Eight goals were scored in the ninety minutes of the World Cup semi-final yesterday between Brazil and Germany. Unfortunately for Brazil, seven of them were scored by Germany. Five of them came in the first half, in an eighteen minute stretch that began in the 11th minute and concluded with a four-goal burst in sixContinue reading “Brazil Unravel, All Together Now”
Tag Archives: football
Soccer’s Clubs and Countries
Once the hubbub and the desperate hopes of the group stage have died down, the World Cup slowly settles down to normal service: the upstarts fade away and the big guns play on. Now, at the semi-final stage, the match-ups look decidedly familiar: Brazil versus German, Netherlands versus Argentina. (The final could be any oneContinue reading “Soccer’s Clubs and Countries”
Why I Watch The World Cup in Spanish
The reasons are quite straightforward, and as might be expected, not exceedingly deep. They are only interesting because, I, like many others who watch Spanish-language broadcasts of the 2014 World Cup, do not speak Spanish. (At least, my Spanish has never risen above some minimal fluency.) First, the most superficial reason of all. The SpanishContinue reading “Why I Watch The World Cup in Spanish”
Put Away Work; The World Cup Is Here
Good afternoon, world. The World Cup starts today. Let me tell you how serious this business is: I had intended to cancel my cable subscription a month or so ago, till a good friend reminded me about it. He stayed my hand, eager to claim time and money. Imagine: a cable cancellation delayed because ofContinue reading “Put Away Work; The World Cup Is Here”
Baltimore Dispatches – II: Ford vs. Chrysler, Or, Picking Your Favorite Professional Sports Team
Today’s activities in Baltimore feature as centerpiece, attendance at a backyard barbecue structured around a football game. It’s Sunday, it’s fall, football is on, the Baltimore Ravens are playing the Kansas City Chiefs. There will be beer, grilling, and frequent trips to the restroom. Sounds like the kind of thing you’d do in a sports-crazyContinue reading “Baltimore Dispatches – II: Ford vs. Chrysler, Or, Picking Your Favorite Professional Sports Team”
The ‘Guilty Pleasures’ of ‘Friday Night Lights’
When Lorrie Moore wrote her New York Review of Books review of the Friday Night Lights phenomenon—the television series, the book, and the movie–she made sure she prefaced it with talk of ‘guilty pleasures’: On my way to a Manhattan book party recently my mind was wandering to cultural guilty pleasures: sprightly but inane movies,Continue reading “The ‘Guilty Pleasures’ of ‘Friday Night Lights’”
Roger Cohen, the “Two Footballs”, and False Dichotomies
Over at the New York Times, Roger Cohen has an Op-Ed contrasting football and football. I mean, Association football and American football. Or, rather, soccer and football. Roughly Cohen’s thesis is: soccer is all skill and art, football is all violent force and anti-finesse; America reveals its plebeian failure to appreciate soccer artistry by itsContinue reading “Roger Cohen, the “Two Footballs”, and False Dichotomies”
Samir Chopra 