Stuff White People Like #134: Commenting About Stuff Other White People Like

"Ohhh, pweddy colors...GO ITALY!"

Although mankind has seen amazing feats of evolutionary progression since they’re descent from the genus of apehood, our innate territorial tendencies have a nasty habit of carrying over into the strangest of discrepancies. In a club downtown, a man will jump to defend his woman who was merely tapped on the shoulder to inquire on the whereabouts of a bathroom, and young children howl “MINE!” at the slightest inkling that their fellow playgroup member might be eyeing their Batman action figure.

But there comes a time once every four years in which the global community will unite under one common cause – the game of soccer. Or at least…it should.

Yet, as every World Cup passes, elitists scoff at the fair-weather fans that seemingly come out of the woodworks to chant “USA! USA! USA!” at their HD televisions while sporting their $75 jerseys that may see the light of day a couple of times a decade. However, if the purpose of the Cup is to connect these great nations, who are you to scold an otherwise apathetic fan who simply wants to soak in the good spirits? I’ll admit, I’ve shot a couple of eye-rolls at the obvious over-compensation of some fans who throw themselves into the red, white and blue and still think a red card is an alternative proof of U.S. citizenship. But we're all assholes sometimes, amirite? In all honesty, my bracket took me about three minutes to construct and having a group of improvisers, three-fourths of whom clicked the teams with pretty jerseys, is holistically entertaining. “RJHatesSports” as the name of a bracket is funny, but it's hardly worth wasting energy reprimanding and judging him for it.

 

Is there really any harm done by these so-called bandwagoners? If there’s such a harsh protocol on the matter, I call bullshit on anyone who tuned in to the Super Bowl who wasn’t from Indianapolis or New Orleans. The Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet had much more exciting offense. So unless they’re violating DBAD, then I say no harm, no foul on those who simply want to take advantage of the fun of the game. The Cup is supposed to represent hope, triumph, a sense of community and positive relations between the world's great nations. Sure, we can be myopic and focus on the minutiae and technicalities about true fanship and dedication; we as a people seem well-versed in complaining. But that seems like a waste of time when there's a bigger picture to be seen. 

Americans may never truly embrace soccer, but I sure as hell am going to enjoy it when they do.

Note: Sara Solano is the occasional soccer fan, who is currently supporting England in the 2010 World Cup. Although she is Hispanic, her experiences playing the sport are limited to playing FIFA on the Wii. When she's not engaging in sports-related philosophical debates, she’s participating in one of her many hobbies, such as spelunking and tuna fishing.




http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2010/06/01/133-the-world-cup/