"Vuvuzelling"

The World Cup (the soccer world's equivalent to football's Super Bowl) recently kicked off (pun intended) in the host country of South Africa. The U.S. team played this past Saturday. I got to view most of the first half. It was not very long into my viewing that I noticed this very strange background noise. It sounded like a hive of busy, angry bees. But no. The sound was not being made by bees. But by fans tooting plastic vuvuzela horns, a South African traditional horn. Now the fans are not just blowing them to acknowledge a score or great play ... but they are blowing them CONSTANTLY! So much so that many non-tooting fans and even some players are quite irritated by the racket (and it is indeed a racket! These horns put out 127 decibels of sound, and considering that any noise above 85 decibels is a threat to damage one's hearing, you can imagine just how loud these horns can be!). Many television viewers are choosing to mute their television sets and watch the game in silence rather than listen to the ongoing drone of these horns.

Soccer's governing body, FIFA has refused to ban the horns from the World Cup games. The president of FIFA defended the body's refusal to ban the horns by saying, "I don’t see banning the music traditions of fans in their own country. Would you want to see a ban on the fan traditions in your country?" However, FIFA has asked fans to refrain from blowing the horns during the pre-game playing of each team's  national anthem and during any stadium announcements. So the horns will blow on!

At the bottom of this controversy is a clash of cultures (could you imagine a fan sitting next to you at a football game, clanging a cow bell or hitting together a pair of thundersticks all game long?). Nope. But then again, this is America. And we just don't do those sorts of things in America. Well, the World Cup is not being played in the U.S. but in South Africa. And apparently in South Africa, "vuvuzelling" is something that is characteristically done at sporting events. So let them enjoy their vuvuzelas, and we will enjoy our soccer. I am just glad I can do it from the comfort (and quiet) of my living room!

And just think about the implications of this for heaven where peoples from every culture will be represented! Hmm . . . 

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj