We will discuss Franklin Foer’s How Soccer Explains the World at our meeting on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, at 4:15p.m. in the GAHS library. Please post questions, comments, concerns, criticism, and the like on this blog prior to, during, or after our meeting (before October 31st if you want grade-replacement credit). All questions and responses should indicate an active reading of the text and function to move the conversation forward. (Note: surface-level or obvious questions and responses will not count as participation for grade replacement.)
Those of you unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts may participate in the discussion below by posting a discussion question and offering a detailed response, or by responding to two questions already posted. The note above applies here as well, so heed it!
This book was really interesting because I have played soccer for 11 years and never really thought about it that way. What especially shocked me was that that Nigerian soccer stars were being sold to Ukrainian teams and were forced to adapt to their play style. With France winning the world cup with a multicultural team, it changed the old idea of French nationalism into something multicultural. Teams were becoming more multicultural throughout the years and were displayed in this book.
Question: Why are soccer teams multicultural when most nations believed in nationalism? I am just wondering what really sparked the change in the idea of nationalism. Was it desperation for better plays to increase their win rate or what?
Teams are multicultural partly because of the mix of cultures within the Country itself. Like here in the U.S. where we have a rich variety, and being part of that Country still creates nationalism, even if it is a bit mixed. It’s also true that there is some desperation for better players, which are used to make more money, like Berlusconi using the AC Milan club to make money.
I think he chose soccer because it is the most popular sport in the world and also because they way he characterized the fans or gangs being loyal to their team was like Vatican and Catholicism.
Agreeing with Shray, I found the book interesting. But this book was awfully confusing for me. I kept reading about how these gangs and groups terrorize the soccer community. I feel like by saying that things like this, he explained the world to be a much more violent place than it really is. This book was very similar to an essay we read over this summer in The New Kings of Nonfiction. I find it hard to believe that people are so violent because other people have opposing views on certain things, especially soccer.
Question: Why did the author use such violent and gruesome acts to portray how soccer explained the world? I feel that using these gangs and groups said too much about the world that is not true in all situations.
Jonathan, I feel that he used such extreme violent acts because it relates on how people really feel in the world. When you get really into watching/supporting a team, it feels as if they are a part of a family and if other people are making fun of my family, I won’t let it go without a fight. With him using extreme violence, it feels as if he is explaining how important family is and that you should always defend them.
Jonathan,
I can see where you’re coming from, why would Foer want to portray our world as violent? But at the same time I can see why he did. I think he was trying to point out the violence that sometimes gets overlooked in first world countries like ours. Also, I think he was trying to make a point about how far people will go and what they will do just for something they believe in, even something as small as a soccer team.
Jonathan, I think he used violence because there is always some kind of violence in the world. Just like in soccer, where we don’t see much violence, and it all looks peaceful, there is a violent background. Maybe Foer wanted us to see a hidden part of our society that we need to see or realize is there.
I found how interesting the whole other side to soccer i never knew about, a more violent and gruesome side, but interesting non the less. I liked how the authors connects soccer to gangs, countries, politics and how he characterizes how soccer teams are like a deities and their die-hard fans have anathema towards the opposing fans and players to the point of physical violence.
Question
1. Why did Foer chose to soccer to explain the world? There are other sports in the world that are just as popular and with just as many extremist fans. Why wouldn’t any other work?
Why do you think he chose soccer, Shray?
Shray, I feel like he used soccer because it is one of the most universal sports and everybody can relate to it. We have baseball, but the “World Series” is only for countries in the United States. We have football, but that is a very American Sport. And again, basketball is mainly an American series. Soccer though, has the World Cup. Since the author is describing the world, soccer is better than the other sports because it more accurately involves the rest of the world, not just Europe or America.
Yes, I found that to the be most logical choice, but I kind of think there has to be some deeper meaning because Foer was able to spit out 256 pages on this subject. Something that separates soccer from other multi-continental sports.
Shray,
When I was reading I was wondering the same thing why choose soccer? But then when I was thinking about it after and soccer really is the most universal sport worldwide. Even though it may not be the most popular in our country, if you think about other sports with such extremist fans such as football or ice hockey, just as examples, they may be really popular in the US and Canada but they are not popular in Europe or even India like soccer is. Soccer really is something that many countries from all over the world know about. Therefore, for the purpose of writing his book I think Foer would agree that soccer is the sport that the most people reading could relate to.