MASSIVE CONSUMERISM AND SOCCER
Modern soccer (football association) was born at Cambridge University in England in the mid-1800s. The two pioneers who compiled the rules of the game, known as the Cambridge Rules, later on reformatted and renamed those rules, as “Rules for the Simplest Game”, were H. de Winton and J.C. Thring. They indeed envisioned a simple, very enjoyable game.
Yes, my friends, believe it or not, soccer is supposed to be a
simple game, where “kicks must be aimed only at the ball”. But now we are in
the 21 century and under the control of imposing consumerism that has invaded our
sport forcing us to use unnecessary technology, a pathology that is distressing
our minds and our souls on daily basis.
Nobody can dispute the fact that today we spend more time dealing with gadgets, demonic computer programs and overwhelming bureaucratic regulations than playing and enjoying soccer. Don’t get me wrong, I like new technology and I use the new advances all the time. But realize that newer and better gadgets are very useful only when they are employed within the proper context and according to specific needs. They become a harmful factor when people abuse those technologies. Why do we need to have monthly application upgrades or “new” software when the older ones were mastered and working perfectly find? And that is nothing compared with the worst torture of them all: user names and passwords. As Elinor Mills said “Passwords are like the common cold: they induce headaches, no one is immune, and there is no cure in sight”. This is a horrible problem: we end up with a humongous laundry list of funny combinations of letters, numbers and signs that we must change every two or three months (for what?, if the bosses and the hackers can open and see our “private” folders and files as they please). “Passwordosis” (a term I coined to signify the agony caused by the need of “registering free”, giving a user name and creating a password) is probably the number one cause of psychological disturbance and distress in the world.
Nobody can dispute the fact that today we spend more time dealing with gadgets, demonic computer programs and overwhelming bureaucratic regulations than playing and enjoying soccer. Don’t get me wrong, I like new technology and I use the new advances all the time. But realize that newer and better gadgets are very useful only when they are employed within the proper context and according to specific needs. They become a harmful factor when people abuse those technologies. Why do we need to have monthly application upgrades or “new” software when the older ones were mastered and working perfectly find? And that is nothing compared with the worst torture of them all: user names and passwords. As Elinor Mills said “Passwords are like the common cold: they induce headaches, no one is immune, and there is no cure in sight”. This is a horrible problem: we end up with a humongous laundry list of funny combinations of letters, numbers and signs that we must change every two or three months (for what?, if the bosses and the hackers can open and see our “private” folders and files as they please). “Passwordosis” (a term I coined to signify the agony caused by the need of “registering free”, giving a user name and creating a password) is probably the number one cause of psychological disturbance and distress in the world.
In recent times, contemporary soccer has entered the domain of pathological
consumerism as well, and now participating in soccer has become a pain rather than
a passion, a headache causing distress rather than allowing participation in a joyfully
beautiful sport.
Unfortunately, consumerism is affecting every aspect of our lives,
at work, at home, at school, everywhere. Why then do we need to add unnecessary
consumerism in soccer? We lose referees because of consumerism in the process
of accrediting and certifying them, we lose coaches in the process of educating
and licensing them, we lose players in the process of registering them, we lose
managers in the process of trying to comply with the enormous amount of rules
and regulations and we lose clubs and teams to the “pirate leagues” just
because they don’t want to deal with soccer consumerism.
Can we go forward and honor the wishes of the founders of the
modern game, H. de Winton and J.C. Thring and simplify things so we can only deal
with a bearable minimum of “paper work”?
Here I want to reproduce an article published by Teppi Jacobsen concerning
the pains of excessive consumerism. It is well written and illustrates the
problem in unsophisticated terms. If you are a victim of consumerism, like we
all are, you will see that there are potential solutions if we start reacting
to this imposed torture.
“A few weeks ago my
father and I took a drive to the house where I grew up. We sat out in front,
marveling at how quickly the years have passed. We took a shot and rang the
bell and much to our thrill and surprise, the owner let us in.
Being in that house for the fifteen minutes we were there
brought me way back to what I remember as being "the simple life". Of
course over the years we get emails that remind us baby boomers of things that
were popular once upon a time. Just saying that we get things in emails is so
unlike anything I remember from those days.
The reason I believe that technology has complicated everything
is simple! All the time it takes to make our lives easier just makes it harder!
Sure, there are things that are a convenience like having a cell phone in the
event of an emergency. Not that that's why people have them anymore. Like
anything the reason we first used them has given way to hours of talking on
them, texting and causing traffic accidents and a myriad of other problems.
Plus the phones are costly, the bills can be outrageous and that complicates
our finances. Dropped calls, bad connections and endless "can you hear me now"
are a pain in the a... And no matter where we go now, just about everyone
has a cell phone glued to their ear. I recall my old dial phone and the simple
ring. One line. It either rang or you got a busy signal. You didn't know who
was calling which was okay since you didn't have telemarketers calling 24-7.
You didn't have to dial an area code or know it for that matter.
Then of course we have computers. There are those that argue
computers have saved our lives but I beg to differ. The number of times I have
wanted to blow my own brains out over computer issues can hardly be called lifesaving!
Back in the good old days we kept ledgers and used a manual typewriter. That
was it. Now on our expensive computers we have to enter data. We have to
purchase the appropriate programs to enter that data. Then we have to
back it up. Then we have to hope the computer doesn't crash if we were absent
minded and forgot to back up our data (who, me??). If we do lose the data, we
have to pay to have it recovered. Or we spend hours re-entering all of it.
Wasn't it easier just to write things down??
And there are the high definition televisions with hundreds of
channels. Anyone from Chicago who grew up in the 1950's and 60's remembers the
channels: 2,5,7 and 9. When WFLD channel 32 came out it was a huge deal. So we
lived with 5 stations and we survived quite nicely. Now we spend hours upon
endless hours watching such highly educational and inspirational shows as
Jersey Shore and The Bachelor. Makes me miss Creature Features on Friday
nights.
We have video games that have taken the fun out of being a
child. My time as a kid was spent playing in the park, riding my bike and
working on hobbies that I still enjoy today. Now when I see my nephews, we
don't talk as their noses are glued to their game boys or whatever the new hand
held game of the week is, I can't keep track!
Sitting in my old house I thought about how I played outside,
not inside on a computer. I didn't have a cell phone to text my friends, we
would actually TALK. We would have sleepovers and not be interrupted by cell
phones or have endless DVD's to watch. We would actually TALK. We ate dinner
together as a family. We didn't run to watch what we missed during dinner on
our DVR. We just missed it and we survived. We had none of these things and we
turned out pretty okay.
I think I'd like to take a vote. How many people would like to
see all those creating these new and improved technological advances stop what
they are doing and band together to find a cure for cancer? Or Alzheimer’s. Now
those are things that would make our lives much less complicated. And I really
do miss Creature Features.” Teppi Jacobsen (teporama@aol.com)
Chair, Soccer Coaching Education Committee, Florida State Soccer Association
