Soccer
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War Narratives #8: Flashes of War by Katey Schultz
Schultz enables readers to see past their own perspectives and empathize with both the Afghan child and the American war widow.
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The Rumpus Interview with Sean Wilsey
Sean Wilsey discusses his latest book of essays, More Curious, being David Foster Wallace’s neighbor, the healing power of the American road trip, and the difference between writing fiction and memoir.
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World Cup Slaves: A Rumpus Roundup
Earlier today, the United States Attorney General charged 14 FIFA officials with 47 counts of corruption, racketeering, wire fraud, and money laundering. FIFA is the international association that oversees football (soccer), including the World Cup. Pundits have already begun to…
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Don’t Invite Borges to Your World Cup Party
As the World Cup continues, everyone seems to be a soccer fan. One person who wasn’t? Jorge Luis Borges. According to The New Republic, the famed Argentine writer loathed the game, going so far as to purposefully schedule a lecture…
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A FAN’S NOTES, THE RUMPUS SPORTS COLUMN #44: The Immortal Head-butt
What if one of your worst moments as a human being was sculpted into a 16-foot-tall bronze statue and displayed in front of a shopping mall? Or a Parisian art museum?
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Flop!: Chaos, Tragedy and the (Un-American) Beauty of Soccer
To appreciate soccer one has to understand that there’s beauty in failure.
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A FAN’S NOTES, THE RUMPUS SPORTS COLUMN #43: Mohawk Mama
Perhaps you’ve seen the photograph of Italian striker Mario Balotelli embracing his mother after scoring two emphatic goals in Italy’s recent 2-1 Euro semifinal victory
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Soccer to the Rescue?
At The Atlantic, Rumpus contributor Chris Feliciano Arnold looks at efforts to draw Major League Soccer to Tucson, Arizona and wonders whether building a community around the game can be a healing force in a region “facing one of the…
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Transcendent Passes
Aleksandar Hemon writes about finding a way to play soccer after moving to the States, the characters on his team, and most importantly, this: “…The moment of transcendence that might be familiar to those who practise sports with other people;…
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Pump-up Poetry
How do you pump up before a game? Cheer? Chant? Talk some smack to the rival team? Or…do you read poetry? Bruno Biri, the coach of the French women’s national soccer team, finds his source of inspiration in literature, poetry…
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The Private Lives of Trees
The second novella by Chilean writer Alejandro Zambra, one of the “Bogotá 39” influential Latin American writers, uses metafiction to tell a delicate, emotionally complex story.
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A FAN’S NOTES, The Rumpus Sports Column #26: Women and Children First
What follows is an extrapolation, based on my wife’s July due date and the actual match schedule of the 2010 World Cup.