days away

well, it's the monday before the start of the cup. last night was the culmination of the bulk of the "friendly" matches that world cup teams use as warmups to fine-tune their gameplan, sharpen their teamwork, and hone their fitness. there will be a few more of these games in the next day or two, but, after that, it's all about winning the title.

last night, here in korea, we had a chance to watch korea's last such warmup, a game against fellow world cupper, ghana. seeing as how most koreans think africa is a country, it was funny to observe koreans were scratching their heads at how there could be five "africa" teams in the tournament. korea's first game next week is against togo, another "africa," and most koreans already think it's a win. well, if togo are anything like ghana, which many in africa would say not, then korea are in trouble, as they got their asses kimcheed, 3-1.

now, for you cynics out there, on to something that i must admit, too, is bringing down the "beautiful game", most especially during the world cup, and that is the marketing and commercialism that is the world cup. i think commercialism has been linked with the world cup since i first started watching the world cup back in '82 in america because i can remember during matches that, periodically, an advertising graphic would show up next to the time (the one advertiser that sticks with me to this day is Snickers, for some reason; maybe as a 13-year-old kid, candy bars stood out more in my mind than, say, carmakers or tampon providers or nasal sprays or hemorrhoidal creams).

however, in this age of rampant commercialism, it's gone too far. i have no problems with the buying and selling of kits and strips--after all, what better way to show your support than to wear a replica kit of your team while cheering them on--but i do have a problem with their being an official mascot of the world cup, or an official condom, or official toothbrush, or nail clippers, or contact lenses, diapers; there's probably an official religion of the world cup--and all with the official 2006 world cup logo. do you know that you're liable to get sued if you say just, "world cup" and not, "fifa world cup"? the marketing has gotten so out of hand that--in germany, mind you--the official beer is budweiser (and i don't mean the real pilsner with the same name from the czech republic). in fact, several years ago, when the finals were first announced that they were to be in germany, budweiser, because it's the official beer of the world cup, made it known loud and clear that only budweiser and bud products could legally be sold in world cup stadia and within 100 meters of these stadia grounds. can you imagine?

fortunately, germans, who are a stout bunch and don't take much shit from american corporations or u.s. governmental decrees, bitched and protested (rightly) so much that, from what i understand, this beer regulation has been rescinded and people inside world cup stadia can enjoy german beer--i mean, real beer--instead of flavoured pisswater with the german-sounding name that serves as the "official" beer of the world cup.

there are the real cynics out there who decry the commercialism with a vehemence that i wish they'd use to support the real atrocities in the world--you know, such things as hunger in so many countries, famine and lack of potable water, discrimination based on religion age gender or ethnicity, the nasty nose of capitalist imperialism snuffing out all semblances of culture that aren't western or dominated by fast food fast coffee and fast fading traditions. there's a movement here in korea of just such a thing in which some 100 hundred organisations have signed up to join in denouncing the commercialism of the world cup. they are repulsed by corporations who have designed their entire spring marketing campaign with a world cup theme, who are making tankloads of cash by taking advantage of world cup fever that most everyone shares. it's become a major news counter-item to the world cup itself here, which is sad.

why don't hundreds of companies sign up to protest against the exploitation here of south asian (viet nam, cambodia, thailand, philippines, laos, etc.) women who are brought here either as sex slaves or as unendentured slaves posing as wives? there are scores of agencies in seoul that blatantly and mega-publicly advertise such bollocks, but there's no rush by society or the media to decry that or make such denunciations very public.

it's hypocritical and laughable that this campaign to censure corporations for taking advantage of the world cup in their advertising is nothing more than the campaigns they're castigating: using the world cup as a vehicle to publicise and further their own interests.

all in all, rampant overcommercialisation as there is, it's still about what's going on down on the pitch, it's futbolling representatives of 32 nations kicking it about on grass to determine world futbolling supremacy for the next 4 years, it's getting together with your mates and friends to have a good time together cheering for whichever team is yours, it's about realising that the table across the pub with different colours than what you're wearing is not much different from your table; it's the footie that we love, it's "the beautiful game" that we cherish, it's the hopes and dreams that all footie (and quite a few non-footie) fans have for achieving the same thing: winning the ugliest, most cherished sports trophy on the planet.