I just can’t seem to catch World Cup fever.
I was sitting in a barber chair the other day (do people still say barber?) when a guy rushed into the shop and grabbed the remote control. He flipped through the channels until he found what he was looking for, a soccer match between South Africa and Mexico.
He was very excited. Hair was flying everywhere. Some of it was mine.
Suddenly it dawned on me, “This guy has World Cup Fever.”
Fortunately, my stylist has a steady hand and in spite of the animated football fan in our midst my ears remained un-nicked.
This was my first ever experience with soccer hooliganism although I admit it was a pretty mild case and we are a long way from South Africa, the host of the tournament.
Nevertheless, you don’t have to be in Capetown to sense the worldwide excitement over this tournament. Canadians everywhere are cheering for their national teams and the suds are flowing freely. All the favorites are well-represented in this country.
Even here in Thunder Bay you will often see the flags of World Cup contenders flapping from the windows of passing cars along with the hoots and hollering of enthusiastic fans.
Speaking of hoots and hollers, the South Africans are no slouches when it comes to making noise. They have invented the most irritating sound in the world of sport. It is produced by blowing into an obnoxious plastic horn called a vuvuzela. When thousands of sudsy fans start blowing their horns in the soccer stadium the results can be impressive.
So impressive in fact that some players have said they find the noise distracting and blame their poor play on the thousands of horn-blowing fans. Sound engineers are going crazy trying to deal with the constant buzz of slobbering lips in the background of every broadcast.
I have watched some of the games on TV and if these devices are as annoying in person as they are over the airwaves there are going to be a lot of grumpy people in Johannesburg this month.
From where I sit it sounds like there is a swarm of angry bees inside my television. The noise never stops.
There has been some talk about banning these nerve-wracking noise makers altogether but apparently South Africans have the historical right to make loud and offensive sounds with vuvuzelas or anything else they want.
Leading up to the tournament these horns were selling at a rate of 50,000 per month although they were redesigned to be 20 decibels quieter out of respect for the World Cup.
This is the disruption I was confronted with in mid haircut and although I can understand the attraction of the game I don’t share this gusto for the sport.
Maybe it’s because I’m still a little depressed about the lack of a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup finals. There won’t be a Canadian team in the World Cup finals either. Our footballers are currently rated 63rd out of 208 in the world by FIFA.
Canadians first became members of FIFA (these are the guys that rule the tournament) in 1913 but we have always been out of our league at the World Cup.
Our first and only appearance was in 1986 in Mexico. We didn’t score a single goal that year. We don’t seem to do that well in warm weather sports. Maybe that’s why we put all our eggs in the ice hockey basket.
Still, soccer is a very popular sport around the world and let’s face it, the planet could use something to cheer about these days. The final game will be played at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. It has been upgraded to seat almost 95,000 spectators.
It could get noisy. That’s a lot of vuvuzelas. Sales should be brisk for another South African invention – plug-o-zelas, ear plugs to protect your hearing in case you’re sitting next to a horn blower.
Canadians are avid sports fans but our bragging rights are limited to hockey, curling and other frost related activities. When it comes to the World Cup it will be a while yet before we can blow our own horns.
When I left the barbershop I looked pretty good. The excited soccer fan was still standing in front of the TV set. The first game of the World Cup ended 1 -1.
In the distance a vuvuzela wailed.
I was sitting in a barber chair the other day (do people still say barber?) when a guy rushed into the shop and grabbed the remote control. He flipped through the channels until he found what he was looking for, a soccer match between South Africa and Mexico.
He was very excited. Hair was flying everywhere. Some of it was mine.
Suddenly it dawned on me, “This guy has World Cup Fever.”
Fortunately, my stylist has a steady hand and in spite of the animated football fan in our midst my ears remained un-nicked.
This was my first ever experience with soccer hooliganism although I admit it was a pretty mild case and we are a long way from South Africa, the host of the tournament.
Nevertheless, you don’t have to be in Capetown to sense the worldwide excitement over this tournament. Canadians everywhere are cheering for their national teams and the suds are flowing freely. All the favorites are well-represented in this country.
Even here in Thunder Bay you will often see the flags of World Cup contenders flapping from the windows of passing cars along with the hoots and hollering of enthusiastic fans.
Speaking of hoots and hollers, the South Africans are no slouches when it comes to making noise. They have invented the most irritating sound in the world of sport. It is produced by blowing into an obnoxious plastic horn called a vuvuzela. When thousands of sudsy fans start blowing their horns in the soccer stadium the results can be impressive.
So impressive in fact that some players have said they find the noise distracting and blame their poor play on the thousands of horn-blowing fans. Sound engineers are going crazy trying to deal with the constant buzz of slobbering lips in the background of every broadcast.
I have watched some of the games on TV and if these devices are as annoying in person as they are over the airwaves there are going to be a lot of grumpy people in Johannesburg this month.
From where I sit it sounds like there is a swarm of angry bees inside my television. The noise never stops.
There has been some talk about banning these nerve-wracking noise makers altogether but apparently South Africans have the historical right to make loud and offensive sounds with vuvuzelas or anything else they want.
Leading up to the tournament these horns were selling at a rate of 50,000 per month although they were redesigned to be 20 decibels quieter out of respect for the World Cup.
This is the disruption I was confronted with in mid haircut and although I can understand the attraction of the game I don’t share this gusto for the sport.
Maybe it’s because I’m still a little depressed about the lack of a Canadian team in the Stanley Cup finals. There won’t be a Canadian team in the World Cup finals either. Our footballers are currently rated 63rd out of 208 in the world by FIFA.
Canadians first became members of FIFA (these are the guys that rule the tournament) in 1913 but we have always been out of our league at the World Cup.
Our first and only appearance was in 1986 in Mexico. We didn’t score a single goal that year. We don’t seem to do that well in warm weather sports. Maybe that’s why we put all our eggs in the ice hockey basket.
Still, soccer is a very popular sport around the world and let’s face it, the planet could use something to cheer about these days. The final game will be played at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa. It has been upgraded to seat almost 95,000 spectators.
It could get noisy. That’s a lot of vuvuzelas. Sales should be brisk for another South African invention – plug-o-zelas, ear plugs to protect your hearing in case you’re sitting next to a horn blower.
Canadians are avid sports fans but our bragging rights are limited to hockey, curling and other frost related activities. When it comes to the World Cup it will be a while yet before we can blow our own horns.
When I left the barbershop I looked pretty good. The excited soccer fan was still standing in front of the TV set. The first game of the World Cup ended 1 -1.
In the distance a vuvuzela wailed.
