Vuvuzelas – Thumbs Down

The vuvuzelas, the horns that soccer/football fans were blowing at the Confederations Cup tournament for the past two weeks in South Africa, deserve a big thumbs down.  They were given away free to fans, and the fans blew them constantly throughout the game.  It made the broadcasts of the games sound like a giant beehive.  They reportedly drowned out some TV commentary on certain networks, although I didn’t have a problem watching the USA vs Brazil final on ESPN.

FIFA,the world football governing body, has stated that they will address the vuvuzelas before the start of the 2010 World Cup, also held in South Africa.  Players, coaches, commentators, and fans have called for the ban of these horns claiming that they are annoying and making it difficult for the players to communicate and concentrate.  On the other hand, the vuvuzelas are part of the local football culture in South Africa and the president of FIFA, Sepp Blatter stated, “We should not try to Europeanise an African World Cup.” 

My take on the matter is that the horns are probably a lot of fun to use and might improve the live atmosphere at the game, but for the World Cup, which draws huge television audiences worldwide, the vuvuzelas negatively impact the viewing experience too greatly to justify their use.  One option that I’ve heard thrown around is to allow them for games in which South Africa, the host country, is playing.  I would recommend this course of action for FIFA to take, as this would allow the local fans to use them in support of their country, but would avoid the annoying beehive noise during the majority of television broadcasts.

Shoes – Thumbs Down

Thumbs Down: I’ve got some bad news for you: you walk wrong. According to researchers at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa, shoes have been ruining the health of our feet.

The researchers are not just talking about high heels or flip-flops. They claim that all shoes have been “warping” the natural way the foot interacts with the ground while walking. Shoes disrupt the natural way of walking which was developed over millions of years of evolution.

Here’s an example from an article by Adam Sternbergh of how shoes change the way the foot interacts with the ground: “Try this test: Take off your shoe, and put it on a tabletop. Chances are the toe tip on your shoes will bend slightly upward, so that it doesn’t touch the table’s surface. This is known as “toe spring,” and it’s a design feature built into nearly every shoe. Of course, your bare toes don’t curl upward; in fact, they’re built to grip the earth and help you balance. The purpose of toe spring, then, is to create a subtle rocker effect that allows your foot to roll into the next step. This is necessary because the shoe, by its nature, won’t allow your foot to work in the way it wants to. Normally your foot would roll very flexibly through each step, from the heel through the outside of your foot, then through the arch, before your toes give you a powerful propulsive push forward into the next step. But shoes aren’t designed to be very flexible. Sure, you can take a typical shoe in your hands and bend it in the middle, but that bend doesn’t fall where your foot wants to bend; in fact, if you bent your foot in that same place, your foot would snap in half. So to compensate for this lack of flexibility, shoes are built with toe springs to help rock you forward. You only need this help, of course, because you’re wearing shoes.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the subject or want some tips about how to walk better, check out Sternbergh’s article from New York Magazine here