80 Million - one Team
A centerfold of the beer industry, guys with exposed legs and balls, TheEditor had hissed with as much vigor as a decade of cynicism still allowed. Don't become a cynic, kids, it** said. Drains your energy, it added, the short utterance underlining the advice.
The poster was indeed a centerfold, from one of the free newspaper specials stuck into every German mailbox before the start of the 2014 soccer world cup. It showed a soccer stadium full of happy fans, in soft, warm colors. What looked like a series of printing flaws along the bottom of the broadsheet size foldout were, upon closer inspection, signatures of the German world cup team. Emblazoned with the logo of a large brewer, the thing went straight...onto a door.
Why are you putting this up if you don't like soccer?
Because I don't like soccer!
Ah....
As a reminder of how ugly the world can be.
You must hate sports.
No, sports are cool in many ways. They are good for your health if you don't overdo it, like so many middle aged guys who strap on a wooden plank and hurl themselves down the side of a mountain right into a ravine or into a tree. Sports can wear out young males who have too much energy. Even pro sports are not all bad, they are a path out of poverty for some.
So, you recognize social benefits.
Of course, but that's because I see the Hunger Games as a documentary, not as fiction. More glamor and fewer weapons, and you couldn't tell the difference between the movie and big money sports. Look, the poster said 80 million, so they left out two million, since the population total is 82 by official counts. I'm not alone.
Would you mind if I take the poster, since you probably don't want it?
Oh, sorry, it's gone, it went into the blue recycling bin and should be in some paper recycling yard right now.
Well, there 'll be another one exactly like it in four years time.
** TheEditor insists on gender neutrality. What could be more neutral than sharing the gender of a rock, it says.
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