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Constant drone of vuvuzelas killing World Cup atmosphere

73 Comments
By John Leicester

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73 Comments
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Amen

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he shoots, He scores .!

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I completely agree. I have stopped watching games because of it.

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It sounds to me like it's the vuvuzelas mating season and they're all in heat. After trying to watch 2 games, I'm in favor of hunting the vuvuzelas to extinction.

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I'm not a Soccer (Football) fan but many of my friends are, I was sitting in a Pub on Saturday night with some of them and the World cup was playing on the large screen most people were watching it but after about 30 minutes I couldn't take it anymore and asked the owner to either turn off the sound or change the channel I said it quite loudly so many heard me and with just about complete unison everyone agreed that it was better to watch the match with the mute on, typical that everyone was thinking the same thing but no one said anything!

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When in Rome...

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I was in south africa for the rugby world cup in 95 and believe me - it should be a crime to drown out those amazing african voices chanting and singing. I still get goosebumps now at the memory of it.

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here here...

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To me it seems like those blowing their plastic trumpets are not watching the game - there's no variation when a team scores or someone gets a yellow card. Just a steady drone indicating they just want to make noise, not appreciate the game.

Is it not possible for NHK to put their announcers in a booth (like, say, in Tokyo) so they can announce the game sans vuvuzelas?

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I agree. Same reason I turn the sound off for Samurai Blue games -- two hours of nothing but "Nippon, Nippon, Nippon, Nippon...". So, please, no one in Japan should throw the first stone.

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How about some type of noise-cancelling device in the microphones on the field?

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I just turn off the volume and put on some Bethoven.

Yesterday, a morning "wide show" was reporting that non-trivial numbers of people end up vomiting because to the "ultra-low frequency vibration" from those vuvus. (I think they were saying the cause was 超低音波, so maybe someone can correct me on the translation.) So there are not only the sights and sounds, but also the perfume.

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Let them in for the SA team games only or something. I feel sorry for the real football fans who have spent a lot of money to travel thousands of miles to see their team and have to put up with some moron blowing a horn in their ear for 90 minutes.

They even have the dissrespect to blow them through the national anthems.

Ban them now, please!

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Baseball fans with those inflatable plastic tubes they use to clap during the whole match have the same effect on my ears & mood. Aim seems to be to make as much mindless noise as possible.

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I had no idea what a vuvuzela was. -But now I want one for sure. A vuvuzela with a compressed air canister maybe.

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Nobody likes the sounds of the vuvuzelas but so what? Let South Africa have its World Cup. It the South Africans' damn party!

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Unfortunately may fans will bring these back so they could be the future of world soccer matches.

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What about the constant "eeehhhhhh"'s of the commentators? That's almost as annoying.

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I am one of those that has decded to press the mute button. I realized that I could not listen to any sound from the field that was not the vuvus. Check yourselves: is any other game you can hear voices, the sound of the foot kicking the ball, the fans´ expressions, coaches´ shouts, etcetera. Here, I can hear nothing. I heard players, coaches, spectators and tv watchers are complaining a lot. This just have started, I dont think anyone can live a month of vuvus...

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FIFA has said that if one is thrown onto the pitch, they'll ban them.

There's hope for this world cup yet..

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It's the first thing I noticed, the noise! I like the chanting, the drums, the singing... But that sound drowns out all the rest, including my concentration of the game.

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Nothing wrong with vuvuzelas. Don't bother me at all.

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As I like nice sound I refuse to press the Mute button. But there is no meaning of sending 5.1 channel sound from the TV station - I wonder if they can save money with just mono ;-) Anyway vuvuzuzera is coming from everywhere and commentators from the center - no sound experience at all (yeah, I like to feel the atmosphere of the venue but its almost zero in this case).

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I see nothing wrong with vuvuzelas. I still hear the commentary and the noise of the crowd when something exciting going on.

Most probably they want to put some advertisements in the stadium and worried that people will not hear it :)

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I wonder if they get light-headed after blowing them for hours? Players and coaches are complaining because they can't hear each other. While watching the England/USA game I could barely hear any singing....yes even chants of 'USA, USA, USA' would have been a better alternative. Is anyone else having nightmares of bees attacking them???

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I think the horns sound cool. This is Africa's 1st world cup, the horns give it an African feel. Kronos is right.

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Horns or cheers, it is all noise. Get over it mate and enjoy the game.

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The Vuvuzela is an intrinsic part of South African football. To take it away would be to take something away form this world cup. Get over yourself, and let South Africa do its thing

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The Vuvuzela is an intrinsic part of South African football. To take it away would be to take something away form this world cup

utter nonsense. Unless you are a masochist.

