# Request to all international soccer fans: STOP THAT FUCKING BUZZING! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 12, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942 "2010-06-12T18:49:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/161 "2010-06-14T04:37:49Z")
Good job living in England and stubbornly refusing to give up the word “soccer.” Way to keep it real! USA USA USA! I got in the habit of saying “football” when French was my primary languages (“football” being French for “football”) and my American friends would use it in the lazy code-switcher’s Franglais we used with each other. Coming to China, it seemed stupid to switch back to a word that nobody uses here and most people don’t understand. Chinese English learners are noticeably less knowledgeable about regional dialects that Brits, if you can believe it. I get sick of explaining my Americanisms sometimes, and sometimes it’s easier to just say the British word that I know people understand to begin with. In any case, I feel like an asshole when we are having an in-depth discussion about things and I’m the only one who keeps using this bizarre word nobody else uses. When I get back to America, I’ll probably switch back to soccer for that very reason. Fuck it. I’ve got too many languages and cultures floating around in my head. I don’t even know where I am or who I’m talking to these days. Sorry if I can’t please ya with this one. BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Whee! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/162 "2010-06-14T04:45:53Z")
The only value I see (hear) in the vuvuzela, or lepatata (its Setswana name), is as two more words for Scrabble enthusiasts to, uh, enthuse over. That, and its possible utility in discouraging extraterrestrials from ever visiting our planet. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/163 "2010-06-14T04:45:58Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Hey, when the Steelers won the Super Bowl last year, fans completely trashed the streets down in Oakland (I think it was Oakland). Was that their right to do so? After all, Pittsburgh IS a football town, and it’s part of our culture! I doubt anyone noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/164 "2010-06-14T04:53:06Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > I doubt anyone noticed. You got me there. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/165 "2010-06-14T05:10:14Z")
> [@straight\_man](#): > > Why should we be allowed it? Because _colonialism_, that’s why. Yes, I thought so too. :rolleyes: I too find the kazoos annoying in the TV coverage–though somewhat less so now that I know what they are. When I tried to watch the Confederations Cup I thought at first it was just appallingly bad broadcast engineering. But I think I basically agree with **even sven**. This is South Africa’s World Cup. This is what South Africans do at football games, apparently. Whether those of us watching the broadcasts in other places are annoyed shouldn’t be anyone’s main concern. It’s not about us. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Or how about the fact that the stadium is cracking down on tailgating, despite the fact that it’s a tradition. Unfortunately, it’s a “tradition” that leaves a lot of trash and inconvience to those around them. But hey, let’s not look down on the those out there celebrating their teams!\* > > \*And before you start on me, tailgating around here goes back to the 1970s. The vuvuzela, the 1990s. Both are “cultural” expressions," by your logic. (A smaller culture, in the case of south-western PA, sure, but we definitely have our own local culture here.) Tailgating at American football games (and certain other sporting events and concerts) is most certainly a cultural expression. Some fans do indeed consider an indispensable part of the experience and tradition. It’s too bad if your local crew can’t do it without leaving a bunch of trash on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/166 "2010-06-14T05:22:33Z")
I watched the World Cup a bit out of idle curiousity. But there was the horrible buzzing noise, I thought the channel was fucked up and turned to another channel. You can have your vuvuzelas, and your soccer. I need neither. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/167 "2010-06-14T09:38:31Z")
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! If you can’t whack them with a big stick, may as well join them. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/168 "2010-06-14T11:26:33Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I’m not the one who brought up the “we’ve got more money so we’re more important” angle. I’m also not the one who brought up “penniless natives.” Personally, I don’t care if it’s the elites of Luxembourg who are using the vevuzela. If it’s their stadium, it’s their choice. It is their choice. For approximately 3 1/2 more weeks they can annoy everybody with their ridiculous horns. They absolutely have that right. Fortunately for the rest of the world, they will never get to host another World Cup if they want to take that position. The players can’t stand it, the announcers can’t stand it, and everybody who isn’t blowing one of the horns can’t stand it. It’s a classic case of a few ruining it for everybody else, and in this case they are ruining the first world Cup ever hosted in Africa. Thank God we need only “respect their culture” for a few more weeks, then never again. > [@](#): > > Sure some people at the stadium are complaining. Some people go to rock concerts and complain about the noise. I’m not sure why people pay money for tickets to events that they know will annoy them. What nonsense. If you go to a place expecting loud music you have no right to demand that they turn it down. If I go to a soccer game I have the right to watch a soccer game, not have someone blow into a horn loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. One is integral to the experience, and one is ancillary to it. > [@](#): > > How would we react if during the Atlanta Olympics TV viewers in China were raising a big stink that our clapping was bothering them because they like to meditate as they watch track and field? Wouldn’t we be right in telling them to screw off, and the could do what they wanted when it was their turn? Now you’re just being stupid, and intentionally so. And all this over a ridiculous horn that is causing people to raise legitimate complaints. