As much as I like Spelling Bee coverage and Hot Dog eating
contests, I understand that those “competitions” are not that popular in
America, much less in the world. I wouldn’t be able to go to random parts of
the world and have other people like those competitions. Every 4 years though,
there comes something that
The World Cup, from the people that I talk to, is bigger
than the Olympics. The Olympics features a lot of different sports that, let’s
face it, aren’t that popular. (Anyway watch competitive archery or track and
field anymore?) Basketball is probably the biggest draw of the Olympics, and
that gets deflated by the US’s dominance as well as lack of intensity. The
importance of the Olympics is surely important for the players themselves, but
in terms of the casual viewer’s “Gold Medal Count” radar it’s barely a blip, a
gold medal that is worth just as much as team handball or Pommel Horse.
The World Cup, though, is different. Every game is crucially
important. The field’s already narrowed down to 32 teams through qualifying
matches, but among those 32 there’s only 3 games of a “regular season” group
play and then it goes into the knockout stages. That’s intense. The best
players in the world gear up for the tournament, and winning one is a real
source of pride. Literally billons of people are watching the World Cup final.
Of all the sports events in the world, including the NBA Finals, the Super
Bowl, the Olympics, Champions League, etc., etc., the World Cup Final is probably
the highest rated of all. Soccer is truly an international sport, not just
confined to one country like the U.S.’s major 3. Here’s some other pluses.
1.)
Every continent in the world is represented. It’s
actually pretty refreshing to see Eastern power Japan, for example, take on
someone from the other side of the world like the Ivory Coast. It first of all
refreshes everyone’s memory that the Ivory Coast exists and raises our
awareness to countries like Cameroon, Colombia, Iran, etc., but it also pits
these teams together, with contrasting styles and different cultures clashing
on a soccer pitch.
2.)
The game’s over in 2 hours. 45 minute halfs, 30 minute
halftime, and that’s a wrap, folks. Ties are allowed in group play, lending to
a finite amount of time one has to devote to it. Baseball can go on for a LONG
TIME.
3.)
No commercials! That’s really awesome. I can’t
think of one sport nowadays that’s not interrupted by the commercial. There’s
actually only 12 minutes of real action in a typical NFL game, and it spans
itself over 3 hours. Soccer has 90 minutes + of action spanned over 90 minutes.
It’s continuous. You can gauge the momentum of the game without interruption.
And there’s never a “wait I just flipped to the channel and there’s nothing”
moment.
4.)
People who you thought knew nothing about sports
come out of the woodwork.
5.)
Community- water cooler talk, people on the
streets, at the gym, wherever, the World Cup lends itself as a great
conversation starter for almost anybody. During that month of the World Cup,
there’s a game almost every day that people can talk about and feel like we’re
all watching the same thing. There’s a definite excitement in my breakroom at
work during lunches watching soccer matches, where I can feel us bonding, much
more than discussing work can.
6.) Everyone has a team, a dog in the fight, some skin in the game. Well, that reminds guess I don't have a team. China's never in it and when they are, they don't score a goal and allow the other team to score MULTIPLE goals. Japan's in it.....I appreciate their culture. US? Yes, a fun story but from what I'm told "has no chance." Lots of people in the US have secondary teams like England or Brazil or just Team Messi. Guess one of these years I should pick an allegiance.
This is also a sport where I have no basis to guess who will
win and what the odds should be. Brazil, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, U.S.,
who will win? Beats me. Wayne Rooney always struggles in international
tournaments? Who’s that? Fernando Suarez has a bad reputation for flopping? OK,
I’ll watch for that. The U.S. is in the Group of Death? Sounds tough. I’d just
like to sit back and watch.
And even after this year’s World Cup, you know what I’m kind
of looking forward to? The Women’s World Cup, 2015. .
* Note about the San Antonio Spurs: Congrats to the San Antonio Spurs. I'm not really a fan due to loyalty for the Chicago Bulls, but I do appreciate the Spurs's run because similar to the Bulls, they did not rely on overwhelming talent, they did not give one guy the ball all the time, they played as a team and utilized great role players like Boris Diaw and Patty Mills, guys who wouldn't stand out on a basketball court and you wouldn't think are basketball players except they played a HUGE role in the Spurs's win. It was all about precision, skill, and "playing basketball the right way." I believe that is the purest of basketball and wish that every team could play the way they play, including any team I'm on. Unfortunatley like the Heat and a lot of other teams out there, basketball becomes a lot about "I'm the best player, give me the ball" and about sheer talent, which is like Goliath beating on David. Good for the Spurs that they proved you can win without all the talent in the world.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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