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Agreed. The vuvuzela was kinda a good intimidating atmosphere when England and USA were walking out the tunnel, but it became irritating.

As already mentioned above, I'd rather hear some African chanting, normal crowd noises and the occasional vuvuzela than a constant stream of it.

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Blowing a horn is therapeutic for the blower.

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nandakandamanda - sure, if the blower is a 6 year-old child.

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Is that even music??

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seriously, can u imagine the IQ level of the person who blows one and says; "Yeah, that was cool!"

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Blowing a horn is therapeutic for the blower.

... if this intrinsic part of SA's football hertiage is so therapeutic for those blowing them, why is SA a crime-ridden country with a lot of problems?

They are annoying and spoil the atmosphere of the game- there is no atmosphere, just a constant irritating buzz.

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They were a bit distracting at first but I've gotten used to them.

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seriously, can u imagine the IQ level of the person who blows one and says; "Yeah, that was cool!"

I bet they can say it but they can't spell it ;)

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Made me crazy so quit watching

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noise is noise. Either you can hear screaming or humming.. Doesn't make much difference to me. I'd rather just turn the volume all the way down & play music while watching anyway.

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if you're watching it on TV in your own home, you can oooh and aaah to your hearts content and you won't be inconvenienced. if you're watching in a bar, chances are there won't be any horns there, so i see no problem with the horns. kinda reminds me of the roman colloseum, with the horns and the gladiators. lions and christians.

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As soon as TV ratings decrease, and potential revenue from sponsors is threatened, FIFA will act.

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Go Celtics!

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I really do not see the problem here.

If you are watching it at home, you can still hear the crowds and their chatter when an exciting attack happens. The sound is not that bad. But maybe that is me since I watch the game and do not care about what the commentators are saying. Most of it is rubbish anyway.

And when the crowds go ahhh/ohhh, they are taking their mouths off the instruments so you can hear people pretty well :))

If you are watching the game in a bar, it would be surprising if you can hear the vuvuzelas on TV over the cheering and the noise going on in a bar. If you can, well then, there is something wrong with the crowd you are watching. This is the World Cup!! Get on your feet and start cheering for cryin' out loud.

I have been watching the games at home so far and to be honest, I do not hear the vuvuzelas after a while. Since their noise is a constant note, my hearing gets used to it and I can completely ignore them. Just concentrate on the game and you will be amazed how easy that is.

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Hey, I did hear them go silent for a few seconds- when England's keeper 'Butterfingers' Green let the ball slip. I was in a pub with about 40 Englishmen and you could've heard a pin drop.

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Those HORNS!! They are loud, annoying, and utterly obnoxious, and lend nothing of value to the game other than noise purely for the sake of noise. Honestly, I'm more than a little surprised and disappointed that South African fans would think this mindless, incessant droning would be appropriate for an international tournament of this calibre.

A poster earlier nailed it on the head: If SA fans insist upon ruining the World Cup for the rest of the planet with this quaint tradition of mindless noise, then perhaps the World Cup should choose to avoid the shores of South Africa forever more.

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What atmosphere? Most of the games so far have been rubbish anyway.

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So they should just listen and conform, right? Gimme a break. Complain to FIFA for letting the S Africans host the event. It's their country, it's their way, let em be! It's way better than that constant "religious chant music" during games in the Middle East.

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I am not in the least a soccer fan. My wife, in typical Japanese fashion, did not even notice the noise as she watched the game. I had had enough after about five minutes of doing other things and asked what in the name of God was that horrid noise! I thought it was a soccer thing or a World Cup thing, and she did not know either. Now I know.

To me the thing smacks of a smoker incredulous of you saying the smoke bothers you. With that racket on, I feel like I have stuck my head in a bee hive. Its not something I can "just get used to". It causes me stress, so I am glad soccer is not my stress reliever in the first place. I pity those for whom it is.

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The vuvuzelas are not only distracting, the players literally can't hear themselves. Watch any game and half the players point to their ears and shrug when a play is stopped. Even the refs seem to have to scream. It may be 'African culture', but it is ruining the game. At least in a couple of the games it was finally overwhelmed by chants for certain countries, but I guess that's probably proximity to the camera mics more than anything else.

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http://soccer.fanhouse.com/2010/06/13/vuvuzela-ban-could-come-to-world-cup/ they may be banned thank god, it's so rude to blow those things constantly especially during a national anthem!

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Please get rid of the horns! Cheering and a 130 dB beehive is hardly the same. I think some of you are lacking some sensory input. I feel bad for the players having to deal with it.

Can't believe someone managed to bring smoking into this thread as well. Nice Wiz.

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Who cares, it's better than hearing stupid chants from other countries. It's a change people font really like. Maybe the horn was brought there for a reason.

