Day 410. WorldCup2018
Two days ago I watched the fantastic documentary, "The Workers Cup".
Today I had the pleasure of watching the world premiere of another
truly, thought provoking, deep emotion generating documentary, "State of
Exception." Director Jason O'Hara followed the struggles, and battles,
of a group of indigenous people in Rio ("urban Indians") and favela
residents against the threat of eviction from their land and homes to
make way for the World Cup in 2014 and the 2016 Olympics.
Without
doubt, when this documentary comes your way, it is a must see. While we
may have seen news reports at the time of the heavy hand of the
authorities in Rio, and the mass protests, watching this today took it
to a whole new powerful, emotional level. The sense of injustice
suffered by these innocent people in the name of sport, supposedly, was
intense. The "Urban Indians" fought for a dilapidated building to be an
indigenous museum but which happened to be too close to the $500m
renovated Maracana stadium. And the residents of numerous favelas
fought, literally, with armed police to not lose the houses which many
of them had built with their own hands.Seeing the individuals, rather
than just the masses reported on the news, made me, the viewer, feel
very connected to their suffering.
As with "The Workers Cup"
there was also a subtle sense of irony. Maybe this was a more personal
reaction this time, based on years of reading about the importance of
football in Brazilian culture. Once the World Cup started, young kids
ran around the favelas in their Brazil shirts and streets were decorated
with flags and banners. And many of those kids definitely dream of
being the next Neymar and playing for Brazil in the Maracana. But this
does in no way diminish or take away from the very important message of
resistance. Some of the people interviewed mentioned that they had
nothing against the World Cup and the Olympics, but just what was
happening to them. This was later countered, maybe unintentionally by
the Director, by the Mayor of Rio saying that everybody loved the World
Cup and Olympics in Brazil because everything was being done in a good,
or correct, way.
Most people's anger was directed at Fifa. It was
easy to assume that their may have been a feeling of the police and
army acting on behalf of Fifa, not the Brazilian government. People
asked for Fifa where their money was to pay for their bus fare, or
houses, or education. After the screening, Jason O'Hara was asked if he
went to Fifa for a response, for the other side of the argument. What
good would it have done to have had a PR person from Fifa go on about
their view, he asked. This film was about these individuals. There has
been enough time spent on Fifa having their say, he said, and they have
enough money to make their own film. (Cheers and applause from the
audience).
It is a wonderful part of the Toronto Hot Docs
Festival having the directors present to take questions after their
films. Mr. O'Hara's passion for what he had witnessed in putting this
together came across very vividly and was an impressive extension to the
film we had just watched.
One viewer asked Mr. O'Hara if he
thought the silence in the movie theatre was symbolic of the depression
most people felt after what they had seen. The reply was powerful and
impressive. Please don't be depressed, Mr. O'Hara pleaded. Feel
empowered, like i did, by the strength of the these people in their
resistance. Take to the streets for what you believe in, to shape the
world in the way you think it should be shaped, he concluded to loud
applause.
Adam Sobel, after the screening of his film, "The
Workers Cup" appealed to the audience to seek the answer to the question
of our feelings about the World Cup, when considering the plight of the
migrant workers. I thought that again today. I am huge fan of the World
Cup but can I be a supporter of Fifa's flagship tournament at this
cost? Or can the message of resistance, and demand for change, bring
about a different way of World Cup's being organised? They don't have to
be resisted to the point of being done away with, but there should a
global demand for a different way, one that comes along with respect and
more consideration for the host country and it's residents.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHMpSXXVbr8
Sunday, 30 April 2017
Saturday, 29 April 2017
Brian Moore: it's there!
Day 411. WorldCup2018
I'm doing this early today because later might come by too late..
