A NYT short reference to Vladimir Nabokov, related to the Soccer World Cup Championship now taking place in Brazil: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/07/opinion/we-are-the-world-cup.html?_r=0
“… a World Cup obsession is different from, say, being nuts about the Yankees. That’s because the World Cup doesn’t just give you a sport; it also gives you the world [ ] It’s no coincidence that Americans are tuning in to global soccer just as we’ve been humbled by our sinking global status. It’s a way of seeing that — contrary to the national myth that we’re the best at everything — the United States is one country among many, and we can learn from others [ ] when I asked his brother why he liked the World Cup so much, he just said: “Because it’s the biggest thing in the world.” It connects a little boy to something gigantic and wonderful [ ] Crucially, children across the globe are having the same experience. They’re filling in the same sticker albums and scanning the same faces of players on the Greek and Nigerian teams. The 64 matches in Brazil — probably the biggest media event in world history, judging by the expected audience — will give them shared heroes and emotional sagas [ ] Mostly, I’ve come to appreciate soccer as self-help. Albert Camus, a goalie in his native Algeria, credited soccer for teaching him about morality. (Vladimir Nabokov and Pope John Paul II were goalies too, though lesser ones.)
Pamela Druckerman, Opinion Pages: “We are the world (cup)”