Steve Bloomfield's Africa United: Soccer, Passion, Politics and the World Cup in Africa is a book "about" soccer. But only in the abstract. Really, it's about politics and culture of the most misunderstood and under-studied— at least in North America— continent on the globe.
The book wasn't quite what I expected, but that's just fine. It isn't anything like a complete narrative history of soccer on the African continent. For starters, that book would likely be at least 800 pages and would reference many things a fair-weather soccer fan such as myself just wouldn't know about. It would be like an Englishman trying to make sense of George Will's Men At Work or Bissinger's Friday Night Lights— just not going to happen unless you have a deep knowledge of the game.
Luckily, Bloomfield's book reads less like a history and more like a compendium of post 1970-African history. It doesn't take on any sort of narrative structure; instead each chapter is a journalistic vinaigrette on a specific country (or countries). You might call them travel pieces, but they're not the work of an outsider looking in. Bloomfield is a former African correspondent for some UK newspapers. The book talks about soccer, yes, but it's more about HOW soccer relates to the political, social and cultural history of the countries profiled in the book.
As I explained to Econ just a short while ago, Africa United is what you'd get if the Economist ever tried its hand at sports writing.
Bloomfield isn't a sportswriter and, thankfully, doesn't try to write like one. But it's clear that he's a big soccer fan, so he knows the game as well as he knows African politics.
The looks at the game on the field are brief. They're well-written but not earth-shattering game reporting. Mostly, he writes about the matches so he can observe the fans and relate them to other political contexts. In one chapter, for example, he details the rivalry between Sudan and Chad. They were drawn together during the qualifying for the Africa Cup of Nations in 2008. They're two of the worst teams in Africa.
Like I said, though, it's not about the games. Sudan and Chad have also fought one another in a series of guerrilla conflicts dating back to the 1970s (Sudan accused Chadian rebels of getting involved in the whole Darfur thing, while Chad likewise accused Sudan of supporting rebels in their own civil war).
I hadn't known anything about this until I read the book. I think most Westerners have a similar lack of knowledge about the going-ons in Africa.
That's why Bloomfield's book is so useful. It uses something everyone DOES know about (soccer... so, I guess everyone but USA and Canada) to events they would otherwise have little exposure to.
For some reason, I've always been interested in Africa. Especially the colonial and postcolonial experience— one of the reasons why I love reading Joseph Conrad, VS Naipaul, Doris Lessing, Chinua Achebe, etc. That's why I decided to pick the book randomly off the shelf a few weeks ago. It's a great, quick read for anyone interested in learning a little more about that continent that nobody except Bono seems to care about. (It's sad, but true... how many Africans besides Nelson Mandela could most Americans name?)
I just wish I had picked it up BEFORE the World Cup began so I would have had some context when I watched Bafana Bafana and the Super Eagles.
Also: Bloomfield maintains two blogs. One is called simply Africa United, and it is about the World Cup. The other, Things Seen and Heard, is about general African current events. Needless to say, I'm following both of them now. Part of me feels like I should subscribe to the Economist so I would know about this stuff. Except $200 is a little steep for a weekly reading on Burkina Faso elections. Anyone have any other ideas for keeping up with international affairs?
"I enjoy any sporting event where nations get involved, I find it really interesting. - Jerry Seinfeld
I agree. And it's just one reason I'm excited this year is a FIFA World Cup year.
Now, the tournament occurs this summer...so I'm a little early. But maybe all this snow and ice has me thinking about warmer days ahead...
I remember back in 2006, without access to a television, how I crouched in my room, straining to imagine each play as I listened to the games via an illegal online live stream.
My nails were bitten. My voice was coarse. My mother yelled at me for cursing.
I like sports well enough...but with the exception of the White Sox, I'm pretty much a fair-weather fan. I like basketball during the NCAA championship. I like football during bowl season. I like horse racing during The Kentucky Derby. I like soccer during World Cup time.
Equally as exciting as the World Cup is that I'll be covering it this year, from Waynesboro. A special treat while working on a special journalism project. With any luck, I'll be watching this year...not searching for another illegal live-stream.
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It's a major sporting event that occurs once every four years...and countries qualify during the three years in-between. There is always drama:
That Egypt-Algeria game is especially interesting, because this year will mark the first year the World Cup has ever been played on African soil. So just imagine: two already heated rivals duking it out for the chance to be in one of the most momentous global sporting events on their own continent.
Something you need to know going in: the Italians won last year. They also cheat (dive, dope and fix).
1. Brazil with FIVE titles 2. Italy with FOUR titles 3. Germany with THREE titles
Ever since my youth I've always rooted for England, so I'll be stickin' with 'em this year as well. I'm traditionally not a fan of the Italians or the Germans or the French.
Somehow I ended up reading about melee weapons on Wikipedia. It started with potato guns (not melee) and t-shirt cannons (not weapons) and went from there. The most appealing melee tool I found was the sjambok, a traditional African cattle prod made from the thick hide of the hippopotamus. It bears some resemblance to a street-legal hardwood staff one Zach H. used to carry in Hillsdale, except that the sjambok is flexible, like a whip (sadly, it was also used to oppress humans under apartheid in South Africa.)
On Amazon, I found the Cold Steel Sjambok, a synthetic model available in 42" and 54" varieties. Here's a demonstration:
Surprisingly, this video has not diminished my desire to own a sjambok for home defense.
I should warn you, however, that a Czech product reviewer by the name of Bartok Kinski said his sjambok failed to protect him from a pack of wolves in the wilderness. He posted the same negative review four times. At first I thought he was out of line for posting an identical review multiple times, but maybe he was just bragging about surviving not one, but four wolf attacks?
This summer was the first time since 2006 that I had slept nights in a first-floor bedroom. My bedrooms at the Beat, Sad Bear, and Factory were all second floor lookouts in a formidable fortress of safety. But I spent this June and July in a first-floor bedroom in the State House, a 109-year-old four-bedroom home on a calmer street. This fostered paranoia.
Now I live by the fairgrounds ("Most Popular Fair on Earth"), two blocks from where a 34-year-old neo-nazi allegedly slit another man's throat earlier this month. I saw the victim's body on the sidewalk as police set up barricades. It made me glad to be back on the second floor.
I'm also looking for a helmet to wear on long road trips.
