The 2010 FIFA World Annoyance

Almost finished with the second matchup in each World Cup grouping, the 2010 FIFA World Cup has established one thing: its noise. Host country South Africa is making a big impression on the world, and not with their football team. The long horn, called a vuvuzela, is annoying players, coaches, and fans watching at home. It is causing such an uproar, literally and figuratively, that it is overshadowing the amazing football going on. I'll get to that later. As for my opinion on the vuvuzelas, I like them. It is part of the host country's traditions, and we should embrace them, no matter how annoying. I even like the noise, as it makes the fans heard. This way, stadiums don't sound empty, and fans can influence the game rather than just sitting silently in their seat. I was watching the Marlins vs. Rays baseball game the other night, and i heard the familiar swarm of bees on my TV. The Marlins stadium was giving out these vuvuzelas to make their infamously-sparse crowd more of a factor. It turns out that it caused an error in lineup cards that possibly contributed to the Marlins losing, but I really liked the idea of turning up the noise at an always-empty stadium.

Meanwhile, football is actually being played during all of this raucous. Team USA was lucky to draw with England after an easy save bounced off the goalie's hands right into the net. In the next game against Slovenia, they went down 2-0 by halftime, but in the second half scored three goals, but only two of them counted. The referee from Mali, a country in western Africa, called a foul disallowing the goal by the US, and when questioned by all, had no explanation for it. I was expecting to see the wad of money fall out of his pocket later, but the team wasn't that lucky, although the ref will not do another World Cup game.
Brazil looks as good as they were made out to be, but Spain, Italy, and France have been disappointments. Italy drew again today against huge underdog New Zealand. Spain lost 1-0 in it's first match, shocking the football world. And lastly, and possibly the biggest disappointment, is France. After two losses and no goals scored, the team has sent one player home for cussing at the coach, and after the trainer and coach fought today, the remaining players went back to the bus and refused to train or practice.

So, until the end, let's enjoy this World Cup, or as most think, the World Annoyance.