FOOTY FAIR

Football's Joy of Five (Quiz)

2016-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

With Juventus rather incredibly winning their fifth straight Serie A title this season, they joined a select group of club's that have topped their respective league tables at the end of a season on at least five straight occasions.

Those clubs, along with a few famous footballing nations and several free-scoring players, are the focus of today's Joy of Five quiz:

myiq

Football Club Babes (Gallery)

2015-10-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

Mondays...they are better with Football Club Babes

Top 10 Pepsi Football TV Ads

2015-03-19T20:00:00.001-04:00

Here at FootyFair we don't really care if you drink Coke, Pepsi or olive oil. Nonetheless, over the years, the "suits" and "creatives" in Pepsi's marketing department and their ad agencies have come up with some great ways to incorporate huge football stars into their sometimes funny, sometimes cheesy, but never dull Pepsi football ads. We take a look at the top 10 "classic" Pepsi Football ads.

#10 - Korea vs. Roberto Carlos (Banned)

That's right, apparently this one was banned but we still include it in our list. We are guessing that it was banned because of "racial insensitivity", or maybe because the creators realized that nobody would believe that Roberto Carlos flew all the way to Asia so he could play against a whole squad by himself.

#9 - Oktoberfest

This is one of the "play for Pepsi" themed ads, where David Beckham and his group of superstars have to play a crew of Lederhosen wearing gentlemen in order to win their drink. Take note, they actually lose not because of the crazy CGI moves of the Germans, but because Roberto Carlos is trying to pick up the waitress.

#8 - Improvised Football

Kids at a metro station turn themselves into alter egos and play for the remaining 3 Pepsi cans. And there's also the part where Thiery Henry is really into Cesc Fàbregas.

#7 - Africa

Henry, Drogba and others play against kids in Africa, on a pitch where the lines are made out of a crowd of spectators. Was Jorge Campos the shirt designer for this one?

#6 - Surf Football

Beckham, Raúl, Ronaldinho and Roberto Carlos play some beach footy, when a crew of surfers comes up to them and show them a sign that says "só para surfistas" which translates from Portuguese as "just for surfers" and then take their ball and kick it to the water. Instead of kicking their ass however, Beckham and his buddies take their surfboards and play the first ever known to mankind match of surf-football.

#5 - Manchester United vs. Real Madrid Cowboys

David Beckham as a cowboy is a bit of a stretch, but the "Wanted" sign for Rivaldo is a great little detail.

#4 - Medieval

In this one we see a group knights who take over a village because obviously the villagers have cans of Pepsi stashed everywhere. But Beckham and his crew Totti, Ronaldhino, Roberto Carlos and Alexander the Great...sorry Fernando Torres, would have none of it. So like any dispute during the Medieval times, this one would be settled with a football match.

#3 - Sumo

Who doesn't love to see a Sumo wrestler pull of a bicycle-kick. What makes this one even greater is the montage of celebrations at the end.

#2 - Little Players

There is something odd about seeing world football stars having no arms and being attached to a rod. This ad however, is clever and funny.

#1 - Can I have your shirt?

This is a classic, and a favorite all over the world. If you haven't seen it you are either very young, live in a cave or haven't heard of this phenomenon called Internet (which means you're probably not reading this either), but in any case we don't want to spoil the amazing twist, so just watch and enjoy.

Football and Fashion

2015-02-28T20:00:00.000-05:00

It's often debated when fashionable labels started popping up on the terraces in England, but in most corners it's accepted that in was in the mid-1970's that the later dubbed 'Casual' subculture began to emerge.

With groups of supporters, and occasionally hooligans, wanting to look smart in and around football grounds brands such as Fiorucci, Lacoste, Tacchini, and Fila became their clothing items of choice. In terms of trainers, the classic Adidas Gazelle was a popular favourite.

Introduced by the German sportswear giant in 1968, the Gazelle has barely changed over the years and still remains popular to this day. It was at it's height though in the early 1980's when it became widely seen on the terraces.

The success of the Gazelle might be largely down to it's simple, yet elegant and light weight design. Sporting the iconic Adidas three-stripe, it's also available in a wide range of colours.

In more recent years, labels such as Stone Island, Lonsdale, Burberry and Fred Perry came into prominence with supporters, occassionally to the chagrin though of these respective companies as some of their products have rightly, or wrongly, been associated with hooliganism.

Here in North America, with some minor exceptions, there haven't been too many fashion trends that have spread between clubs. A quick scan of the crowd at most MLS grounds will reveal that the majority of fans wear an item of official club gear and pair of jeans or shorts.

