A solider reading a paperback instead of getting interested in a sports match? I am having a hard time with that. They must've gotten tired of being chastised for cheering their own team. I am reminded of two extremes. One is P.J. O'Rourke's tale of visiting Nicaragua at the height of Daniel Ortega's rule. He couldn't find any chickens roaming the streets, which were the staple of normal life even in poorer nations of Latin America. Someone had nationalized the life out of the place. In contrast, there was a Wimbledon (or perhaps another tennis tournament) where some Australians had made the trip but their nation's only player was knocked out early. So they went to a match where a Russian female was playing a much higher seed without many fans. The Aussies started cheering her with a permutation of their normal chant: "Russia, Russia, oy-oy-oy!" The Russian didn't win, but she rallied hard from the support.