Soccer Detox.

Another world cup come and gone...

A month of watching matches almost on a daily basis does set the start of a habit. It only takes twenty one days of repeats to ingrain a habit. All well and good, but how to satiate the thirst for more games? World cup caliber ones?

For the last few hours I have been reminiscing about the good times of these last four weeks, those times at the start of the first game of the day, snack at hand and no work to be done. A repast from daily life, a chance to float abroad, observe extremely happy fans and see the best of the best kicking a ball if not each other. What more could one want...

The final yesterday was brilliant, breathtaking and nail biting all in one. Both sides played in a manner to keep us glued sans toilet breaks lest we miss a goal although, somehow I found out today that there were three streakers? Where was I at that crucial moment?.

One side had to lose and the Croatian team handled it with dignity and character. Their president, in fact, both team's presidents did their nations and national teams proud. Enthusiasm without bounds. To witness their sheer joy was priceless and, honestly, when was the last time we saw a head of state grin from ear to ear nonstop? Yesterday was a great reminder that our elected politicians are mere human after all even if some of them have forgotten it.

Well done to France for winning this world cup. Viva La France.

Biggi

What A Cracker Of A Match.

England only two matches away...

Soccer, a game that makes grown men cry. Swedish spectators showed faces in agony and seeing a grown man dissolve into tears brings home just how feverish they follow the sport.

That fabulous England coach has set the new standard for coaches. His attire was magnificent and only reinforced what he stands for; character, manners and fair play. A breath of fresh air indeed and quite frankly, he could easily blend into the cast of Downton Abbey.

The atmosphere in the stadium was electric and once the fans started to sing God Save The Queen, I had goose bumps and thought of all those royal documentaries Bob and I watch. After all, a century or so ago, two cousins ( who could have passed for brothers ) ruled Russia and England.

I have to admit that I slept through all the other England matches but from what I saw today, it felt as if the team decided to play fair. No unneccessary theatrics, no devious kicks and no wasting time. Brilliant and I can't wait for the finals which I predict they'll win!

All the favourites have crashed out of the tournament but you know something, that makes it more fun to watch soccer again. Predictability for fans and players creates boredom and as we've seen, lethal mistakes.

Bob was cross as blazes for he had to leave ten minutes before the end of the game. The fire brigade has set training for six o'clock. At least there were no upsets in those final moments which after what we've seen so far, wasn't a given. An exciting week ahead...

biggi

I'll Be Watching Juergen Klopp Tonight!

Manchester United versus Liverpool...

Bob very politely but firmly told me that he'll be watching the game on TV tonight and therefore yours truly will too. Just to get me into the soccer mood, we watched the UEFA game last night, but I fell asleep and Bob didn't see the end either.

This Mr. Klopp has something about him, and even though he tends to project a slightly scruffy look, he has a loyal female fan-club and I put myself in it. Thus, Liverpool will be my team to cheer for.

Tonight is one of those nights that used to be had watching Dallas back in the 80's...supper done early, chips and drinks ready and separate couches occupied. My Schatzi prefers Manchester United to Liverpool and it will give us a healthy bit of competition.

The local pubs and clubs will be filled to the rafters and quite frankly, the noise level might be a tad bit too much. Soccer fans plus beer, equal a lot of noise and rules re-explained to the referee, who of course can hear every word that is thrown at him from every TV screen across the world!

A quick trip to the shops to get the staples needed to enjoy a match ( chips, dip, chocolate ) might be a good idea, and just so I don't nod off before halftime, I think I'll get out a hard backed kitchen chair to sit on instead of the slumber inducing couch.

The game being played between two English clubs will mean that a handful of WAG's (Wives and Girlfriends ) will be decorating the stands and of course causing a thumb-pede online, with women trying to copy their look.

Biggi

Why Can't A Soccer World Cup Be Held Twice In A Row In The Same Country?

Where is the common sense?

Every four years, a country rejoices and starts building like mad to entertain soccer enthusiasts for a mere four weeks. Of course it is a tremendous advertising affair for the host country and some will make oodles of money although it seems that the main " oodler " of money still is FIFA.

The 2010 World cup was a success for South Africa on the one hand but what about now, with unused stadia and debt still being paid off? The average man in the street is still waiting for the proverbial gold raining down upon the FIFA chosen country! Or in other words, they are waiting for the amenities that were promised to them for relocating ( a BBC report ).

Gosh, I can still remember someone telling me, that in Pietermaritzburg ( which was not a venue but an hour away from the Moses Madiba stadium ) where she had a small B&B, she had to agree to up her prices by about a third and also to hand over money to FIFA for every client had during the world cup period, or she wouldn't be put on the official list of accommodations...even if it was an urban myth, a bit of truth still remains. Even domestic airlines upped their prices!