That said, we had a few interesting characters in my old section that brought some of the trends from the old country back with them. Despite one guy's best efforts, getting the guys in our group to start wearing capri pants was a non-starter. Head in hands however, I can admit to purchasing a pair of Nike capri around this time, that in all honestly looked utterly ridiculous.

The "Liam Gallagher wasted on controlled substances at Glastonbury" Kangol bucket hats also made an appearance one season, but were quickly relegated to back of the offending parties closets before long.

One fashion item that seemed restricted to one particular person was a fanny pack. In my experience only morbidly obese people, who were obsessed with train schedules wore fanny packs. They usually stored three day old egg salad sandwiches that smelled like farts in them.

This guy explained though that all of the Ultras in Poland wore them to store their wallets, keys and cellphones. That made sense, I guess, but I wasn't going to fucking wear one.

He did share with me a link to a clothing site in Eastern Europe where you could get the latest clobber from over there at reasonable prices. I excitedly picked out a great looking black hoodie, but once I showed him what I was planning on buying he told me that brand was only worn by far right racists. I obviously couldn't wear a racist hoodie, so I had to opt for a safer, more inclusive sweater that was less hate mongering. Fucking racists ruin everything don't they?

Another friend of mine, around that time, starting sporting an Armani man purse. I thought it looked nuts, but he insisted that a lot of Serie A supporters wore them and since he's a nice guy I didn't call him on the legitimacy of that claim.

In the absence of any sustained clothing trends taking hold, at least with my club, in the MLS it would seem that fashion here is a very personal thing and maybe that's not a bad thing.

Any Given Sunday: Football on Demand

2015-02-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

Turn on the TV on a Saturday morning in North America and you have the pick of the litter with multiple Premier League matches, La Liga and Bundesliga games. As they progresses you can almost watch any single match from around the world in one of the many sports channels available to us.

Same is true during the week when it comes to Champions League games, Europa League, mid-week league matches, cup or Euro/World Cup qualification matches. Football has gone from a Sunday family outing to a 24/7 business for TV stations. A very lucrative business that the ratings show to be on the rise and as long as people tune in more stations will be paying through the nose to obtain those so desirable TV rights.

We have moved for some time now to all football channels showing nothing but games and highlights, feeding the monster that is football fans worldwide, but what should the next step be in this evolution? Team channels are already a reality, with most big name clubs from Europe having their own channels offering games, interviews, special content on gameday, and even matches of their younger squads or other sports played by the clubs either be basketball, futsal or any other. This evolution is reaching its climax, so it will be only a matter of time before the next step is needed in this evolution of football consumption.

Fans demand more and more, the need to interact with their audience is an evolutionary need for any sport if they are to survive the evolution of television watching. Could VOD be the next logical step to be taken between leagues, federations, organizations and TV broadcasters?

The main difference between sports and other TV shows is that sports fans want to watch sports live, not on tape delay. A movie or a TV show can be watched at any time, but sporting events need to be watched live for the audience to have the full enjoyment of the experience. VOD could still work under these premises.

Imagine UEFA selling the Champions League rights to a broadcaster; for the sake of the argument let’s use ESPN. So now ESPN has the rights for the United States for all Champions League games. ESPN could still show one of the matches on their channel for content purposes, since these days everything comes down to content. They could make all matches available on a ESPN Champions League VOD subscription. Charging fans a fee for this extra channel or even offering for free if you are subscriber of all of their channels. This would allow the viewer to pick any of the games being broadcasted at that time instead of being forced to watch one on the main channel.

Games could then be available for 2 weeks on VOD until the following set matches’ takes place. Adding to the VOD options could be the post-game interviews and media scrums as well, iconic matches from the past between the teams facing each other now. The content could be endless in a partnership between UEFA, Premier League or any other league and a massive TV station.

Allowing for that VOD to be available on mobile devices would be the next logical step, but with more and more specialization of TV stations and the creation of options that allow the viewer’s more and more avenues to watch their favorite team, this could be a solution that while at a price could be the end of illegal online streaming.

If every single match is available on demand for you to view in HD on any TV of your home or any of your mobile devices why bother with a crappy stream and the ever annoying pop up ads.

The Football Streets of Brazil (Gallery)

2015-02-20T20:00:00.000-05:00

Football in Brazil is a way of life. But because of the widespread poverty in the South American country, most kids start playing football in the streets instead of paying to join youth clubs. It's those streets where the majority of Brazilian professionals have once kicked a ball around.

