Franklin Foer wrote “From How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization” which was published in 2004. The book talks about different aspects of globalization and “culture wars”. Franklin is an American journalist who used to work as an editor of The New Republic. He belongs to a family of writers as one of his younger brothers is a novelist and the other is a freelance journalist. In his book Franklin elucidated the impact of globalization on the society. He has used soccer to elaborate the main ideas in the text and because of this link between globalization and soccer, the book has fascinated several sportspersons. Furthermore, this chapter is branching out into three parts and each part scrutinizes a different aspect …show more content…
Franklin starts by giving reasons why he has used soccer to explain the failure of globalization and also clarifies that his objective is not to argue economic changes and factors, but to address cultural issues. In the first part of How Soccer Explains the American Culture Wars, the author goes into depth that how and why soccer entered into his life and what role his parents played to ensure that their child excelled in the sport. He then talks about the cultural divide in America; the different mindsets of the elite and the working middle class and how individuals from these classes reacted to the introduction of soccer in America in the 1980’s. Moving on, in the second part of his analysis, the author sheds light on the hateful comments of some eminent Americans such as Tom Wier, Jack Kemp, Allen Barra and most importantly Jim Rome. These individuals have openly expressed their hatred for soccer and they believe that it is “not a sport”. To counter claims and criticism made these men, Franklin presents some facts and figures that clearly state that over the years soccer has managed to make its way into the American culture, while the most American sport i.e. Baseball has lost viewership. This section is summed up by differentiating between the stances of two contrasting groups towards globalization. In the last part of the …show more content…
He writes “Our teams didn’t have names. We had jersey colors that we used to refer to ourselves: “Go Maroon!” Our coach, a bearded German named Gunther, would bark at us in continental nomenclature that didn’t quite translate into English.” Here it can be observed that the author flawlessly combines light humor with a serious phrase like “continental nomenclature”. Later in the third part, the author recalls a scene from a soccer match: “They mercilessly booed the linesman, softening him up by insulting his slut of a mother. It might not have quite ascended to the atmospheric wonders of a game played by the English national team, but it wasn’t far from that mark.” Franklin is trying to tell the readers that even though the American supporters was not as passionate or enthusiastic as an English supporter would be if England was playing however they nearing reached that level of excitement. Now, it can be seen that Franklin explains such a simple situation in a way that gives life to the text and the reader can picture the whole
A Short Storybook. Sports in America, 1950-1959. New York: Chelsea House, 2010. 42-44. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the ' Print.
In 1991 there was so little media interest in the event, almost no one even knew the United States had a team, and even less people knew that the United States won. Eight years later, “tickets sales reached 388,000,” more than triple the amount of sales in the 1995 Women’s World Cup (Longman). FIFA was depending on this World Cup to gain popularity, they needed more interest to spark people to play. If the United States had not won, it was predicted that not many in the suburban would not have much interest in soccer. Millions of young girls across the United States came to this event. After the World Cup it “will celebrate the explosive growth of soccer for women in the United States, where 7.5 million female players are registered, according to a recent survey by the Soccer Industry Council of America, a trade group. In suburbia, where the game flourishes, girls' soccer has become as popular as sport utility vehicles” (Longman). This World Cup team changed the perspective that soccer was only for males. “‘ We're fighting the myths and prejudices that women's soccer felt in the U.S. in the 70's,'' said Andrea Rodebaugh… 'That there are sports for boys and sports for girls and that soccer is not for girls, not feminine’” (Longman). This team changed the lives for many girls. The team gave little girls hope and faith they could make it in soccer. This team made them believe they could follow their passions.
Like many other individuals, Franklin Foer titles himself to be a soccer expert and enthusiast. Moreover, he is also acclaimed for his work in the field of globalization. In his book, he uses the game of soccer as his universal device. In How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization, Foer recorded his travels throughout the globe to explore all the different cultures, beliefs and agendas that make a habit of using the beautiful game of soccer.
Soccer is still the world?s most beloved sport, and will continue to be the number one sport for generations to come. However, North America is never bound to join this band wagon because we simply find the sport dull. The fake injuries, scoreless games, and long game lengths disappoint the majority of North America, whom would much rather watch other exciting sports. Because of lacking a long-time tradition, excitement during matches, and good opportunities for big time television networks to broadcast the games, the real football fails to succeed as the superior sport in North America. Paying $250 million dollars to David Beckham won?t do any good in promoting soccer across North America. ?Football? will continue to be less than a second thought, so long as we have these other terrific sports at hand.
Franklin Foer the author of How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization is an important contributor of the small topic of the how soccer is related to the world. Foer from the New Republic who writes from time to time in the well known newspaper of the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal had traveled around the world especially the continent of Europe, Asia, North and South America. Going from the topic of why the Islam religion, Islamic law, and religious paramilitary militia prohibits the passionate, die-hard Islamic women fans; from attending and/or watching soccer games and then partying hard like the men after the game if their country or favorite club wins. To the topic of how America relates to soccer when the middle class accepted this sport because of the little violence that they thought the sport contained and to how some Americans support writers such as Tom Weir from USA Today’s “that hating soccer is more American than apple pie, driving a pickup, or spending Saturday afternoons channel surfing with the remote control” (Foer 240). The majority of Americans that support this quote are the lower class, liberals, majority of sports reporters, and narrow minded Americans. These topics and/or chapters really show how soccer is creating more globalization around the world especially with Islamic women getting rid of their traditions and trying new things such as showing their passion for soccer. In addition, America is trying to pass its apple pie and watching American Football on a Sunday to watching beautiful game of soccer. How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization is really divided into three groups; the first being the rivalries between clubs and human beings, sec...
