At the Intersection of Anglophilia and Pretention
I've always been interested in the World Cup, but in the past have found that my desire to understand and follow the tournament far outweighed my desire to actually sit still for 90 minutes and watch matches. Not so this year. I've been glued to the tournament for about a week, waking up at 6 a.m. to catch the early matches and then spending the early evenings reading everything I can about the tournament. There are three or four other people at my paper that are following the tournament obsessively as well, so we're all sort of stoking each other's interests.
I'm told that the American intellectuals have taken to soccer over the last few years after reading this book. One friend said that it was a way for snobs to embrace the proletariat without having to actually spend time with them. That may be right. Also it's probably a lot easier for U.S. snobs to embrace the European masses, who, unlike the Americans, don't watch NASCAR.
A co-worker directed me to this site, which purports to help people select the side they should support. According to the rankings, Ghana is the most supportable and the United States team is the least (The U.S. is 30th, but there are no rankings for two countries, as the site pleads lack of information). This is indeed bad news for the Americans, who must face Ghana next week in a game that probably be rendered meaningless in a few hours. I find that I object to that, in that you can't be intellectually honest and then say that Iran and Saudi Arabia are more supportable than the Americans. Not when the Iranian president is dabbling in Holocaust denial (a cheap ploy to earn fans for his team in Germany, perhaps) and Saudi Arabia remains Saudi Arabia. Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit that I found myself rooting for the Saudis in their match against Tunisia, especially in the second half when the Carthage Eagles were lifeless, dull and begging to be beaten. There was a moment in the second half when the Saudis inserted Sami al Jaber, the country's most celebrated player who had be coaxed out of retirement to play. He entered in the 81st minute and almost immediately created a breakaway chance and scored to give his team a 2-1 lead. That was a really great moment. I spent the rest of the day unsettled and slightly disgusted with myself.
I've also been spending time reading the English papers, which has been fantastically amusing. They eschew a number of the really annoying conventions of American sportswriting, most notably the over reliance on direct quotations and long blocks of play-of-play description. Also, even the beat guys write with attitude. That's more than you can say for most. I've also been listening to the Guardian's daily podcast, which has become a regular pleasure during the last week.
I'm wondering if this is going to segue into some interest in European club football. I have been reading up on the Premiership this week, which I assume would be the easiest to follow since the coverage would be in English. The problem is that I'd have to pick a team to follow and have no basis on which to do that. I know that Manchested United is like the Yankees, that Chelsea is trying to purchase the title and the Arsenal is comprised almost entirely of imports. That would seem to put Arsenal in the lead, but they've been so good recently that feels like an entirely trendy pick. There's the possibility of picking a team at random, but I'd want to be able to watch my boys on television. So maybe that limits me as well. Anna reports that she'd be all in favor of me picking up Premiership soccer if it meant the banishing of the NHL. It's something to consider.
I'm told that the American intellectuals have taken to soccer over the last few years after reading this book. One friend said that it was a way for snobs to embrace the proletariat without having to actually spend time with them. That may be right. Also it's probably a lot easier for U.S. snobs to embrace the European masses, who, unlike the Americans, don't watch NASCAR.
A co-worker directed me to this site, which purports to help people select the side they should support. According to the rankings, Ghana is the most supportable and the United States team is the least (The U.S. is 30th, but there are no rankings for two countries, as the site pleads lack of information). This is indeed bad news for the Americans, who must face Ghana next week in a game that probably be rendered meaningless in a few hours. I find that I object to that, in that you can't be intellectually honest and then say that Iran and Saudi Arabia are more supportable than the Americans. Not when the Iranian president is dabbling in Holocaust denial (a cheap ploy to earn fans for his team in Germany, perhaps) and Saudi Arabia remains Saudi Arabia. Of course, in the interest of full disclosure, I'll admit that I found myself rooting for the Saudis in their match against Tunisia, especially in the second half when the Carthage Eagles were lifeless, dull and begging to be beaten. There was a moment in the second half when the Saudis inserted Sami al Jaber, the country's most celebrated player who had be coaxed out of retirement to play. He entered in the 81st minute and almost immediately created a breakaway chance and scored to give his team a 2-1 lead. That was a really great moment. I spent the rest of the day unsettled and slightly disgusted with myself.
I've also been spending time reading the English papers, which has been fantastically amusing. They eschew a number of the really annoying conventions of American sportswriting, most notably the over reliance on direct quotations and long blocks of play-of-play description. Also, even the beat guys write with attitude. That's more than you can say for most. I've also been listening to the Guardian's daily podcast, which has become a regular pleasure during the last week.
I'm wondering if this is going to segue into some interest in European club football. I have been reading up on the Premiership this week, which I assume would be the easiest to follow since the coverage would be in English. The problem is that I'd have to pick a team to follow and have no basis on which to do that. I know that Manchested United is like the Yankees, that Chelsea is trying to purchase the title and the Arsenal is comprised almost entirely of imports. That would seem to put Arsenal in the lead, but they've been so good recently that feels like an entirely trendy pick. There's the possibility of picking a team at random, but I'd want to be able to watch my boys on television. So maybe that limits me as well. Anna reports that she'd be all in favor of me picking up Premiership soccer if it meant the banishing of the NHL. It's something to consider.
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