Thursday: In the evening Anke invited me to join her in watching a football game Friday – I assumed that some kind of local Weimar team was playing and that it would be a great opportunity to take photographs of people doing athletic things.
It wasn’t until around noon on Friday that it occurred to me that she actually meant that we should get together and watch one of the World Cup games. I ‘d known that the tournament was coming up sometime in the near future, just not quite that soon.
Saturday: I have no idea when I became aware that the US was playing a game Saturday evening. Quite frankly I’m still a little suspicious of any American who claims to be a football/soccer fan.
Sunday: I had no idea that Germany was playing a game today until today—I think I realized it around 9 this morning. I didn’t know who Germany was playing until much later – I think I saw a Tweet referring to “Oz” sometime around 4pm.
To prevent further German surprises, I’ve put all the German games on my calendar – not who they are playing, since I really don’t care, just that they are playing so that I’m not completely caught off guard.
Much to my dismay, I’ve promised to attend a party that is being held the same night as the third game. I can’t help but wonder if this was intentional or not. I really do not want to attend a party where everybody is watching a soccer game. It’s really unfair to schedule it this way, and I’m serious when I say that the prospect of this occurring is making me feel sick to my stomach.
The good news about a lot of people watching a game together is that very little attention will paid to the actual game. Of course, for those of us who like sports, that’s also the bd news and the reason I don’t accept invitations for “TV sports” parties.
When we were eating at Metro during Pride this weekend….there was a pub next door showing the US and whoever they were playing at the time. The people there were pretty rowdy and dressed up in soccer shirts. I had no idea there was so much interest here, especially in Indiana!
If Germany and Ghana both win their next games, then Germany will have already qualified for the second round of World Cup play and the third game will matter less. Also, like starman said, most people don’t watch the entire game with rapt attention.
starman1695 – I really have no interest in having it on as background noise. Most sport events don’t capture any of my interest.
mateo – Maybe interest is growing. It hasn’t grown in me at all.
scatterlined – I think Germans watch the German matches with rapt attention. Weimar was dead during the match — I know, I walked across it and I could hear the TVs turned on, and the cheers when Germany scored a goal. Once ensconced in my own apartment, I could hear the cheers that accompanied goals, and once the game was over, the semi-busy street next to my building went from having zero traffic to having a fair amount.