The World Cup is helping America see itself again
With the first wave of nations now headed back home, who's your favorite World Cup Character so far? The Norse rowers who "paddled" their way up Boston escalators? The Scottish Tartan Army who drank planes and bars dry and even made Mets and Marlins games tolerable? The German tourist astounded by college football stadiums and Buc-ees? The Japanese visitors delighted by free chips and salsa? The awestruck visitors running afoul of TSA for trying to bring home bottles of ranch dressing?
Me, I'm going with a write-in vote: The Americans who are surprised, delighted and grateful to see their own country through the world's eyes. Yes, plenty of grifters are trying their best to stain the World Cup, but this game is too big to be contained by greed and corruption.
America is getting a look at just how much fun it can be when cultures mix. We'll see how long that feeling lasts.
This culture shock is, in a way, understandable. Americans are so inundated with criticism of their own nation and fellow countrypeople — with most of the calls coming from inside the house — that it's been a genuine shock to see so many visitors viewing our glories with wide-eyed wonder. Texas barbecue, white-sand beaches and quaint small towns, ranch dressing and salsa, gas stations the size of aircraft carriers, stadiums large enough to stage a Godzilla vs. Kong fight — the things we take for granted are amazing and delighting our World Cup visitors from all over the globe.
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If social media forces us to become our worst selves — petty, jealous, divided, perpetually outraged — then the World Cup is encouraging us to be our best, open and welcoming and joyful.
Plus, to paraphrase the old NASCAR line: We Americans may not win every match, but we've never lost a party. (Though we're getting some real challenges from the Australians, the Colombians and the Dutch on that front. Step up your game, America.)
Sure, you might not be able to find Cape Verde or Bosnia and Herzegovina on a map, but so what? You understand what a goal is by this point, and if it's still not clicking with you, just multiply each goal by seven. (Funny how 2-1 sounds a lot more familiar to American ears if it's 14-7.) Joy is universal, exuberance is contagious, and everybody can sing along to "Country Roads."
Sadly, there's an end date looming for all of this. We lost 16 nations at the end of the group stage, and every knockout match sends one more home. (We'll miss you, Scotland, but our Strategic Beer Reserves are dangerously low thanks to the Tartan Army.) Before long, the international flavor will fade from our TVs, the last of our charming visitors will head home, and we'll be back to rooting for different teams in our corporate-branded stadiums, sitting through ad break after ad break. It'll be a tough re-entry.
Still, we have more than two dozen matches remaining, most of which won't feature the United States. That means there are still so many opportunities to revel in the chants, cheers, drumbeats and hopes of other nations.
So while we can, let's approach every single one of those matches with a raised drink and a simple question: Who's playing, and what are the words to their national anthem?
