The World Cup and the Golden Calf

I have been mulling over a post about what we here in America call soccer and what most of the rest of the world refers to as football. I haven't quite decided what I want to say so like many other posts I am going to just write and we'll see what happens.

I am not a huge fan of soccer. I don't find it to be as boring as many people do, but neither do I find it to be the awe inspiring game that so many others seem to think that it is. Some people go nuts, worship it like some kind of sick golden calf.

At times it is exceptionally dull and not worth much more than a glance. And based upon the behavior of many it seems to be a good excuse to act like an idiot. How many examples are there of ridiculous behavior known as hooliganism.

Elijah Wood stars in a movie called Hooligans that is about the rowdy and obnoxious behavior of fans of this so-called sport. There seems to be no end to the stories that I can find online about idiotic behavior surrounding the game.

Several months ago I wrote about a Dutch team and their fans behavior whom have taken to calling themselves Jews. And many of the rival teams fans have taken to trying to aggravate them by making hissing sounds that are supposed to simulate the gas chambers, giving the nazi salute or pretending to be suicide bombers.


But the fans of the team are not exactly the most logical either. In a recent article in the New York Times I read the following:

"Standing in a section behind the goal reserved for hard-core Ajax fans, the leader of the more fanatical of the teams' two supporter associations said he understood that it hurt Jews who lost family members during the war, but complained that it was the fault of other teams' fans.

"We don't say anything that hurts anyone," said the tall, sharp-featured man who would give only his first name, Henk. "Even if we stopped, they'd still call us Jews."

A cheer of "Let's go, Jews, let's go!" started up among the fans around him.

"It'll never change," he said. "It's been our identity for almost 30 years - you can't erase it." He tugged down the neck of his shirt to reveal a large light-blue star of David tattooed on his chest with the word AJAX emblazoned above it in black gothic letters."

I am a big sports fan, but I cannot understand how someone could tattoo themselves this way. Just another example of more fanatic behavior tied into a game that involves kicking a ball and chasing it.