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/169 "2010-06-14T12:37:35Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Good job living in England and stubbornly refusing to give up the word “soccer.” Way to keep it real! USA USA USA! > > I got in the habit of saying “football” when French was my primary languages (“football” being French for “football”) and my American friends would use it in the lazy code-switcher’s Franglais we used with each other. > > Coming to China, it seemed stupid to switch back to a word that nobody uses here and most people don’t understand. Chinese English learners are noticeably less knowledgeable about regional dialects that Brits, if you can believe it. I get sick of explaining my Americanisms sometimes, and sometimes it’s easier to just say the British word that I know people understand to begin with. In any case, I feel like an asshole when we are having an in-depth discussion about things and I’m the only one who keeps using this bizarre word nobody else uses. When I get back to America, I’ll probably switch back to soccer for that very reason. > > Fuck it. I’ve got too many languages and cultures floating around in my head. I don’t even know where I am or who I’m talking to these days. Sorry if I can’t please ya with this one. > > BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!! Whee! Oh, You, you, you–this all what YOU did and what YOU would do. Who made you arbiter for the rest of the world’s behavior? The horns are rude. I honestly wouldn’t mind them if they did at goal scoring or something freakish happened on the field (sorry, pitch) or when the refs make a bad call. But it’s constant. It is better, but it’s a constant drone that is unnerving after a bit when you’re watching on TV–as is most of the world. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/170 "2010-06-14T12:58:41Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > Oh, You, you, you–this all what YOU did and what YOU would do. Who made you arbiter for the rest of the world’s behavior? The horns are rude. I honestly wouldn’t mind them if they did at goal scoring or something freakish happened on the field (sorry, pitch) or when the refs make a bad call. But it’s constant. It is better, but it’s a constant drone that is unnerving after a bit when you’re watching on TV–as is most of the world. You might wish to consider that some people express an opinion (a gripe even) without making a statement as a spokesperson for the human race. I do not like soccer. The TV has soccer on because another member of this household likes and watches soccer. The noise is annoying. The OP mentioned the noise was a factor preventing enjoyment. I concur. Whether any other human being on this planet likes what I have to say about it, it’s my opinion. MY opinion. I don’t care whether you like it or not. So there. (By the way, I was content to let your remarks about my other post pass, on the grounds that you have a right to your opinion, too. It just appears you don’t really enjoy other people stating opinions without it becoming Vox Populi.) ---
**Author:** ![Random\_Design](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58f4c7/32.png) [@Random\_Design](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random_Design)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/171 "2010-06-14T13:00:56Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Given that the vuvuzela is present at every single South Africa football match (oh, wait, wouldn’t want to be unamerican by not stubbornly insisting on using a word that nobody I know uses [QUOTE=even sven] Good job living in England and stubbornly refusing to give up the word “soccer.” Way to keep it real! USA USA USA! [/quote] You really have no idea what a silly twat you’re coming off as. I give you one guess what the sport of kicking a ball around is most commonly known as IN SOUTH AFRICA. Let’s see how much attention you paid, what was the name of the stadium where the first game of this tournament was played? [QUOTE=even sven] I’ve got too many languages and cultures floating around in my head. [/quote] You are SO amazing! Now why don’t you STFU in all those languages and cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Poster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Happy\_Poster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Poster)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/172 "2010-06-14T13:04:06Z")
[Story on front page of Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286406/WORLD-CUP-2010-Vuvuzela-faces-ban-noise-complaints.html). Anyhoo… leave Sven alone, she’ll grow out of it and that idealism is kind of touching, you never get it back 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/173 "2010-06-14T13:30:02Z")
Man, **even sven** has it rough around here. > [@eleanorigby](#): > > Oh, You, you, you–this all what YOU did and what YOU would do. 😕 She was responding to **Dio** ’s remarks about _her_ use of the word “football.” And her point was that she was _going along with_ the prevailing usage. In some cases, it’s the American’s insistence on retaining his own native usage which becomes the weird affectation. > [@Random\_Design](#): > > I give you one guess what the sport of kicking a ball around is most commonly known as IN SOUTH AFRICA. Let’s see how much attention you paid, what was the name of the stadium where the first game of this tournament was played? Yes, Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, next door to the South African Football Association. **Happy Poster** ’s link was interesting to me in that, while discussing widespread loathing for the vuvuzela, it also highlighted the European fans who have taken up the thing, and the sale of “1.5 million vuvuzelas in Europe since October.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/174 "2010-06-14T13:35:47Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > What nonsense. If you go to a place expecting loud music you have no right to demand that they turn it down. If I go to a soccer game I have the right to watch a soccer game, not have someone blow into a horn loud enough to cause permanent hearing damage. > > One is integral to the experience, and one is ancillary to it. It’s nice to find someone willing to admit that permanent hearing damage is integral to the experience of going to a loud music concert. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/175 "2010-06-14T13:57:03Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Without googling, can you summarize a 3-5-2 vs a 4-4-2 in a couple sentences? What the hell – I’ll field this one with a google-free educated guess: They’re both formations, probably listing the number of backfield, midfield and foward players. If you’re playing with a lead, move an extra player to the backfield for a more defensive structure. If you’re behind, have the extra man take more of an offensive role. How’d I do? ---
