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{"id":386,"date":"2014-07-09T09:35:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-09T09:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/you-watched-the-world-cup-game-last-night-didnt-you.html"},"modified":"2014-07-09T09:35:00","modified_gmt":"2014-07-09T09:35:00","slug":"you-watched-the-world-cup-game-last-night-didnt-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/janetheactuary\/2014\/07\/you-watched-the-world-cup-game-last-night-didnt-you.html","title":{"rendered":"You watched the World Cup game last night, didn’t you?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

On the other hand \u2014 come on, you want to talk about it, don\u2019t you?<\/p>\n

A few observations:<\/p>\n

It does bother me that, in the CNN reporting and in the comments<\/a>, everyone has to return to Nazis. \u00a0The headline: \u00a0\u201cWorld Cup: Brazil dreams destroyed by ruthless Germany\u201d is already ascribing ill intent to a game \u2014 ruthless<\/i>? \u00a0This isn\u2019t kids\u2019 house league soccer with a mercy rule for outmatched teams \u2014 and, from what I understand, Brazil\u2019s loss was as much about poor defending (plus the loss of two major players, to an injury and a penalty) as it was a brilliant German offense. \u00a0Later, CNN says, \u201cThis was not just a beating. This was a merciless destruction, not just of a football team but of a nation\u2019s football heritage. Within 18 first half minutes, Germany had delivered a barrage so deadly that Brazil never stood a chance of recovering.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the comments? \u00a0Well, actually, there were a lot more Nazi comparisons last night \u2014 this seems to have died down by comment 9000.<\/p>\n

I was also spooked just watching these goals, one after another \u2014 we all know this doesn\u2019t happen in soccer, so it felt surreal. \u00a0Was this going to be revealed the next day as a major game-fixing scandal, in which someone had bet on exactly this scenario? <\/p>\n

My oldest son is in Germany now, visiting his grandparents for a couple weeks, so this is a very nice treat for him to be able to watch these games there. \u00a0My husband is, on the other hand, now thrown into the logistical challenge that the final takes place at the same time as arrival and swim-testing is scheduled at Boy Scout camp, where he\u2019s one of the adult leaders. <\/p>\n

Does this improve my appreciation of soccer as a game? \u00a0No, not really \u2014 there\u2019s not much visual appeal in watching men run back and forth on a field, and I don\u2019t have the trained eye to see the strategy, and the goals are too infrequent. \u00a0(At least with hockey, there is a visual appeal to the men on skates, and it\u2019s somewhat more high scoring.)<\/p>\n

And it still irritates me to read Americans telling other Americans that there\u2019s something wrong with us because we\u2019re not as interested in soccer as the rest of the world (when, ironically, those same individuals criticize global sameness in other aspects of culture), and have now, apparently, taken to calling the game \u201cfutbol\u201d out of, presumably, some embarrassment that American English has a different name for the sport. \u00a0(Guys? \u00a0It\u2019s \u201cassociation football,\u201d strictly speaking, and soccer derives from \u201casSOCiation.\u201d)<\/p>\n

But, in any event, go Germany!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"