Why I Love Soccer

While I was on hiatus, I came across this post on the New York Times Goal Blog. It's a fairly standard piece about the empty soccer stadiums across Mexico during the height of the swine flu scare, but it shows how much soccer brings people together.

Soccer is often an escape for many Mexicans — and many people the world over — looking for an respite from the travails of daily life. As Jere Longman reported for The Times, fans of Indios, in the border city of Ciudad Juarez go to games to escape the violent and deadly turf war between vicious drug cartels that has left nearly 2,000 people dead over the past 14 months.

“But the lurid headlines, the murder of the deputy police chief and the threats to decapitate the mayor have not deterred soccer fans, at least on game days,” wrote Longman. “The stadium, just across the Rio Grande from El Paso, regularly fills to its capacity of about 22,000. Parents feel safe enough to bring their children. Mayor José Reyes Ferriz attended Sunday’s match, along with a top official of the surrounding state of Chihuahua. Even the bishop of Juárez is occasionally spotted in the grandstand.”

Horrifying drug war? Deadly epidemic? Soccer still trumps all, bringing joy to thousands. How can you not love that?