Sunday, July 09, 2006
Football
Today I watched the FIFA World Cup final game, at the home of a guy who grew up in Italy. We had a whole group of people there, and had a good time. I had watched very little of the games leading up to this, but then again I watch very little of any sport. The rest of the US watches lots of sports, but not much World Cup. The statistics I heard was 1 billion people world-wide watched the final game--that is nearly one sixth of the world's population--counting the guy who lives in a grass hut, and hasn't seen a TV. On the other hand we have the US, who have an average of 2.24 TV's per home, and who watch more than 4 hours of TV per day.* From this demographic, only 6% were watching this game today. It is obviously not that we don't have the wherewithal to see it---I was watching a local channel, picked up by connecting some coax to the metal fireplace insert. More than half of Americans have cable, and didn't have to adjust the chimney/coax connection part-way through the game.
What does this mean? It means there is a disconnect between US and the rest of the world. Many people couldn't care less that the rest of the world is cheering and screaming when the team from their country makes a goal. The rest of the world is celebrating this game...and we are so insulated from them that we don't seem to notice. There was a country in Africa that had to call their civil war on account of the game.
What should we do about this apathy for the rest of the world? Get out more. Find out more. Host an exchange student from another country. Build a global community. We just don't understand what is going on out there, except that most of what we buy has "Made in Some-wheres-else" stamped on it. We are deeply effected by what goes on in other countries, maybe we should start paying attention---instead of having an attitude that as long as we still get stuff from them, and don't get immigrants, everything is peachy. The rest of the world matters---America, wake up to this fact!
This was written while sitting in my basement apartment, where I spend 86% of my non-working time. I don't know my neighbors.
What does this mean? It means there is a disconnect between US and the rest of the world. Many people couldn't care less that the rest of the world is cheering and screaming when the team from their country makes a goal. The rest of the world is celebrating this game...and we are so insulated from them that we don't seem to notice. There was a country in Africa that had to call their civil war on account of the game.
What should we do about this apathy for the rest of the world? Get out more. Find out more. Host an exchange student from another country. Build a global community. We just don't understand what is going on out there, except that most of what we buy has "Made in Some-wheres-else" stamped on it. We are deeply effected by what goes on in other countries, maybe we should start paying attention---instead of having an attitude that as long as we still get stuff from them, and don't get immigrants, everything is peachy. The rest of the world matters---America, wake up to this fact!
This was written while sitting in my basement apartment, where I spend 86% of my non-working time. I don't know my neighbors.
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America's fav sports:
1.) American football
2.) basketball
3.) baseball
4.) soccer
5.) auto racing
Source
the world's fav sports:
1.) football (soccer)
2.) cricket
3.) table tennis
4.) baseball
5.) basketball
Source
1.) American football
2.) basketball
3.) baseball
4.) soccer
5.) auto racing
Source
the world's fav sports:
1.) football (soccer)
2.) cricket
3.) table tennis
4.) baseball
5.) basketball
Source
Yeah I didn't care much for sports, but after being around the Koreans going nuts during their first World Cup game, I'm definitely interested in watching some soccer.
until this year's cup, i was adamantly apposed to proffessional, televised sports, but then i met soccer. this is more cultural than the world fair or a un gathering. the world cup is the flesh and the blood of the people, not a good way to make lots of money and get teeniboppers screaming that you're hot.
Every time I went to get lunch and there was a game on there'd be a crowd of people in the shop watching the little tv above the juice machine. then there'd be three or four complete strangers yelling at the tv and each other about how the play should have gone. everybody was into it...it's a community experience here in Jamaica
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