In response to a recently filed formal complaint by a loyal follower, I am obliged to make a post. Unfortunately, I am very much lacking content now as I have been all summer. However, I have chosen the topic of this post to again be the World Cup. There are three reasons for this choice. First, it is the second-greatest quadrannual sporting event, the first being the Olympics, and therefore it should be highly publicized by even the most obscure new-media blogs. Second, all I do is watch soccer these days so it's all I care about. And third, I want an excuse to upload Tommy Smyth's round, teddy-bear face again so I can see it on the front page.
So here are my thoughts:
First, I have come to the conclusion that the soccer announcers of the World Cup are for some reason quite racist, or at least lack political correctness. This of course does not bother me, I just find it amusing.
Unfortunately I can't remember most of the comments I've heard that support this claim but here are a couple I do remember...
1) In an international friendly against China, an announcer claimed that Asian men have a lower pain tolerance than the Europeans and that this was the reason for so many of China's injuries. And this was following a comment that implied the team's struggles were due to so many injuries. Ipso facto, China sucks because they are a bunch of wussies. Now I know the pain tolerance claim is supported by science (seriously Yao Ming is always injured), but I can't imagine this comment not being met with criticism in the States.
2) In an example of reverse racism, the announcer for France's first World Cup match (not sure who) mentioned very directly two or three times his disappointment with the two white players for France. In other words, "I like black people but the white ones can't play soccer very well." Again, notice that there are only two white players for France. Out of eleven. I don't understand this, it's France.
3) I also have noticed that virtually none of the analysts predict wins for Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, or Algeria. And the only African country that they predicted a win for was Cameroon, but they were playing Japan. Coincidence? I think not. Is it because these teams are not that good? Debateable. Is it because of racism? Probably not. But it's fun to think so.
Speaking of racism, I can't tell you how delighted I was that Keisuke Honda was the man of the match for Japan. Unfortunately, there is no one named Kim-Jong Hyundai or Wong-Tong Kia for North Korea in their match tomorrow. Fun fact(s) though: of the 23 players on the active roster, five (5) are named Kim (that's a girls name mind you), five (5) are named Ri, four (4) named Pak, two (2) named An, and one (1) each named Cha, Ji, Nam, Mun, Choe, Jong, and Hong. All have hyphenated last names (although "first" and "last" are ambiguous terms for the Asian countries), most being combinations of Myongs, Kwangs, Jongs, Ils, or slight deviations of the previous four. I did check though, no Jong-Ils, so we should be safe.
Speaking of names, the three best names so far are 1) Tshabalala 2) Honda 3) Schweinsteiga (with an A).
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Few remaining notes: I hate everyone that plays for Italy. They are a bunch of jokes and they whine about everything and dive more than anyone. I literally feel embarrassed for them. They got lucky against Paraguay but they will get what they deserve soon enough. Also, Spain is absolutely dirty and they are not overrated. Finally, I would like to express my full satisfaction with the support for U.S. soccer being received overseas in China, England, and Italy. Keep up the good work.
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