I am by no means a sports fan of any kind. \u00a0Sports-watching happens when my husband turns on the TV: \u00a0for Notre Dame football games and for any German soccer games that happen to be televised and, now, for the World Cup. \u00a0Also occasional tennis and golf.<\/p>\n
Football, in my opinion, stands alone among sports, because it has a narrative: \u00a0what down is it? \u00a0Where are they on the field? \u00a0Are they going to pass or punt? \u00a0True, there are always the spectacular plays in which a player scores a touchdown from the other end of the field, but most of the time its a methodical slog from one end of the field to the other.<\/p>\n
Soccer involves a great deal of skill, to be sure, and there are some moments that are quite impressive, but you can watch the ball go back and forth for great lengths of time without a score, and then, when a goal does happen, it\u2019s seemingly out of nowhere.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
(Hockey is much the same \u2014 but there\u2019s a certain visual appeal to watching the players move about the rink. \u00a0In soccer, there\u2019s just running.)<\/p>\n
It also seems to me that the experience that many young men have of football giving them discipline and keeping them on the straight and narrow may not just simply be the act of playing a sport, and being coached by a coach, but that the structure of a football game and the notion of learning and implementing plays may itself be beneficial for boys. \u00a0So I do hope that the issue of football concussions is solved in some other manner (rule changes, better protective gear) than simply ending football as a sport.<\/p>\n
(At the same time, I\u2019m glad my boys don\u2019t play football. \u00a0Well, they\u2019re not much for sports in general, actually.)<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s the thing about the World Cup: \u00a0we were in Germany back in 2006, when they hosted, and it was a significant turning point for the Germans. \u00a0Seriously \u2014 it was, from what I saw, and from what I read, really a change in terms of Germans embracing feeling \u201cpatriotic\u201d and waving their flag, as opposed to being a bit embarrassed about it. \u00a0Does the World Cup always produce good feelings? \u00a0No, of course not. \u00a0Is FIFA corrupt and is the Dubai-hosting an awful decision? \u00a0You-betcha. \u00a0But at least it\u2019s something to be positive about. \u00a0(Besides which, stores were allowed to open on Sundays and stay open late, ostensibly for the benefit of tourists, but it was a grand thing to be able to go grocery shopping after the kids were in bed rather than taking them along.)<\/p>\n
I am by no means a sports fan of any kind. \u00a0Sports-watching happens when my husband turns on the TV: \u00a0for Notre Dame football games and for any German soccer games that happen to be televised and, now, for the World Cup. \u00a0Also occasional tennis and golf. Football, in my opinion, stands alone among sports, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2209,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n