here is maybe the only place where Togo, Angola, and Serbia can become news items for non-horrific reasons. Nike's new Joga Bonito ads are fascinating to watch, though they could benefit from a little more outreach to some non-European countries. We already know the French, Germans, Italians, etc. are pretty good. Still, soccer can often be really really boring to watch (0-0 draws, or Italy's renowned ability to preserve a 1-0 lead by killing any semblance of momentum). At the same time, some who write off the sport for that same reason claim to be baseball fans, forgetting Homer's observation about how "boring this game is without beer." I think it's simply a matter of watching enough games to gain an appreciation for the details - not just waiting for the HGH-fueled three-run homer, or the diving header just beyond the keeper's splayed fingertips. The "sport" we really should be knocking is televised poker; it's just a clever commie scam anyway.
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