A Footballer's Apartment Design

2015-02-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

Arsen Kostyshyn is a Ukrainian senior interior designer at ARS-IDEA interior design studio in Lviv, Ukraine. One of his latest projects was to design a pad that would fit the pickiest of footballers.

Here's the description of the project in his own words:

This modern 1,300 square foot apartment was recently designed by Interior design studio ARS-IDEA.

It is located in the heart of Lviv, a city in western Ukraine.The main goal was to create stylish and functional apartment for young footballer. It was very important to adapt all the details to his life style as well as to make cozy and warm home. While working on this project we had to change the planning of the apartment from standard two bedroom to an open plan studio by combining living room with the kitchen and making 2 small closets.

We’ve decided to make some contrasts by using different materials and textures such as raw concrete on the ceiling.

The numbers on the chair covers in the kitchen were created in accordance with the numbers on the owner’s and his friends football shirts.

If you want to spend time by watching a football match or an exciting action movie, there is a large screen, hidden under the ceiling and a home theater projector. Or if you are planning a romantic evening, you can turn on bio fireplace and create warm and homely atmosphere.

The idea of this apartment was to make as much free space without walls as possible. In the bedroom you see an open-space room with the bath in the middle. You can lay down in the bath and watch TV, which can easily be turned to the bedroom side by an effortless move.

Apartment is equipped with Smart House system and forced-air ventilation, using the world’s leading brands.

Football Fanatic: Valentine’s Day Survival Guide

2015-02-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, and considering that this year it falls on a Saturday there are certain things that the football fanatic should keep in mind if he doesn’t want to have his better half take a kick at the balls.

Here are some ideas on how to enjoy your Valentine’s Day and not miss any of the action in your favorite league.

PVR

Every guy should own a PVR, if you don’t and you are in a relationship, get one immediately. Watching a match live is better than recording it, but in moments of crisis, it is better to watch it on the PVR than not watch it at all.

Record the game or games of your choice, turn off social media for the day and enjoy it with your significant other. After a day of wine and dine and if you are lucky some adult wrestling, you can easily slip away from the comfort of your bed and into the living room to enjoy your games.

Picking the Right Restaurant

If you don’t have a PVR and are deadest on watching the game, then picking the right restaurant is your best alternative.

Find a restaurant that while romantic and overpriced also has a bar area that shows the games on their big screens. When making reservations, and don’t be a fool and make reservations, ask for a both that directly faces the TV’s. When you arrive at the restaurant make sure she sits with her back to the TV’s while you are facing them.

Order appetizers, the key is to ensure there is always something at the table. Every time she is eating you can discreetly watch the game. Every time she starts to talk to you, grab some food and look interested.

Gift

If you do get caught watching the match on TV while having dinner it is important to have a full proof plan B. That plan B is a gift that will make her forget about what a horrible douche bag you are and take her attention away from being mad at you.

Nothing does the trick better than jewelry. It is the show stopper that will turn her frown into a smile that goes ear to ear.

Go All The Way

If you bought tickets for the game, and forgot that it was Valentine’s Day, than you have just hit the mother load of all screw ups. Don’t despair; there is one thing you can do to avoid having your relationship end on that same day. Buy a ring and propose to her at halftime. Let’s face it, you don’t have to get married right away, you can push that engagement for a few years before you run out of time and excuses. The only thing is that the ring won’t be cheap, but more jewelry stores have payment options.

Football Legends Part 4 by Dylan Giala (Gallery)

2015-01-18T20:00:00.000-05:00

Dylan Giala created an incredible collection of posters of current and past football legends.

He named his collection Football legends. Here is part 4.

The Christmas Truce of 1914

2014-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Great War was supposed to be over by Christmas. That's what the men said to themselves and their families as they headed off to the Western Front in the fall of 1914.

History has told us otherwise as this horrific war, across the bloody battlefields of Belgium and France, stretched on for four years resulting in the deaths of nearly 11 million soldiers on both sides of the conflict, and an estimated 2 million civilian fatalities.

Amid all of this brutality there was a brief moment of peace and brotherhood though, that in some ways reemphasized the futility of this and most wars.

On Christmas Day, December 25, 1914 the guns fell silent in several spots along the front lines as the men, already weary from months of heavy fighting, tried to make the best of things. The Germans at Ypres, a region that otherwise bore witness to horrible carnage, brought a bit of humanity back to the area as they erected small Christmas trees along their trenches and decorated them with candles.

On their side the British pooled their meager food supplies and attempted to make a Christmas dinner, while singing hymns that reminded them of home. Despite the warring nations officially ignoring Pope Benedict XV's request for a truce over the holidays, the shooting had largely stopped.

