Football is war
…the notion that international sporting competitions inevitably inspire warm fraternity – an idea advanced by Baron de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic games – is a romantic fiction. The violence of British football hooligans, for example, reflects a peculiar nostalgia for war. Life in peaceful times can be dull, and British glory seems a long way in the past. Football is an opportunity to experience the thrill of combat, without risking much more than a few broken bones.
Even when football doesn’t lead to actual bloodshed, it inspires strong emotions – primitive and tribal – evoking the days when warriors donned facial paint and jumped up and down in war dances, hollering like apes. The nature of the game encourages this: the speed, the collective aggression…
Ian Buruma on football nationalism, in Project Syndicate.
Argentinians demonstrate how they intend to win the World Cup.
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June 10th, 2010 at 10:35
“But the fact that sport can unleash primitive emotions is not a reason to condemn it. Since such feelings cannot simply be wished away, it is better to allow for their ritual expression, just as fears of death, violence, and decay find expression in religion or bull fighting. Even though some football games have provoked violence, and in one case even a war, they might have served the positive purpose of containing our more savage impulses by deflecting them onto a mere sport.”
I agree. In Toronto, CA, if it’s football (soccer season), you would see different colors (flags) flying – atop restaurant roofs, car and house/condo windows, etc. – that you’d think you’re in different countries simultaneously. Italians, Chileans, Iranians, Koreans, Argentinians, etc display their flags together with the CANADIAN flag. Pinoys in Canada display our flag (we don’t have a national soccer team) during Independence celebration and other relevant events.
Toronto, being the new New York in terms of a melting pot, is very tolerant when in comes to multi cultures. It has a great policy of celebrating multi-culturalism, so in terms of violence, the stats are almost nil.