I can welcome immigrants from Korea or India into my community without having to enjoy the taste of Kim Chee
No, but you'd be missing out on one of the world's great foods. Before marrying my Korean wife, I wouldn't touch the stuff. Now . . . mmmmm.
Actually I like both Korean and Indian food. Korean BBQ, Kim Chee and Soju makes a fine meal. I just used that as a hypothetical example.
Indeed, the left media hates soccer; (or as my kids and I started saying "real football.") It was FOX, after all, that started a cable soccer network here.
Without doing a whole lot to parse the sloppy argument presented in the blockquote; I'll simply say I don't think we should be encouraging the introduction of soccer analogies into our political discourse.
Sports and politics are tricky to mix. Politicians are pretty stupid with their sports analogies. Which leads me to believe that sports are probably more valuable to distract people from catching them with their hand in the till; than as a rhetorical tool.
BTW, I would strangle kittens for a good Indian curry sauce. I like Korean bbq too.
Agreed. Politicians should refrain some using sporting analogies. Remember George Tenet's "slam dunk" case for WMD intelligence? Soccer analogies would be even worse.
Re: your post - I'm all for Judge Reinhold for SCOTUS as long as William Hung and his Hung Jury provide the theme music.
Korean BBQ, Kim Chee and Soju makes a fine meal
Ohhhhhhhhh, yeah.
I don't expect my fellow lefties to automatically like soccer just as I don't expect them to enjoy... Debussy.
I don't expect lefties to enjoy Debussy, but from my subjective perspective, it really helps if they do.
busker of La Cathédrale Engloutie
Hhhmmm... I'll join ya on Street Murals and Debussy. But only on the DKs if I'm pissed cuz someone replaced my coffee with Boba Tea.
Vive la Futbol de'American!
{-;
BTW, a strangled-kitten curry can be had every Sunday morning if you only attend the right Church.
{-;
I always was under the impression that soccer was the Leftist sport. The very relativist nature and cultural spread of it dictated so. American football or rugby always struck me as something a Righty would appreciate, along with NASCAR (god I hate playing with stereotypes, such a slippery slope).
Soccer, a leftist sport? Hmmm...If you are an extreme right wing French neo nazi like Jean-Marie LePen then maybe yes because he sees the biracial makeup of the teams as a threat to his anti immigration ideas.
For the rest of Europe...Go to the Netherlands where they are trying to outlaw the waving of swastikas and israeli flags as symbols of soccer gang allegiance...or Italy, where soccer games become right wing political rallies!...or gasp England.....
Personally, my main use for American football is an excuse to drink enough beer to be able to stand the prescence of zombie like in laws...I become "one of them".....
Ho Puree, Donnez moi Le Tour de France en tout cas! I can turn it off, just refer to a map every day and get a 10 minute update of the "highlites" when I want....
I like soccer and I'm a lefty so what does that make me? An American soccer fan. I love a free for all kick session...good therapy for the anger and violence I carry in me 24/7.
busker: I should have also mentioned Ravel. I've got a thing for late 19th century French composers.
Michael: Shhh...the evil atheist conspiracy does not exist...
Frederick: Political pundits have created these stereotypes with categories such as "soccer moms" and "NASCAR dads". Based on the soccer fans I've met there is an equal distribution of liberals and conservatives. I guess we associate leftist with international.
patrick: Ah, yes...the dark side of futbol - racism. From Italians giving fascist salutes, to right-wing PSG fans denouncing Jews and attacking black Parisian cops, to Spanish national coach Aragones calling Thierry Henry a monkey...it's all very disheartening. And as for Le Pen, I think Zidane is saving another headbutt for that tete du merde.
sumo: Speaking of "free for all kick sessions", I'm off to practice soon.
Anyone interested in the connections between culture, politics and soccer in this globalized world of ours should check out Franklin Foer's book How Soccer Explains the World. You don't have to like soccer to enjoy the book.
right-wing PSG fans denouncing Jews and attacking black Parisian cops
Wow. I know a little about the EPL and La Liga (Atletico Madrid for me), but nothing about the Bundesliga or the French leagues.
Silly me, I'd have thought the team from the friggin LEFT BANK might have avoided the racist BS. But what do I know?
I'm all for Judge Reinhold for SCOTUS as long as William Hung and his Hung Jury provide the theme music.
What about Billy Squire, Esquire? Didn't he do the theme to everybody's favorite Judge Reinhold production?
The first rule of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy is: you don't talk about the Evil Atheist Conspiracy. The second rule of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy is you do not talk about the Evil Atheist Conspiracy.
