I’m very much enjoying the “Minute-by-Minute” reports of the World Cup matches on the Guardian Website. It is like sitting in a pub with a bunch of folks with good chat, comparing banter. Except typed up for easy consumption when sitting in a library ostensibly writing a thesis. As an example of banter, this was Paul Doyle’s take on the expression of national pride in one comment emailed in to him:
‘“I am Canadian,” boasts Jilian Staniec, falling some way behind John F. Kennedy’s ‘Ich bin ein Berliner’ declaration for dramatic effect and political import.’
Good chat. Poor Canada, people just don’t sit up and take any notice. It’s interesting though, because a vast swathe of those writing in seem to be from this fair continent, as the time difference means we are the only ones whose work obstructs their viewing the matches on TV. Speaking of Canada, the match pitting Spain against Tunisia on Monday was read by so many Canadians that their contributions threatened to turn the review into a discussion of the bloody Stanley Cup Finals. Cunningly, it was turned away from that, to an interesting aside on the role of beards in sport. Try writing a thesis with that distracting you.