At The Risk Of Making Myself Extremely Unpopular!...
Read More: Football (Soccer) is a subject that builds great emotion in the heart of the average british male (and some females too). People will happily spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds per year going to watch their favourite team, they buy the latest ‘strip’, they travel hundreds of miles to watch away games, they pay for Sky TV to watch the best matches live and even travel abroad to watch a match. Football (or Soccer if you are in the US) is a revered sport of gods!
The national fervour that the world cup is generating is good for the country and without a doubt serves to pull a nation together during difficult times.
So, I have no problem understanding the enthusiasm of supporting a team – your team.
I have no problem with wanting to supporting my own country, we need something to draw us together as a nation.
I also have no problem with grown men wanting to wear what amounts to an outrageously priced cheap quality ‘nylon’ tee shirt in the colours of their favourite team just to prove to the rest of the world that they belong to a ‘tribe’ (I never ‘got’ this tribal bit I am afraid)
For me, football just highlights the bigger issue, the big gaping void that modern society has created for its self. I know nothing about the game as I have never truly ‘got’ why anyone would want to spend a considerable amount of money and time going to watch a team of overpaid guys kicking a ball around (the issue of good business and marketing is another story because they have got this sooo right).
What I do know is that society today has created a gaping void where people do not know how to turn to themselves and go within to make things better. Instead they look to someone else to do this as a short term quick fix. Then if it does not turn out as they hoped they can blame that someone else.
At times like this we should be turning inwards to ourselves to change our lives, because we and only we can change our reality. It has already been proven that we cannot trust the big institutions and banks to safeguard our lives we now have to look to ourselves. Looking out to a fantasy world of overpaid sports stars may be a form of diversion from that reality but nothing will change as long as we continue to allow ourselves to be diverted away from ourselves. By pinning our hopes and dreams onto something that we have no control over we are relinquishing our control and responsibility.
As a nation we have an insatiable appetite for peering into other people’s lives, people who seemingly live more glamorous exciting lives than we do. We put these celebrities high on a pedestal to the point of almost hero worship then just as quickly we callously knock them down.
Entrepreneurs are the type of people who took a conscious decision to take back control for their own lives and to assume responsibility for themselves. Entrepreneurs do not need to look outside themselves for a distraction and for something or someone to make them feel better because they create it within themselves. They accept that they are the ones to make the changes and they take action to make sure they happen. The way the world is going today entrepreneurs can see that the possibilities are still endless if they are prepared to break away from the herd mentality and look after themselves.
English football for me is no longer a sport to be enjoyed it is purely a symbol of the current climate. It is a symbol of greed and complacency with fat cat players who do not have a ‘hunger’ to win. Their eyes being no longer on the ball, but on their next lucrative deal. We all have a choice to either be a part of the greed or to make a difference to ourselves and ultimately the community at large.
Ready to start making that difference to yourself? Then take action & come over & subscribe to http://www.brigittemehr.com
What do you think? If you agree or disagree tell me in the box below.
Views: 589 | 
Comments: 11 
About the Author: Brigitte Mehr
Member Since: 03/18/2008
I'm a Distributor For:: Wealth Masters International
Other Company: http://www.seo-in-leeds.com
Industry: Coach
Primary Web Site: http://www.seo-in-leeds.com
Football / Soccer or any sport
Football brings people together as was the intention in the early 20th century. This was the intention of governments. As you say it gave people a purpose and a distraction from their existence.
Sport is a lot of fun but it is no longer in the hands of the people it was intended for. It is now massive business which exploits the genuine people who support and enjoy it.
Football- Soccer
Boy,You said a Mouthful!!!!!!!!! But your 100% correct!, Growing up in the USA, my Dad used to take me to Yankee Stadium,and Im still a big die hard Yankee Fan, But back when i was 10-12 years old, The Old Bronx Bommers played the game because they "Loved" the game, Could you imange what Babe Ruth would be worth today,or Mickey Mantle?????? WOW, I think they would have to charge 200 dollars a ticket, (Well there getting close to it)!!!!!!!!!!!
As Brett said,and Yourself,today its played for who has the biggest contract! But they still pack them in, so is it worth over 400 dollars to take a family to a baseball game,apperently YES!! Guess it takes all the worries of the world away, even if its 2-1/2 hrs to 5 hrs. Jack
Great Story
Great story Brigitte and I love the context in which you compared this to being an entrepreneur. I couldnt agree with you more about entreprenuers not needing to look for something outside themselves to feel a part of something much bigger. We as entrepreneurs create that for ourselves.
