That's FUTBOL You Dolt!

Aaaaaand…I’m back. Quite the whirlwind trip (and boy am I tired!) but I had a blast in Mexico and had the chance to escape from American craziness for awhile (trading up for delicious food and Mexican craziness).

Of course, the sports scene in Mexico is pretty much a one-trick pony: soccer (futbol). All day, every day, all channels…well, all the sports channels anyway. At least as far as I could tell.

I talked a bit about soccer with a guy at a pool hall I frequent in Veracruz. Hector was NOT a fan of American Football, and I could understand why after putting myself in his perspective. See, soccer doesn’t have commercial breaks or time outs. Sure there’s a lot of running around without much happening, but a goal COULD happen at any time. For the soccer fan, this is riveting entertainment…you can’t leave your seat for fear of missing a score! Other pro-sports give you too many breaks, leading to boredom or mental distraction…a soccer match never lets up on its pressure on the audience.

(by the way: I am only using the term “soccer” because “futbol” is unrecognized by my spell-checker)

ANYWAY…case in point: I was watching the USA versus Mexico men’s soccer match in the Pan American Games in Rio (for those who don’t know, the Pan American Games are a multi-sport event, like the Olympics, held every four years and attended by all countries of the Americas…it is not a professional venue but I’m only using it for illustrative purpose). At half-time, the score was 0-0 and around the 70th minute I decided to hop in the shower. Five minutes later, I hopped out and found Mexico up 2-0! Luckily I was able to catch the replay of Enrique Esqueda’s absolutely beautiful 2nd goal (the footwork of this 19 year old was amazing), completely making up for his earlier botched penalty kick (Enrique is an Aries…trust the Ram to blow the easy shot and then make up for it with some high energy heroics!).

The point is, I’m not used to sitting still for 90 minutes on the edge of my seat. There are plenty of excuses I could cite for why, but the main reason is it’s not something I’m used to…U.S. television companies get their own time outs in professional sporting events in order to air more commercials…it’s pretty ridiculous, though I guess the players appreciate the extra breathers. But soccer, for all the advertising and sponsors on uniforms and stadiums is decidedly UN-commercial in the American sense of the term. Or perhaps un-American in general (if captive commercial audiences is part of being American these days).

Whatever. It’s not a bad change of pace from the same-old-same-old here in the U.S. And it’s certainly a great pastime when accompanied with excellent food, warm family, and cold cervezas!

Salud!