I’ve put this film up here before, and I still don’t quite know how to introduce it. Or understand it. Is it tongue in cheek? Did they mean it? Is it subversive, or just the best they could do? Well, whatever the real explanation is, it’s still genius, and I think it’s the most cheering thing I’ve come across all year. Turn your speakers up, and enjoy:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF6BhzMZOTE]
UPDATE: I can’t quite believe this, but.. there’s more where that came from:
This strikes a more elegiac tone (I think):
Sounderfan at Youtube has 37 more of these..
Thanks! This is genius. I pray the actual 1975 Sounders Show featuring a young Bruce King (sorry, for Seattle locals that’s one of the most jarring images in the video) had extended highlight packages of seemingly random passages of play set to then-current top 40 hits.
Not how I’d organize things, but hey, it’s always interesting to see what catches someone’s eye who’s never seen the game before. In seattle circa 1975, it was apparently long passes (but with their *feet*!) and sliding tackles/attempted tackles (like sliding into second but – and here’s where it gets philosophical – *there is no second*). Again, that’s not what first caught my eye, but I still enjoyed the hell out of these.
Genius is right – and I’m also struck by the fact that here is a fan, in the USA, enjoying USA soccer for itself, and in his own way. The reluctance of Brits to allow this – happy to allow other countries to go their own way with their soccer cultures, but not the US! – depresses me even in those rare times when it doesn’t disgust me.