Chanting and Singing is annoying !!!!

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The vuvuzela is evidence that South Africans are all tone deaf! But I do agree with whiskeysour - they may be the lesser of 2 evils - I hate all that mindless yobbo chanting soccer fans do!

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yay... nippon 1, camarooooooon 0!

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I agree, those should be banned immediately. At 130 decibels if you install it on your car, it will be illegal! So it's a "cultural" thing, but is brass band in Germany, yet you didn't see those over-shouting entire stadium. Come on FIFA, make at least one good decision and remove that crap from stadiums!

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I will be one, or three! One for home, one for driving and one for my office.

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Completely agree. Ban the things. They sound like a bunch of angry killer bees, not wanting to shut up. Totally kills the game.

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those vuvuzelas are so damn annoying that it makes me want to kill someone. the SOB who's in charge said that vuvuzelas will NOT be banned. The vuvuzela industry is worth $6.45 million in South Africa and Europe.

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I tuned into a match and heard the noise. I thought it was a problem with the microphones at the source. I didn't realize it was the vuvuzelas. It was pretty annoying but if that's what they want to use during the game, let them do it.

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Constant drone of vuvuzelas killing World Cup atmosphere

Oh and the endless drone of clapping and cheering and banging and jumping during a baseball game in japan is ok is it???

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not to mention any soccer game here as well...but baseball takes the cake with their neverending chants

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a World Cup spokesman insisted vuvuzelas are "ingrained in the history of South. Africa" and will remain. Rich Mkhondo also said vuvuzelas had worldwide appeal. "Let us not make this a South Africa instr ument alone," he said. "A vuvuzela is now an inte rnational instrument. People buy them and stuff them in their suitcase to go home. "Only a minority are against vuvuzelas. You either love them or hate. We in South Africa love them."

the unbelievable arrogance of this man "only a minority! the minority among SA football fans only, the vast majority of the rest of the world judging by any opinion poll in most countries say vanquish the vuvu. It's the World cup after all, not the "South African" cup, if they want to leave an impression of being uncouth boors, then so be it. This past weekend SA played France in a rugby international in SA: the vuvus were banned, thank goodness the rugby union still have brains in SA.

Other posters have countered with chanting, yes it can be loud but it can sound awesome, the human voice in unison can make amazing songs but the vuvu is wholly without any redeeming factor, it's excruciating loud, obnoxious and incessant, it's a form of torture.

I like the analogy to the smoker as mention above. Spot on.

Until a hero throws one on the pitch and gets them banned I will keep watching on mute with some fast paced classical music playing, also solves the problem of the inept commentary offered up in Japan. ....sou desu ne! ne?

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Well you cannot mistake the things for cheering can you? A chant may or may not be, but this bee imitation is definitely not. Its just noise, like laying on the horn of a car for hours on end. Let them do it on their own time. This is the world's time now. If this is all South Africa has to add to soccer, tough.

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it is in my culture to repeatedly punch the person next to me in the ear during a ballet performance, it is firmly ingrained in my history and will remain(JOKE) lol 130db could cause permanent ear damage im off to book a plane ticket and a lawyer....... im surprised people havent sued already

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Wow, the sound really doesn't bother me at all. I find it exciting. But let the South-Africa-bashing continue - it's not like it ever stops.

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They sell these horns here in the Netherlands as well, only they sound more like a sick elephant to me. Extremely obnoxious, thank god here they only blow them when the Dutch team plays. Seems like good business for the Chinese plastic industry, and the hearing-aids industry, in a month. I pity the fans who attend and the players!

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If the games were in England the sound of puking and the breaking of ribs would be clearly audible. And a constant stream of swearing.

I say play on to the SA fans. Its their party and they can play what they want to.

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On second thought, I heard from someone who attended a game that a large amount of spittle rains forth from the mouths of the vuvuzelas. At this, I might draw the line... Maybe they can just restrict it to the SA games?

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Well, I was right about offering noise cancelling as a solution. Just read that the BBC and ESPN are using filters to subdue the noise. I guess I can toot my own horn.

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"If the games were in England the sound of puking and the breaking of ribs would be clearly audible. And a constant stream of swearing."

Not anymore- years ago they developed a filter to smother auditory crowd noise, mostly because of the nasty things that fans were singing about opposing players wives, sisters, mother, etc.. And to answer your next question: I've heard from my football-mad Irish friend that they can cancel out the incessant parping of the Volvos too if they so desired but haven't done so yet. It would be nice if viewers had the option, wouldn't it?

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Yep, its been no more. No more raging killer bee annoying buzz in Japan anymore. Cancelled out.

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