MARLER RANT: World Cup Visitors loving America is the best thing you’ll see all week
Every Friday I get to write my favorite article of the week. It’s just me ranting and raving about whatever I’m most annoyed with in the world of college sports that week. There’s usually plenty to choose from.
That was especially the case this week thanks to Texas Tech and what has to be the worst PR team in the history of PR teams handling their damage control. The mission statement of “it’s not like Brendan Sorsby killed a guy” was a bold move. Putting out a seven paragraph letter followed by a 22 minute “we are sorry” turned “we are the victim” video was even bolder.
That type of narcissistic, gaslighting content gives us plenty to rant about this week. But we aren’t going to. Instead we are going to look at something positive. Something that will make your heart full and not your blood pressure rise.
The World Cup started on Thursday. It’s the first time in 32 years it’s on American soil, and the country will be on the world’s stage as tens of thousands of fans from across the world come to participate. Let’s not kid ourselves, the optics and opinions of America from foreign eyes aren’t always great. There’s a lot of low hanging fruit and things to make fun of as there are with any country. But, what has happened on social media from foreign visitors discovering some of the simplest parts of our great nation has been incredible. It’s arguably the best, and most wholesome, content we’ve seen on social media in forever.
There’s a German named Freddy taking a tour of the Southeast who’s traveled from Gainesville to New Orleans and was lucky enough to discover Waffle House. There are Argentinian national team players who bumped into locals at Buc-ees outside of Auburn. The food seemed to be a consensus favorite, and a few Europeans learned a lot about Ranch during the initial stages of their trips. Others were blown away by SEC stadiums while some even raved about the diversity surrounding them in harmony.
It’s awesome. It’s also a great reminder that we aren’t nearly as different as we want to tell ourselves we are. There’s a ton of beauty and happiness in the world, and I for one did not foresee the other “football” metaphorically bridging that gap, but I’m glad it did.
Here are a few of our favorite responses from social media.