I am pretty sure the left killed Jesus as well. Or at least they should have
busker: I should have also mentioned Ravel. I've got a thing for late 19th century French composers.
Y'know, I've got a pretty fair live orchestral version of Sunken/Engulfed Cathedral linked from my entertainment section. It sounds great w/ a full orchestra and only has a couple of teeny mistakes.
BTW, I love the new pic. First I thought I was hallucinating, then I fell out of my chair. Now I'm back to thinking I'm hallucinating.
I mean, that is a hippie Spiro, right?
Talk about cognitive dissonance.
Actually, I didn't mean to infer that I think soccer is a neo notzii activity.
It's just that these big sports things tend to become miniature fourth reich rallies, you know, the unbridled hilarity of beer and testosterone and a showcase for national pride which breaks down to tribal allegiances!
I like watching soccer and occasionaly play it when I'm not busy being too much of a geezer. The big sport here is actually rugby. Brive la Gaillarde is a very big rugby town. Soccer in slang French is Le Fut and Rugby is Futbal. After watching live games of the kids teams around here, I can't imagine watching the ritual like stylized kabuki robots of American football. America is the only country that plays it, no one else can afford the damn equipment!
Ha, ha, ha. I never said it was the left's fault that soccer isn't popular, merely that certain leftists were being hypocritical in not supporting it. After spending my college years protesting against the Vietnam War, I thought I pretty much knew what people were like. I thought that leftists were open-minded and that everyone else wasn't. Imagine my surprise when a pro soccer team came into town and I found myself a lone leftist surrounded by people in fraternities and sororities. Sheesh!
As for the young pomo professor I talked to, the left should have developed a response to that nonsense thirty years ago. The left should be saying that liking a low-scoring sport is a cultural preference, just as America's is liking sports with high scoring in which the players spend a ridiculous amount of time standing around doing nothing. That the left hasn't developed such a response is not to its credit. And that leftists can bash soccer without expecting repercussions, well, do you go around bashing Kim chee or curry? I bet not. But it's perfectly ok in American culture to bash soccer.
Ha, ha, ha. I never said it was the left's fault that soccer isn't popular, merely that certain leftists were being hypocritical in not supporting it..
Thanks for the comment, John. As you can tell, I had some fun dissecting your piece – it was all in good fun though. My response is half-satire, half-real opinion (as is most of the stuff on my blog). I appreciate the issues you raised on 101 Great Goals.
I thought that leftists were open-minded and that everyone else wasn't.
Leftists can be as bigoted, arrogant and closed-minded as right-wingers. Honestly, I get tired of labels of “left” and “right”. Political views are at least two-dimensional, sometimes three-dimensional. I used to think that “liberals” would be more open to soccer since it was international, foreign, or “other”. However, there's nothing inherent in liberal political ideology that makes one prefer one sport to another.
But it's perfectly ok in American culture to bash soccer.
Yep. Jim Rome comes to mind. Whenever I come across this sentiment, I always jump in the fight. I think these haters are just jealous – they and their sporting idols could not endure the steep athletic demands of the game.
Spiro, you would think this is faulty logic. After all, the Left is generally against all things 'Murkin, like all-murkin sports like football, basketball, baseball. (Except, as in my own case, when my home town football team is going to the Super Bowl, GO BEARS). But it would seem that the Left would PREFER Soccer. In fact, when the US hosted the World Cup, and games were held in Chicago, the city went pretty damn soccer mad.
So I am confused. (Go Bears.)
"However, there's nothing inherent in liberal political ideology that makes one prefer one sport to another."
I'm not sure about that. I assume bullfighting would be condemned by most leftists, but then again, what do I know about the left?
More to the point is that the average sports fan in America (especially the older ones) is ignorant about other cultures's sports and very arrogant about the superiority of ours. Maybe that repulsive stance wouldn't push an American leftist to embrace foreign sports, but I'd like to think that he or she would at least be willing to learn a little about foreign sports, to try to understand their advantages, and to push for more coverage of them in our media.
Diva Jood: da Bears, eh? I guess I'm rooting for them - anything to see Payton Manning fail.
The left might prefer soccer because it is more international and not typically American. But there is nothing in the rules of soccer that is more conducive to left-wing ideology over right-wing ideology. I still believe that liking a particular sport comes down to personal preference, family and environmental factors and is not determined by one's political views.
JFP: You've got a point. But, is slaughtering animals really a sport?
Commenting by HaloScan
