One thing I have noticed since arriving in Greece is the culture of soccer and how it influences how Greeks live their lives. It goes back to a previous post where I discussed my personal experience with playing with some locals. In America it is really hard to find a place where people of all ages can come together to play a pickup game of any sport. In Greece it would seem ludicrous to suggest anything otherwise. I just got to thinking, what does this say about our cultures?
Soccer is a game of working together, but it also has moments of individual accomplishment. Every player of the field has to have an idea of what they are going to do if they receive the ball and they must always be actively thinking about what's going on on the field. When a player receives the ball they must be fully confident that the decision they make with it is the right one. It seems a lot like the Greeks ideas of shame and honor.
The Greeks, specifically men, are raised to believe their actions are always right and to act with pride. In soccer it is much the same way, when you receive the ball the decision you make with it is the right one. There are many instances when a player is given a penalty and they argue with the ref because they feel their actions were right and the ref has no right to give them a penalty. Soccer--or futbol-- seems to carry the customs and ideas of the culture that values it so highly.
Soccer is not quite the main sport of America as of yet, so what is? We have so many sports that get attention. Some would argue that baseball is the true American pastime, while others would say it is football. In some regions you might even hear Nascar as the response for the "true" American sport. Without a strong unifying sport, like soccer, what does that say about America?
It would, first, explain why we do not have fields for kids to have a pickup game late at night. There are too many different veins of games to play. You cannot just set up a soccer field in every neighborhood because not every child plays it. This also demonstrates how America is a melting pot of many different cultures. Yes, there may be a stereotypical idea of who an American is in general, but there is clearly no way to pinpoint it. There are too many different options for Americans, with a melting pot of cultures we have never quite gained the unity through soccer that the rest of the world has.
Soccer is a game of working together, but it also has moments of individual accomplishment. Every player of the field has to have an idea of what they are going to do if they receive the ball and they must always be actively thinking about what's going on on the field. When a player receives the ball they must be fully confident that the decision they make with it is the right one. It seems a lot like the Greeks ideas of shame and honor.
The Greeks, specifically men, are raised to believe their actions are always right and to act with pride. In soccer it is much the same way, when you receive the ball the decision you make with it is the right one. There are many instances when a player is given a penalty and they argue with the ref because they feel their actions were right and the ref has no right to give them a penalty. Soccer--or futbol-- seems to carry the customs and ideas of the culture that values it so highly.
Soccer is not quite the main sport of America as of yet, so what is? We have so many sports that get attention. Some would argue that baseball is the true American pastime, while others would say it is football. In some regions you might even hear Nascar as the response for the "true" American sport. Without a strong unifying sport, like soccer, what does that say about America?
It would, first, explain why we do not have fields for kids to have a pickup game late at night. There are too many different veins of games to play. You cannot just set up a soccer field in every neighborhood because not every child plays it. This also demonstrates how America is a melting pot of many different cultures. Yes, there may be a stereotypical idea of who an American is in general, but there is clearly no way to pinpoint it. There are too many different options for Americans, with a melting pot of cultures we have never quite gained the unity through soccer that the rest of the world has.
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