07-12-2010, 07:55 AM
Quote:I did not want to see it. And now we're punished with endless repeats and after-the-match bladiblah. I'm glad this is over for another 4 years. Olympics, anyone?I recognize the sentiment; "all those orange morons", as referred to above. Yet, sport can be nice, and sharing the excitement of a match can be a great experience.
What worries me, though, is that football has become something like a big bank: Too Big To Fail. It is no longer just an enjoyable game, but is taking over parts of society. Building too expensive stadiums next to the slums and not allowing the poor living next to it to sell some souvenirs, is imperialism. A nation that, on a day of collective mourning (Holland, Srebrenica) prefers football acts perversely. Worst of all, the bonus for the winner - an average additional economic growth of 0,7% - is too big to allow it to minor economies like Holland or Spain. Had Germany won the championship, we would have seen thousands of additional jobs all over Europe, while a Spanish victory is beneficial to the Iberian peninsula only. Somehow, that does not feel right.
And yet, it can be beautiful and it should be. But I do not know how we can get back to normalcy - enjoying a good match with friends.
