Feel sorry for US sports fans
The 2002 World Cup Soccer tournament is an experience to cherish for the many delicious moments, the totally unexpected twists and the high drama. However, while the rest of the world stayed transfixed and glued to their TV sets, the enthusiasm shown in the US was only tepid, even when its national team was giving one creditable performance after another and reached the quarter-final stage.
Why this lack of interest? We are told the low scores in soccer exasperates and turns off American spectators.
It goes against the craving for quick results and tries the patience of an impatient nation. To the American psyche, the cascades of scores in a NBA match is sheer joy, while a classic soccer match that ends up 1 to 0 or 1 to 1 is nothing but boredom.
It is a pity and one should feel sorry for our American friends.
The charm of soccer is not solely in the final act of scoring. It is very much in the buildup, in the painstaking organizing of an attack, in the feinting and probing, in the intricate passes and crosses -- all combined to lead up to the climax.
Watching a Clint Eastwood punching and shooting his way to a climax can satisfy the list for instant gratification. It takes a more sophisticated mind to relish the meticulous method of a Sherlock Holmes in unraveling the sinister mystery of the speckled band and maneuver the evil Dr. Roylott into self-destruction.
The cult of quick result and instant gratification has claimed quite a few victims and done considerable damage to the quality of life in the US. Fast food divested itself of the joy of preparing and eating a good meal.
It takes patience, which is a product of maturity, to appreciate something slow in tempo but rich in flavor, something not that easy to achieve, something intricate or even elusive; refined gratification could be even more gratifying, whether one is participant or spectator.
America, we all appreciate and salute your benign influence on the world scene. God knows how many countries, mine included, owe their freedom and prosperity to your presence.
But please, America, don't yawn and switch to some other channel. Low scoring soccer can be as rewarding to watch as the relentlessly meticulous Baker Street sleuth with his magnifying glass.
David Min
Taipei
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