Re: [NTLK] [ot][soccer][or football][whatever]

From: richard_at_cyberphotographer.com
Date: Thu Jun 13 2002 - 06:58:46 EDT


>4. Why do games end in ties?? (UGH)

Sport isn't always about winning or losing, the Indians aren't always
the bad guys and John Wayne doesn't always ride off into the sunset
having set the world to (TV) rights. Many ancient sports allow draws.
It goes right back to mediaeval ideas about chivalry. There is no
penalty shoot-out in chess. The honour is in competing. I would
prefer my team to compete with great spirit and win the fair play
trophy rather than bring home the <a
href="http://worldcup.inpia.net/ENG/WP/ewc_wp_story.html">Jules
Rimet</a> through <a
href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/sports_talk/newsid_2026000/2026488.stm">disgustingly
unsporting behaviour</a>. Draws support the theory that life is more
of a journey than a destination.

>6. Holy S$#@ , The USA has a team in the tourney...... If we
>advance, will the French have to find a new National Sport, as our
>culture starts to invade the last part that was ALL their own?

I think the flow of culture would be the other way. As a Briton I am
thrilled to see the USA perform well in the World Cup as I hope that
one day the beautiful game will be enjoyed as much in the US as it is
in the rest of the world. Many Yanks won't understand that Portugal
were strong favourites to beat the US in their opening game. It seems
a shame that such a great sporting nation takes so little interest in
the world's most popular sport and I feel sorry for players like
Beasley, Sanneh, O'Brien and Friedl who appear to get very little
recognition at home for their heroic win over Portugal and equally
heroic draw with S Korea. The World Cup final has been watched on TV
by 3 billion, that is to say 3 out of every 5 people on earth, sadly
few of them in the US. It is much bigger than the Olympics. Even Nike
has finally realised how much money there is to be made in football.
But Yanks still seems to concentrate on sports that few other
countries take very seriously. The misnomer "World Series" is
regarded as something of a joke outside the US and is a symptom of
the US's occasional tendency towards international isolation. I would
love to see a US v England final :-o If the USA team continues its
courageous and inspirational performance in THE World Cup it will do
US international relations as much good as any amount of diplomacy,
aid, military action or cultural projection.

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