Not My Ball Game

For part 4 of Paul’s Super Fun Multi-part Unofficial Challenge (The Critique The Work of Paul Stewart Unofficial Challenge), I deliberately selected an article, Scottish, Italian and Not a Football Fan, from Cleats, a Vocal community I ordinarily wouldn't visit.

I will confess that I had to Google if by football, Paul meant American football because I'm American, or the football that I call soccer. For any Americans who are as uncultured as I am and are reading this, it's what we call soccer.

I can wholeheartedly relate to the general sentiment of this article because I don't care about sports! Most of it seems so silly. Most sports are usually a bunch of grown men getting worked up about balls! Not the good kind of balls, either. And a disturbing fact I learned this year is that domestic violence increases during major American football events (not sure if that is an international problem). That alone is reason enough for me not to give a damn about sports.

But I admit, I will attend a Super Bowl party or happy hour to watch the NBA Finals. That's for the chicken wings, cheesy pretzels, camaraderie, and the opportunity to be a nuisance by cheering for the opposite team my friends are rooting for. I'm especially obnoxious when whatever team LeBron James is on for the season plays against the Golden State Warriors.

Overall, I think Paul and I are on the same page about there being nothing wrong with enjoying the social experience of sports without actually being invested in the game. 

My problem with Scottish, Italian and Not a Football Fan is this: having read lots of Paul's creative poems and stories, I found this rather mundane by comparison. It's not that there's anything wrong with the piece, or that I necessarily wanted him to tell me more. I'm just used to a different side of his writing, one I find more distinctive and engaging. I enjoy his humour, his imagination, and his willingness to be crude. This is much more restrained, straightforward and journalistic, which is perfectly fine, but I miss the humour, unexpected twists and inappropriate observations that make me laugh out loud. Perhaps it's simply that Paul doesn't have much enthusiasm for the subject, so we don't get to see as much of his personality shine through.

I guess Paul's point is that people like what they like, or dislike what they dislike. And that's fair enough.

This I dislike.

For Part 4 of Paul's Super Fun Multi-part Unofficial Challenge