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World Cup Hangover
This has been a strange month for me: Never in my life have I considered myself a sports fan. Baseball and football bore me; I fast-forward through the Super Bowl game to get to the commercials; basketball exists only during the last week of March Madness; and tennis flits into the radar only during the U.S. Open. But there is one event I haven't missed a minute of since 1994: the World Cup.
Maybe it's the cute boys. The cute foreign boys. Or the fact that I don't have to follow it every year. Mostly, though, it's the communal experience of walking into a bar at some unnatural bar hour and watching with other nontraditional sports fans: people from all over the world, people who wish they were from all over the world, people who normally shun the rowdy crowd of baseball or football spectators but somehow don't mind it on this occasion. At work, a handful of us became very adept at multitasking this month, keeping one eye on the TV screens above our heads and the other on our computers. Every once in a while, we'd scream out, startling the coworkers who consider soccer a sport for kids and parks, not major stadiums. On weekends there was the camaraderie of eating bagels and drinking bloody marys at 11 am at neighborhood bars I'd never seen during daylight. Unless we're trying to pick each other up or are discussing the long line for the bathroom, New Yorkers do not normally talk to each other in bars. During World Cup matches, though, we were all pals. I know this happens all the time for other people, but I've never before experienced a sport as a community builder in this way. Sure, nationalistic passions flared up on occasion, but when they didn't, it was fun picking favorites randomly, based on where we'd been on vacation, which players had better hair, or what the homeland was of a friend's friend.
Yesterday, the husband and I bid farewell to World Cup fever in SoHo, where West Broadway was divided evenly — French fans on the west and Italians on the east. An hour before the game there were already people packed on the sidewalks trying to watch through the windows. We ducked into a pub on a side street, filled with mostly French supporters, a smattering of Italian jerseys and a few folks like us — the neutral spectators who just wanted a good game. Halfway through the game, the Frenchies to my right got a little too pushy and aggressive, so we became Italian fans. Three hours flew by. Zidane's by now infamous head butt actually elicited cheers from the French. So by the time the Italians won the shoot-out, we were ecstatic to see the bar next door hang a beret-wearing blowup doll in effigy. Then we spilled out onto the street and headed over to Little Italy, where red-white-and-green flags materialized out of nowhere, and Mulberry Street began its all-night party. We practically felt Italian at that point.
It was actually a perfect way to end the experience. At home, in our living room, the game wouldn't have been nearly that exciting. Now I'm trying to figure out a way to make all my TV viewing this active. Can anyone tell me of a bar showing So You Think You Can Dance?
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Jul 10, 2006 9:51 AM
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Watching the World Cup over the last month has made me realize how much fun the "beautiful game" can be. It's great to watch a sport with no TV timeouts, 2-minute warnings, or stepping out of the batter's box to adjust yourself. Although last night's game was hardly "beautiful," it had its moments. Had Zidane's header gone in, the game would have been a different story.
Some of my personal highlights of the tournament were Costa Rica's first goal against Germany, the overtime goal by Maxi Rodriguez against Mexico, and Louis Figo's cross in the third place match to a diving Nuno Gomes. See you in South Africa 2010.
On a separate note, if "So You Think You Can Dance" put together a soccer team this would be the starting line-up:
Goalie: Jamile
Defense: Big Papa, Musa, Mia Michaels and Donyelle
Midfield: Melissa from last season, Dmitry, Jaymz, and last year's Ryan
Strikers: Benji and Snow
Coach: Brian Friedman
Cheerleader: Mary Murphy
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Jul 10, 2006 10:51 AM
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What is this World Cup you speak of stranger? Is it anything like kickball?
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Jul 17, 2006 2:12 AM
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Oh, totally. It was a bit all-encompassing. I was in Germany when it was playing, and the experience was so much more exciting. Everyone was into it. You looked positively normal if you only had a few german flags on your face and a black-red-yellow leia. You can't help but get caught up, and it was really awesome.
On the other hand, it was a bit depressing when Germany lost.
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Jul 20, 2006 12:38 AM
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Soccer. The thing we did in Gym when the coaches were hung-over.
Soccer. A way for European fans to get together and beat the Hell out of each other.
Soccer. Something done for the gay guys in America to feel involved.
Soccer. The sport that gives local police that much needed part-time job.
Yes, lets all stand up and cheer the wonder that is soccer.
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Aug 18, 2006 12:34 AM
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Dude, do you need some uppers?
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Aug 18, 2006 9:42 AM
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Oh come on. It was a little funny.
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Aug 18, 2006 1:05 PM
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