Players Look Like A Race of Supermen to Turk Writer
Title:
Players Look Like A Race of Supermen to Turk Writer
Source:
Sunday Journal and Sentinel
Date:
1954-10-17
Location:
Rahşan Ecevit Arşivi
Text:
Players Look Like a Race Of Supermen to Turk Writer
By Bulend Ecevit
Journal and Sentinel Guest From Turkey
The Duke vs. Army game at Durham was the first football game that I saw. And if I had ever seen those players before, landing on a lonely field out of a funny looking airplane, I might have given this newspaper one of those eye-witness accounts of people from Mars visiting our earth. What with those shoulder pads, helmets and queer trousers, they did not look like earthly people to me, and I thought they were more like a race of some supermen fitted for interplanetary travel, rather than plain, earthly football players.
Of course in Turkey we do have what we call football, but that is known as soccer in this country although I cannot see why yours should be referred to as football since it has so little to do with the foot.
During the first quarter of the game, I thought there was something wrong going on all the time on the field, with the ball getting stuck at every step and the teams starting all over again, and I was, of course, rather bored,—until I learned that it was part of the game, and in fact the most exciting part. After this initiation to the principle rule of the game, I did my best to look most excited whenever I found myself most bored.
I do not mean to say, however, that I did not enjoy the whole thing. I enjoyed the bands, the dances and the clowns, and all else that went with the game. I thought it was a big and colorful show. And although there certainly is more action and excitement in soccer, I admit that, with so many intricate technicalities involved, more brainwork may be required in the American football. In fact, those huddling sessions made me think of the football players as living chessmen thinking out their own moves on a playboard.
Of course the way the players fought over the ball and all those accessories which, I thought, turned the whole game into a big show, might look as somewhat crazy to a stranger at the first sight, but, after all, it is such crazy things that makes life enjoyable, and what matters is that you enjoy them. In fact I felt, as I was leaving the stadium, that I too was beginning to get really excited at those boring moments of the game.
By Bulend Ecevit
Journal and Sentinel Guest From Turkey
The Duke vs. Army game at Durham was the first football game that I saw. And if I had ever seen those players before, landing on a lonely field out of a funny looking airplane, I might have given this newspaper one of those eye-witness accounts of people from Mars visiting our earth. What with those shoulder pads, helmets and queer trousers, they did not look like earthly people to me, and I thought they were more like a race of some supermen fitted for interplanetary travel, rather than plain, earthly football players.
Of course in Turkey we do have what we call football, but that is known as soccer in this country although I cannot see why yours should be referred to as football since it has so little to do with the foot.
During the first quarter of the game, I thought there was something wrong going on all the time on the field, with the ball getting stuck at every step and the teams starting all over again, and I was, of course, rather bored,—until I learned that it was part of the game, and in fact the most exciting part. After this initiation to the principle rule of the game, I did my best to look most excited whenever I found myself most bored.
I do not mean to say, however, that I did not enjoy the whole thing. I enjoyed the bands, the dances and the clowns, and all else that went with the game. I thought it was a big and colorful show. And although there certainly is more action and excitement in soccer, I admit that, with so many intricate technicalities involved, more brainwork may be required in the American football. In fact, those huddling sessions made me think of the football players as living chessmen thinking out their own moves on a playboard.
Of course the way the players fought over the ball and all those accessories which, I thought, turned the whole game into a big show, might look as somewhat crazy to a stranger at the first sight, but, after all, it is such crazy things that makes life enjoyable, and what matters is that you enjoy them. In fact I felt, as I was leaving the stadium, that I too was beginning to get really excited at those boring moments of the game.
Files
Collection
Citation
“Players Look Like A Race of Supermen to Turk Writer,” Bülent Ecevit Yazıları 1950-1961, accessed November 21, 2024, https://ecevityazilari.org/items/show/135.