I need a distraction from the continuous reports of the political madness going on in Malta. There's enough intrigue and mystery to make an award winning movie about it. Or a movie, at least. Award winning will depend on how it's made. See, there I go already, getting very distracted. This is working. But the movie, or no movie, is not the point. There is so much going on that it's beyond an easily dismissed joke about stereotypical politicians. Panama Papers has become "Prime Minister, his wife, his accountant, his chief of staff, a minister, a few Azeri's, a couple of Iranians" papers. Roberto Calvi, God's Banker, would probably be watching this in incredulous awe if he hadn't met such an unfortunate, mysterious death.
So again, I turn to football and my own very simple investigation. Last night I ended with doubts about "Big League Soccer" and "The Big Match". I'm relived that my memory wasn't playing tricks on me as I confirmed today that Big League Soccer was what was shown outside of England. As I looked it up I went on a bit of a Brian Moore memory trail, watching tributes to him after his passing and some of his best commentary moments.
My search was thrown off track a little by Brian Moore, the English rugby player, which led me to the great, late New Zealand player Jonah Lomu and famous performances of the All Blacks' Haka. I really have not had this much time on my hands for a long time.
I resisted posting a video of the French team's response to the Haka at the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup and kept with my football theme. I have probably linked this previously, sometime over the last 600 days or so, or in my 2014 countdown, But, regardless, here it is again for two reasons. With Brian Moore on my mind, I probably watched this match (I almost definitely did) on Italian TV so didn't hear Brian Moore's description of this magical moment. You may be a Liverpool fan but how can you not appreciate a player's, a team's, incredible joy at scoring the title winning goal in the last minute of the final match of the season.
And what was Michael Thomas trying to do in his celebration. A somersault? A handstand? I'm sure he didn't really care, or know. I cannot imagine the utterly amazing feeling after scoring that goal. But every time I watch it, it amuses me.
Here is Michael Thomas' goal for Arsenal against Liverpool when Arsenal had to win by two goals to win the league from Liverpool, at Anfield. Now there's a Hollywood movie script.
"It's up for grabs now!"
It's there!
I'm doing this early today because later might come by too late..
I need a distraction from the continuous reports of the political madness going on in Malta. There's enough intrigue and mystery to make an award winning movie about it. Or a movie, at least. Award winning will depend on how it's made. See, there I go already, getting very distracted. This is working. But the movie, or no movie, is not the point. There is so much going on that it's beyond an easily dismissed joke about stereotypical politicians. Panama Papers has become "Prime Minister, his wife, his accountant, his chief of staff, a minister, a few Azeri's, a couple of Iranians" papers. Roberto Calvi, God's Banker, would probably be watching this in incredulous awe if he hadn't met such an unfortunate, mysterious death.
So again, I turn to football and my own very simple investigation. Last night I ended with doubts about "Big League Soccer" and "The Big Match". I'm relived that my memory wasn't playing tricks on me as I confirmed today that Big League Soccer was what was shown outside of England. As I looked it up I went on a bit of a Brian Moore memory trail, watching tributes to him after his passing and some of his best commentary moments.
My search was thrown off track a little by Brian Moore, the English rugby player, which led me to the great, late New Zealand player Jonah Lomu and famous performances of the All Blacks' Haka. I really have not had this much time on my hands for a long time.
I resisted posting a video of the French team's response to the Haka at the 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup and kept with my football theme. I have probably linked this previously, sometime over the last 600 days or so, or in my 2014 countdown, But, regardless, here it is again for two reasons. With Brian Moore on my mind, I probably watched this match (I almost definitely did) on Italian TV so didn't hear Brian Moore's description of this magical moment. You may be a Liverpool fan but how can you not appreciate a player's, a team's, incredible joy at scoring the title winning goal in the last minute of the final match of the season.
And what was Michael Thomas trying to do in his celebration. A somersault? A handstand? I'm sure he didn't really care, or know. I cannot imagine the utterly amazing feeling after scoring that goal. But every time I watch it, it amuses me.
Here is Michael Thomas' goal for Arsenal against Liverpool when Arsenal had to win by two goals to win the league from Liverpool, at Anfield. Now there's a Hollywood movie script.
