The FIFA World Cup's "fan fest" in Munich's Olympiapark, summer 2006.
I has the World Cup fever. I has it bad.
I was in Germany in June 2006, during the last FIFA World Cup. Having grown up playing sports, the daughter of a sports-obsessed father (rather equal opportunity, actually, in his enthusiasm), it was only natural that being in the host country of the 2006 World Cup, I would get into it in a crazy way. Which I did. I went to the biergartens, where they erected huge screens and displayed the game for hundreds of cheering, happy German (and international!) fans. There is nothing like being surrounded by rabid sports fans full of cheerful enthusiasm. My first experience with München’s famed Hofbräuhaus was to see it filled with folks from every conceivable nation — wearing the identifiable jerseys to go along with the cacophony of varied languages — all arguing (amiably!) with their neighbors about the upcoming matches. It’s a rare event that has the power to bring people from dozens of nations together, happily, and I don’t care if it makes me a nerd to say I love seeing all of the coverage on ESPN, seeing fans gathering at bars at 7:30 or 9:30am EST for a match. I love it.
My experience with rivalries in sports before this was the Yankess / Red Sox rivalry, where stories tell of angry fans of either team causing trouble for the others. But this international competition was friendly in a way I only associate with the Olympics, but with none of the Olympics’ occasional disparateness. There was unity without spite. I loved that.
Seeing people in New York get excited for the World Cup gets me excited. Seeing an entire bar or restaurant erupt in explosive cheers when a goal is scored — there’s nothing like it. The Superbowl can’t evoke that same sense of national pride, of unity, the way seeing team USA score does. It makes me hope soccer gets a greater foothold here in the US… well, maybe I want to aim lower first. I’d love to see the US advance in the World Cup tournament and make us proud. That’d be wonderful.
Kristan
/ 19 June 2010“There was unity without spite. I loved that.”
I do too, and I was in Spain for the World Cup in ’06, so that was pretty sweet. We watched in plazas and in bars — although sometimes I could tell how it was going from my bedroom, just based on the shouting I heard outside. :P
(But the one thing that makes me sad is that for some countries, this is (they feel) all they have, so when they do poorly, people suffer. Andy has told me horror stories about players or coaches getting shot upon returning to their countries after a bad game. :\
Luckily that isn’t the NORM.)
We’re definitely tuned in to the World Cup in this household. Andy is rooting USA all the way, and I’m Spain/USA. Isn’t it weird how all the big powers have kind of faltered in these opening games??
From Kristan’s [type]: Colorado (Day 1 of 4)