The United States will Play England in the World Cup Opener - Personal Statement Example

Publication Article: http www.denverpost.com/rapids/ci_15170153 (I do not have access to the print Denver Post, so used the online version Line from Article: "The United States will play England in the World Cup opener." The Cup Steve and Alberto had met their Freshman year in college and had immediately hit it off. Although they came from very different cultures--Alberto was a first generation Brazillian immigrant and Steves family had lived in the States for close to three hundred years now--they immediately hit it off. The reason for this was that both had a passionate interest in soccer (as Steve called it) or football (as Alberto called it). Three years after theyd met, the two friends were taking a walk to discuss the upcoming World Cup, which would be their first since theyd known each other. Both were excited about how their own teams would do, and since they had spent the last few months talking over every detail of the upcoming event, they had perhaps gone a little football (or soccer) crazy. "Hot today, isnt it?" Alberto said. "It sure is," Steve replied, flapping the collar of his shirt in an attempt to cool down. "You want to go get a soda?" "Sure thing," Alberto said. Air Conditioning sounded good. They walked into a small locally-owned fast food joint, Alberto holding the door open for a woman on her way out and winking. A TV in one corner was playing sports news, and they watched it while they waited for their drinks. "Looks like the United States will play England in the World Cup opener," Steve said. "The first of their many victories, no doubt. Were going to win this year, I can tell." Alberto laughed and replied, "Are you kidding? Brazil is going to win it easy. The US teams no match. The cup is ours, man!" “Yeah right,” Steve said. “The US team is really strong this year. Weve got Donovan, Onyewu, and Bradley, and the seed is good. The UK right off the bat? Their team is always bad because they have nothing but foreign players domestically.” “Domestic players who often come from Brazil, I must remind you,” Alberto put in. “Weve also won more World Cup titles than any other team. Five of them! Weve qualified every single time the Cups held, too. What can the US team hold against that?” "Well, for a start were just better. I dont expect somebody who isnt from here to understand that." "Oh, I understand it just fine. Youre being a typical arrogant American, who is sure that his own country is better than everybody elses at everything, regardless of the evidence. Need I remind you how far the US got before losing in the last Cup? You lost to Ghana, for Gods sake!" "Well, you guys lost to France," Steve said, annoyed—partly because Alberto was right, and partly because he had never seen his friend being so arrogant. He was starting to wonder if they really had as much in common as they thought. "That may be true," Alberto admitted, "but at least we made it to the quarter-finals." The cashier and placed their drinks on the counter, but the two friends were too worked up to notice. The TV screen had moved on too; now it was showing golf scores. But Alberto and Steve didnt notice that, either. Nor did they notice that there were several customers behind them, and that they were still blocking the register. Both of the friends had given into a football frenzy—or soccer insanity. “Look,” Steve said. “I know you guys take your soccer seriously down there, but youve just got to admit it: youre scared of losing to the US.” “Soccer?” Alberto asked. “I think you mean football. The rest of the world calls it that, you know. Its just you stuck-up Americans who―“ Theres no telling where the argument would have gone if the cashier hadnt coughed then and pointed to the sodas sitting on the counter, slowly going flat. “Three dollars, please,” he said. Steve and Alberto handed over the money, and each took a long slurp of their sodas. The cashier, who was looking a little agitated, tried to say something, but they ignored him. Instead, they looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, and then opened their mouths at the same time. “If you want to talk about stuck up,” Steve said. “And another thing about you stupid Amerians,” Alberto said. “Guys!” the cashier broke in. “Its just a game. Is it really worth all this anger and fighting? Why dont you think about the good parts of the sport? Team spirit, athleticism, good sportsmanship! And can you please have your argument somewhere that isnt holding up the line!?” Alberto and Steve looked around, where about ten people were waiting, looking at them with expressions ranging from amused to disgusted. Each of the friends felt their faces flushing in embarrassment. They looked at each other and took another drink, then set the half-empty sodas down. "Hes right," Steve said. "Yeah," Alberto replied, "he is. Football isnt about whos won the most times, or who has the best team." The cashier rolled his eyes, and opened his mouth to speak again, but Steve cut him off. "It isnt about beating the other team, either!" “Gaah!” cried the cashier. “Get out of here right now or Im calling the cops on you idiots for loitering! Im glad youre friends again but can you please hold your private conversations in private?” A few of the other hopeful customers laughed, and Steve and Alberto ran out of the restaurant without even finishing their drinks. As much as they loved to talk about soccer (or football), they didnt think the police would understand their passion. As the door chime sounded on the way out, though, they couldnt help laughing at the situation. Outside in the sun, the friends started to walk back to their college and continued their conversation. “Man,” Steve said. “Some people just get way too worked up about little things.” “You can say that again,” Alberto agreed. “Imagine getting so angry over us having a little conversation there.” The friends shook their heads at how unreasonable some people were. “Now,” Steve said, “About the Brazilian goalkeeper...” Changes and Reasoning I do think more was needed on the characters, so I will add a few paragraphs explaining their characters as well as just dialogue. This hopefully will start the story off on the right foot and get the reader into their heads instead of them just being endless lines of dialogue. I actually disagree about their argument being low-key, though. Some people who are into soccer (especially from places like Brazil) get insanely worked up about it and really go crazy when their team loses or wins. However, I think youre right about it not being violent enough so I will add some maybe more physical action too and show them being more angry. You are also right about it being weird that the cashier interrupts like that. I will change the story to show a line behind them, or something, and maybe make them embarrassed about how theyre acting like children. Hopefully this will also make it more believable that they just change their minds and get along all of a sudden. The shame from being caught in public bickering like that and also maybe wanting to look more adult will make them have a sudden change of heart. I am probably going to add more onto the end of the story too, like the beginning, because I think the end is boring and there isnt really any resolution. Read More