Hello, Just Stopping for Some Social Talk and Romance
Saving the Beauty and Romance of Soccer
Dear respectable fans and readers of Soccer Plus. I’m Sarah and with such honor mixed with a bit of uncertainty and slight dose of excitement, I am here to talk about soccer beyond its technical and numerical me as this young amateur takes her first shot at writing something sports-worthy and develop a voice that challenges diverse social topics surrounding athleticism. Okay enough with a self-intro, I know you all are here to read and discuss the world’s most beautiful, energetic, and stimulating sport of all time.
When I think about the world of soccer, like most other people who love watching the sport, the key words that pop into my head are the actions bolded and the performances that are exhaustingly covered on the headlines. The game winning goals, Ronaldo’s fast right foot, Messi’s fast left foot, the penalty kicks, the unfair yellow cards, and oh lord, the red cards does hold the magical powers that could easily kill the entire side of the stadium’s hopes and dreams. But these are the bigger and perhaps more glamorous moments in soccer, and we sometimes forget about the little things, and at times, the details that should matter more yet only briefly covered and to all the soccer fans, please, I demand something needs to be fixed. Beckham. Rooney. Ronaldo. Our all time favorite, Ji Sung Park. Yes, they all are our super stars. They are sometimes more respected then the presidents of their nations and many more politicians. But the truth that I see is that we fans don’t give them second chances. One mistake, one accident could undoubtedly flip the love to hate relationship. We need to remember that our super stars are only human themselves. For example, the incident that I could never forget is when so called Korean “soccer fans” threw toffee at our soccer players upon their arrival at the airport. Such action was a metaphor to symbolize the F-term that they, our national super stars, have officially destroyed or the F-term with “ed” at the end our history and future of soccer at the 2014 Brazil World Cup. The metaphor was a shock. Cutting out all the long sentences of wrongs and shouldn’t haves, in short, such treatment was simply unethical and epitomized our fans’ serious immaturity.
Soccer, compared to other sports, is competed in a high-energy, romantic arena. It has a power to unite our nation, inspire a brighter future, and translate a void into an impact. Yet, we sometimes forget and abuse that this romantic and inspirational nature of soccer is in fact an amalgamation of players’ gallons of sweat and hours of hard work. The major news channels strenuously analyze each player’s performances, critique our coach’s game plan, and logically evaluate each and every one of their techniques. Such scrutiny of our players extend beyond the stadiums and the fans of this particular century are talented at hurting their private lives.
Remarking on an aspect of societal mental health for a brief second, we always talk about how the people of today’s generation need to be more stress-free. Psychiatry offices have even developed sessions and programs specifically to target at relieving stress of our modern day workers. Yet, ironically speaking, the stress we put on our public figures, our super stars, is getting higher by the generation. Is our society really taking the selfish, independent turn to its high point? That we are constantly okay with pressuring others while investing long hours in yoga and breathing exercises of meditation on ourselves? If we want our romantic bubble of soccer to stay safe and beautiful, then we first need to respect and protect our players with justice they deserve as national representatives.
I can’t say that I am the most moral and ethical person. I mean who is 100% pure in today’s generation, plus I am a college student. Competition and winning mean everything at this point in my life track; grad school, LSAT, internships, jobs, boyfriends, the list is never-ending. But a little respect, a little step at a time to save the ethics, save the fair, and preserve the high altitude of maturity, I believe will make our soccer more enjoyable and "stress-free". I would like to reiterate a quote that’s probably mentioned about hundred and thousand times, “eye for an eye will leave everyone blind.” Sometimes 100% hard work can’t satisfy everyone’s ideal expectations. And sometimes that’s the reality, and perhaps the reality of the present day Korean soccer that we must learn to accept as fans. If you do must need to criticize, I beg to rethink and take the higher road of intelligence and take an advantage of a language and a voice, not a humiliation at a public setting. Going back to the beginning, I repeat that our players on the national pedestals are only human themselves. Let’s reflect upon all the hopes and unity that our Korean soccer brought to us: the red devil spirit and the red, passionate romance of soccer. Isn’t that the whole reason why our voice gets louder and a bitter beer tastes sweeter next to a live soccer game? How could we easily forget about the goods and never forgive and forget the little mistakes? We should remember that and our players will remain as our charming dream catchers.
With all the love and with a promise for a better writing in the future,
sarahbrynn