Not many countries have made a pure profit from one of these major sporting affairs and even the Olympics is questionable. We all know that at the moment, Greece is in financial turmoil. Greece has hosted a recent Olympics and why can't they be chosen to hold a few choice tournaments right now? One way to help financially.

When you start to look at the impact a World cup has on the environment ( interesting article in Scientific America ), we should really demand that any venue gets used a few times in a row despite all the promises that all building of stadia is environmentally friendly.

At the end of the day, white elephants are built ( eg in Cape Town, Nelspruit and shockingly in Manaus, a town located deep in the Amazon. There are reports that the latter stadium will be used as a detention area to help with already over crowded prisons ) that are only used for 4 weeks. Again, 4 weeks only!

Wasting resources and money, when so many are going without is not a nice thing to do...and that is why I am wondering,

why we can't reuse stadia a few times at least?

Yes, even writing this, I know it sounds naive given how intricate and bundled up the money making FIFA machine is, but yesterday I heard a former Finance Minister say that at the end of the day,

it all boils down to what his mum taught him...don't spend more than you have!

Often we do make things so complicated that a humble teaching from long ago does make more sense. Why should we build more, when we have so much standing idle and empty?

Biggi

A Bite, A Goal & A Need For Contact Lenses!

A New World Order in Soccer perhaps?

You know, I could never understand the euphoria of the mega Football Clubs winning a match, league or tournament. On the one hand it was great soccer being played ( mostly ) but on the other hand there was this niggling thought in the back of my mind:

They are only winning because they have the biggest purse....

Whose fault is it that clubs purchase talent as opposed to nurturing young sprigs into talented club players? Are we so driven by results that we forget about the sheer enjoyment of a soccer match where relatively unknowns score goals? Yes, some of you already are thinking how naive I am; let's face it, worldwide, money rules above all else and we abet this in a way because we cheer for the clubs and pay to watch them.

These mega clubs with mega purses and a bevy of soccer stars competing in a league, is the same as those fun races at school, where some of us had to hop on one leg while others could use two. A foregone conclusion!

Do you also feel it? There is a change afoot in the status quo of international soccer. This World Cup in Brazil is highlighting a problem....the Big Stars aren't performing as expected. Maybe they only do so well when they have other Superstar team mates to help them score the goals. Some almost looks like lost lambs on the pitch, not sure what to do without a ball to kick while others were amazing, ie .Arjen Robben. Wherever you looked, he was in the mix making opportunities for his team. Nice.

No one will forget the match played last night. The nail biting, shoulder biting one. The Italy - Uruguay one. Italy having to pack their bags to fly home is small fry. Having a repeat biter showing his fangs on the International stage is the clear winner of headlines and dare I say coffee break discussions ( albeit the new reality of coffee break discussions is everyone sitting having a cup of coffee while typing up a tweet or posting on Facebook...very sad.).

It was rather funny hearing the German commentator during and after the incident. He once or twice said that ' the biter / Der Beisser " was in control of the ball. A minute later he must have been tasked in his earpiece, because he used his full name after that...

The only thing I want to add to this " Draculian " affair, is that normally toddlers do it to get attention and he should have been given a funky tooth guard like rugby players wear.

Leading up to the departure of Italy from the World Cup 2014, were a lot of blundering obvious misses. How on earth can such seasoned, professional and mega rich players miss a goal by such distances. Not once, but often. Did they want to lose, or should they have their eyesight tested? The kids in our village wouldn't have missed some of these goal opportunities...

Biggi

Soccer Madness Has Taken Over.

The World Cup 2014 will be one to remember, I think.

Somehow the recent upsets of the Titans / Big Shots / Millionaires of soccer not making that much of a difference, ( ie. countries that everyone had tagged for the semi finals, are not even past the first round of matches ) has made this tournament come alive for us spectators.

Far from favourites, suddenly upsetting the apple cart and winning matches is a treat to behold. Watching these modern day " gladiators " battling it out is fun. Granted, some of them are prone to do a bit too much acting the closer they are to loosing a match. A mere opposing finger tip touching them is their cue for a wonderful impression of a worm wreathing about on the floor.

By the by, do the " thespian " players think we are that gullible? One minute they are agonizing on the floor and the next they are going for it full guns ahead! Highly suspicious...

Isn't a World Cup tournament a sort of Shopping Mall for the various clubs and trainers? They are all out looking to spend oodles of money. Just like in a mall they'll have the discount shops and the luxury ones. Talent will get discovered and I imagine laziness uncovered...

