I take you along to Foxboro Stadium for a World Cup match between Paraguay and Germany — my first live World Cup experience. Between the multicultural crowd, the national anthems that had me tearing up, and Paraguay's stunning underdog upset in penalty kicks, I stumble onto an unexpected connection to the show's whole theme: the World Cup actually ranks players on a "creativity" score, rewarding risky, original play over safe, predictable passes. Turns out even professional athletes know playing it safe is the real risk.
I take you along to Foxboro Stadium for a World Cup match between Paraguay and Germany — my first live World Cup experience. Between the multicultural crowd, the national anthems that had me tearing up, and Paraguay's stunning underdog upset in penalty kicks, I stumble onto an unexpected connection to the show's whole theme: the World Cup actually ranks players on a "creativity" score, rewarding risky, original play over safe, predictable passes. Turns out even professional athletes know playing it safe is the real risk.
- Please watch my TEDx talk, How I Redeemed 35 Years of Regret; you can also view it at triciaroseburt.com
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No Time to Be Timid is written and produced by me, Tricia Rose Burt. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch. Our executive producers are Amy Grant, Nancy Perot, and Sage Wheeler. Thanks also to the contributors to my Fractured Atlas fiscal sponsorship, which helps make this podcast happen. No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of No Time to Be Timid Productions.
Hey there, I'm Tricia Rose Burt. And in this podcast, we talk to artists who show us how to find the courage to take risks, step out of our comfort zones, and use our creativity to make our work and change our world. Pay close attention because this is no time to be timid.
What does the World Cup have to do with creativity? That's the question my husband asked me as we were driving to Boston to see the Paraguay Germany game. And I said I was going to use the experience as podcast content. I told him, Well, one of the most important things you can do as an artist is to be curious. Try experiences you've never tried before. And I've never been to a World Cup. Now I was raised on Southeastern Conference football, and I know little to nothing about soccer.
But my husband is an Irishman who was raised on, as the world calls it, the beautiful game. With the World Cup in our backyard, my husband was not about to miss the chance to see a match. And since I spend most of my time in the New Hampshire woods, I was excited to jump into this multicultural extravaganza. We park at a hotel about a mile from Foxboro Stadium, home of the New England Patriots, and we wander among a sea of people dressed in every imaginable soccer jersey, speaking every possible language.
We meet Peruvians here to cheer on their neighbor Paraguay. A Chinese family who now live in Canada who came to Boston after their first visit to New York. An Indian couple rooting for Germany who explain that India isn't good at soccer because all the money goes to cricket. Inside the stadium, even more people, more jerseys, more languages. We climb to nearly the top of the stadium and take our seats. On our right are Paraguayan singing.
On our left are Germans screaming Deutschland at the top of their lungs. The pregame music is blaring.
Gigantic screens are all over the stadium. They flash World Cup data, including player power rankings, which I assume are ways to evaluate the players. And they flash up categories like attacking and defending, which you'd expect. And then suddenly they flash up creativity. And below that word, a list of three players from each team. And I think, what the heck? The World Cup actually ranks soccer players by their creativity.
I had to look up what a creativity power ranking measures. It's amazing how much it aligns with what we do as artists and entrepreneurs. It measures a player's ability to use vision and execution to overcome challenges and progress the ball towards the goal. That includes completing difficult, high-risk passes, creating chances to score, making progress down the field, and originality, the ability to choose unpredictable solutions.
That catch the defense off guard rather than making safe standard passes. Apparently, in the World Cup, the riskiest thing you can do is play it safe. Literally, they were living the manifesto. Although, in the case of the World Cup, I'm not sure teams view failure as their friend. There is something spectacular about seeing a live performance, whether it's soccer or theater or music. You feel the energy and the emotion.
I start tearing up when I hear the national anthems, and I have no attachment to these two countries. But the fans are singing their hearts out, bursting with pride.
You begin to understand the art form better. I've seen a million soccer matches on TV. I'd only seen it live once, and that time we were too close to the pitch to get an overall view. So from way up in that stadium, I could see the game in its entirety and actually begin to understand it, or at least ask intelligent questions. As we watch the game, my husband sees me recording sounds and he says, Trisha, what you really want is the sound when they score a goal. And he offers to be in charge of that.
And damned if he doesn't catch great audio when Paraguay scores.
To play that recording for myself every time I do something hard. Now, you may have seen the game on TV or read about it, and if you did, you know it was literally one for the record books. Germany is supposed to dominate Paraguay, but regulation play ends with an even score, so they go into overtime and then into penalty kicks. Penalty kicks are excruciating, even if you have no skin in the game. My nerves are shot as these men line up under united.
Unbelievable pressure in front of 64,000 people, their national pride at stake, all their training and discipline and hard work on the line. The tension is insane. Now, I started this game with no allegiance to either team. But as the game continued, I'm for Paraguay because they're the underdog and I start to relate to them. I want to know that I can go up against a four-time World Cup winner and beat the odds, too, that if I show up,
Believe in myself and practice my creativity daily that I can make an impact. And if I have community, I know I will have courage. In a seismic upset, Paraguay wins. The crowd goes wild. And there's hope for us all.
Thanks for joining us. And hey, if you have a minute, please check out my TEDx talk that's now live. It's called How I Redeemed 35 Years of Regret. I talk about a decision I made in my 20s that I regretted for three decades and finally made right in my 60s after making an audacious move. You can view it on my website at TrishaRoseburt.com or on YouTube by searching for Trisha Rose Burt TEDx Portsmouth.
The story's been resonating with lots of folks. And if it resonates with you, please leave a comment and share it with your friends. This will help the story reach a broader audience. Thanks in advance for your support. And remember, this is no time to be timid.
No Time to Be Timid is written and produced by me, Tricia Rose Burt. Our episodes are produced and scored by Adam Arnone of Echo Finch. And our executive producers are Amy Grant, Nancy Perot, and Sage Wheeler. I'd also like to thank contributors to my fractured Atlas fiscal sponsorship, which helps make this podcast happen. No Time to Be Timid is a presentation of No Time to Be Timid Productions.