I found this week’s reading to be surprisingly captivating because I’m a nerd who doesn’t play sports. However, I feel like I picked up on the theme of the different representatives in the story as an aspect or category of culture. For instance, the idol and the goal-keeper represent a specific type of person within a culture, the goalie being the protector (at all costs) and the idol being the glowing example (the person or thing to follow or be). For a game of soccer to be played, there are so many factors that need to be taken into account, different groups of people with individual responsibilities to make the gears turn. And, just like culture, everybody has a responsibility to make sure the wheels turn and that the game gets played.

This article also plays with the idea of introducing new concepts into a culture, for example, the influence that Britain had on the development of Argentine and Uruguayan soccer. It is a new idea and concept being added into a culture, shaking up the dynamic because in the end culture is dynamic, and it will always be. In our globalized world, there is always going to be external influences entering.

Culture also has negative histories as well as soccer. The treatment of black athletes in the game against Chile and Uruguay brings attention to this that culture isn’t free from criticism and that it should recuperate and acknowledge these histories to grow. If a culture (or sport) wishes to grow that it needs to hold itself accountable for its past actions and blossom into a better version of itself.

All in all, it is clear what this article is really trying to say, that just like sport, culture is ever-changing and dynamic, that there is a list of rules and regulations that need to be followed if you seek to actively participate in it. Because, if a culture doesn’t stop changing it gets boring and if sport doesn’t change it gets boring.

Question: How can soccer reflect culture, and how may culture reflect soccer? Which has more impact?