Have you also noticed how at times the important stars, those that do earn unbelievable amounts of money, seem not so eager any more? Let's face it, if you had 10 / 20 or more million in the bank ( and know that there is more on the way ) would you still give it your all? Are these soccer stars reflecting the malaise of society? Overindulged, bored and wanting for little.

What I have noticed about this particular World Cup and not really seen at others, is the large amount of players sporting tattoos. Are they trying to out match one another while at the same time have one up on the guy that started the craze; one David Beckham?

Yesterday's match between France & Switzerland was a cracker of a game. Wow, edge of your seat kind of stuff. A spectators heaven. This is what we want to see. A team pulling on the same rope and finding the net again and again.

On a personal note, Bob kicked a soccer ball about while waiting for our class to start. He was showing off and pretending to look as light as a feather on his feet while at the same time flicking the ball forward.

" Schatzi, you are like Messi....only spelled with a Y. "

at least I can still get Bob to laugh with real abandon...

Biggi

Soccer Fans: How Do You Show Your Support & Loyalty?

They don't make them like they used to!

Granted, I do prefer Jürgen's boys and I am honest enough to admit that I find him rather magnetic resulting in my cheering for the black & Gold....Borussia Dortmund. But, should they not be playing I will of course root for the red & white of Bayern Munich. Their coach is also so, oh la la!

Sep, that hunk, must surely be responsible for a lot of men wearing suits again? Oh and sporting a shaved head along with a six pack. Remember how in the olden days a lot of the coaches wore the Adidas sweats, chewed gum and had a beer belly to boot. Adidas sweats before they became trendy by the way... No pin - ups there.

The match on Tuesday night was momentous, important and obviously not to everyone's liking. Someone has to win and someone has to lose. That the losing team was Bayern Munich was to put it mildly not so nice. Bob at one stage got so het up, he started shouting more than usual at the screen.

" They can't hear you Bob, but our neighbour surely can ".

Bayern has had a fantastic few years and were winning more often than not. Personally, I found the match a bit more interesting to watch. The underdog and so forth. Till the last ten minutes I could picture the miracle of 5 goals in a row. Seriously, I saw ( alas in my mind only ) Bayern shooting them. After a while I realized my mistaken optimism. Bob had tried to tell me numerous times of the impossibility of 5 let alone 1 goal, but it could have happened.

Watching the match on TV ( and even that is a treat because let me tell you that they don't show the away matches ) I could not believe my eyes when after half time, a lot of the Bayern fans started to leave. Jeez-a-lou that made me cross. How rude and arrogant. Hey you guys, being a fan means supporting your team in the good and bad times.
There is my saintly Bob ( a.k.a. Schatzi ) still supporting West Ham United after all these years....enough said.

Have we as a society become so one sided & shallow that only winning counts? I find that rather sad. Walking out on this match ( or switching over the channel before the end ) has made a lot of fans miss out on seeing their team try valiantly to score goals. They missed out on being there when their team needed them. The players must have noticed the exodus of fans during the match and that surely felt like the opposing team scored another few goals.

P/S: Bayern, I cheered for you until the last whistle was blown and unless you play against Borussia Dortmund, I will cheer for you again!

Biggi

Sebastian Vettel, Tina Maze & Man United Are Sans Pedestal.

Favourites falling out of favour makes it fun for them and us viewers again.

Last year's season of F1, Vettel won almost every race he started. Great in one way but not very exciting for us to watch. What is the fun of it when you sort of know the outcome already. Now this season ( 2014 ) has had changes in engine etc and Sebastian is not winning races. So far.

That is one of the incentives to watch the next races because we know that now he will fight his way back to winning. It makes him a human sports hero. You see, just like us, he has ups & downs.

Take soccer for example. Manchester United has had a change of trainer. The idol has left or rather retired and is it really fair to assume the man stepping in his shoes will do exactly as he did? Yes, Man United is not winning matches. Yes, at times it seems like they are jinxed. But if you are a proper fan, you need to be even more supportive of them now than at any other time.

For all of you true Man United fans: When your club starts winning again, your chests will swell as if you had scored the goals yourself. Wait, it won't be long..

In the sport of alpine skiing Tina Maze seemed to win every race she skied in the last season. Fantastic for her, but at times rather a let down to watch. When one person is so good and winning every time, it takes away the fun of seeing the underdog / newcomer or old & written off, win. This season, Tina didn't ski so well (apart from the Olympics, of course) and you should have heard the hoopla around it...yet, I loved watching her ski because she tried like blazes to gain an extra milli second or two. Gosh, she smiled a lot of the time and was pleased as punch to get a good result. Yes, she had fun at the office again!

