All the noise is just deafening. Thousands of disparate voices talking, yelling, whispering. Thousands of others reacting in response. Everyone is a squawking flamingo at a beachhead, participants at an immense cocktail party engaging in urgent, fervent conversation. The voices, of course, blend. A cacophony from a captive, captured audience averaged out into a general massive persistent groan. Now and then, the volume and pitch rise and peak into a frenzy of screams for several seconds. It fades as readily as it rose. The modulation is controlled by visual stimuli. Everyone is watching. And reacting. Hands up in the air, arms crossed, some in prayer. Gesticulating approval, revelry, encouragement, dismay, anger, shame. Can one show hope? So many emotions are associated with the spectacle before them. A game. The game.
Of men and a ball. And goals.
At the heart of it all, amid the riotous jostling madness is passion. There is nothing like the feeling of witnessing a goal scored. Both ways - ecstasy when your team scores, despondency when a rival does damage. The group theory of transferred emotions is real, even palatable. When you're one individual in a crowd of thousands chanting for the same team, wishing the same ending, equally passionate for uniformed representatives of this sport and their talents, the feeling is magic. A high.
----------
I was about to sleep when a man's scream tore through the quiet of Sunday night in my neighbourhood. It was a shout of elation. It hit me that the finals were on and I quickly reached for my phone to check Twitter. Twitter is news. QPR equalised. Bloody hell. And a lone screamer was glad about this? Must be a Man U fan, I thought. I flicked through the updates posted by @epl_live to get a sense of the evening's scores. Bloody hell, Man U was ahead. Well, whatever will be will be. Sleep.
I woke and heard on the 7am news that Man City were the new league winners. I bounced around the bathroom for several seconds. Miracles do happen. And there is hope for us all again, for a difference, for a renewed vigor to the league. Cheers.
No comments:
Post a Comment