Vuvuzeli, vuvuzela, football is wonderful
"Werbewoche" editor Anne-Friederike Wilhelm on soccer as a bridge between cultures. Or maybe not.
It was clear that you can still learn something from Africa. Especially when it comes to enjoyment and volume. After all the discussions about whether open viewing without sound can be fun at all, it's now back to the noise: the noise of the vuvuzela. Vuvu-what? The vuvuzela is what we used to call a trumpet. Only a little longer and louder. It is trumpet-shaped, up to one meter long and originally made of horn or sheet metal, but since its discovery by football fans it has increasingly been made of plastic. The noise it produces sounds like the trumpeting of the Sabu that has escaped at Knie.
I know a lot about musical instruments: I know that a dulcimer doesn't necessarily belong in the kitchen. I know the piano, guitar, violin and flute, as well as the tamburica, cymbal and nun's fart (they really exist!). But vuvuzela - never heard of it. Most people will have. But the media talk and write about the instrument, whose name is already a sound, as if knowledge of its existence is part of general education. So let's do something about it: Vuvuzela is Zulu, in Setswana the trumpet is sometimes also called Lepatata (the potatoes?!?), according to Wikipedia. And it is a typical symbol of South African football. One thing is certain: If the average European doesn't turn the sound off while watching football or vacuum on the side, their ears will simply fall off thanks to the vuvuzela concert. Anyone who can hold out for 90 minutes needs a cochlear implant - or a psychiatrist: "Doctor, I can hear voices!" Actually, it's just tinnitus.
Weird sounds in the penalty area
We could have guessed that football is louder in Africa than in this country. If we want a World Cup in Africa in the middle of the (African) winter, we have to accept the fact that they're trumpeting like elephants down there. Töröööööööööööööööööhh. But the real problem is this: The Swiss' chances of becoming world champions have never been as good as this year (!). But our boys are not immune to the eardrum terror of the vuvuzela. The horn is banned in Swiss stadiums - not because of the potential noise pollution, but because it could be used as a baton. And because it could never be used as a trumpet, Frei and his cohorts couldn't get used to the elephantine sound.
But there's one good thing about it: if our national team surprisingly doesn't become world champions, at least it has nothing to do with the players not scoring. The vuvuzela is to blame. And Sepp Blatter, of course. After all, he could have had the World Cup played in the Lijerica country of Dalmatia. The lijerica is much quieter than the gadulka, which is not loud either. What's more, the Lijerica is played sitting down. And if you sit down, you don't cheer so wildly. Which is good. After all, those at the back want to see something too.
I know a lot about musical instruments: I know that a dulcimer doesn't necessarily belong in the kitchen. I know the piano, guitar, violin and flute, as well as the tamburica, cymbal and nun's fart (they really exist!). But vuvuzela - never heard of it. Most people will have. But the media talk and write about the instrument, whose name is already a sound, as if knowledge of its existence is part of general education. So let's do something about it: Vuvuzela is Zulu, in Setswana the trumpet is sometimes also called Lepatata (the potatoes?!?), according to Wikipedia. And it is a typical symbol of South African football. One thing is certain: If the average European doesn't turn the sound off while watching football or vacuum on the side, their ears will simply fall off thanks to the vuvuzela concert. Anyone who can hold out for 90 minutes needs a cochlear implant - or a psychiatrist: "Doctor, I can hear voices!" Actually, it's just tinnitus.
Weird sounds in the penalty area
We could have guessed that football is louder in Africa than in this country. If we want a World Cup in Africa in the middle of the (African) winter, we have to accept the fact that they're trumpeting like elephants down there. Töröööööööööööööööööhh. But the real problem is this: The Swiss' chances of becoming world champions have never been as good as this year (!). But our boys are not immune to the eardrum terror of the vuvuzela. The horn is banned in Swiss stadiums - not because of the potential noise pollution, but because it could be used as a baton. And because it could never be used as a trumpet, Frei and his cohorts couldn't get used to the elephantine sound.
But there's one good thing about it: if our national team surprisingly doesn't become world champions, at least it has nothing to do with the players not scoring. The vuvuzela is to blame. And Sepp Blatter, of course. After all, he could have had the World Cup played in the Lijerica country of Dalmatia. The lijerica is much quieter than the gadulka, which is not loud either. What's more, the Lijerica is played sitting down. And if you sit down, you don't cheer so wildly. Which is good. After all, those at the back want to see something too.