As early as November of 1914, German and British troops had observed temporary truces as they allowed each other opportunities to retrieve the dead from the 'no man's' land between their respective trenches and were already beginning to shout cordial greetings to each other.

Many British soldiers reported that German troops were very keen on any news on the English football leagues and would often shout across to the opposing trenches, asking for scores and how the league tables were shaping up.

Relations between the French and German troops were a bit more tense, but again there were recorded instances of periods of peace between the two armies.

It was within this climate on Christmas Day of 1914 that a rather wonderful thing started to happen in places along the Western Front. The Germans and the British started trading Christmas hymns back and forth, while giving the other side a warm round of applause when they had finished their particular songs.

Christmas greetings were also shouted back and forth, before some troops slowly began to make their way into no man's land.

From a recently released letter from the Royal Mail in the UK, Captain A D Chater of the 2nd Battalion Gordon Highlanders wrote the following to his mother in a letter about the days events:

“I think I have seen today one of the most extraordinary sights that anyone has ever seen.

“About 10 o'clock this morning I was peeping over the parapet when I saw a German, waving his arms, and presently two of them got out of their trench and came towards ours.

“We were just going to fire on them when we saw they had no rifles, so one of our men went to meet them and in about two minutes the ground between the two lines of trenches was swarming with men and officers of both sides, shaking hands and wishing each other a happy Christmas.“

“From what I gathered most of them would be glad to get home again as we should – we have had our pipes playing all day and everyone has been walking about in the open unmolested.”

Joint burials were held for British and German troops, while the two groups of supposed enemy combatants shook hands and exchanged gifts such as tobacco and chocolate.

In the book 'Neat Little Rows', author Andy Ruddall wrote of his great uncle, Sergeant Harry Hackett of the Grenadier Guards, even exchanging addresses with two soldiers named Rudolf Mausoff and Ernst Pyrmont of the 55th Graf Bulow von Dennewitz so that they could get in touch after the war.

One of the more famous stories of the Christmas Truce is that of football matches being played between the two sides, and although there does, by some accounts, appear to have been a match played between the 133rd Royal Saxon Regiment and the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, most of the 'football' that seems to have been played were impromptu kickabouts. With the men sharing gifts, along with a laugh and a joke on Christmas Day, occasionally if a ball or a decent sized tin can was available the men would start kicking it around.

Although attempts have been made to make this ceasefire about football, with UEFA in particular being slightly guilty of spreading that myth, football wasn't the reason for what happened that day. The causes for this fleeting moment of peace, that would never occur on this scale again for the rest of the war, were much bigger, or perhaps more human, than that.

The truce was about men who had much, if not everything, in common. They had hopes, dreams, wives or sweethearts, people that loved them, and the desire to experience the things they missed from home, such as the simple joy of kicking a ball around with friends and maybe trying to score a goal to brag about later.

In an era of madness, for a single day the best of humanity shone through and that's what the truce which happened one hundred years ago today was truly all about. Football is an escape from our day to day realities of life, and for some of the troops in the middle of one of the most devastating wars in history it may have provided a welcome escape from the spectre of death.

To quote Captain A D Chater, it was an extraordinary sight for those that were there, and a reminder that we're all human no matter what flag we stand under.

Merry Christmas.

Football Legends Part 3 by Dylan Giala (Gallery)

2014-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Dylan Giala created an incredible collection of posters of current and past football legends.

He named his collection Football legends. Here is part 3.

Cruzeiro Releases Lingerie Line

2014-11-19T08:00:00.000-05:00

The current leader of the Brasileirao, has made a huge splash in the footballing world by announcing this past week that they are releasing an underwear line geared towards their female audience.

The lingerie line will have the colors of the Belo Horizonte club and was put on display during their presentation of the line.

One of the main models used for the campgain was Renata D’Ávila, a well known Cruzeiro fan, that doesn’t miss a single home game. She is one of the most famous models in Brazil, and it was only natural that the club would use their most famous female fan to model their new lingerie line.

Cruzeiro is releasing it just in time for Christmas, in hopes that perhaps not just a top finish in the league be the perfect stocking stuffer.

Here is the video of the launch.

Football Legends Part 2 by Dylan Giala (Gallery)

2014-11-17T08:00:00.001-05:00

Dylan Giala created an incredible collection of posters of current and past football legends.

He named his collection Football legends. Here is part 2

Dutch Football Logos by Boyd Koers (Gallery)

2014-11-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Boyd Koers designed a collection of illustrations representing simplified versions of all Dutch Premier League teams for the 2013-14 season.