"It's up for grabs now!"
It's there!
Friday, 28 April 2017
Biran Moore reads viewers' letters
Day -412. WorldCup2018
I had a memory today of watching Big League Soccer with my Dad many years ago, when the one hour (or was it less?) of highlights on a Tuesday evening with Brian Moore was the only English football we got on TV. Sometimes we were told by the lady who came on to tell us what was coming on next that "Big League Soccer didn't arrive this week", and instead we got highlights of a German Bundesliga match, which always seemed to be high-scoring and even now, in my memory of his voice, I could not figure out what kind of accent the English-speaking commentator had. Was he English? Was he German, but spoke perfect English?
Big League Soccer, if I remember correctly, featured extended highlights of one match, all the goals from all the other matches, and finished with shorter highlights from another one. When the goals round-up was on, the commentators always seemed to same thing when somebody scored: it's there! And that was my Dad's joke for a while. He would say "it's there!" whenever somebody came close to scoring and he maybe thought I wasn't watching. And, of course, I thought I was very funny every time.
I couldn't find an "it's there" moment but I did find footage of Brian Moore doing something that seems so romantically quaint now: him reading viewer's letters. Can you imagine all those people watching Big League Soccer and then pulling out their writing paper to write to Brian Moore? I'm sure I composed many letters in my head to him. What I found the most amusing is how he reads out every writer's complete address and he is sure to correct himself if he gets a street name or house number wrong. Oh those innocent days! Which, at that time of football hooliganism, Olympic boycotts, Falkland Wars we didn't think was all sweet and rosy.
(When I look it up, I get The Big Match. Somebody help me, was it not Big League Soccer that we watched with Brian Moore? Different name in England, maybe?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YnlLWwemYYA
I had a memory today of watching Big League Soccer with my Dad many years ago, when the one hour (or was it less?) of highlights on a Tuesday evening with Brian Moore was the only English football we got on TV. Sometimes we were told by the lady who came on to tell us what was coming on next that "Big League Soccer didn't arrive this week", and instead we got highlights of a German Bundesliga match, which always seemed to be high-scoring and even now, in my memory of his voice, I could not figure out what kind of accent the English-speaking commentator had. Was he English? Was he German, but spoke perfect English?
Big League Soccer, if I remember correctly, featured extended highlights of one match, all the goals from all the other matches, and finished with shorter highlights from another one. When the goals round-up was on, the commentators always seemed to same thing when somebody scored: it's there! And that was my Dad's joke for a while. He would say "it's there!" whenever somebody came close to scoring and he maybe thought I wasn't watching. And, of course, I thought I was very funny every time.
I couldn't find an "it's there" moment but I did find footage of Brian Moore doing something that seems so romantically quaint now: him reading viewer's letters. Can you imagine all those people watching Big League Soccer and then pulling out their writing paper to write to Brian Moore? I'm sure I composed many letters in my head to him. What I found the most amusing is how he reads out every writer's complete address and he is sure to correct himself if he gets a street name or house number wrong. Oh those innocent days! Which, at that time of football hooliganism, Olympic boycotts, Falkland Wars we didn't think was all sweet and rosy.
(When I look it up, I get The Big Match. Somebody help me, was it not Big League Soccer that we watched with Brian Moore? Different name in England, maybe?)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=YnlLWwemYYA
Thursday, 27 April 2017
The Workers Cup
Day -413 #WorldCup2018
I'm home late after going to watch the Canadian premiere of "The Workers Cup", a documentary about the migrant workers building the stadiums and other infrastructure for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. It was sad, it was miserable, it was funny and it showcased a lot of interesting characters from Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, India who found enjoyment and a bit of bittersweet happiness in football, not the Fifa World Cup but their own little workers' cup. Go find it and watch it.
