The American Idle

It's not about the game at all. It's about talk. Endless "analysis." Meaningless chatter. Before, during and after. It's like sex for some guys, the really meaningful orgasm comes later, when they're telling their buddies about it. I was in Zagreb back in the 60's, when it was part of Yugolslavia and Yugolaslavia was part of the USSR. I stayed in a big old hotel, and my room looked out on the huge central square that served as a massive trolley hub. All night long and into the morning hours it was jammed with people waiting for the trolleys that would take them to their jobs or home from their jobs. The noise from the loud and incessant arguing kept me awake. I had the romantic notion that they were discussing politics, the pros and cons of the socialist system, but it turned out they were just arguing about soccer. I knew someone there who was about to take a trip to London. "Have you ever been to England before?" I asked him. "No," he said, "in fact, this'll be my first trip behind the iron curtain." Life is the same eveywhere you go.