If you would like to see more of his work you can check him out at http://boydkoers.tumblr.com/

Football Legends Part 1 by Dylan Giala (Gallery)

2014-11-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

Dylan Giala created an incredible collection of posters of current and past football legends.

He named his collection Football legends. Here is part 1.

Famous Footballers by Jon Rodgers (Gallery)

2014-10-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Jon Rodgers a graphic artist from Vancouver, Canada has created a collection of posters of famous footballers.

This collection includes players of the present and past, but all of them are without a doubt famous footballer. For more of his work you can check him out at http://jrhomework.squarespace.com/

Soccer Designs by Cristina Martinez (Gallery)

2014-10-24T06:00:00.000-04:00

Cristina Martinez has been working on some posters of some of the world’s best players.

She calls her collection, Soccer Designs and you can follow her on Twitter at @hincha_fc

Any Given Sunday: South Africa’s £2.4B Investment has no Return

2014-10-05T09:00:00.000-04:00

When you see massive stadiums being built for a tournament like the World Cup you are left to wonder what will happen to these stadiums once the tournament is over.

In some cases they are part of the revamping of an existing stadium or the construction is part of a relocation process that a local clubs is taking on, but in several other cases these stadiums are nothing more than huge white elephants that will never again be used for the purpose they were created.

This last example has been more or less of the case with the stadiums built in South Africa for the hosting of the 2010 World Cup. The World Cup was a success; the first one hosted by an African country and while the vuvuzelas were not loved by all the fans, the games went on without any hitch or problem. It was a very proud moment for all South Africans.

Now that four years have passed and the country has had a chance to completely analyze the over £2.4 billion that was spent on 6 stadiums and infrastructure, was it all worth it? Did the game of football grow in South Africa and have the stadiums been used with regularity during this four year period?

Considering the poor attendance at games and the failure in South Africa qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, my answer would have to be no. The investment was not worth it for the country, people and the game of football.

South African football is not exciting; at least if you look at general attendance numbers for the domestic league matches. During the 2012-13 season the average attendance was 6,700 people, when you put them in stadiums that sit 30K to 40K you can see that the use of these stadiums has been minimal, and in some cases inexistent.

Last year Bernard Parker, Kaizer Chiefs striker was the league leading scorer with 10 goals. Add to that the fact that he didn’t score a single goal in the last three months of the season and missed several games due to injury that gives you a very bleak picture of what South African football is and how little hosting the World Cup has done for the nation.

FIFA and the host nation will always sell the people on how good will it be for a country to host the event and spend billions in stadiums and infrastructure, when instead the money should be spent on improving the quality of life of the citizens of the host nation. Hosting the World Cup is the equivalent of having an outlandish wedding, where you spend and spend to ensure your wedding is the best one ever, only to get divorced two years later with still wedding bills to pay.

Mid-Week Rants: Sportscentre and Sportscenter Suck at Soccer

2014-10-01T15:00:00.000-04:00

I've always been a bit dubious of people who live in Europe or Latin America that aren't into football, but rather are into other sports such as Formula One auto racing.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Formula One. It's a fine sport that I enjoy checking in on once in a while myself, and if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend checking out the film Rush about F1's Niki Lauda and James Hunt. It's a terrific piece of cinema ultimately centered around the 1977 Formula One Drivers Championship. Even if racing isn't your bag, you'll still enjoy the story of the rivalry and grudging friendship between the two main characters. Plus, I've been led to believe that the ladies consider Chris Hemsworth, who plays James Hunt, to be rather dreamy.

Anyhow, why I'm dubious of people from these two large regions not being into football is that the the sport is everywhere over there. It is thoroughly covered in the sports pages, is all over the TV, and dominates conversations in coffee shops and bars. If you aren't into it you're either a hipster or else you think you're better than everyone around you. In either case you sound like an asshole to me and we'd struggle to become friends.

In North America though it's a different story. The advent of live soccer on television is a fairly recent occurrence and if you add that on top of the fact that the professional game has had it's ups and downs in the United States, you can understand why it isn't ingrained in the culture here.

With other sports such as hockey, American football, baseball, and basketball vying for our attention, and hard earned dollars, in North America it's been difficult in the past for soccer to gain a solid foothold.

Since the 1980's participation in youth soccer has surged in both Canada and the United States though, and along with access to matches from overseas now being shown on the sports networks, football is starting to boom in North America.

