Wednesday, July 26, 2006
World Cup thoughts
More and final for now, World Cup commentary
How different is the World Cup practice of diving from the way of American football heroes? For instance, Ronnie Lott, who once during a regular season game, gave the trainer the okay to cut the tip off of his little finger and tape it up, so he could keep playing. Or Jack Youngblood, who in a playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys continued to play on through what he and the doctors both knew was a fractured leg. (nothing major just the femur coming through his uniform pants, so legend has it.)
see the video of the Italians practicing diving, hilarious
Yet it is not as simple as just European versus American mindsets, for this North-North perspective excludes many. For example, what about South American mores and views, and how they play out in this schema of football as sport and society?
Another way soccer (the world’s football versus America’s version) exemplifies differences rather than sameness would be how Americans are exacting enough that we have replays for the spotting of the ball in our football. Instant replay to decide exactly where to spot the ball, literally to a matter of inches. Whereas in the world's football, one is allowed to take a free kick from the general area of the foul. Getting exact only when it is in the penalty area, and even then not using replay to second guess the on-field officials judgment. But if the foul occured in the middle of the pitch, well so long as one is taking the free kick within a couple of feet of where the foul happened, it is good enough. Close enough for this game. Part of the gamesmanship of soccer is to try to scooch the ball forward just a bit. Take the kick from three, four, five feet in front of where the foul actually occurred.
Another difference is the Super Bowl kickoff, American football's biggest game, which is always listed in the television guides, even on-line, as 6pm, and thanks to massive hype and commercialism actually occurs on or around 6.18pm. Whereas from the World Cup opener, right on through the final, if the guide said the match starts at 3pm, they were kicking off by no later than 3.01pm, occasional as early as 2.59pm. I am quite confident I wasn’t the only American who missed the beginning of a few big games because of this difference.
Of course, World Cup Football/Soccer turned out to be at least not so different from its traditional self. Despite the promise of the opener between Germany and Costa Rica, the rest of the World Cup was very low scoring!! And once more, a former winner won again. Four European teams in the final, at most, little noted Portugal was available for supporters of the underdog. For a brief moment there were hopes of Mexico ousting the Italians in the elimination round…ahhh what might have been. But, this is why we watch, nu? And I’ll be back, next time around in South Africa.
next World Cup, 2010
How different is the World Cup practice of diving from the way of American football heroes? For instance, Ronnie Lott, who once during a regular season game, gave the trainer the okay to cut the tip off of his little finger and tape it up, so he could keep playing. Or Jack Youngblood, who in a playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys continued to play on through what he and the doctors both knew was a fractured leg. (nothing major just the femur coming through his uniform pants, so legend has it.)
see the video of the Italians practicing diving, hilarious
Yet it is not as simple as just European versus American mindsets, for this North-North perspective excludes many. For example, what about South American mores and views, and how they play out in this schema of football as sport and society?
Another way soccer (the world’s football versus America’s version) exemplifies differences rather than sameness would be how Americans are exacting enough that we have replays for the spotting of the ball in our football. Instant replay to decide exactly where to spot the ball, literally to a matter of inches. Whereas in the world's football, one is allowed to take a free kick from the general area of the foul. Getting exact only when it is in the penalty area, and even then not using replay to second guess the on-field officials judgment. But if the foul occured in the middle of the pitch, well so long as one is taking the free kick within a couple of feet of where the foul happened, it is good enough. Close enough for this game. Part of the gamesmanship of soccer is to try to scooch the ball forward just a bit. Take the kick from three, four, five feet in front of where the foul actually occurred.
Another difference is the Super Bowl kickoff, American football's biggest game, which is always listed in the television guides, even on-line, as 6pm, and thanks to massive hype and commercialism actually occurs on or around 6.18pm. Whereas from the World Cup opener, right on through the final, if the guide said the match starts at 3pm, they were kicking off by no later than 3.01pm, occasional as early as 2.59pm. I am quite confident I wasn’t the only American who missed the beginning of a few big games because of this difference.
Of course, World Cup Football/Soccer turned out to be at least not so different from its traditional self. Despite the promise of the opener between Germany and Costa Rica, the rest of the World Cup was very low scoring!! And once more, a former winner won again. Four European teams in the final, at most, little noted Portugal was available for supporters of the underdog. For a brief moment there were hopes of Mexico ousting the Italians in the elimination round…ahhh what might have been. But, this is why we watch, nu? And I’ll be back, next time around in South Africa.
next World Cup, 2010
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