I completely agree!
Well done Brigette - I completely agree with your sentiments.
Interestingly, your story also illustrates a couple of other points:
- the deeper ache we all have to belong to something bigger than ourselves, and to some extent, consumerism/soccer/put-whatever-you-want-here has successfully filled that 'gap'. In this case, football has become the Big Thing that people want to identify with, because so many others do...which we understand in evolutionary terms as belonging to the group so we can survive, rather than being excluded.
- the fact that if somebody really wants something bad enough, they will ignore how much it costs them.
I've had a few interesting conversations recently with people, when they are genuinely shocked that I have no interest in the World Cup or football, and I also don't have a TV. They somehow think there must be something wrong with me :)
Dez.
Hi Dez
Hi Dez,
Thanks for your comments. It is really refreshing to hear a guy admit he does not like football -well done!
A Rugby League Fan's View (NRL Australia's Greatest Game)
I'm a HUGE soccer fan...well only when Australia are in the world cup. At all other times I don't give it a second thought.
As a rugby league fan I "HATE" (I rarely use that word) the way soccer players ACT when the get the slightest little bump and roll all over on the ground screaming like they're on fire or something so they can get a penalty. Seriously it's such a joke! Like dirty rotten little spammers.
Have you ever watched a game of rugby league? These guys smash each other up, I mean some of the tackles would crush your bones and then they just get up and keep going. Like Real Entrepreneurs.
They do get hurt but when they're down you know that it must be pretty bad.
Like you said Brigitte, the energy and money spent on following a team around is amazing.
I like how you said "Instead they look to someone else to do this as a short term quick fix. Then if it does not turn out as they hoped they can blame that on someone else."
You could apply that to people jumping from one system to the next or one new wiz bang super tool to the next and just buying hope instead of knuckling down and learning just one skill properly until you get the results you're after.
That's what's so cool about being an Entrepreneur and taking on everything that that term means. No one to blame but yourself so if you aren't getting the results you're after, work out why and fix it.
The solution is where it's at.
Well there's my 2 cents...I'm spent.
Pete.
P.S. Great post Brigitte, thanks.
Well Said!
Brigitte, I always love to read your blogs and articles because you cut to the chase and say what many of us are already feeling. This article is no different and should make everyone stop and think.
Thanks!
I agree
What you've said could also apply to people in the entertainment industry, who unfortunately become icons to follow for our young. I love to listen to music, but haven't any time to follow the lives of entertainers who are in the limelight.
We all have inner strengths, and need to learn how to develop and trust in them.
Absolutely right...
I agree with your comments wholeheartedly. I love watching amateur sports but have no use whatsoever for the big business of professional sports or the cult like following they have attracted by glorifying the lifestyle of the icons and in some cases the violence.
Can you imagine the shift in our society if the same amount of money and energy that was devoted to promoting professional sports was instead used to educate the “fans” in how to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit and/or their creative talents.
Congratulations for writing a post that was straight from the heart rather than just seeking the approval of others. Well done.
Great Idea
Wow Dennis, now that is an awesome thought!
A Bold, Courageous Post!
HI Brigitte,
Thank you for showing some chutzpah and daring to question this whole Futbol mania thing (those plastic bugles HAVE to go, btw!)
This is one of those things where I can see the legitimacy of both sides of the story. We invent games like football, or soccer, or any game really, as an expression, a microcosm of life as a whole, don't you find?
I enjoy games and watching sports of all kinds, and especially playing tennis myself, but you have a point, to seek out a refuge from life's pressing problems in some kind of manic sports-crazed herd is not the answer, generally, when it comes to making spiritual connections.
Perhaps you have read the book by Nick Hornby, "Fever Pitch"?;-) I actually have not but I intend to, but apparently it follows this type of football craziness and chronicles the lives of people who are so obsessed with the sport and the traditions that it borders on unhealthy. The idea of supporting teams is one I am gradually moving away from and just simply enjoying the games themselves.
That being said, nothing wrong with kicking back and taking in some World Cup action. The game of football/soccer is a beautiful one architecturally speaking, especially when teams really use the whole field to its fullest benefit.
Great post, Brigitte. Cheers!
Peter