Divided by a Common Language - Why the USA needs the World Cup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Rugby World Cup is currently being hotly contested in New Zealand.

 

Last night, South Africa's Springboks were eliminated from the competition in an amazing match against Australia's Wallabies.  

 

I am thus somewhat depressed today, and feeling that we were robbed.  If you look at all the stats, it was South Africa's game:

 

Australia forced to make 147 tackles, South Africa 53

South Africa had 84% of territory

South Africa had 55% of possession of the ball

 

South Africa were the better team all the way through the match.  But that doesn't matter, because the final score was Australia 11, South Africa 9.

 

Fluffy Bear is also pissed that South Africa lost, because England went out of the competition last weekend and so he switched his support over to my team.

 

We had a great time watching the rugby.  Because New Zealand is West of us, the games were at 10pm our time.  Our friends came round, we all wore our South African rugby jerseys, we made nachos and sausage rolls and, of course, there was gallons of beer.

 

We yelled, we cheered, we jumped up out of our seats.  We tweeted and Facebooked with South African friends and family back home, in Belgium, in the MidWest, in the UK.  And, when we lost, we held our heads in our hands and then spent half an hour bitching about the referee, who had overlooked several infringements by Australia, and disallowed a try (like a touchdown) that we felt should have been allowed.  

 

But then we got over it, and started talking about who we should support for the rest of the tournament, switching gears to yell for Argentina in the next game.

 

And that's when it hit me.

 

American's don't have this.

 

There is NO sport that unites the USA as a nation.  Every day, in small ways - laws, politics, eductation system - I am reminded that the place I currently call home isn't a country.  It isn't a nation.  It is the United States.  A bunch of places - large enough to be countries in the their own right (even the little ones are comparable to places like Luxembourg) - that have chosen, in some areas, to cooperate with each other.  In some areas.  That is all.

 

In fact, you could argue that nothing unites the USA as a nation.  

 

But wait, war unites a nation, right?  Hmmm, not in this case.  The current wars being waged by the US are so far away, and based on such questionable justifications, that many US citizens do not support them.  The US has never waged a war on it's own soil, like France, Germany, etc. and so has never been united against a common threat on the home front.

 

What about cultural unity.  Sure, the US has that to some degree, but the diverse ancestry of the citizenry is another thing that ensures there is a lack of unified identity.  While there may be regional differences, an extra thousand years of history have allowed England or Germany or Italy to develop a strong culture.  We all know - even if we cannot describe it in ten words or less - what it is to be Italian or French or even Swiss.  But what is it to be American?  This is something that is still, in some ways, being formed.

  

I think that the USA could really benefit from getting behind their national teams in worldwide competitions.  You have the Olympics, of course, but they are not a team sport, really, and they are so diverse that we aren't really united behind them, all watching at the same time on the same day and cheering for our team.

 

There are so many things that really supporting your teams in the the rugby or football (the original) world cups would give you:

 

• The opportunity to really unite as a nation.  Flags fly, strangers gather in pubs to watch the sport and make friends over it.  Everyone is discussing the same thing, even if they are expats dispersed all over the world
• The opportunity to face, and have to accept, defeat 
• The opportunity to learn that you may lose even if you shouldn't have, and that life is not fair
• The opportunity to understand the multiplicity of things.  Do you support the team of the country you live in or that your parents come from?  Once your team is knocked out, which other team should you support?

And, most of all, you get to experience all of this in the arena of sport, which is fun and good natured,

The USA needs to get behind their rugby and soccer teams and join with the rest of us in embracing world cup fever.  

You won't regret it.

To read more in this series, click here.

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