At the end of the screening I asked the director, Adam Sobel, what he would say to a football fan, what his feelings about the World Cup are, having experienced the workers' misery. His answer was very thoughtful and interesting. He said he wanted the audience to have their own reaction, to answer the question in any way they might want, because it is a question that will linger. We as consumers should decide who or what we want to give our custom to. How do we want to consume Qatar 2022 after seeing this?
He also spoke about how the workers in his film see it: "They love the World Cup. They are building it off their backs, but they would be devastated if they lost it. That is the irony."
Mr. Sobel has lived in Qatar for five years. He mentioned legacies that all World Cups or Olympics leave behind. He believes there is a chance that this World Cup could influence change to labour conditions in Qatar, across other Gulf Nations, and all across the world where this kind of slave labour exists.
I'm home late after going to watch the Canadian premiere of "The Workers Cup", a documentary about the migrant workers building the stadiums and other infrastructure for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. It was sad, it was miserable, it was funny and it showcased a lot of interesting characters from Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Bangladesh, India who found enjoyment and a bit of bittersweet happiness in football, not the Fifa World Cup but their own little workers' cup. Go find it and watch it.
At the end of the screening I asked the director, Adam Sobel, what he would say to a football fan, what his feelings about the World Cup are, having experienced the workers' misery. His answer was very thoughtful and interesting. He said he wanted the audience to have their own reaction, to answer the question in any way they might want, because it is a question that will linger. We as consumers should decide who or what we want to give our custom to. How do we want to consume Qatar 2022 after seeing this?
He also spoke about how the workers in his film see it: "They love the World Cup. They are building it off their backs, but they would be devastated if they lost it. That is the irony."
Mr. Sobel has lived in Qatar for five years. He mentioned legacies that all World Cups or Olympics leave behind. He believes there is a chance that this World Cup could influence change to labour conditions in Qatar, across other Gulf Nations, and all across the world where this kind of slave labour exists.
Wednesday, 26 April 2017
The race for the....top 4....
Day -414 #WorldCup2018
Big Thursday night in Manchester tomorrow for the United v City derby. They're playing for the riches of the Champions League next season. Gone are the days when league champions was the thing, above everything else. Now the fans have been fed the Top 4 propaganda for so long that it seems to be the thing, with the league an after-thought after being knocked out of the Champions League. And nobody wants to qualify for the Europa League
Big Thursday night in Manchester tomorrow for the United v City derby. They're playing for the riches of the Champions League next season. Gone are the days when league champions was the thing, above everything else. Now the fans have been fed the Top 4 propaganda for so long that it seems to be the thing, with the league an after-thought after being knocked out of the Champions League. And nobody wants to qualify for the Europa League
Tuesday, 25 April 2017
Mariachi! In Barnet.
Day -415 WorldCup2018
I love this story of Grimsby fans and their inflatables. It's the silly, happy side of football. Football is a nice distraction from everyday annoyances and stress, and these kind of stories are good distractions from the sometimes overly commercial world of Premier League or Champions League football.
Two years ago a Grimsby fan was arrested at an away match at Forest Green Rovers for refusing to hand over an inflatable beach ball that he took into the stadium. His fellow supporters were upset at his treatment by the stewards inside the stadium. In solidarity with him they decided to take as many inflatables to their next away match at Barnet. And at that match a fan was arrested and found guilty of assaulting a steward with an inflatable shark. He maintains the fans were jumping around, celebrating when he was taken out of the stands by the police.
This weekend Grimsby are playing away to Barnet and to mark the fixture fans were planning to take inflatables with them again, to carry on the tradition of the amount of fun they bring to away matches. But Barnet have let them know that inflatables are banned, wary of their being a repeat of what happened in 2015.
So what could they bring instead of the inflatables to create a fun atmosphere at an end of season League Two match with no significance for either mid-table team? They started a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough money to hire a Mariachi band. A Mariachi band at a fourth division football match in North London. Fantastic. As of this evening they were £257 over their £1000 target. I'll be looking forward to footage of that match.
