The World Cup, and After, The Balzar Wars Summary and Analysis

"The World Cup, and After" was about the famous soccer tournament, which in Paris began with a parade of four, 65-foot-high inflatable dolls that represented different nationalities slowly parading through the streets. Gopnik thought the weird symbolism of internationalism and slowness was apt for soccer, which for him moved at a snail's pace. He resolved to watch the entire, 32-nation tournament, to find out why the world loved soccer. The critiques of the play by British TV commentators sounded to him like end-of-term school reports. The low scores didn't bother him as much as the lack of action, the "desultory shin-kicking." He acknowledged the importance of defense in sports, but maintained that soccer players could usually score only in penalty shoot-outs, which starved the audience for entertainment...