Beyond the Horns, a Beautiful Game

'It's noisy, it's energy, rhythm, music, dance, drums. This is Africa, we have to adapt a little."

So said Joseph S. Blatter, the president of FIFA, the world soccer organization, and a citizen of Switzerland. He would not "Europeanize" an African World Cup. The controversial plastic horn, the vuvuzela, that has turned watching soccer into sheer hell, is here to stay.

It was inevitable that the tacky plastic horns would be given sanctity and pedigree. In one telling, these instruments are the modern-day version of the Kudo horn blown to summon African villagers to communal meetings. In another, the vuvuzelas emerged from the culture of the townships and a history of oppression.