The World Cup

[TimF]

Being a huge fan of soccer, I am really enjoying the Cup matches. My wife is Brazilian and needless to say our house is full of excitement! Politics and protests aside, it is truly awesome to be able to take part watching a true world sport that is without a doubt the "beautiful game"!

So, with that being said....GO U.S.A.!!!!! (Wife's going to kill me!)

Gassho,
Tim

[Jishin]

The World Cup

I lived in Brazil when I was a child. Buddha is Brazilian. Go go go go Buddha! Gooooooooooaaal!

Gassho, Jishin

[Genshin]

Go England..... Oh, wait. Maybe next time.

Gassho
Genshin

[Kokuu]

Being an England football supporter is a definite experience of samsara, only without the happy moments. Fortunately, my sitting group spared me the horror of having to watch Thursday's game.

My best moment of the tournament so far is Ghana player Sulley Muntari getting permission to visit some of the poorest areas of Maceio and handing out money.

Still, only a game, right?

Gassho
Andy

[RichardH]

It's a strange way to play hockey.

Gassho
Daizan

[Mp]

It's a strange way to play hockey.

Gassho
Daizan

LOL ... brilliant! =)

[Jundo]

As the announcer says

"GOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL L--LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"!!!





Gassho, J

[AlanLa]

Go USA!
I believe!
I believe that!
I believe that we!
I believe that we will win!
(maybe)

[Jundo]

I support the World in the World Cup!

Sociologists have noted that team sports are a substitute for team war on the battlefield! Better we take it out there with soccer balls rather than bombs.



... (although hooligans sometimes don't seem to have gotten the message).

In Shikantaza, there is no score, but everyone wins. No place to go, but constant play! There are no ties, but All is One!

Gassho, J

[Kyotai]

Not a soccer fan, but I respect the sport...that is a massive field! Phenomenal athletes.

Gassho

Shawn

[Joyo]

In Shikantaza, there is no score, but everyone wins. No place to go, but constant play! There are no ties, but All is One!

Gassho, J

This is great, Jundo, thank you!!

Gassho,
Joyo

[alan.r]

I like soccer. I play a couple times a week. It's a brutal spot that requires one to be in very good shape as well as to be highly skilled (if we're talking higher level play). In my mind, we can learn things from everything in life, and games are great teachers. There is a lot of dishonesty in today's game, but there are plenty of positive things, too. If you play a game with integrity and grace and put everything into it, admit your mistakes, celebrate others, and understand that it is the "other" that makes one do great things, that we are all pushing each other to be better, then there is a great oneness. When Spain won four years ago, they were not eleven men, they were one body. Also, no game without two sides and yet both sides make a game, a one. Soccer, like so many things, is a metaphor. And while ugliness can come out during any competitiveness, there is plenty of beauty - times when opposing players help each other off the turf. Moments when players admit fault, admit mistake, and elevate the game. There is also ugliness and flopping, etc. Ups and downs, as they say. Exactly like life. Sport is a great teacher: practice and practice and practice and when you play the game, you let the game play you. Let the game come to you, as athletes say. We hear athletes say they were "in the zone" - what other zone can this be than the one of dropping self, of letting go into the game? It's a beautiful thing when it happens.

With all the biting and flopping, here's a reminder of other things that happen in this game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TPjx1DMaEw

Gassho

[Myosha]

Consummate gentle men.

Thank you for the moment.


Gassho,
Myosha

[Nindo]

I'm a statistician. I am only interested in the numbers
Oh, and I'm rooting for Switzerland

[AlanLa]

I find the way the World Cup matches are held could be a great learning opportunity for American football: the relaxed attitude to playing on, out of bounds, possession, time, etc. The game just flows, whereas American football is just totally anal in comparison. I see a "zen" to soccer and a fundamentally puritan aspect to football now. That said, once my Green Bay Packers start playing this fall, I am all in!