5/31/2012

Stadiums of Hate

The BBC Panorama carried out a month-long investigation in both Poland and Ukraine, and they now show the end-result: two countries in which racism and xenophobia in the football stadiums are common place; an appalling sight indeed for those who plan the visit the venues of UEFA's Euro 2012, that starts next month. All this worsened by the fact that the authorities seem to rather look the other way and even dismiss these acts as if possessed by one of those British tongue-in-cheek comedians who are incapable of producing a single serious statement.
I get that it's usual for European ultras to inadvertently do the Nazi salute (or Roman salute, or what have you...), but these guys go as far as chanting "Sieg Heil" in plain terrace, or using all sorts of Nazi symbols, from the Celtic cross to the Schutzstaffel insignia (a pair of Ss known as "sig runes"), the same institution that provided both the Polish and Ukrainian people with an assortment of suffering that is beyond the comprehension of these last two generations. Oh and guess what? These guys hate Jews!! The rival clubs' fans call each other Jews as if this was the ultimate insult... And this because... Hell, as if further explanation would add anything new.
Really? In 2012 there are still people capable of THIS kind of lacking in reason and humanity, in plain Europe! Worse still, in countries which either belong or want to belong to the European Union! it's just unfathomable!
See for yourselves! It's a humdinger...:


5/23/2012

Briosa!

I'll will never forget the 20th of May, 2012.
73 years later my team won the Portuguese Cup once more, realising the dream that every fan of the black shirt, the students from Coimbra, the mythical Académica had: to have the chance to see the real "Briosa" rise again!

In the run-up to the game, played in the National Stadium, in Jamor (outskirts of Lisbon), I had the sense that everybody from Coimbra had come down to Lisbon, and when I arrived at the south stand I felt at home, in a sea of black shirts and scarves. There was some nail-biting all around, but also a feeling that this was gonna be a day to remember.
The Sporting fans had the numbers on their side, but there was no shutting us up. We chanted "It's Coimbra!" and cried "Académica!", we clapped our hands, we sang songs that go back generations, and we yelled "BRIOSA!" as if to exercise some hypothetical demon that would stand in our way.
It was around 7 PM when the ref decided that that was that. The score was 1-0 in our favour, thanks to a goal scored by Coimbra's latest hero - Marinho, scored in the 4th minute of the first half. That was that, and Briosa she was once more!

A jump and a shout: "We won! We won! Briosa! Briosa! Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!"

Everywhere I looked I saw people hugging and kissing each other, crying tears of joy or just letting out the tension of a much suffered game. I hugged my friends, we where crying also. I thought about my dad and how he would have loved to have witnessed that day, to see his beloved team great again. I wondered how many people were thinking what I was thinking. How many people, like me, we initiated into this great love by their fathers and wished they were there on that day. I grabbed my black scarf with both hands - my father's old scarf - and I smiled.

Our touring group

My nephew and me

View of the National Stadium's south stand

The players focusing

The Cup being raised

The players celebrating with us


Next day papers:

 "It's ours!" (c)"Diário das Beiras"

"Historical" (c)A Bola

"The Best in Class" (c)O Jogo

"Briosa makes history" (c)Record

"The Cup is ours!" (c)Diário de Coimbra

Note: "Briosa" translates to English as "The stout one" and it was a nick name given to the Académica teams during it's golden years, in the 60´s.

5/20/2012

43 years later

My team is going for the Portuguese Cup final. They're gonna win. I'm gonna be there wearing my dad's scarf. So he's gonna be there too.

5/06/2012

VHS wisdom

"The human head is like a road. If it's not used, grass will start growing." (Prof. Vitor Corado Simões)

5/05/2012

I ate Lisbon

Awful food
Awful wine
Awful people
Awful night life
Awful weather
Awful beaches
Awful countryside

Oh, Anthony Bourdain did it too:


P.S.: Bifana is the best grub in the world, specially at 8 am, in Lisbon's Rossio, after a night out.

5/04/2012

5/03/2012

Mercy on our souls



We celebrated Easter without bunnies...

5/02/2012

Pick your fights





Just never look back,
never give in...


Never surrender!

Mob