Media Narrative Destroyed: America Dazzles World Cup Fans.
They came for the soccer, they’re here for the love.
It’s estimated that 1.24 million “football” fans flew to America this month to cheer on their national teams. They’ve spent an obscene amount of money to travel here despite unrelenting media portrayals of America as a dangerous place filled with fat, intolerant, rude people led by a crazy president.
What they found instead was the real America. A country filled with good-hearted, generous people who tend to take for granted the natural beauty of their land and the opulence that is everywhere.
These visitors turned social media into a surprising tool of cross-cultural delight. They’ve been the best reminder of all that is good in our land of plenty.
We may not like or even understand soccer in the U.S., but Americans do understand the absolute joy of being part of a delirious crowd wildly cheering for a team, be it college or professional. So it turns out, World Cup fever is contagious.
Scotland’s Tartan Army charming Boston with their bagpipes, love of beer and impromptu singing isn’t all that different from what happens on fall Saturdays in college football stadiums around the country.
How could anyone watch these Scotsmen and not smile?
Left to the corporate media, World Cup coverage would be nothing but scores and the occasional feature on a disgruntled fan they managed to find who hates Trump.
Don’t doubt me. I worked in that cesspool for 42 years.
Social media destroyed the legacy media and its monopoly on narrative.
Thank God!
It gave ordinary visitors from around the world a place to voice their amazement at America’s casual opulence: our mega stores, our bottomless drinks, our free restrooms, our air conditioning. They came from places like the Netherlands and Congo only to marvel at Waffle House and Buc-ees. They feasted on brisket, biscuits and gravy and Beaver Nuggets. Oh, and ranch dressing.
Many joked that they never want to leave.
They came to a country that didn’t have to build stadiums and highways for the World Cup because they were already here. They came to a country full of people who were happy to give directions whether on the road or in a BBQ joint to a fellow trying to eat ribs with a fork and knife.
Chief among the foreign fans is Freddy. He’s a German who arrived June 5th with a smallish following on X that ballooned to about 718,000 once his wide-eyed posts about the American South went viral. Along the way he caught the eye of country singer Ella Langley and former football star JJ Watt. They both showered him with gifts: cowboy boots, hotel suites, luggage. Finally, when it looked like Freddy might miss his flight from Oklahoma to Toronto to see the German v. Ivory Coast match in Canada on Saturday, Watt went to work behind the scenes.
By the time he was airborne, Freddy’d fielded offers of private jets to get him to Canada.
Germany had a come-from-behind 2-1 victory in Canada, making Freddy very happy.
Follow him at Freddy@LA7. He’s on his way back to the US.
Show us a little love and we’re putty in your hands, Freddy.
Then there were the Japanese fans, who stayed behind to clean the stadium after their tied match in Texas. Their fastidiousness caught on. Social media showed Portuguese fans doing the same this week after their match and British fans were seen cleaning a bar in Dallas after a night of debauchery.
And how could anyone watch the Norwegians doing the Viking Row everywhere they went without smiling?
Do yourselves a favor. Turn off the news, cancel your newspaper subscriptions and turn on X and the World Cup. Not for the soccer - no one cares about THAT - tune in to watch the fans. These visitors and the Americans who welcome them are doing more for World Peace than 81 years of the United Nations.
