Vuvuzelas have some reaching for volume control
The World Cup continues today in South Africa, with five-time champion Brazil opening play against North Korea.
The World Cup continues today in South Africa, with five-time champion Brazil opening play against North Korea.
What do you think? Comment below.
The Brazilians are number one in the world, while the North Koreans are ranked 105th.
Most of the buzz from this year’s World Cup isn’t coming from the field, but the fans.
Around the world, TV viewers have been complaining about vuvuzelas, the plastic horns that create a constant buzzing sound. After hundreds of complaints in the U-K, the BBC is considering offering viewers the possibility of muting most ambient noise while maintaining game commentary.
This has a lot of people in Mid-Michigan talking.
On our Facebook page – Pamela wrote, “After about 15 min. we had to turn the TV down because the noise was giving me a headache. I wonder if it is so grating live?”
Mike says, “Totally annoying. Sounds like a never ending swarm of bees, or worse, mosquitoes!”
Marcia left this message: “We had to turn it off it was horrible. How do the players concentrate?”
And Richard threw his two cents in with this post. “On a surround sound it becomes fingernails on a black board.”
You can tell us what you think on our Facebook page, too.
With more now on the battle between tradition and Tylenol is ABC 12’s Kevin Goff.
While watching world-class athletes can be exciting, listening to the constant drone in the background can give you a headache.
You’ve seen them at some local sporting events, and now you can hear their deafening roar at every World Cup Soccer match.
The vuvuzela is part of African tradition, but it offers a head-splitting annoyance to TV audiences not familiar with the cheap, plastic instrument. “It’s originally from like the horn of an antelopes, which is a kind of deer, which was used by warriors and hunters. And then they changed that to use those creating the simple plastic tube,” said Joel Hachem.
Hachem teaches computer science at Mott Community College. A native of northwest Africa, Hachem played professional soccer for 15 years and has been around the noisemakers. “It’s just tradition. For example, in Italy they use a lot of drums. In France they use a lot of singing.”
At 127 decibels, the vuvuzela is four times as loud as a chainsaw and twice as loud as a cowbell. Newer vuvuzelas are not as loud, but are still calling for a stadium-wide ban.
Not so Hachem. “If you want to ban it, you have to ban everything that is done in every single country. It’s a cultural thing,” Hachem said. “How are you going to ban something cultural? Germany scored four goals the other day. It’s not stopping people from scoring goals and winning.”
Any device over 85 decibels can cause ear damage with prolonged exposure.
Becoming just as popular now among many fans may be ear plugs.
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Kevin Goff