Of course it is oh-so-easy being a fan ( or a spouse for that matter ) when times are good. The trick to being loyal, supportive and growing in character is to accompany our sports heroes through bad times too. Believe me, they feel bad themselves and booing a performance that is not to your expectation, is just plain rude.

As a society we tend to be hung up on winning and being the best. But how fatiguing and silly. Being normal and going through ups & downs of our lives...is life. Being normal is good. Being normal lets us rather enjoy what we have without always feeling the need to strive for more.
If the " fans " in your life are complaining that you don't win every race, maybe it is time to find new ones...

Biggi

Ladies, How Do You Watch Soccer On TV?

As opposed to our men...?

Last night's Germany versus England 2013 match was really only discovered by chance.
Thankfully I took the trouble of glancing at the TV times and as luck would have it, it was shown on ARD ( the first column on the page ). Of course all those other rather good programs were dismissed. By the way, nice job of trying to tempt us away from the soccer. Almost but not quite!

Having just returned from the weekly gym class, I was rather more alert and awake than usual. A kick off at 21.00 hours is more often suited for the younger lot. At such a late hour, the rest of us are more than likely engaging in a bout of TV sleep. Some say it is the best type? How do men, who also add a few beers into the mix, keep awake?

Straight off, Bob and I established that we were both routing for the same team-Germany and made outlandish predictions. My 5-2 prediction ( eh, not reached ) was partly fueled by catching sight of my favourite Soccer-TV-commentator...the divine Mehemt Scholl. A very nice guy who is rather dishy in addition. Gosh, why did I not watch Bayern Munich when he still played?

Once the game got underway, it kind of resembled air-soccer for a while with lots of high kicking legs to be seen! Not so nice to watch for the simple reason that it is extremely difficult to keep track of who has the ball etc. Maybe that induced me to recline more on the sofa bed and take off my glasses. Oh, I still watched sporadically...

All that air-soccer aided me into my first sleep cycle. Every time there was a big cheer ( or a loud snore from Bob ) I woke up. Luckily I managed to witness the important and only goal. Bob, sadly did not. When I nudged him awake for the 2nd half, he had the cheek to question whether I had really seen the goal. Do you know how sneaky he is? His " So, who scored the goal? " , had me wrong footed...

The second half was interspersed with seeing colourful soccer boots and colourful goalies. As a person who needs glasses ( the only time I had 20 / 20 vision with them was the day I got them, smudge-free ) it is awfully confusing that firstly, the German team wore a green usually seen on the Irish, and secondly, that both goalies chose to wear bright orange uniforms. I mean, really, how am I meant to know who is who?

If it wasn't for that helpful ticker tape on the top left of our TV screen keeping score, the goalies uniform might have confused me... All those men snickering right now, just remember that I am a new re-convert to watching soccer.

Watching an entire match, yet not seeing the whole match is alright for me. The cheering of the crowd and Bob's snores / cheers / boo's were ample enough to help me witness the most important parts of the match. Oh yes, even watching it my way, I love watching it.

Biggi

F.C. Bayern Munich's Semi-Final Soccer U.E.F.A. Cup 2013.

Bayern Munich has gained another Fan !

" When you are good, you are good " seemed an appropriate saying last night. Whenever a Bavarian shod foot touched the soccer ball it was almost a forgone conclusion that it would either find the right goal or at least avert a wrong one ! Poetry in motion.

Rules and regulations of Soccer ( apart from the fairly obvious ones ) are a mystery to me but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the game. In fact, it surely makes it more fun to watch. Ardent fans with their encyclopedic knowledge of the rules can at times get so caught up in a " questionable " Referee call, that they tend to miss the next five minutes of action. Not so for this gal...

All the players are excellent, but you get the few that live in a different stratosphere. Extreme skills married with a glow of personality draws our eyes to them like a magnet draws a nail. It's not looks per say, although at their level of fitness they all have a certain something ! Surely I couldn't have been the only fan giddy with delight at seeing a few shirtless players at the end ?

Success breeds success and you could almost see and feel that positive aura beaming all around them. At times they were so quick with their footwork, it was almost impossible to see it all. A quick turn of a hip there, a speedy flick of a foot ( forward and backwards ) and varying degrees of pirouetting made us slavishly follow each second of the match.

It was a sheer pleasure to just witness some of the ballet like moves around, next to and over the ball. Again, poetry in motion. I'd love to be a fly on the wall when these soccer-gods are doing the everyday mundane things like dancing at a disco, Dancing with the Stars or even doing a few Gangnam moves.

The final at Wembley Stadium will be a cracker and will pose a conundrum for me. Recently I have grown rather fond of Borussia Dortmund and their epic skills, determination and successes. But I am Bavarian and should side with Bayern Munich ...oh well, I am sure to find the perfect solution on the day.

Biggi

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