This video is rather touching...
I mean, U.S. soccer rarely gets fandemonium like this. I've been a big fan of soccer (not a serious fan of MLS because it doesn't get much coverage) since probably 2000 (because the world cup was in South Korea and my dad had went to south korea and brought back a world cup keychain for me). But that's not the reason why I'm such a fan of soccer. I think President Clinton expresses it way more eloquently than I (he said this after the match on Wed):
"It's the game's unifying power that captivates him [President Clinton] most, however. He mentioned Franklin Foer's "How Soccer Explains the World" several times Thursday, and said finding common ground -- no matter where it is -- is increasingly important in an interdependent world.
"We're in this vast contest between the forces of integration and the forces of disintegration, the positive and negative forces of our interdependence. And 'Stop the world, I want to get off,' is not an option. You can't stop it. you can't get off. Therefore, you've got to hope the positive forces win," Clinton said.
"This whole business about the morphing of soccer away from a legal way of [settling scores between different ethnic groups] into a way the world can be constructively competitive, and very diverse but still united, it's very important," he added. "The potential of it, it's more than just something you say at a speech. It's significant."
The article is short and nice, you can check it out here:http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/5322433/ce/us/president-bill-clinton-changes-schedule-attend-us-ghana-match?cc=5901&ver=u
I love Bill Clinton. Seriously, the guy is SO smart. I once read an aide's account of a trip that he took with Bill to Africa and he said Bill would be watching a sporting event and be talking in great detail about the strategy and what was going on and then he smoothly transitioned into a in-depth discussion about some very complicated political topic while the game was still going on. The aide said that it took him about a month to recover from that trip because it was so intense! Clinton's comment is completely true...people say that international trade serves to minimize conflict, but I think international sporting competition definitely does too.
ReplyDeleteI am glad when super educated people are able to speak about the importance of sports. Sometimes, I feel out of place amongst intellectual folks when I talk about my deep love for Cleveland sports and go into great detail about sports topics and fantasy sports because I think a lot of people think sports are just entertainment for uneducated people. But anyone who looks at Cleveland's economy, outlook on life, and downtown vibrancy from 1995-2000 or so when the Indians were extraordinarily successful and compares it to the situation now cannot honestly deny that sporting success does not have a big impact on society. Aside from the obvious on-court impact, I am fearful for what will happen if LeBron leaves--for as long as I can remember, there was at least 1 team in town who was successful, and if he leaves, there might not be for a bit (although I think the Cavs will still be very competitive, and the Browns are going to surprise people)