This is Awesome

As the high of the World Cup wears off I had to do one last blog post on soccer. There's been so much discussion over the years as to the place of sport in our public consciousness, our understanding of the world, and even the way we communicate with one another.

Many articles since Spain's win have examined whether a sport can unite a country.

My friend Katie is working on her dissertation focusing on how, as a culture, we've adopted the language of sport. In fact, today the discourse of sport has seeped into everything from health care issues to politics. Even globalization isn't left untouched as evidenced in the book, How Soccer Explains the World.

NPR took another direction and examined the relationship of sport and literature in an story last month. This proposed the idea of sport as a muse in and of itself. Graceful, fluid motions of sheer athleticism have been called poetry and, in fact, NPR claims as much.

In the new film Pelada, two soccer players embark on a journey to 25 countries to see what place soccer has in connecting people. Over the course of the World Cup the attention has been on communicating about soccer but watching this trailer I would argue that soccer is also a way of communicating...even among people who have little else in common. The release of this movie--and the purpose--seems poignant especially since this film isn't about the competitive, professional world but the pickup soccer found in school yards and back allies, in prisons and farm fields. It's not about the consumption of sport as spectator but, rather, as active participant and once you watch this trailer I'm sure you'll agree it's beautifully done. Variety, Sports Illustrated, and the New York Times all agree.

My favorite line is "When the ball is kicked towards me, I consider it the game beckoning me." Enjoy:

NEW Pelada Trailer from Rebekah Fergusson on Vimeo.

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