In the early 20th century, baseball became the first professional sport to earn nationwide attention in America. Because it was our first national professional team sport, because of its immense popularity, and because of its reputation as being synonymous with America, baseball has been written about more than any other sport, in both fiction and non-fiction alike. As baseball grew popular so did some of the sportswriters who wrote about the game in the daily newspaper. Collectively, the sportswriters of the early 20th century launched a written history of baseball that transformed the game into a “national symbol” of American culture, a “guardian” of America’s traditional values, and as a “gateway” to an idealized past. (Skolnik 3) No American sport has a history as long—or as romanticized—as that of the game referred to as our “national pastime.”
Simon of Hamilton College along with Professor Cesar R. Torres of State University of New York collectively wrote Fair Play: The Ethics of Sport. As a matter of fact, Professor Robert L. Simon was named to the list of ‘’ 100 Most Influential Sports Educators by the Institute for International Sport’. In addition, Cesar R. Torres is Professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Sport Studies and Physical Education at The College of Brockport, State University of New York, USA. He is a former President of the International Association for the Philosophy of Sport. In this book, the research question is if winning is what people ought to think that is important or whether winning really ought to be regarded as a primary goal. Although, their primary method employed in the research consisted of interviews they got a lot of data from empirical observations. The professors found out that sports are a significant form of social activity that affects the education system, the economy, and, perhaps, the values of citizen. The purpose of the books is to describe how participation in sports affects the participants’ values. In addition, they described what personality features contribute to success or failure in competitive athletics. Likewise, this work is related to Professor Pelling’s work because it also talked about how a sport competition can affect directly an athlete life. For instance, this work is relevant to my research question because it explain how
From the United States to Hispanic countries like Spain, the countries share their love for the same sports even though they are oceans apart. While they have their similar interests, sports interests differ in each of the countries as well. Without sports in the world, our cultures we know and love would be completely different and dull. They help shape our cultures and the people within them. Sports like soccer, football, and baseball are sports that we know and love in Hispanic and American countries. We all know what they are, but the way they are played, their histories, and our passions for these sports differ and correspond.
Sports is the center of American culture. In many families, sports is their entertainment. They use sports to show their happiness, anger and physical ability. The United States is known for their sports culture. They have many national sports such as NFL (National Football League) and the NBA (National Basketball Association). People in the United States often choose their favorite teams and become very competitive when their team is playing. At a young age many girls and boys join sports which is where they become competitive, and also where they realize if they like playing sports or not. Once many teenagers get into high school sports become important to them because it is a gateway into getting into college and getting that quick way to reach their American Dream in possibly becoming a famous athlete. Although not all Americans play, watch, or like sports they still know what sports are and there is more Americans who play watch and like sports than people who do not. Sports will always be the center of American culture because Americans love to be competitive and aware of what is going on in their world.
Baseball, America's favorite pastime, with it being the sport to represent America does this one sport affect all of Americans even if they don’t play? Not everyone in America plays baseball or has even been near a baseball field. However, almost every American knows about the phrase “three strikes and you are out.” These phrases are used every day from regular people that probably don't even play the sport. That's only referring to one sport what about looking at a bigger picture, soccer. With soccer being played worldwide does it affect how we as a world function? Well, almost everything in life affects what we do either positive or negative. With soccer even if a person doesn’t play they know a red card is bad. We have sports all around us affecting our lives minuscule ways without most us
Schackelford, M. (Jul 4, 2009). The Importance of Sports in America. Retrieve for this paper Mar 20, 2014 from, http://bleacherreport.com/articles/211946-the-importance-of-sports-in-america
‘Field of Dreams’ is a diversified script that constantly evolves, but mainly revolves around the game of baseball, ‘the greatest game ever invented’. The game that according to some avid spectators, completely and thoroughly transcends and binds the country to past, present, and future--generation to generation. In this movie this national pastime represents an avenue that finds the connection to the soul of a great audience; somehow insinuating that baseball acts as a means of fulfilling individual spiritual needs. These needs are that of a ‘sense of belonging’, a need to participate in sport, either vicariously as a spectator or directly as a participant. Moreover the desire to engage in distraction and play may be intrinsic to the human psyche. The theme throughout the movie was based on the legendary story of the Chicago White Sox of 1919, where the question was raised on the issue of the team’s “sportsmanship” and the ethical behavior of several teammates during the World Series. This left the image of America’s most idolized team tarnished and lead up to a ban of eight players from the sport; for an ‘unsportsmanlike’ like conduct in the series. The public view of the game up until then was that of perfection, it was clean and straight; but afterwards, the lack of fair play especially coming from such highly ranked players, ended up affecting fans’ enthusiasm for the entire sport. As the movie nears its ending, Robinson evolved on the concept of having utterly devoted fans and as if in a mystified manner drew them in to this already mystical place, just to have them see the most idolized team of ‘the golden age’ play once again.
Sports affect major institutions of society, including the mass media, politics, religion, education, and family. The Super Bowl gathers thousands of viewer’s attention, including those who do not usually watch the regular season games. Football is by all means an American sport. Since the day a baby is born in America, whether it be a boy or a girl, one of the first words they learn to say is ball, and after a few months they add the word foot in front of the word ball, and by the time you know it your baby boy is playing football, and your little girl is cheering “Go Steeler’s go!” and without intention their cultural identity starts.
Owens, Thomas and Helmer, Diana Star. The History of Soccer. New York: The New York Times. Rosen Publishing Group, Power Kids Press, 2000.
Different studies and analysis opens up many of the inner dimensions of the experience of sports and media. Understanding sports, media, and spectacle reveals both details and generalizations about our culture and our general humanity.