Issue 5 - North Canton City Schools - sparcc

Tyler’s Tirade
Fall futbol finale
Tyler Allchin
European soccer season controls European lives
While most American sporting fans
are engulfed by the climactic ending
to the collegiate football season and
the NFL playoffs that follow, Europe
and the rest of the world are bracing
themselves for the conclusion of their
futbol season.
The fall and early winter months
mark the conclusion of many
European soccer clubs’ seasons. As
club teams finish their regularly
scheduled games they are now
currently moving into league
championships and the Champions
League which features the most
glorified teams from around the globe
competing for an overall
championship.
To Americans, this is little more than
a blip on the preverbal sports radar
screen, but for most everyone else,
soccer is a way of life. When a
country’s respected team plays in an
important contest or their World Cup
team competes, the average day is
shut down; business for the day stops
and fans fully concentrate on the
ensuing battle.
Players such as scoring leader
Thierry Henry of Arsenal and
international superstar David
Beckham of Real Madrid are revered
as gods, and their teams followed with
the same tenacity that only could be
compared to that of a cult.
And for good reason. Unlike
American sports such as basketball,
where scoring occurs quite frequently
and seems at times to become
monotonous, soccer goals have
extreme significance. Because teams
may only score once or twice during a
match, the intensity builds around every
pass toward goal. Usually packed
stadiums tremble as their team’s faithful
scream for the winning goal.
To the untrained eye, soccer could
easily be looked at as a bunch of
players meaninglessly kicking the ball
back and forth. But, just like any other
sport, soccer demands significant
viewing time to understand its’
intricacies. Because scoring is often
difficult, players must use calculated
passing and keen field vision to
carefully construct ample scoring
opportunities.
Although soccer has been quite
popular at the prep athletic level for
some time now, its’ appeal to
44 ! The Viking Views ! 12.19.03
Americans on a recreational or viewing
level has been minimal until recently
when it has seen a surge of interest.
The media and social culture in the
states is beginning to latch onto what
the Europeans countries have known
for some time now. As recently as a
couple of years, The Fox Sports Network
is now picking up many if not a majority
of the European club soccer matches.
Furthermore, ESPN is now frequently
giving significant airtime to key club
matches. It has become a common
occurrence to see Beckham’s tantalizing
corner and free kicks on “Sportcenter’s”
“Top 10.”
European soccer has also infiltrated
the ranks of American video game
consoles. The success of EA Sport’s Fifa
2004 displays the growing interest in a
sphere of sports that has not been
looked into by the general public in the
United States. With its’ quick game play
and off-the ball controls the game is
quickly moving into the almost untouchable
territory of video game greats
such as NCAA Football 2004.
But maybe the most telling sign of
soccer’s influence is in the country’s
embracing of the motion picture “Bend
it Like Beckham.” The movie which
follows a young girl’s progress in a male
dominated sport has become a rallying
cry for young inspiring female athletes.
Likewise, soccer as an intramural
sport is gaining popularity; with leagues
popping up at many indoor and outdoor
facilities.
As with most sports, soccer carries
with it a certain culture. This culture,
which includes game-announcing terms
such as “equalizer” and the wearing of
team embroidered scarves, has just
begun to creep across our borders.
Player jerseys have become some what
of a dress symbol and club soccer
knowledge is being talked about with
the same satisfaction as Monday Night
Football.
The athletic world is crowded with
many viewing options and soccer often
gets the shaft becasue of Americans’
negative attitude toward it.
Take the time to understand and
appreciate soccer. If after giving it the
old college try, you still feel it’s still an
overrated European misnomer, then
fine. But dont allow America’s sporting
giants to push a great sport out of your
enjoyment.
Game
Faces
Viking Views Reader:
Earlier this year, it was discovered the
New York Times reporter Jayson Blair
had been making up, plagiarizing and
otherwise falsifying his own stories.
The fiasco resulted in a black-eye for
one of the world’s most reputable publications,
as well as the resignation of
two of the paper’s top editors.
The Viking Views had a similar situation
occur last issue, when Game Faces
writer Brandon Hugg fabricated quotes.
In an open letter, appearing here in
an edited form, Hugg apologizes to
Waltz, the staff and anyone else whom
he may have let down:
In the last issue of The Viking Views,
I wrote about girls soccer player
Amanda Waltz. Everything you read
was a lie. I faked the whole story. I
am writing this column to tell all of
you about this experience and what I
learned from it.
My laziness caused me to do this. I
sat around making excuses for why it
wasn’t done instead of actually trying
to do it.
I made up the quotes until I could
get an actual interview. Time rolled
on, and I figured, since I hadn’t been
caught yet, there would be no problem
keeping the quotes. I did get
caught.
I lost the trust of everyone on the staff.
That is something that will be almost
impossible to get back.
Lying will get you nowhere, and trust
is a very hard thing to get back once
you have lost it. I have learned that
you have to step up and take responsibility
for your actions, good or bad.
I would also like to extend a few personal
apologies. I would like to say
I’m sorry to Amanda Waltz. I am sorry
for all the dishonest behavior that
went on during this whole ordeal.
What I did was wrong, and I hope
you can all forgive me.
Hugg has been removed from his
Game Faces writing duties. The rest of
the staff also extends apologies to
Waltz for not catching the mistake.
Waltz’s accomplishments during her
final soccer season were highly commendable.
She deserved an accurate
story.
–The Editors
See p. 42 for Game Faces