Sunday's Passion is Analog

My name is Rodrigo. I couldn't care less about soccer. Actually, I absolutely hate it. Yes, I really hate it. If I weren't Argentine, that wouldn't be a problem. The problem is that I am Argentine, and the country I live in loves soccer above all else, having produced two of the world's greatest soccer players, Maradona and Messi. In my country, conversations about anything other than soccer simply don't happen. Day or night, anytime.

Meanwhile, Argentina surpasses Brazil in smartphone penetration and rivals the US and Canada in active social media users. So this equation becomes the key: (Passion for soccer) × (Number of smartphones owned) × (Number of social media posts per person) = ? The answer is hopeless. A nation that adores soccer pours all that passion into sharing it relentlessly, digitally, 24 hours a day. I want you, dear readers, to imagine my agony.

On Sundays, every soccer fan in Argentina (the entire population minus one—that's me) heads to the stadium to cheer on their favorite team. They do this to broadcast and share their live match experience via smartphones and social media. That's when something wonderful happens. Something wonderful that should happen in an Argentine stadium. So many people access it simultaneously that the servers crash. And suddenly, not a single person can upload photos or comments of what's happening right before their eyes. Real-time is everything! Of course, everyone in the stands goes berserk.

For the average Argentine citizen, TV-watching fans commenting on social media is just not cool. It's worthless unless you're posting from the stadium! And so, 90 minutes of blissful peace descend upon me. Only I, stuck at home with zero connection to the soccer match, have free rein over the internet. Seizing the moment, I flood Facebook and Twitter with photos of baseball and American football. What a wonderfully dreamlike time.

Even though I'm obsessed with foreign sports, no one can blame me. Because the entire nation, except me, is at the stadium, unable to connect to the internet and seething with frustration. In Argentina, Sunday passion remains analog.

(Supervised by: Dentsu Inc. Aegis Network Business Division)