World Cup Comes Home

This is the second time I've felt compelled to write about soccer and how absurdly excited I am about it. If you know me, this might come as a bit of a surprise. I am decidedly not a sports fan, but I pretty much go ape sh*t over the world cup. It's just so much more than a sport! It's people from ALL backgrounds coming together for a shared experience, and what can I say? It moves me (kind of like this cheesy but so amazing anti-racism ad).

My love of the game was born when I was 11 years old and my dad's company was a sponsor of the World Cup'98 in France. I had no idea how lucky I was as I watched my first World Cup match in a stadium in Paris. I painted my face blue, white and red, chanted "Allez les Bleu!" in the stands as France dominated Croatia, and from then on, I was hooked. In 2006 Genvieve and I backpacked through Europe and worked for a month at (my current employer) Primavera/ Amala headquarters in Germany, perfect timing for the Cup. We didn't watch any of the matches in the stadium, but we joined the dynamic crowds in Munich to watch all the games in the Fan Park. We met cool interesting people from all over the world, and though they all had varied interests, we bonded over our love of the game. I found myself back in Germany with Eric during the Eurocup in 2008, once again working at Primavera, and regularly watching the games in the nearby town of Kempten.

I was disappointed about the prospect of watching the games this year in NYC, but I am thrilled to say that so far it has NOT been a let down. Maybe it's because this year, the US surprised us all by not completely sucking. Or maybe, could it be... we are finally excited about the idea of joining the global community, breaking down cultural barriers, and getting behind this beautiful global event? 300 people watching a huge projection of the US/ Ghana game last Saturday under the Manhattan bridge in DUMBO with absolutely no interference by the police makes me think, YES WE ARE! I couldn't be happier about it.
Read my last article about soccer here.