Frontpage Features

BY SCREAMIN' BILL LEEMAN

You know, if there is any one thing that could pull the whole world together, it'd have to be soccer, wouldn't it?   These games for The World Cup are so exciting and everyone is so full of national pride; what a pleasure it is to watch.  This is a REAL tournament, with sixty-four, count 'em, sixty-four countries involved!   WOW!   All these different languages and all these different cultures, all united on the soccer field.

The Olympics are multi-faceted, with so many different events and sports, that it is sometimes hard to stay focused, say, if you're not into skiing and shooting a rifle in the same event.  

The World Cup is different.  It's all soccer all the time.  Everyone's playing the same sport, everyone's pulling for the same thing.  And the games are so exhilarating!   A goal can be scored by either team at just about any time, and it is unbelievably difficult.   We're all on the edges of our seats for all the games.

I was so fortunate to be able to watch the first game between Mexico and France with a co-worker who is Mexican.   As a matter of fact, he started mentioning way back in March, that the 'World Cup' was coming in June.   I didn't think much of it at the time, but as it got closer and closer, I could feel his excitement.   So when it came time for the game between Mexico and France, we made sure to take the time out from work to watch.  Just before the game started, he quietly slipped on his Mexican soccer jersey.   It was really very touching.  He wasn't jumping up and down and screaming or anything, he was just proud.   And I was proud to be with him, to feel that sense of national pride.  

You can see this same pride in the faces of the players, and especially in the faces of the fans.   And what a pleasure it is!   What a sight to behold, all these people, of every different race and creed, all decked out in their countries' colors, some with their faces painted, some with outrageous costumes, but all of them, singing, dancing and totally enthralled with the wonderful scene that is The World Cup.  

And what a civilized game!   The players all shaking hands with the opposing team before and after every game, and some even exchanging shirts.  How gentlemanly.  There have been some bad calls, most notoriously the goal that was stolen from the US team, and the thing is, is that no one gets to question the referees call.   You don't argue, period.  Oh, they argue half heartedly for a second or two, then get on with the game.  Take it is stride.  The referee has the final say, and he doesn't have to explain anything to anybody.  

We here in the United Estados are so used to arguing with referees and umpires, and taking our case to the commissioner in our quest for justice, and instituting instant replay all in our desire for fairness, for the right call.

When you stop to think about it, though, isn't the fact that the referee has ultimate authority over the game just one more highly civilized earmark of the game?   You bet it is.   If no one can argue, and he never has to explain, then it is finished.  His call is final.  That's it.  Over.  Done with.   Not all calls are perfect all the time, deal with it, and move on. 

I can even appreciate the theatrics that the players put on when they're fouled, falling to the ground, grimacing and writhing as if they had a compound fracture of the femur.    Then, when they don't get the call, hopping back up and running down the field.  And the offender himself, in every language and every culture, the reaction is always the same:  throwing his arms in the air as if to say "I never touched him, as a matter of fact, I was clear over on the other side of the field."  

One of the reasons you don't see fights in soccer is because the players need to check their egos at the door, because a fight will get you automatically suspended for the next game or even two, so they just don't do it.   The game is more important.  My goodness, when I think of our hockey games (what if you went to a fight and a hockey game broke out), and our ultra-sensitive baseball players that will brawl at the drop of a hat, why, it all seems quite neanderthal, no?

Why does the good old USA seem a little out of place in this tournament?    There are so many other sports that dominate our landscape that most Americans aren't even aware there is a World Cup.   In ALL other countries, soccer is the national sport.  In ALL other countries, soccer is in their blood from birth.  In Costa Rica for example, every single town has five things that they cannot do without, and they are as follows:    Number one, a school.  Two, a clinic or a doctor.  Three, a church.  Four, a bar.   And numero cinco, usually right in the center of town, a soccer field.    Now, this is civilized living.  I'm sure it is the same, not only in all of Latin America, but the world over.  

We never played as kids, soccer just wasn't something that we did.   Didn't have an understanding of the game either.  

But watching my son play through grade school, high school and college on many different fields and different teams I began to have a grasp of the game.  Although I'm still a novice when it comes to the rules (what exactly constitutes offsides, anyway?),  I really enjoy the pace of the game.   The footwork of these players is remarkable, and the teamwork, the headwork,  the stamina, and the pure athleticism it takes to play a soccer game is simply amazing.

Soccer is indeed the international sport and The World Cup has been a fabulous and joyful experience.   I highly recommend it.   The commercials are grand, delightful, all-encompassing, international things of beauty that somehow seem to encapsulate the sense of pride that is shared by all countries participating.  

The entire spectacle makes one proud to be a member of the race.  The human race, that is.