Reflections on the Revolution in France
As everyone knows, you can never get the French to agree on anything. So it has been nice to see the country coming together during this World Cup.
Author Archives: John Harpham
Soccer Music Politics
By contrast with “Waka Waka,” I believe that “Waving Flag” is a work of genius. K’Naan is the anti-Shakira.
The Toughness Game: An American Style of Soccer
At its best, the US team plays a Joe Dimaggio game Pete Rose tough. Soccer is the middle class’s way of making their boys into men.
The Algerian Bleus: Dispatch from Paris
On Sunday afternoon, I rode the metro up from my place in the thirteenth arrondissment to Belleville, in the northeastern part of Paris, to take in the Algeria-Slovenia match in a neighborhood with a large Algerian population. Almost as soon as I emerged from the station onto the wide Rue Belleville, I met Ben, an… Read More »
Down on Les Bleus: The Word from Paris
On the eve of the World Cup, after four years of anticipation and hope, tactics and
maneuvering and hype, interestingly, it is possible to sum up the mood of the French capital on the state of the national team in a word: pessimism.
