Brazilians Hate the World Cup. Brazilians Are Role Models.
Brazilians do not just hate the World Cup theme song; with the world's biggest sporting spectacle just weeks away, it's becoming clear that Brazilians hate the whole fucking World Cup. Why can't we all be like Brazilians?
It's not that Brazilians don't love soccer. Brazilians fucking love soccer. It's that, in an almost unprecedented showing of national good sense-having, regular Brazilians have collectively come the realization that the World Cup amounts to a huge ripoff of, you know, regular Brazilians, all so that some asshole politicians can feel glorious. Brazilians—who love soccer!—have been raising hell about the outrageous expense of hosting the World Cup for years now. This never happens! From Bloomberg:
Brazil's team, which has been cheered by thousands of flag-waving fans on the record five occasions its returned home with the World Cup trophy, received abuse from striking teachers when it departed for its training camp two days ago.
Demonstrators waved banners criticizing the tournament and the team's luxury bus was pasted with stickers calling for more money for schools.
Can you imagine NFL fans pelting their team's bus and demanding their city not spend money on a new stadium, and instead spend money on schools, or hospitals, or the poor? It is like a rational and mildly liberal American's wet dream! Can you imagine a million citizens of an American city taking to the street in riotous protest to demand that their city not host the Super Bowl? Can you imagine University of Alabama alumni waving signs and writing graffiti urging their school to divert funds from the football team into education? I cannot imagine it. And yet Brazil is living it.
Why can't Brazilians get into the dumb, idiotic, exploitative sporting-enthusiast spirit that their politicians demand? Why, can't they see that their leaders are simply making the hard choices to emphasize important priorities first?
In Fortaleza, another poor northeastern city hosting six games, builders finished the Castelão stadium for $230 million. But fans arriving at Fortaleza's airport will find a giant tent rather than a new planned terminal.
That airport terminal had to die so that this useless boondoggle of a stadium could live! Don't you see? Hey, is that gasoline? Put that away this instant.
Brazilians are pissed, and I am impressed. May we all inherit their love of sports, and disgust with the way that sports are used to rip off the general public.
[Photo: AP]