Most kids in this continent from eight years old and up, regardless of their background or where they live, can now tell you who Cristiano Ronaldo is thanks to the coverage the game gets over here now. If you were to ask a kid in Nebraska, back in 1985 though who Michel Platini was you would have surely gotten a glazed look. So things have certainly changed in the last 25 to 30 years.

So the exposure to people have to football is growing and perhaps I'm being impatient on this one, but I want more and by that I mean better coverage on our zenith of sports highlights shows, 'Sportscenter'.

Both ESPN in the United States and their Canadian cousin TSN, have a nightly highlight show called Sportscenter if you weren't aware. Well, it's called Sportscentre in Canada, but let's not split hairs.

Considering how live football is fairly well represented on our cable networks now and more people are taking an interest in the beautiful game, the coverage of football on Sportscenter is frankly horseshit.

In Canada, our Sportscentre is rammed full of enough hockey to bore Wayne Gretzky to sleep. Even when the NHL is in it's off-season, we get trade rumours, season previews, along with wall to wall draft updates, Bob Mackenzie's hair, and Pierre McGuire's valiant attempts to be labeled the 'most irritating man on the planet.'

If you cast your eyes on America's version of Sportscenter you'll find a glut of baseball and basketball coverage during the weekdays, whereas the NFL coverage dominates the weekends as you get the joy of watching Chris Berman try to string a coherent sentence together.

Football or Soccer, to lessen the confusion, is barely mentioned in passing on Sportscenter on either side of the border. It's relegated to the same grim status of other fringe sports like curling and rhythmic gymnastics.

The fact that ESPN has paid out mountains of filthy lucre for the right to air live Premier League and Champions League matches matters little as they barely provide highlights of the goals on a good day, and contribute absolutely no analysis.

The thing that really drives me crackers though is when they'll show highlights of a match that ended 2-1, but they'll only show you the first goal, without showing any of the buildup of course, and then cut to, "with the score later tied at one, United won it with this goal from Van Persie."

Wait a goddamn minute. What happened to the equalizing goal, you bastards?
The match had three goals and you can only find the time to show me two of them?
Was the equalizing goal lost in transmission or was the thirty seconds required to show us that second goal too taxing on your busy broadcast schedule?

Sportscenter can show us every damn touch down and field goal in the Packers 47-38 win over Tampa Bay, but they can't show three damn goals from the Manchester derby?

Is it any wonder that soccer hasn't fully been embraced by North Americans when it's shown so little respect on the major highlights shows.

Before anyone says anything about Sportscentre focusing more on domestic sports, well that's nonsense as well, because the very North American MLS is whizzed on even more than the European leagues and is shown to be on par with the National Spelling Bee.

Get it together Sportscenter and Sportscentre, as us soccer fans deserve better.

Goalkeeper Threatens Fans that Pissed in His Water Bottle with Lawsuit

2014-09-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

This sounds like something that would happen during a Sunday league between guys that just wanted to get a laugh out of the situation. Instead this happened in the Swiss first division to the goalkeeper of FC Muri.

The 34 year old goalkeeper, Reto Felder, claims that he is still feeling sick from drinking the warm urine by accident when he thought he was drinking water from his water bottle. Not only the opposing fans urinated inside his water bottle they chanted “now you will get AIDS” when he took a drink from it. If the drinking of someone’s urine is not enough to make this story one of the most sick and disturbed stories you will ever read, now you have the perpetrators verbally abusing the keeper as well.

“I have never experienced anything like it. That is just primitive filth,” he said. “I took one sip and realized that it was warm but thought that it was because of the sun. But my second sip I realized that something was wrong.” I am not sure if I should be more shocked at the fact that these fans were able to urinate inside his bottle or that it took him two sips to realize that it wasn’t water. I have never indulged in urine tasting but I would like to believe that it wouldn’t take me two sips to realize it wasn’t water.

The president of the opposing team, FC Baden, is looking into CCTV footage to try to identify the culprits. This is starting to sound like the movie Porkies, if you haven’t seen it, get to it; it has a very similar aspect to this story. Instead of looking at CCTV video of the incident the movie story has a teacher requesting a penis lineup so she can point out the culprit.

But I am digressing from the main focus of this story. The situation is without a doubt unusual and the Swiss FA wants to react to it but is unsure how. Currently they are waiting for FC Baden to conclude their investigation and to see if any civil action is taken by Reto Felder.

If anything comes out of this investigation I hope is the facts on how the fans got a hold of the water bottle so they could urinate in it. To me that is one piece of the story that I can’t wrap my head around.

