Unlike those who complained about my multiple posts on the election, those of you not particularly interested in football are forgiven. It’s only a game, after all, and we all are allowed our own personal preferences when it comes to what sports we enjoy. If you prefer cricket or baseball, that’s fine. Please pardon the rash of football-related posts, but, to me, World Cup football is magical. Maybe less so for you. You’re not alone.
You may also just find reading the posts too painful to read. That’s okay, too; it’s so very English of you.
If you’re one of those people for whom these posts aggravate your Irritable Bowel Syndrome, I beg your pardon. There’s only a few weeks left (please knock wood now).
However, I do find some of the anti-football rants by Americans upsetting. G Gordon Liddy said he thinks it originated with “South American Indians [who] instead of a ball used the head, the decapitated head, of an enemy” while he was on the phone to Dan Gainor, who said “soccer is a poor man’s or poor woman’s sport” being sold as part of the “browning of America.” And Glenn Beck, ever the clever one: “Barack Obama’s policies are the World Cup—It doesn’t matter how you try to sell it to us, it doesn’t matter how many celebrities you get, it doesn’t matter how many bars open early, it doesn’t matter how many beer commercials they run, we don’t want the World Cup, we don’t like the World Cup, we don’t like soccer, we want nothing to do with it. The rest of the world likes Barack Obama’s policies, we do not.”
Of them, I’m slightly less forgiving.
Everyone Needs an Algonquin 
We, the sane majority of Americans, do not like Glenn Beck. I write from Washington State an hour or so from Glenn Beck’s hometown of Mt. Vernon, Wa. Recently, the Mayor of Mt. Vernon declared a Glenn Beck Day. There arose tidal wave of protest. In a town of around 30,000 souls, 16,000 phone calls and emails arrived at city hall, objecting. When the day arrived, out came the placards and the people carrying them who find his rantings alternately comical and dangerous.
About sports, if only we had the same fierce obsessive concern with solving real problems. I do enjoy tennis and football (American). Generally, I think the energy funneled into sports events could do more good rechanneled into improving ourselves and the lives of our fellow humans.
Across the pond, I am constantly trying to show (via my personal moral standards as well as the occasional rant outside a pub) that Americans aren’t nutters, Glenn Beck is. It’s just a shame the insane onesseem to get more airtime, insist they’re “speaking for America” and do so much damage. It’s easiest to focus on his rants being comical but, as you point out, they are at the same time so very dangerous.
As much as I’m enjoying the World Cup, reading the English papers tends to lead one to believe that it is the only life or death issue of concern. I also find the amount of money spent on sports appalling. That is why I have refused to purchase any official merchandise and instead have had all of my bunting hand made by Christopher. He is ever so good with a needle and thread. For every pound spent on something to help us make a good impact at the World Cup, we should donate a pound on something that makes a good impact on the world.
Thanks for reading!
Agatha
Oh, and by the way, Beck is mistaken, as he is about most things, Americans do like soccer. There are professional teams in every metropolitan area and every time I watch the telly, there are reports of the World Cup in South Africa and the progress of the American team.
I will be curious to see how he handles things if the USA keep doing so well. Will he stick to his “America doesn’t care about soccer” position? Surely that will be throwing away a chance to be the patriot he claims he is, sneering while the team is so positively representing the country at the world’s most watched sporting event. An interesting dilemma for him.
If the USA continues to do well, he will find a way to interprete it as a negative and Obama will be to blame.
I forgot to mention, every town, small, medium and large, across America, has a soccer league for kids. Every high school has competitive girls and boys soccer teams as well as every college, junior, community or otherwise.
I just turned on the TV. It was set on FOX, only because they show the time and earlier I wanted to know the right time, not the fast and slow time my regular clocks seem to prefer. The crawl below the screen read: “…and Korea 3-0 will not advance to the next round…” Glenn needs to notify his superiors at FOX News…”Americans don’t like soccer.”
While I am thinking of it, and claiming not to be such a big fan of sports, Wimbledon is coming up. I do hope you will be publishing musings on the topic.
American stars, there are none currently. That being so, I shall root for Andy Murray, it would be about time for a British champion. Other than that, my favorite is Justine Henin. I was crushed when she left the sport, and elated by her return.