**Author:** ![Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speak_to_me_Maddie)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/176 "2010-06-14T14:10:02Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > This is South Africa’s World Cup. This is what South Africans do at football games, apparently. Whether those of us watching the broadcasts in other places are annoyed shouldn’t be anyone’s main concern. It’s not about us. Wrong. It is the World Cup being hosted in South Africa. It belongs to the world. The world is competing, the world is watching, and it is a world event. South Africa is merely the host. If South Africans want to play their horns at South African matches then so be it, but they have no business showing up to the Italy/Paraguay match blowing on their fucking kazoos for two hours with no intention whatsoever in actually watching the sport. South Africans have no concept of what it means to be a good host. The goal of hosting (whether it be a dinner party or a world event) is to make your guests comfortable and provide them with a good time. Hosting is not about the host, it is about the guests. If the host has a good time at the expense of the guests then the host has failed miserably. Of course it is South Africans that are really hurt the most for this. From this point forward South African soccer will be known for one thing: fans who like to play with cheap, annoying children’s noisemakers. It will never matter how well a South African team plays, or whether a great player comes from that nation. Nope. From now on South African soccer = childish annoying wankers. South Africa will never get another World Cup. And the rest of Africa should be pissed too, because frankly this shit is going to seriously harm the chances of another sub-Saharan nation hosting the Cup, whether that is fair or not. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/177 "2010-06-14T14:13:03Z")
> [@Stratocaster](#): > > I liken soccer to opera, in the sense that I understand that the fact that I haven’t seen the appeal is my shortcoming, not the game’s. Don’t give up so easily. People say the same thing about sushi and frankly most of the sushi eaten in this country is little more than raw fish… you know like Gollum eats. I have a problem with a game where all the players routinely engage in melodramatic contortions of pain whenever they get hipchecked. What kind of lesson does that teach? Good luck on understanding soccer, its one merit is that the low scoring means that even the world cup doesn’t take 5 minutes to cover on sports center. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/178 "2010-06-14T14:21:32Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > Fortunately for the rest of the world, they will never get to host another World Cup if they want to take that position. The players can’t stand it, the announcers can’t stand it, and everybody who isn’t blowing one of the horns can’t stand it. It’s a classic case of a few ruining it for everybody else, and in this case they are ruining the first world Cup ever hosted in Africa. Only four countries have ever gotten to host a second World Cup, and all four of them got their first way back when the only possible venues were Europe or South and Central America. Well, except for Mexico, which got its second just 16 years after its first because the Colombian economy collapsed after it won the hosting vote and Mexico was the only eligible nation which could afford to put together a hosting bid in 4 years. The odds of South Africa getting another World Cup in our lifetimes are slim to nonexistent, vavuzelas or no. ---
**Author:** ![wmfellows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@wmfellows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wmfellows)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/179 "2010-06-14T14:38:25Z")
> [@Happy\_Poster](#): > > [Story on front page of Daily Mail](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1286406/WORLD-CUP-2010-Vuvuzela-faces-ban-noise-complaints.html). > > Anyhoo… leave Sven alone, she’ll grow out of it and that idealism is kind of touching, you never get it back 🙂 Well, she is pious git, but her adoption of the word football only makes sense given she’s overseas. Americans blithering on about soccer overseas when everyone says football is tedious. Anyway, the idea of thousands of Scots on bagpipes was amusing, but I have to say although the bloody V horns should be banned, I give them credit for this (from the arty): > [@](#): > > Another pensioner called pest control in over the weekend amid fears her house was being attacked by a swarm of bees as she watched England draw with the USA. That’s hilarious. Attacked by a swarm of bees! Beautiful! ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2010, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942/180 "2010-06-14T15:00:37Z")
> [@Speak\_to\_me\_Maddie](#): > > South Africa will never get another World Cup. And the rest of Africa should be pissed too, because frankly this shit is going to seriously harm the chances of another sub-Saharan nation hosting the Cup, whether that is fair or not. I highly doubt this. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/request-to-all-international-soccer-fans-stop-that-fucking-buzzing/542942.md?page=10)