Day -213
WorldCup2018
Italy nil.....Sweden nil.
How would James Alexander Gordon have read that result out? What kind
of intonation would he have used? It was a draw, but also a huge win.
Two things happened today. The massively momentous events in Milan
meant that for the first time in many people's lifetimes we will see a
World Cup without Italy in it. Before that, I read the news of the
passing of Tim Gudgin, BBC television's football results reader every
Saturday evening since 1995. That news, and the mention of his
recognizable voice brought back memories of another BBC legend, and of
listening to the football results on BBC World Service Radio many years
ago. James Alexander Gordon died in 2014 but the news of Tim Gudgin,
coupled with Italy's historic failure moved me to remember a time when I
would have supported an Italian win and the highlight of a weekend was
waiting for the English results on the radio.
So please allow me my delayed tribute.
James Alexander Gordon was the source of my elation or gloom every
Saturday evening. I would sit on the carpet in the living room, waiting
for the news on Aston Villa. I had to be close to the huge Grundig unit
to be able to quickly reach the tuning dial if the reception went fuzzy
and a little bit of toggling would bring Mr. Gordon's voice back. He was
known for the constantly fluctuating intonation in his voice, depending
on the result of the match. You could hear he was happy for the team
that won and dejected for the losing team.
Newcastle (raised happy voice) 2, Leeds (sad, should have done better, maybe next week voice) 0.
So I knew if Aston Villa had won each week before he had finished reading the result.
Aston Villa (neutral, what are you saying there radio man?) 1,
Manchester United (high on the Man, bit lower of the -chester, flat on
the United, followed by a pause.....and me: what, what, radio man...are
you happier for Villa or United) 1. OK, he was trying to balanced there.
Liverpool (it might have been my perception because Liverpool were
pretty special in the 1980s, but he always seemed happy to say their
name) 1, Aston Villa (no that doesn't sound good....no, no...I thought
this was the weekend we would beat Liverpool....damn you, just say
it....or let's just say it together) 0.....boom, just like that, a
finality to that 0. See you next week. I may have better news for you.
Lying back on that carpet by the Grundig, that was my Saturday evening
for many years. Me and John Alexander Gordon, although I didn't know his
name.
It was in those early football days that I was in awe of
the Italians. Dino Zoff, that was me, my nickname and who I imagined I
was every evening up on the roof. Yes, I was an Italian fan for a while
until (and I've told the story before) I was educated and converted to an England supporter just in time for Spain 1982. Italy won that World
Cup.
Italy also won in 2006 and two other titles before my time.
That's what Italy do. Like Germany and Brazil, they win World Cups. They
are part of the royalty of world football. It is a massive story that
they are not in the World Cup. Even when they finished second in their
group I never imagined they wouldn't make it. Spain were close to
playing like they did when they were invincible (2007 -2012) and it was
no surprise that they topped the group. Italy's terrible performances
against Macedonia, Albania, Israel were explained in my head by the fact
that they were resigned to second place anyway.
But they are not
going at all. Wow. Do I feel sorry for them? No. Did they score more
goals than Sweden? No. Will I miss seeing Italy in Russia? Yes. Will I
miss Chile? Yes? Holland? Yes? Even the USA. Why? Because that's who I
expect to see at the World Cup: the best teams from all over the world.
Chile, I think were tired from playing non-stop for two years. But
Holland, Italy and the US are just not that good right now. If Italy
cannot beat a very ordinary Swedish team than so be it. They have no
right to be in Russia.
(While I did read a lot of English postmortems
it's interesting reading an Italian-Canadian perspective.)
