Vuvuzelas.  Call their tune a mixture of something in between the sound a wounded duck would make and the sound of Australia via an Outback Steakhouse commercial.

Perhaps an even better way to describe one would be to instead refer to the movie Dumb and Dumber – yes, the bonehead comedy starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels.

How?  Here’s how:

Yes, friends – that’s how I personally would describe those long, plastic horns that so many soccer (or football, if you’re across the pond) fans are using during the 2010 World Cup matches.

If you haven’t already heard (oh, the irony with that statement), the horns are called vuvuzelas – and yours truly is going to refer to them as the “official voice of the 2010 World Cup.”

Upon first tuning into the World Cup over the weekend to check out the United States vs.vuvuzelas-the-annoying-horns-at-the-world-cupEngland, I fully knew that heading into the match, I would hear the gentle buzzing of the vuvuzelas – but really thought nothing of it at the time.

Before the match began, there was a brief discussion about them by the commentators on ABC, stating that each horn costs about a dollar to make – yet were going for approximately 12 to 13 bucks at the stadium.  Don’t quote me on those figures – they’re just how I remembered them off the top of my head – but it was somewhere in that ballpark.

Then the game started.

Yeah, not so gentle whatsoever.

As the story goes, the vuvuzelas are commonly a means for fans to cheer the game (and their team) in South Africa.

Here’s more info on the vuvuzela – as reported here during the Confederations Cup last year:

But we all know there are a lot of tourists in the region traveling just to see the World Cup.

How many people are purchasing these horns?  Why are they using them and of what age, nationality and sex are each of these people?

It isn’t that big of a deal to know the answer.  It’s more curiosity, because in the United States – it’s kind of like going to a 4th of July fireworks show – and seeing the vendors that are out in the venue.  It’s always the kids that end up with sparklers and those glow in the dark necklaces – and NEVER the adults.

So how does it work for these horns at the World Cup?  Is it anything like America’s Independence Day, or is this just the theory of a “stupid Yank”, perhaps?

Or maybe it’s just the locals breaking out the vuvuzelas?

Hey, maybe we don’t quite understand the novelty, here… as their importance to the culture – that very much could be true… but one thing’s for sure… the vuvuzelas do not escape our minds.

In fact, I hear the buzzing in my head of these ridiculous horns for hours after a match.  It happened that day after the U.S. tied England, and it was that way again after Germany routed Australia earlier.

It’s going to be that way for the rest of the tournament, unless I mute my TV.  That is, unless a higher power behind the World Cup itself bans them.

There has been talk of that too, by the way.

Until then, I’ll just have to channel my inner-Lloyd Christmas, and watch some soccer.

What about you?  What are your thoughts on the vuvuzelas?  Chime in below:

What's your opinion on the vuvuzelas at the 2010 FIFA World Cup?

  • They are annoying - please get rid of them! (59%, 10 Votes)
  • They don't bother me one bit. (35%, 6 Votes)
  • I mute my TV so I don't have to hear them. (6%, 1 Votes)
  • The vuvu-whatzits?! (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 17

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