Memories make the present

Day -780. World Cup2018

Tony Soprano once said: "'Remember when' is the lowest form of conversation". I never agreed with the writer of that line, who did a good job of portraying Soprano as a man unhappy about his past and bitter about where life had taken him. This (my disagreement with the quote) came to mind a couple of weeks ago on a visit to Malta for a few days. There were lots of "remember when" moments with friends with whom some of the best moments where shared. And we laughed at our memories in way that Soprano probably couldn't. And those incidents shared many years ago have made our friendships strong.

Much of my 1000 day countdown is made up of memories, of World Cups past and other football incidents. With the same Malta friends we might have, maybe inappropriately, made fun of some of the un-pronoucable names. We laughed at commentators stating the obvious, or players doing a Rivaldo (the missile incident against Turkey, 2002). We supported, but were entertained by, Malta in their home qualifiers. We prayed for a win, maybe a draw, or even just a goal, yet very often we could do nothing other than laugh at our desperate hope that our goalkeeper would not drop a cross, or at our pleas that we be awarded a non-existent penalty out of pity.

There were matches watched by myself, lucky that I lived within a half hour walking distance from the one stadium where all the football was played. Those lazy Sunday afternoons, sitting in a mostly empty stadium, enjoying (again, probably inappropriately) the smell of cigarette smoke were probably what led to my life being remembered in 4 year cycles starting with 1982. That stadium and Tele Santana.

Tele Santana made me happy, but at the time I didn't know it was because of him. I came across a story recently about the joy that Santana brought to the Brazilian team when he was their manager, and how the Brazilian people, starved of the Brazilian way of playing football in the 1970s, shared in that joy. And so did I, in that first World Cup I watched in 1982. I've eulogised that team many times in the past. A 'remember when' moment. I remember when Brazil played football and it was fun to watch. The tricks, the audacity to do things that other players on other teams wouldn't dare do in a competitive match. And because of that memory of Santana's team I enjoy the moments of brilliance that happen these days from a team like Barcelona. And I enjoy football because Brazil '82 existed in my lifetime.

As with my my friends, reconnected with recently, the happy memories of nine World Cups make for a happy present. It wouldn't have happened without the past, Mr. Soprano.

Do I have a point? Is there a reason for all this? Probably somewhere, if I looked for it. This all simply came from a chance reading of that Tele Santana story, a remembering of that Sopranos episode and the recent trip to Malta. I will not preach about a lesson to be learnt from this. Just a happy collection of memories that contribute to me doing this everyday.

Better than Tony Soprano, comedian Steven Wright: "When I think of the past it brings back so many memories."