Your go-to source for new
ideas and inspiration
World Cup USA – Thank You Spanish Language TV

World Cup USA – Thank You Spanish Language TV

By Piers Fawkes on June 12, 2006

If there’s something many expats and US soccer fans have come to agree on over the last few days – it’s how appalling the commentary for the World Cup matches has been on US TV.

In a country where kids grow up playing soccer, it’s surprising to hear the commentators still offering so much explanation about the sport. Also, the commentary doesn’t follow the action – maybe they are borrowing a style form American Football – it’s more background information (we were told throughout the Iran vs. Mexico match that this day wasn’t about politics – and plenty of talk about Iran’s president).

The commentary during England vs. Paraguay game also offered an interesting observation about US vs European sportsmanship:

  • In the US it’s ok to get a yellow card with a professional foul as a last resort
  • It’s a little odd, that one team gives the ball back to the other, if a player of the latter gets injured.

Which is why we are writing this with the Australia vs Japan on in the background in Spanish (oof – didn’t that Japanese striker just foul the keeper?).

Thank you Spanish language TV! You will save our world cup. David Ord on HT agrees. He says

I might not understand 90 percent of it, but I still get it. Most of the words during the Spanish-language soccer telecasts zoom past me like a Roberto Carlos free kick. But listening between the lines lifts me higher than a Kasey Keller punt up the field… By abstaining from the ABC/ ESPN telecasts, I’ll have to live without being talked down to as if I don’t know a banana kick from a bicycle kick. I’ll not have the chance to hear insipid comments from a touchline reporter who has less experience than a third-string goalkeeper.

We may not understand a word of it, but the commentary is full of passion, understanding, reflects what’s going on, correctly pronounced countries/players – and we get ‘GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL’.

Piers Fawkes

Recent Articles By Piers Fawkes Follow Piers Fawkes via RSS

Piers Fawkes is the founder and editor-in-chief of PSFK, a daily news site that acts as the go-to source of new ideas and inspiration.

Comments

TOPICS: Entertainment
TAGS: