I woke up VERY LATE this morning....and rushed to office. No one raised an eyebrow of course. I was the perpetual latecomer of the office anyway.
"Football?" came the question.
I answered with a cheeky grin and nod of the head.
I think half of the country stayed up to watch the match at 2.30am. By the time the match ended in extra time, it was 4.30am. At the start of the world cup, I told myself I wasn't going to get sucked into all this nonsense. I even wrote a silly little post about how not to get sucked into it without being alienated. But I stayed up one night in the local coffee shop with two hundred other people watching Germany trash England 4-1. The thrill and agony of watching the star studded English team being beaten so effortlessly by a young, talented, eager and fast paced Germany team completely blew me away. My favourite team had been beaten, but I had new found favour (and respect) in the young German lads. From then on, I knew I was hooked. And when plans to go out with friends for the entire month were made squarely around football match times, I knew there was no escape.
For a month, everyone ate, drink and breathed nothing but football. Now that it's all over, I'm hoping that things will settle down again and go back to normal.
Ever noticed that during every major world sporting event, current events all across the world seem to come to a halt? It's like in that one month, everyone puts everything on pause. What happened to the impending war between North and South Korea over the submarine sinking? What happened to the BP oil spill? What happened to the Euro Zone & Greek financial crisis. What happened to the US's claims that Iran is on the verge of making nuclear weapons? What happened to the controversial Israeli ship raid? What happened to the standoff between China and Google over internet censorship? Locally, what happened to Anwar Ibrahim's trial? What happened to national shortage of oil / sugar / basic commodities? What happened to the crackdown on corrupt politicians & the governments declaration that subsidies will kill the economy?
Well, for one they definitely did not go away. They just got shoved aside for a while.
In a very global sense, events like the World Cup are like a international coffee break where countries come together to just have some lighthearted fun with each other. For an entire month, we laugh about Octopuses & Parakeets that can tell the future, Vuvuzela's that annoys the hell out of people and players that behave more like prima donnas. Instead of news of impending wars, economic meltdowns and environmental disasters, the world gets entranced by this sort of sporting war where countries peacefully battle each other not by guns and bombs, economic sanctions or political pressure, but by their skill with a ball. And the winners gain no resources, land or commodities....only bragging rights to say 'I win! I'm the champion! I am better than you!'... while the rest of the world watches and cheers on or boos..... And it's all done in the good spirit of sportsmanship.
It's almost ironic and comical in a way. The closest times we come to world peace is when we're busy battling each other on the (football) field.
How else on earth will you ever get an Italian man couching an English team, a Spanish Prime Minister offering protection to a German squid, and half the population of Malaysia sacrificing sleep to cheer a Spanish team.
Just for fun, this is a little something I wrote today. :-P
So the Orange saw red,
As the Spanish lifted gold.
I hope you didn't bet,
on what the parakeet foretold.
The Octo who tells you who will win -
It's the strangest thing I've ever seen.
Oh, What a world cup it has been!
Tonight, the Spanish dance as the Dutch weep.
I'm happy for them but seriously, I need to get some SLEEP!!
See you in Brazil in four years..
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