World Cup Shouldn’t Be Considered Spoiled by Murder of Escobar
I read with bittersweet amusement the headline on Jim Murray’s column in today’s paper, “Death Will Be the Lasting Memory.”
The death of Andres Escobar will probably become the lasting memory of the ’94 Cup, not because it is representative of anything but the sad state of affairs in Colombia, but because it is such an easy story to cover. Guns, drugs and murder make wonderful copy--no, they make sensational copy. And to lump these sensational elements with a sport little understood and generally written about as un-American, so brilliantly panders to the public palate (whose appetite is daily whetted with the blood-sport of Menendezes, Buttafuocos and Bobbitts) as to put the late W.R. Hearst to shame. Not only can Americans feel good about despising this barbaric sport, but they can revel in all its tawdry, gory details over a cup of coffee in the morning before tuning in to the O.J. Simpson hearings.
MARK BALDWIN
Los Angeles
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Jim Murray says the 1994 World Cup “will be remembered for a murder. . . Cause of death: World Cup soccer. Murder One.” It’s amazing that a so-called professional journalist can’t figure out that it was a gang of drug-dealing, gambling hooligans who shot Escobar. Soccer fans didn’t do it. Bora Milutinovic didn’t do it, and neither did Tony Meola, Alexi Lalas, Romario, Bebeto or Pele.
World Cup ’94 “will be known for the Murder in Medellin” only for those like Mr. Murray, who are oblivious to what goes on in the world.
RICH WINOGRAD
Thousand Oaks
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The murder of Andres Escobar is not so much an aberration of the degree of violence associated with sports in the 20th Century, but a punctuation mark. The obsession with winning and the unbalanced view of what sports competition is really all about manifests itself every day.
As a soccer referee, I have witnessed verbal and physical assault at all levels of play. Not only is abuse of athletes and spectators rampant, but the abuse heaped on officials is so common that it is considered by some to be part and parcel of sports competition. Respect, decency and fair play are in short supply on America’s soccer fields, baseball diamonds and basketball courts.
Escobar’s murder may be a glimpse into the future of the American sports scene if we do not, as a nation, realign our priorities.
DUSTIN FUNDERBURK
Costa Mesa
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I was incensed on June 4, when my wife and I went to the Rose Bowl to see the U.S. national team play Mexico, when we walked up to our seats and had to endure jeering, thrown objects and obscenities because we were wearing the red, white and blue. I was furious when she was hit in the head, twice, with ice as we cheered the “home” team to victory.
Now I hear about Mexican fans trashing the streets of L.A. while celebrating their World Cup victory on the other side of the continent.
The World Cup didn’t bring hooligans to America--they’ve been here all the time.
M. WEIS
Irvine
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Let’s not be getting too upset or surprised that Diego Maradona has been caught cheating again. His career has been an endless string of dives and play-acting. How about some belated sympathy for the 1986 England team when he punched the ball into the goal.
Don’t panic about the World Cup. Somebody else will rise to the top.
PAUL ZURBRUGG
Van Nuys
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Congratulations to Chris Dufresne for recognizing that the Germany-Belgium game turned on a horrendous non-call.
The Germans would never have won a man down, in regulation or overtime. And Germany’s Rudi Voeller fouled a Belgian defender on his second goal, a header, with a well-placed forearm.
We’ve seen this type of officiating that benefits Germany and other World Cup powers before. Until this shameful bias stops, the event might best be called the “Selected Parts of Certain Hemispheres Cup.”
D.A. COCHRANE
Los Angeles
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When is this soccer stuff going to be over with so our sports pages will again look like they used to?
A.E. SAARI
Fullerton
