Who dreads the approach of the world cup season?

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1

Do you dread the approach of the world cup season?

  • yes
  • no

0 voters

Hi,

Who dreads the approach of the world cup season? I do.

Alan

2

If you think about the football (soccer) world cup, me too, Alan, me too!

Although we are told that everything imaginable will be done to defend the games but what about the incredible! It must not be forgotten that eventual offenders live an idea and not their own life. So they have every possibility to succeed! And that is what makes them mostly dangerous!

On the other hand shall we push the head into the sand and let us be commanded by a small group of idealistic idiots? :?

I think we are supposed to wait for what will happen. In the meantime we could sing : " Always look at the bright side of life!!..whistle, whistle, whistle!"

Whishing you a well world cup in spite of that

Michael

3

Hi

As Michael mentioned, people in Germany are quite concerned about trouble during the World Cup. And lots of precautions are being taken to avoid problems.

But I’m curious. Alan, why do you dread the approach of the word cup season?

Amy

4

Something’s got to be wrong with me, but I’ve never could watch a whole game through from the beginning till the end,
AND never gone fishing either.
I guess I should see a doctor sometime.
Or he should see me,actually :slight_smile:

5

The World Cup will come and go, and I’ll never have known about it.

6

I think Alan might have had something different in mind than security issues when he started this discussion and I’m sure we will find out the answer soon.
As for me, I think the event will run very smoothly because if the Germans are good at anything than it is organizing and managing mass events. They are the world champions in minimizing risks and institutionalizing society. Take a look at the World Soccer Cup: If you google the phrase ‘land of ideas’ you will see what I mean. What do you think this campaign?[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Announcing the closure of a newspaper[YSaerTTEW443543]

7

Hi,

Torsten is absolutely right. I was not talking about anything to do with organisation or security. What I was referring to was the wall to wall coverage of the event on tv simply because I have no interest in the sport. At the moment on UK tv we are being treated to endless coverage of the snooker championship. Can you honestly imagine looking at a televison screen by the hour and seeing coloured balls being hit back and forth on a green covered table? Admittedly football is a bit livelier but it doesn’t do much for me. I remember we were in Switzerland in 1966 and in Germany during the last world cup. You go into any pub/restaurant and the tele is on and everyone is shouting support for their team/country and if you don’t react, people look at you as if you’ve come from outer space. We’ve decided to let the world cup come and go before I put my motor back onto mainland Europe. During the height of the season I shall definitely be keeping a low profile.

Alan

8

Does this mean that the UK media do the same thing the American media do? Here, when there’s some big event, including a celebrity murder or even the murder of someone no one has heard of, or the release of a “blockbuster” film, or a sports event, for example, the media pile on and report on that event almost to the complete exclusion of everything else. I sarcastically call these “news blackouts”. I didn’t imagine they’d have them in the UK.

9

Hi!

Alan, as i have done sports myself (especially playing handball ) i?m enthusiastic about the possibilities humans have to handle a ball. Crazy or what? So i didn?t think about what the world cup means to people who have no interests in sports. It might be similar to a non smoker looking for a location where smoking is prohibited and can?t find any!

Torsten, i had a look at the web site ?land of ideas?. In my opinion it is a propaganda site at which the advantages of Germany will be charactered. As much as i know in the propaganda it is allowed to refer the own advantages omitting the advantages of the others. Sorry, i can?t find the connection to Alan?s dreads the approach of the world cup! Perhaps you can explain your thoughts to me, could you?

Jamie, i honestly hope you will never hear about the world cup. In spite of all rests of risk there are i think you have a large chance.

Kind regards

Michael

10

Hi Michael,

You used an interesting word to describe the Land of Ideas campaign - propaganda. I have asked a lot of Germans about the Land of Ideas and so far only one of them had heard about the campaign before. All the others didn’t have a clue as what I was referring to.
Why do you think is that? I mean there are more than 80 million citizens of the Land of Ideas but it seems that only a tiny little fraction of them is aware of this fact. Is that a good or a bad sign?

Alan has expressed how he feels about the excessive media coverage of the sports events. I have expressed my opinion on the fact the German government is running a media campaign using the world soccer cup. Or is it something different than a media campaign? So, I guess the connection between Alan’s experiences and my thoughts could be the role of the mass media in the promotion of sports events. Or it could the commercialization of sport.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: Afternoon traffic report on the radio[YSaerTTEW443543]

11

Hi Alan,
I can imagine that watching colored banking balls hour after hour on TV could be more than enough to “cure” almost anyone of any future interest in playing “pool”.

Actually, I have the same reaction to Formula One. I just don’t understand what is so fascinating about watching cars moving around a track for long periods of time. What’s so interesting about that? I do more or less the same thing everyday on the “Autobahn”.

“Soccer” is at least a bit more interesting. :smiley:

Amy

12

Hi!

Torsten, your detective skills are worthy to be them of Sherlock Holmes. It really needs proficient skills to find a way from ?land of ideas?to Alan?s dreads. That is not an insult but it honours your capability of combination!

I have choosen the word propaganda because i first thought that it is written for the German citizens. In that case it seemed to be the request to remain and have a go on doing what we did until now. But that isn?t it. I remember that there was (or is?) an exhibition in a big football that could (can ) be walked through and is initiated by the government whiches head Gerhard `acre?Schr?der (enthusiastic soccer fan) was. ?Land of ideas? was or is the content of this exhibition, i think. Schr?der and the German industry jumped on the train of sport and created a publicity campaign which is not as much thought for the German citizens but for the deciders in the world. So i think it isn?t a sign for anything that only few citizens know the ?land of ideas?. Much more i think it is like in a manufactory. The high glittering prospects are created for the customers. Anywhere in any corner there might exist an exemplar and although hardly anyone of the occupators have really read it they know the product and their duties. Is that a bad sign?

Amy, Formula One is like the run on the shops at summer end sale. Mostly exciting when the the race starts, later everyone have found his place and at the finish the winner is happy and the others think about what they could do better next time. :? Nice game, isn?t it?

Bye for now

Michael

13

The only time I found a game of billiards/snooker/pool mildly entertaining was when the players did all kinds of acrobatics at, around as well as on the table while cracking jokes or trying to deliver funny comments to an extremely amused audience. I don’t know what variety of the game it was, though. If I knew the rules, to start with, I think might enjoy the actual playing, too.

I’ve practically given up hope on TV long ago. So, if they only show football (or soccer as we are supposed to call it now) matches on TV, it won’t make any difference to me. I used to think that, at least when playing, people are doing no harm to anyone and, if only for a while, will stop thinking of killing each other. But I’m not so sure anymore, especially with games like soccer!!

I wonder if we can still use terms like ‘sporting’, ‘sportsmanship’ or ‘to be a good sport’ in the light of what some ‘sports’ have evolved into :frowning: .