On Virtue, Irony, and Glory: The Pitch and the People

Abstract

Soccer matches and soccer teams are interpreted as representing something other than players competing to win. In a match, events are displayed, representations are posed, and narratives are developed by interpreters. First, I’ll give some examples of this representative power. I do not have a complete explanation for it but I will offer two reasons—character and glory. In the section “Virtue”, I say more about character, vice, and virtue, and how we refer to it when we explain matches and players. This extends even to discussions of national character. In section “The stage, the canvas, the pitch”, I give some explanation for the evocative power that enables soccer to play this role. To do so, I compare the game to art and to dance. In “A short praise of fan irony”, I argue that the game presents character traits but not the actual character of players or their communities. For this reason, fans should have an ironic relationship with the narratives they use to interpret the game and the world around it. In “Glory”, I try to say something about the glory of the game. I list some different types of glory. Finally, “The creative fan”, calls for creative fans to embrace virtue, irony, and glory and insist the game be organized with these three ideas in mind.