Mexican Politician Calls Ronaldinho a Monkey

2014-09-16T15:00:00.000-04:00

Carlos Manuel Treviño Núñez a local politician in Querétaro, Mexican city to which Ronaldinho has moved to, so he can represent the local football club, took to social media to voice his rage and called Ronaldinho a monkey in the process.

“I am trying to be tolerant, but I hate football, and the stupidity that causes in people. I hate it even more because people pack the streets and cause me to be 2 hours late on my way home. All of this to go see a monkey. Brazilian, but nevertheless a monkey. This is a ridiculous circus.” wrote the local politician on social media.

This is another perfect example of how having no filter in your brain and easy access to social media could be a dangerous thing for some people. Before the days of social media, these were only thoughts in the mind of an incredible ignorant person, which don’t make them any better, but at least it was kept inside his insane brain. Now with Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets we have open the doors of the asylum and let all of the crazies out. This being the latest one, saying things that should be an embarrassment to him and the city he represents.

I just hope the local people of Querétaro, and more specifically those that he calls out in his rant have a long memory and remember this the next time he runs for public office. This sort of verbal/written blunder should not be forgotten by those people he insulted, never mind the fact he called Ronaldinho a monkey. So not only he shows that he cares about nobody other than himself and that he is also racist.

The fact that politicians care only about themselves shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, but coming out and referring to Ronaldinho as a monkey is racism in its most natural form. Unfortunately this sort of behavior won’t be stopping anytime soon and comments like these will continue to plague the game we all love and enjoy.

You can have all the campaigns you want to stop racism, but it is as futile as having a campaign to stop stupidity.

Boca Juniors Agustin Orion Hit in the Head with a Rock

2014-09-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

Another player has been hit by an object being thrown from the stands, this time it was Boca Juniors goalkeeper Agustin Orion during a match against Rosario Central.

A few weeks ago a Cameroonian player, Albert Ebossé, was killed during a match when an object thrown from the stands hit him in the head. The 24 year old player was playing for JS Kabylie against USM Alger in the Algerian league when the incident happened. You almost hoped while unfortunate that this would be an isolated incident and those fans attending games had more respect for the players on the field. Some perhaps brushed it off as something that only happens in under developed countries and not in well-known leagues or in matches between well-known teams.

Well, it has happened again and this time in Argentina, and between two of Argentina’s most well-known clubs. In a game between Boca Juniors and Rosario Central, goalkeeper Agustin Orion was hit in the head by a rock thrown by fans of Rosario Central. The goalkeeper would need medical attention on the field to stop the bleeding from his head but was able to continue the match.

The damage caused by the rock was not severe but could have been, and until local authorities and match officials take a heavy stand against this sort of behavior we will continue to see incidents like these happen and sometimes with more serious consequences. If clubs can’t control their fans and educate them on what behavior are expected from them, then leagues and officials should punish the clubs severely when these incidents take place. Instead there is a sense of brushing it off as just an incident caused by a drunken fan, no big deal; well it is a big deal. A player died in Algeria, how many more will have to die before this is looked at as a serious problem?

So far there has been only silence from Argentinian officials as far as any sort of punishment or consequences for Rosario Central for the behavior of their fans. I would be surprised if anything of note actually takes place. Some players are taking their lives in their own hands when they walk on the football field, it is the wild west out there.

Goalkeeper Convicted of Assaulting an Opponent at a Nightclub

2014-08-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

Cliftonville’s goalkeeper, Conor Devlin, knocked out Jim O’Hanlon with a single punch.

If you had read that one single line, you would think that this was a post-fight recap by Joe Rogan, in some UFC Celebrity Fight Night. It wasn’t, this happened in a nightclub between Conor Devlin, the Cliftonville goalkeeper and Jim O’Hanlon, the Glentoran winger.

The two opponents crossed paths in a nightclub and Conor Devlin claims that Jim O’Hanlon pulled on his beard, which was enough for Conor Devlin to knock him out with a single punch. Anderson Silva would have been proud of Conor Devlin’s punch that was one hell of a swing.

Unfortunately for Devlin he wasn’t in a ring but in a nightclub instead, and he ended up being charged and now convicted of assault causing bodily harm. The two players have conflicting stories to what happened that night, while O’Hanlon claims to have touched Devlin’s beard once or twice as part of some friendly banter, the Cliftonville goalkeeper claims that he was assaulted when O’Hanlon pulled at his beard with both hands.

