The World Cup: If Only Life Had Stoppage Time... | Yasuo Takagi (Dean of the Graduate School of Health Management)
July 8, 2010
The World Cup is generating excitement all over the world. There is a theory that the World Cup is so thrilling because it is a global event held once every four years as a substitute for war between nations, a way to avoid actual conflict. Indeed, the excitement in European countries, which have a long history of war, is incredible, and three of them have made it to the final four. You can see how countries compete for national honor in the World Cup by watching the efforts of the Netherlands, a country with a population of less than 17 million. Sandwiched between France and Germany, it is a perfect opportunity for them to assert their national presence and unite their people, a point that should be understandable if you watched the Japan vs. South Korea match in our own country. Soccer is a venue for expressing local and national pride, and it carries the latent risk of hooliganism, as seen in the UK, where such pride can sometimes be seen as an excuse for bad behavior.
Nevertheless, just as the saying goes, "In soccer, the one with the ball is king," it is truly enjoyable to watch the 11 players constantly running into open spaces to receive the ball—a scene that is a microcosm of life itself. Every player has a chance to score, and for that reason, the cameras were positioned higher than in the J.League to capture the movements of everyone on the field.
Furthermore, in the group stage, a draw earns one point. If a team plays defensively, capitalizes on a single opportunity to score one goal, and wins, they get three points. If you are criticized for playing defensively and switch to an offensive strategy, you might end up like North Korea, which was thrashed 7-0 after making such a change.
Even with ten chances, you lose if you can't score, and if you don't use your head, you won't even realize it's a chance. It is perhaps no surprise that the European teams are strong, as they built global colonies during the Age of Discovery and the age of imperialism by leveraging the energy of the young and the wisdom of the old.
Moreover, at the end of the 90 minutes, stoppage time is displayed. If it's long, like four minutes, a comeback is possible, and both teams pour all their energy into one last attack and one final defense. The time the game is stopped becomes stoppage time. But if life also had stoppage time, how would it be judged? For example, I would like to ask for some divine consideration, such that it wouldn't be counted for those who went straight from undergraduate to graduate school, but it would be granted to those who have been working in society.
Well, I should start thinking now about what I would do if I were given stoppage time at the end of my life.
(Posted: July 8, 2010)