I love this story of Grimsby fans and their inflatables. It's the silly, happy side of football. Football is a nice distraction from everyday annoyances and stress, and these kind of stories are good distractions from the sometimes overly commercial world of Premier League or Champions League football.
Two years ago a Grimsby fan was arrested at an away match at Forest Green Rovers for refusing to hand over an inflatable beach ball that he took into the stadium. His fellow supporters were upset at his treatment by the stewards inside the stadium. In solidarity with him they decided to take as many inflatables to their next away match at Barnet. And at that match a fan was arrested and found guilty of assaulting a steward with an inflatable shark. He maintains the fans were jumping around, celebrating when he was taken out of the stands by the police.
This weekend Grimsby are playing away to Barnet and to mark the fixture fans were planning to take inflatables with them again, to carry on the tradition of the amount of fun they bring to away matches. But Barnet have let them know that inflatables are banned, wary of their being a repeat of what happened in 2015.
So what could they bring instead of the inflatables to create a fun atmosphere at an end of season League Two match with no significance for either mid-table team? They started a crowdfunding campaign to raise enough money to hire a Mariachi band. A Mariachi band at a fourth division football match in North London. Fantastic. As of this evening they were £257 over their £1000 target. I'll be looking forward to footage of that match.
Monday, 24 April 2017
Newcastle going where I wish Villa were going
Day -416 WorldCup2018
Newcastle won today and will be back in the Premier League next season after just one season out. I think Newcastle get relegated at regular intervals on purpose, just to get there huge fan base excited about winning something, promotion, every few years. Ok, ok that was low. I'm just jealous.
One of the Aston Villa fan pages on facebook asked the questions today, "Villa fans are you happy today?" Happy? Happy? Are you kidding? Happy because Villa scrappily won 1-0 against a terrible team battling relegation? So what that it was Birmingham. It was probably the most meaningless Second City derby ever, for Villa. The only significance could have been that it was good to push Birmingham closer to relegation.
Even though I have many opinions and I voice them in many places on the Internet, I have only commented once on an Aston Villa facebook page and it was probably something silly. Today I couldn't resist. "No (not happy). Brighton were promoted and Newcastle are playing tonight to get a step closer to promotion. And Villa are stuck in the Championship for another season." I know there are more important things in the world, I really do, but football and Aston Villa give me pleasure, and I am happier when they are playing Chelsea and Tottenham and dreaming of a European spot than when they are playing Burton and Rotherham.
I hope that this time next year I will be looking forward to a World Cup and what players Aston Villa might spot and possibly buy for their new season in the Premier League. Two seasons in the Championship and it gets very dangerous, very easy to get stuck there year after year, or even worse.
Newcastle won today and will be back in the Premier League next season after just one season out. I think Newcastle get relegated at regular intervals on purpose, just to get there huge fan base excited about winning something, promotion, every few years. Ok, ok that was low. I'm just jealous.
One of the Aston Villa fan pages on facebook asked the questions today, "Villa fans are you happy today?" Happy? Happy? Are you kidding? Happy because Villa scrappily won 1-0 against a terrible team battling relegation? So what that it was Birmingham. It was probably the most meaningless Second City derby ever, for Villa. The only significance could have been that it was good to push Birmingham closer to relegation.
Even though I have many opinions and I voice them in many places on the Internet, I have only commented once on an Aston Villa facebook page and it was probably something silly. Today I couldn't resist. "No (not happy). Brighton were promoted and Newcastle are playing tonight to get a step closer to promotion. And Villa are stuck in the Championship for another season." I know there are more important things in the world, I really do, but football and Aston Villa give me pleasure, and I am happier when they are playing Chelsea and Tottenham and dreaming of a European spot than when they are playing Burton and Rotherham.
I hope that this time next year I will be looking forward to a World Cup and what players Aston Villa might spot and possibly buy for their new season in the Premier League. Two seasons in the Championship and it gets very dangerous, very easy to get stuck there year after year, or even worse.
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