Years of Poems and Spirits

I missed more than half of the games but I didn’t feel like I missed much.

Soccer is such an imprecise sport that a referee’s judgement plays a bigger role than it would in American football. In modernity where everything is measured, regression-tested and forecasted, soccer preserves the role of “fate” as if paying homage to Greek Mythology.

Watching the World Cup in China is painful: first of all, the time is not right. Secondly, having to listen to CCTV commentators doing live broadcasts amounts to being “Abu Ghraib”-ed. The commentators are, technically, central government employees. Although they often display a passion unseen in typical bureaucrats, almost everything else qualifies.

The commentators are pretentious and presumptuous, constantly speaking as if on behalf of the entire audiences, fans, players or referees–just as People’s Daily opines as if it represents “the people”. They are knowledgeable of their profession but at the same time are below the qualifications required for the position. Some of them made up the deficit by playing the passion card. After the Italians beat the Aussies at the last minute, the commentator screamed into the mike in such a high pitch that, if you hear it, you will understand the term “unisex” instantly.

Last but not least, they abuse the Chinese language. Before one game, a commentator remarked how peaceful the arean felt right before the game by saying, “清风吹来，水波不兴”.

It is known that government monopoly breeds rentier practice. But what the political economists didn’t capture is its effect on culture and language.