WORLD CUP: UNITING US ALL
No matter how chill we like to believe ourselves to be, Passion rests within all of us. It is a flame that faintly flickers on the altar of our hearts. Then unexpectedly, BOOM! That tiny flame explodes into full effulgence, burning our former selves into an unrecognizable ash. The fire of passion swiftly seeks to expand itself by inflaming another heart. Passion is contagious and what better way to reignite a much-needed vivaciousness in our city than the Beautiful Game.
Americans know it as soccer, but to the world, it’s football, and the World Cup is undeniably it’s Olympics…on super steroids, a case of Red Bull, and the fury of star-crossed lovers. The only thing that could rival the ardent devotion of World Cup spectators is perhaps the notoriously brutish fervor of Philadelphia Eagles fans (Nothing against Eagles fans, we love them!)
Being a multicultural city, the international community’s uncontained ardor for football (soccer) cannot help but also thrive here. Despite not having a team that you associate with or even if soccer has never really been your thing, World Cup football is the opportunity to join in the celebration. We New Yorkers become more social and more tolerant than ever as we stand for 90 minutes in a crowded sports bar, anticipating when a player scores just to ecstatically throw up your arms and shout “GOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLL”.
Possibly the only televised sport that does not break from advertisements, our attention becomes ever more focused. Without the distractions of loud commercials, for two weeks, we a single international drama that unfolds every four years. We bear witness to rivalries between players and teams as well as demonize referees who play favorites or are possibly in the pocket of someone behind the scenes. We become inspired by the backstories of players who rose from abject Third World poverty to international stardom through their sheer talent and determination.
Beyond the playing field, FIFA politics begin to surface during World Cup season. These discussions that are brought out in the open provide fertile ground that gives way to a larger conversation about global politics, international aid, and social injustices. Our impassioned sports spectatorship transmutes to engaged, heated conversations about how certain socio-economic structures perpetuate poverty and favor nepotism.
Fittingly, soccer/football is the Beautiful Game because it is a fire that illuminates our forgotten capacity for unity and tolerance. Further, the game inspires our voices, to talk about things in our world that actually matter and to speak out against widespread injustices. The Beautiful Game burns away self-imposed isolation and petty concerns, reminding us that we are alive together.