African National Identities Essay

In Jonathan Zimmerman’s essay â€Å"African National Identities Can’t Be Built on Soccer Fever† he describes how soccer brings the people of Africa together. He talks about the unity of Africans and how much soccer is a part of their lives. He also describes the underlying reason of why soccer is so heavily pushed. The perspective in the essay â€Å"Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye† Tim Bowling discusses his passion for hockey and his hate for the violence. Both show the passion countrymen have for their sports as well as the ugly side of the sport as well. In â€Å"Na Na Na Na, Hey Hey, Goodbye†, Bowling describes how hockey was one of his loves and how over time that has changed. He describes how there is a good and bad side to hockey. The positives being the skill the players display on the ice and the enthusiasm fans show during the playoffs. The negatives being the violence in the game and the business side of the NHL. He says, â€Å"[E]ven if expansion and relentless marketing (just how many jerseys can one team have?) have conspired to water down the talents and glaciate the pace of play† (Bowling, 213). Bowling explains how the sport has become so rough that everything is overlooked and tolerated. He says, â€Å"†¦and in which a star player like Todd Bertuzzi can jump an opponent from behind, breaking his neck and not be universally vilified for his actions, but rather become the particular hero of Vancouver Canucks hockey fans† (Bowling,213). In comparison Zimmerman writes about how popular soccer is among Africans and how everyone ‘speaks football’ (Zimmerman, 345). He also writes about the negativity surrounding the sport. He says that one of the reasons soccer is so strongly pushed is so the government can hide its wrongdoings. He says, â€Å"Even worse, some governments use sports to divert attention from their own misdeeds† (Zimmerman, 346). Zimmerman also states that the sport has allowed tyrants to ‘bolster their power’ (Zimmerman, 345), using Idi Amin as an example. Though their writings show similarity in the negativity that surround these sports, their essays differ for the feelings the writers feel now. Bowling refuses to watch hockey, whereas, Zimmerman still has a passion for the sport. For Bowling the sport has been ruined by the violence, the marketing, and the ways it has changed from a sport to business. He says, â€Å" When I was a boy, the boards, ice, and score clock were free of advertising; goals and assists meant more than salaries; and players and teams had distinct character† (Bowling,215). For Bowling, he was still looking for the same sport that he watched growing up, what he sees today, he does not recognize. According to him young boys are being sexually abused by coaches, players are badly hurting others and people like Don Cherry are exploiting others for a good laugh. He sees violence everywhere in the sport now, not the good, old, pure sportsmanship he saw growing up. He also says, â€Å"Why should I follow a sport whose foundation in this country is made of blood and beer and an empty rhetoric around outdated and destructive notions of patriotism and manhood† (Bowling, 215). He loves the sport but cannot support what has become of it. Zimmerman shares the love for soccer as other Africans, he says, â€Å"my heart will break too, if Ghana fails to win the Africa Cup† (Zimmerman, 346). He wishes for the best, for both the country and the sport. He doesn’t want them to build an identity around soccer, because if they one day lose, it will break the whole nation. They will have nothing to fall back on. In both essays the fans show support for their national sports and this is what brings them together. Zimmerman says that Africans hand their future on sports and Bowling says that hockey is nothing but violence and business. They both make valid points in their essays, they show the positives of their sports, and then show the negative sides to their passion as well. Bowling, Tim. † Na Na Na Na , Hey Hey Hey, Goodbye†. Essay Writing for Canadian Students with Readings.7th ed. Editors Chris Bullock, Kay L.Stewart, Laura K. Davis. Toronto: Pearson Canada Inc., 2013.211-216.Print. Zimmerman, Jonathan.’ ‘African National Identities Can’t Be Built on Soccer Fever† Essay Writing for Canadian Students with Readings.7th ed. Editors Chris Bullock, Kay L.Stewart, Laura K. Davis. Toronto: Pearson Canada Inc., 2013.345-346.Print