June 10, 2006

  • Mercy Maud!  I mentioned soccer's World Cup being treated as a Big Deal?  Well, I had no idea, no idea at all.  Over at Al Mohler's blog, he's written about the same thing, but more extensively, citing a Christian Science Monitor story, World Cup Boosts Growth, Binds Ties, Even Sparks War:

    Brazilian banks will close early, British
    productivity will nosedive, elections in Mexico could be affected, the
    fate of the French prime minister may hang on results. The event will
    touch even the frozen wastelands of Antarctica, where scientists have
    set up a live Internet feed so as not to miss the action.

    And at the grand finale on July 9, as many as a billion people -
    one-sixth of humanity - are expected to watch 22 men, adept at
    propelling a piece of leather around, compete for the ultimate victory
    in team sports.

    [snip]

    Germany is bracing for 4.5 million fans to arrive
    for the matches. The rest of the world is working to accommodate
    broadcasts. World Trade Organization negotiators have agreed to end
    meetings at 4 p.m. in time for kick-off. In China, 70 percent of
    football fans said they planned to watch all 63 matches, even though
    most will take place in the middle of the Chinese night. In the Koreas,
    North has turned to South for help with rebroadcasting, so its people
    can see some of the action. And Arab leaders are scrambling to help
    poor citizens see the games after a regional pay-TV network bought
    exclusive broadcasting rights.

    This is simply sports gone mad, is all:

    For the tournament winners, there are many
    dividends beyond the honor of being called world champion. All of the
    seven countries to win the trophy have experienced, however
    temporarily, a "World Cup effect." When Uruguay beat Brazil in 1950,
    the victory helped cement a nascent sense of nationhood in a country
    with a large immigrant population. When West Germany won in 1954, less
    than a decade on from the rubble of 1945, it became a symbol of
    resurrection.

    Finally, France's first victory in 1998 was hailed as its most
    glorious moment since 1945. A million revelers poured onto the Champs
    Elysees. President Jacques Chirac's poll numbers shot up. Much was made
    of the "rainbow team" of Frenchmen, black and Arab second-generation
    immigrants.

    "All those postwar problems - rebuilding France, decolonization, the
    war in Algeria, unemployment, social, and racial divisions - the World
    Cup victory was seen as a step on the way to coming to terms with it
    all," says Geoffrey Hare, the author of "Football in France."

    In this year's tournament, watch for Ivory Coast,
    perhaps Africa's strongest contender, but one with a wretched recent
    history of civil war. A successful run for the West African side may do
    wonders for reconciliation, analysts say. Soccer has a certain power to
    unify in Africa: Fighting in Liberia ceased when their star player,
    George Weah, was on the pitch; and Nigeria's civil war halted for two
    days in 1967 so both sides could watch visiting Pele play in a match.

    [snip]

    Defeat, however, can have a deleterious effect:
    Britain's Labour government in 1970 blamed electoral defeat partly on
    England's sudden exit from the World Cup a few days earlier. Andrés
    Escobar, a Colombian defender who scored on his own goal in the 1994
    World Cup, was shot dead upon returning home.

    Economies, too, may not escape unscathed. Academics from the
    Massachusetts Institute of Technology contend that a World Cup defeat
    has, on average, led to sizeable stock market falls in the country
    concerned. Winning the Cup, on the other hand, normally adds around 0.7
    percentage points to the victor's economic growth, according to
    economists at Dutch Bank ABN AMRO.

    Ultimately, it's just a game - isn't it?

    Legendary English coach Bill Shankly came to a different conclusion.

    "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death," he once remarked. "I'm very disappointed with that attitude."

    "I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

    It's a strange, weird world.  e-afdbsmiley