So I know many (okay almost all) if you come for one of two things: 1) to see pictures of the kiddos or 2)to get a good laugh. Don't think I can deliver on either tonight, but we'll see.
I went to my very first World Cup 2010 soccer game this afternoon and I must say, it was truly amazing. It was, of course, done in true South African glory. Translation: friendly exchange of pleasantries, very friendly pat-downs, my bag not being opened once. Hum, sometimes, things here don't make sense to me, although I'm sure they make sense to someone else! The crowd was so excited though, and the energy so electric that we soon forgot the five ticket checks and indecently close encounters with others as we tried to get through the white-tented security.
See, there's the white tents! That was check-point #1 of 4.
The playing of the national anthems were amazing. I was so impressed that the crowd of 83,000+ people could quiet that fast when, I'm guessing, not many more than 30,000 actually had a stake in the game's outcome... and everyone was STINKIN' EXCITED. These guys were SCREAMING the Serbian anthem, which still just sounded like half-dazed jibber-jabber to me, but again, it was being screamed rather than sung.
My biggest complaint? The earplugs which forced me to blackberry chat my friend sitting DIRECTLY next to me. Literally, I was in S-21 and she was in S-22. Second biggest? I didn't really know either team, nor was I particularly attached to who won. That was until the Serbian bench didn't hand back a ball to be thrown in by a Ghanian player. Then I was just frustrated and upset at their lack of ethics, morals, or just plain manners that my loyalties went from whoever-has-the-ball to Ghana-better-win!!!
The guys sitting behind us went off on Americans who (apparently ALL of us) "don't even know ANYTHING about soccer," which made me laugh. Our team may not be a powerhouse like Germany or Brasil or Italy, but that doesn't mean we know "nothing." Come on man! Have a heart, American kids today have everything from roller durby to extreme snowboarding to the traditional stuff. We've got tons of great athletes spread over hundreds of different sports. I still say for as young as our soccer programs are, we've done alright on the world's stage... and that's not even mentioning our women, for which there is NO comparison!
Anyways, back from my tangent. We were at Loftus stadium in Pretoria/Tswane. The vuvuzelas (aka horns) were louder I think outside the stadium than in it! We were in the nosebleed section, but seriously, none of these pictures are zoomed and they were all taken with my dinky point-and-shoot. Such an amazing blessing to have the chance to go. Amazing blessing. Who would have thought years ago when I dreamed of going to a world cup game how God would orchestrate for that to be possible! Amazing!!!
2 comments:
Did they band the vuvuzelas (horns) ? They were showing that on our TV NEWS -- and gave the impression that they were going to ban them because of the fierce noice.
Once again, we are truly amazed at God "blessing" your life! He does that.
Now -- enjoy and be careful in those huge crowds!!!
Didn't ban them but a number were taken away by disrespectful people who would blow them during anthems.
Post a Comment