This has to be the most outrageous claim ever by a soccer hater. This jackass managed to accuse Soccer of what he and most soccer-hater-journalists actually do/are! http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/w...hitlock-062410 "The World Cup narrows our view and, more than any other sporting event, baits us to give in to nationalism, jingoism and racism. It’s not the Olympics. Not everyone is invited. And no one pretends the month of World Cup play is a reason to celebrate and respect the world’s numerous cultures. The World Cup owes much of its popularity to hate. It’s the anti-Olympics. It’s an excuse for bigots to mask their biases in sporting patriotism." And you gotta Love this: "This column is not an attack on the sport. My first professional assignment as a sports writer was covering Indiana University’s nationally ranked soccer program in the 1990s." The above is the equivalent of "Im not a racist I have a Black friend!"
He's not completely off, but he also knows that his point isn't all that valid when it comes to the world cup. Then again, nobody would probably read the piece if it focused on more obscure club football. All in all, a good example of a writer just trying to make ends meet.
What other sport besides soccer can claim to have stopped at least 2 wars. One was stopped in Nigeria to watch Pele play, and one in Ivory Coast to watch their national team play the World Cup. I'll grab a chair and wait while he or anybody finds another sport that has done that.
You gotta be careful about arguments that have easy retorts! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War
But if you knew anything about Honduras, you would know that the fact that they played each other before the war was coincidence. The war had to do with Salvadoran immigrants wanting Honduran land, it had absolutely nothing to do with football, except for the fact that they played each other just before the war started. So unlike his previous two assertions of Nigeria and the Ivory Coast I believe, football did not create a war, its just a misunderstanding that has escalated and is now held as truth. So sad wikipedia is quoted for everything.
that's pretty much what it said: Football War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Football War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Forigve my bashing of Wikipedia. But To the poster, he implied that soccer was the reason of the war, which it was not.
That is idiotic to imply that the World Cup promotes hatred or racism. Just the opposite. The only thing racist about this past World Cup was FIFA allowing those annoying idiotic vuvuzellas which made the blacks of South Africa look like idiots. As if there culture has been reduced to such a stupid level.
this has to be nominated for comment of the year. Opining that some other country's soccer culture stupid because you don't like it. wow. that takes enormous gall.
That is just it, the one-note horns are not part of South Africa's traditional soccer culture. Traditionally South Africans sang songs at soccer games, the vuvuzellas are are a recent phenomenum. If you knew about South African culture, you would know that. And surveys of Africans, including South Africans, indicate that most African disapprove of the vuvuzellas. Not to mention that they should be banned because they are a health risk, worse than a rock concert or an airplane taking off. Doctors warn against them. So yes, the vuvzellas are stupid on a number of levels, and those vuvuzellas have nothing to do with traditional South African culture.
Yes, but obviously the wave and the tomahawk thing are not a health risk like the vuvuzellas, they don't cause hearing loss, and they don't annoy people like those idiotic horns do. That is why many sports clubs, sports events, etc. have already banned the idiot horns or are considering banning them.
me yelling in someone's ear is also a health risk. guns don't kill people and neither do vuvuzelas when used correctly. Like flares or those giant flags. banning them in England is a whole different thing - and I can understand it. But if they were in South Africa before the world cup, i see no reason to call them stupid unless you've been a local south african soccer supporter, in which case I take back my criticism.
The surveys indicate that most Africans, and South Africans, disapprove of those horns. Even some of the heros of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa have stated that they prefer that South Africans sing and so forth at the soccer matches, instead of those horns. And they are a health risk if too many people have them in the stadium, they cause far more hearing loss than the usual sounds of a soccer match, such as singing, yelling, cheering and so forth. And flares should not be allowed either, because they are a fire risk, obviously. The purpose pf a soccer match is to enjoy the game, not to cause hearing loss, or set the stadium on fire, etc.. The 2010 world cup is over. Hopefully, the soccer fans won't have to put up with those horns again at soccer games. At least soccer games in countries other than South Africa. And yes, compared to the rich cultural tradition of South Africa, and the rich cultural tradition of most other countries, an annoying, deafening idiotic one note horn is stupid. Thankfully those horns are being banned in other places.
personally, I'd love it of soccer were to ban the vuvuzelas and the flares and people standing, but I know that when in rome ... I'd also love to see a real crackdown on racist chants, throwing items, and foul/abusive language amongst supporters - enforced with armed policemen, but I know that's never going to happen.
Glad to know that you want the vuvuzellas banned. And that is happening, thankfully. Flares have been banned in many of the stadiums in Europe and elsewhere, as they should. As far as racism and holiganism in the stadiums, they have been doing things to reduce that also. Some clubs, cities, and countries do a better job with that than others. Soccer games are for people to enjoy. Vuvuzellas, hooligans, etc., destroy it for the genuine fans of soccer. Progress is gradually being made at soccer games.
but i'd rather see them take their zeal in banning the vuvuzela and put it towards banning something important like racism. i'd much rather prefer the game with vuvuzelas and flares than with racist chants and hooligans.
To me, the vuvuzellas need to be banned because they cause hearing loss. And health has to be the number one concern. But obviously hooligans are idiots. And of course violence to others is also a health risk. It is not an either/or thing, they need to ban both. Vuvuzellas are so annoying, and such a health risk, that it would eventually destroy the game in most places, people would eventually quit going to soccer matches.