Bounce

In the midst of yesterday, I got to watch a few minutes of the Netherlands-Brazil match. The bit where Netherlands got their second goal by bouncing it off two player's heads. (At about 1:30.) Then the Brazilian player stomped on the knee of the Netherlands player, tried to take the ball, then pretended to be helping him up. Gee wiz wow athleticism and luckful joy, followed by the other team's petty malice. We all unequivocally rooted for Netherlands after that. I really am enjoying watching here and there. Especially for those moments at work, as many of the residents, and our head of anesthesia, are ardent fans. I don't know the rules, I don't care. It's beautiful to watch. Many in the US, used to basketball's inflated scores, have a bit of trouble with scoreless matches and ties. To me, that is part of what I enjoy. It's all about the play, the scoring almost an afterthought.

It's gaining popularity here, probably because of the World Cup coverage. And as schools have cut back on expensive sports programs, and taken up soccer as a relatively less expensive alternative to football, baseball and even basketball, it should gain even more ground. Title IX is part of it, since it's one of the few sports that doesn't require a whole, separate, purpose built area for the girls to play. It's a law that has been squirmed out of more than followed, but it has had an effect. Since I've always hated American football, and basketball, I see this as a good thing indeed. Pro-football at the college level (yeah, they're not amateurs, no matter what they say) brings in money to the college, and that money gets used -- for football. It's a manipulative cycle that leaves a lot of young men with dashed dreams, broken bodies, and nothing like an education. And the women left out in the cold with the discredited concept of Separate But Equal.

When I started high school, a Catholic institution, there were a group of boys who tried to get funding and support for a football team. No one was much interested. To their credit, they became the all male cheerleaders for the (very successful) girls basketball team. The boys basketball team was pitiful. Although the track team, male and female, was pretty good. My first college had a pathetic football program, but world class fencing. I think having wider choices is good. US football players all have a particular physique, as do basketball players, and to a lesser extent - baseball. But soccer players seem to be a bit more varied. Taking US football out of the field of play and off the budget, means more people can be athletic in a variety of ways, not all of it competitive, encompassing all kinds of body types and abilities.



Oh, and I intend to use the word Vuvuzela as a term to describe something annoying or problematic that cannot be criticized because it is "cultural."