Jim O'Hanlon

I obviously wasn’t there so I have no clue on who is telling the truth or who is lying, but what possesses a man to pull on a complete stranger beard? Was he drunk, was he trying to start something with someone he perhaps has had problems during a match? Whatever his intentions were it landed him in the hospital. He claims he doesn’t remember much after he was punched; only waking up in the hospital and wondering how he got there.

Devlin believed he had done nothing wrong, he had told O’Hanlon to stop he didn’t and then he decided to take matters into his own hands, by punching him and knocking him out. The judge didn’t agree with him and convicted him of assault. He will now have to pay a fine, when the only thing he should be paying is a bar tab and a cab driver to take him home after a drinking night with his friends.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention it, this happened in Northern Ireland, where I thought bar fighting, drinking and ending the night passed out in a hospital was part of the day to day activities.

Jim O'Hanlon after being punched at a nightclub

Batistuta Considered Amputating His Legs Due to Ankle Pain

2014-08-29T06:00:00.000-04:00

Gabriel Batistua considered amputating his legs due to the incredible plain he has in his ankles.

Former Fiorentina, Roma and Argentinian international Gabriel Batistuta has had knee and ankle problems almost since he retired from professional football. He has now admitted in an interview that he considered amputating both his legs due to the severe pain he has in his ankles.

“The pain is so intense that I have wet my bed”, said the former Argentinian international during an interview. He has had a difficult time even walking and is not able to be on his feet for more than 20 minutes at a time.

“I don’t have any cartilage or tendons, so my 86kg are only being supported by the bones. This is what is causing the pain I feel”, he explained to the journalist.

I can only imagine the pain he has endured to even considering amputating his legs. When I read this report I had tears in my eyes, just from thinking what this incredible player must have been going through to even consider this drastic solution to his problem.

For anybody that grew up watching Batistuta play in Serie A for Fiorentina and later for Roma remembers how great he was. One of the best goal scorers of his generation, he was an incredible strong striker, and had the ability to always being in the right place to put the ball in the back of the net. In 269 appearances for Fiorentina he scored 168 goals and with 63 appearances for Roma he scored 30 goals. He knew how to score goals, and that ability never faded even at the end of his career when he joined Al Arabi. He played 21 games with them scoring 25 goals.

That Batistuta is the one I want to keep in my memory, but when you read the reports that he can barely walk and the pain is too much for him to handle that he would contemplate extreme measures you are left with nothing in your heart but pain and a sense of hopelessness. I pray that he finds a solution to his pain, he deserves it for everything he gave the game and the fans. I will pray for him to recover and find something that can ease that pain. That is all I can do for someone who has done so much for the game of football.

Any Given Sunday: Football Legacy

2014-08-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

Many times we as fans accuse players of being greedy and mercenaries and forget all of those players that have dedicated most if not all of their careers to one club. Players like these are normally forgotten and brushed aside as not having the courage to try something new. I think the discussion around these players needs to change, and they need to be admired for the decisions they have made.

This week Thomas Müller announced that he rejected an “astronomical” offer from Manchester United to move to the Premier League. This is not the kind of news you hear every day. Many players are more than willing to leave a club for a couple more dollars and yearly pass to Disney. So when Müller makes this statement and decides to stay with Bayern Munich, it should mean a lot not only to Bayern fans but also for those that appreciate the respect and loyalty that some players still have for their clubs.

Some would argue that he is a Bayern product therefore he wanted to stay where he is comfortable. I think that is a short sided view on what he has done, and it reality is minimizing his incredible character. Many players leave the clubs that formed them for bigger contracts, more exposure or even just because they want to try their luck in other leagues. The reasons are many, and most of them are justifiable, God knows that most of us if not all would perhaps do the something given the opportunity. To me, what Müller did says something else; it says that he is happy where he is, playing for the club he loves in a league that is as good as any other, and most important that money is not everything for a footballer like him. There is nothing he can’t achieve at a club level that Bayern Munich can’t offer him, and in his mind I think he views Bayern Munich as a much larger club than Manchester United.

I am not him so I can only speculate, but he may look at Kroos, leaving this summer, and think that he can build something at Bayern Munich that is not at the reach of every player. Perhaps the childhood dream of playing for Bayern can one day give room to the dream of being involved in the front office of the club and help the team achieve titles from behind a desk. In other words, what I am speaking off is legacy.

In my opinion, Müller’s decision was not based on short term earnings but rather on a long term goal. That goal is to build a legacy for himself at Bayern, which will live beyond his playing career, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to have his name and the name of Bayern Munich forever being synonymous with each other. It is something that only a very selective group has been able to achieve, and if there is someone deserving of that honor is Müller.