Will The Vuvuzelas Be Silenced?

For those living under a rock (or just not been watching the World Cup at all), the vuvuzelas are the plastic horns that have been played by the crowd in the World Cup, and when played in unison create a loud buzzing sound. And they have indeed succeed in creating quite the buzz early on in this World Cup. So much so that many are calling for them to be banned from the World Cup, and World Cup organizers have been entertaining the idea. From ESPN.com

South Africa's World Cup organizing chief Danny Jordaan said Sunday there is a chance vuvuzelas may be banned from inside stadiums after numerous complaints, BBC News has reported.

Asked whether he'd consider getting rid of the trumpets, he said: "If there are grounds to do so, yes. We did say that if any land on the pitch in anger we will take action."

France captain Patrice Evra has already blamed the noise generated by the vuvuzelas for his team's poor showing in its opening 0-0 draw with Uruguay.

"We can't sleep at night because of the vuvuzelas," Evra said. "People start playing them from 6 a.m. We can't hear one another out on the pitch because of them."

Jordaan said organizers are doing everything possible.

"We've tried to get some order," Jordaan said. "We have asked for no vuvuzelas during national anthems or stadium announcements. It's difficult, but we're trying to manage the best we can."

"I would prefer singing," he said.

The first-round contests introduced most of the world to the vuvuzela, a plastic trumpet carried into the matches and blown on incessantly by thousands of fans. On television, it sounds as if the game is being played before a nest of angry bees.

It's louder at the games than it is on the telecast. ESPN is altering the sound mix on its broadcasts to minimize the crowd noise, network spokesman Bill Hofheimer said. The network has accepted it as part of the atmosphere and has made no complaints about the vuvuzelas, he said.

The sound is driving others crazy, though.

"The constant drone of cheap and tuneless plastic horns is killing the atmosphere of the World Cup," wrote John Leicester, an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. He wrote that it is drowning out the oohs, aahs and cheers that lend excitement to the matches.

Plainly, many of the fans take pride in the tradition.

A website informing visitors about South Africa, www.safrica.info, describes the vuvuzelas as "a beautiful noise for the beautiful game."

It is quite obvious that the vuvuzelas have become an integral part of South African soccer and should be recognized as such. It is true that FIFA has a problem on their hands right now, and one that should have been prevented. We all got a taste of the vuvuzelas during the 2009 Confederations Cup, and after several complaints from players and broadcasters, FIFA were supposed to take serious consideration to banning them for the World Cup. FIFA did not learn their lesson and now they have millions upon millions of vuvuzelas out and about in South Africa annoying some people who prefer to not have to hear bee sounds 24 hours a day for a whole month. That being said, a ban on them now would be the most futile ban on something since Prohibition.

That's not to say I don't have a problem with the vuvuzelas, because I do. Their main purpose is to support South Africa's Bafana Bafana by creating a loud buzzing sound designed to resemble Bafana Bafana's buzzing around the soccer ball. This works because the Bafana Bafana wear yellow jerseys, thus, they really are like bees. That being said, what on earth is their purpose in soccer games not involving Bafana Bafana? In no way, shape, or form do vuvuzelas in anyway add to the atmosphere of a soccer match between U.S.A. and England. I want to hear the chants of the American and English crowd, and the overwhelming sound of the vuvuzelas prevent this. And that does not even begin to touch what it does to some of the South American crowds who come up with some of the most liveliest chants in soccer, rendered now completely inaudible on TV thanks to the vuvuzela. They drown out all noises in the crowd. If FIFA were smart and sensitive to everyone, they would have allowed the vuvuzelas only in games featuring Bafana Bafana. But that solution was too easy that no one thought of it. And now they have become the "soundtrack of the 2010 World Cup" and are waking the entire country up at 6 AM.

And if FIFA want to keep their heads physically attached to their shoulders, they need to keep it that way.