Just done re-reading Dave Eggers’ “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” because I vaguely remember that the primary characters, Dave and Toph, were fully orphaned. Now that I am on the same boat, I wanted to check if I could form a kinship.
Picking AHWOSG again reminded me of Eggers’ account of his gym teacher launching into a tirade against communism and rationalizing why soccer never became popular in the US. According to this jock, soccer is a game that communists favor and not an American invention like basketball and baseball. Furthermore, he says that Americans should suspect a game introduced by Germans and Italians and does not employ hands. I find the account hilariously pathetic. Look Ma, no hands.
Yup, it is widely perceived that the US government played a crucial role in killing the sport in America. And if you survey past World Cup winners – Uruguay, Galeano’s home-country and the first to win it, has 2; Italy and Brazil have 4 a piece; Germany has 3. The World Cup is dominated by countries where the Communist Party enjoys recognition and support.
Come to think of it, soccer is intensely played in the townships of Africa, in the shanty-towns of Brazil, and even in refugee camps in the Middle East. It is played by the poorest of the poor and in some cultures, children play to momentarily escape the misery of poverty. In my hometown of Tacloban, streetchildren do rugby. Not the sport, dummy. That sticky solvent that momentarily solves problems. Kuno.
When I was working with a human rights organization (Task Force Detainees of the Philippines), I had the privilege of going around Samar, helping out in para-legal training and in some remote villages, the locals played football. At that time, I didn’t wonder how the locals learned about soccer (no TV and no soccer on TV then), much more play it with joyous abandon.
With Eggers’ account, I connected the dots. Maybe, those frigging soccer-loving Communists that Gen. Palparan loves to hate introduced soccer aside from Marxist-Lenin Maoist Thought to these farm communities. It is not hard to imagine a cadre squeezing in soccer games as breaks from discussions of feudalism and bureaucratic-capitalism which are oftentimes monotonous. Take my word for it.
This elementary logic is quite comical (for more comic relief, go to Fox News): Communists love football and if you love football, you must be a Communist.
Would I die of shock if I learned that Palparan actually plays football?
Picking AHWOSG again reminded me of Eggers’ account of his gym teacher launching into a tirade against communism and rationalizing why soccer never became popular in the US. According to this jock, soccer is a game that communists favor and not an American invention like basketball and baseball. Furthermore, he says that Americans should suspect a game introduced by Germans and Italians and does not employ hands. I find the account hilariously pathetic. Look Ma, no hands.
Yup, it is widely perceived that the US government played a crucial role in killing the sport in America. And if you survey past World Cup winners – Uruguay, Galeano’s home-country and the first to win it, has 2; Italy and Brazil have 4 a piece; Germany has 3. The World Cup is dominated by countries where the Communist Party enjoys recognition and support.
Come to think of it, soccer is intensely played in the townships of Africa, in the shanty-towns of Brazil, and even in refugee camps in the Middle East. It is played by the poorest of the poor and in some cultures, children play to momentarily escape the misery of poverty. In my hometown of Tacloban, streetchildren do rugby. Not the sport, dummy. That sticky solvent that momentarily solves problems. Kuno.
When I was working with a human rights organization (Task Force Detainees of the Philippines), I had the privilege of going around Samar, helping out in para-legal training and in some remote villages, the locals played football. At that time, I didn’t wonder how the locals learned about soccer (no TV and no soccer on TV then), much more play it with joyous abandon.
With Eggers’ account, I connected the dots. Maybe, those frigging soccer-loving Communists that Gen. Palparan loves to hate introduced soccer aside from Marxist-Lenin Maoist Thought to these farm communities. It is not hard to imagine a cadre squeezing in soccer games as breaks from discussions of feudalism and bureaucratic-capitalism which are oftentimes monotonous. Take my word for it.
This elementary logic is quite comical (for more comic relief, go to Fox News): Communists love football and if you love football, you must be a Communist.
Would I die of shock if I learned that Palparan actually plays football?
2 comments:
thanks for this…i’ve been thinking what would baby erick’s sports when he grows up...well why not introduce him to football indeed weehehehee and who knows it might earn him a seat in congress too-”anak ng football rep”
haha! Lami kaayo. Months back my good friend in college sent me photos of his son whose name is Kewell (named after the Australian soccer player) kicking ball. This friend of mine plays soccer and one of the best I know and we both mourned over the fact that we don’t have a professional soccer league here so we I joked imagining his son playing for Juventus, Real Madrid or Arsenal.
Si baby eric, anak ug gwapa rep. Arf! Arf!
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