Blog Archives

Post-216: Earliest Memories: World Cup, O.J., and a Tragic Defeat at the Hands of a Small Girl

6/30/2014

I continue to watch World Cup 2014 more than is advisable. With my friend J.H., I watched a 1 AM to 3 AM game in which the Netherlands defeated Mexico in dramatic fashion. Mexico is out.

I feel a special attachment to the World Cup, as I started explaining in post 215 ("World Cup USA 1994").

I have told people that two events of mid-1994 constitute my first strong "socially/culturally/politically relevant memories"**. These are: (1) World Cup USA '94, and (2) The O.J. Simpson trial. I remember being in California for a period in June 1994, to see my brother graduate from high school. I remember the TVs being dominated by two things: The O.J. Simpson murder and the World Cup (then ongoing in the USA). I went to Disneyland on this trip, and my mom broke her leg about this time.

** -- (This is not exactly true, because I also remember the Clinton election of Fall '92, in which the now-totally-forgotten Ross Perot got an astounding 20% of the national vote. I have no memory of the California Race Riots of April '92, nor of the the First Iraq War of early '91 [it only lasted 72 hours anyway], nor of the Berlin Wall in November '89 or anything else, really, about the Collapse of Communism.)

So much for "politically relevant" memories. How about earliest memories of any kind? One stands out. It goes something like this:

Read More

0 Comments

Post-215: World Cup USA 1994

6/28/2014

0 Comments

I remember World Cup 1994.

Now that it's 2014 and the World Cup is here again, I realize that 1994 is no short time ago.

U.S. World Cup Team 1994

I remember this team. The wild-looking #22 in the back is Alexei Lalas. He is now a commentator. The little Black guy, #13, was Cobi Jones, who amazed us by his sprinting ability in those days. #18 is Brad Friedel, who is still playing today in the English Premier League, at age 43. I saw him on the BBC as a commentator when watching a game with my friend J.H. We were confused by his accent. Half of his sentences sounded British, half American. #1 was Tony Meola, the starting goalie, whose name I thought was very cool. Looking back on this team, there is only one player who is obviously Mestizo in ancestral origin, #7. Only two players are Black, and both are very light-skinned. This strikes me about how I perceive that the USA has changed. If this team were fielded in 2014, my feeling is that the coach and so on would be accused of racism!

This team performed the best, by far, of any U.S. national team ever up to that point.

There was no Internet in 1994. This probably meant life was more authentic. I played soccer in those days, too. I was in school but June and July, World Cup time, are vacation. I was so excited that I hardly knew what to do with myself.

The World Cup was not only going on, you see, but in my own backyard. I think some of the games were played at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. and there I was living quite nearby. I went to a game. I am almost sure I did. I have no idea who played, other than two minor teams. Exasperatingly, I am not 100% sure if this is a true memory. I remember seeing a bunch of attention-seekers dressed in bright red-white-and-blue costumes and making a lot of noise at the stadium. Is it possible I saw it on TV? No, it can't be. A memory of TV cannot be so vivid. Is it possible the memory was of the 1996 Olympic soccer and I went to that instead?

I remember being alone in a car with my friend and then-classmate Pedro, listening on the radio to the USA vs. Brazil game. As it was radio, our clarity of understanding was less than optimal. I remember our huge celebration when the USA scored a goal. Imagine the deflating feeling when we realized that it was actually Brazil that scored! The USA lost.

0 Comments

Post-214: World Cup 2014 and Southern European Political Pessimism

6/25/2014

4 Comments

I wrote the following to my (one and only) Singaporean friend, A.L., yesterday:

"The World Cup is seriously negatively affecting my life!"

How might I describe my mornings these past two weeks? A drowsy haze of soccer punctuated by frustrated sleep and confusion. You see, the games are shown from 1 AM to 8 AM. "Life is too short to sleep through the World Cup", is my feeling. I don't follow soccer whatsoever otherwise, so this may not be my most rational decision.

Dutch player Robben, who resembles Captain Picard, shoots past a Spain player. (Netherlands won 5-1).

This Sunday/Monday, I got to sleep at 12:30 AM and woke up at 3:00 AM, shaved/showered, packed up my things, and walked over to my friend J.H.'s home to watch the Korea game and then the USA vs. Portgual game. Korea had a terrible first half in which they conceded four goals and lost. They are probably out. As for the USA game, I had to leave before the second half began to go to our class' last day. The USA and Portugal tied due to a last-second Portugal goal, which I thus missed.

Political Influences on World Cup Results; Speculative
The appeal of the World Cup is definitely "political'" in the sense of it being all about national pride. Within Europe, I cannot help but think of the political situation since the 2008 Economic Crisis.

FIFA Ranking Table, June 5th 2014

Southern Europeans
The European "PIIGS", who fast approach a decade of unending economic unpleasantness and pessimism, did remarkably poorly in the Group Stage:

           Spain: Out. Two losses.
           Italy: Out. Two losses.
           Greece: Out. Two losses.
           Porutgal: Probably Out. Nearly two losses (tied USA at last second).

Now, consider that Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece respectively rank #1, #4, #9, #12 in the world!

"On paper", as they say, each of these teams should be in the final 16, i.e., the second round in the World Cup. Three are out for sure and one teeters on the brink. What, then, is the statistical chance, in a 32-team tournament, that the #1, #4, #9, and #12 ranked teams are all eliminated before going onto the second round of 16 teams? The odds have to be very low, in which case we can speculate about a general explanation. Here is mine: As the contest is heavily influenced by national pride, teams from politically-pessimistic societies do more poorly than they should.

Vis-a-vis the "PIIGS", who are more politically optimistic?

Read More

4 Comments

<<Previous

Post-216: Earliest Memories: World Cup, O.J., and a Tragic Defeat at the Hands of a Small Girl

Post-215: World Cup USA 1994

Post-214: World Cup 2014 and Southern European Political Pessimism

About

Archives