Day -998 WorldCup2022
Before you look there was no Day -999. Bear with me as I figure what I'm going to do with this project this time around.
If you followed me before you'll know that many days were punctuated with stories and updates of Aston Villa's numerous ups and downs. Not World Cup related, but on my mind. So forgive me if I'm a little distracted by the excitement (scratch that, more extreme nervousness and fear) of VIlla's League Cup final against Man City on Sunday. Of course if Villa win the best thing is we can say, from our old school days talk, that we are better than Real Madrid.
A little World Cup talk. The draw for the second round of qualifying in Africa proves once again what a tough, competitive confederation it is and how a couple of countries with a strong World Cup background will miss out. There are 10 groups of 4 teams and only the group winners move on to the final qualifying round, where the 10 teams will be drawn to play in 5 ties over 2 legs. Only 5 countries make it to Qatar.
Ghana and South Africa are in the same group. Ghana should win that group, right? But you always feel South Africa have World Cup pedigree.
Tunisia and Zambia. The experienced Tunisians and the constantly achieving/under-achieving Zambians. They always seem to be good at the wrong time.
But the biggest one must be Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire, two teams who would be high on any list of expected World Cup representatives from Africa.
Thursday, 27 February 2020
Tuesday, 25 February 2020
The long road starts here...again.
Day -1000. WorldCup2002
"The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be a breakthrough from a social and cultural perspective. It will open the doors of this football-mad region, offering a new perspective to locals and foreigners, bringing people together and serving as a tool for common understanding."
That was Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, on the day that Fifa marked 1000 days to the kick-off in Qatar. It's a statement that can be criticized and the validity of it ripped apart. And adding in the numerous rights issues that have come to light during the construction of stadiums in Qatar, there is a lot to talk about before we even get to football.
But with apologies, before I go there, and to keep this first day light, it is almost amusing to report that a lot of 2022 football has happened already.
Last June, before 2019/20 UEFA Champions League qualifiers had happened and before qualifying for Euro 2020 was over, a number of teams in Asia had already been eliminated from 2022 qualifying. Were you looking forward to watching Pakistan or Brunei? Well, too bad. They're out. Another World Cup cycle done for them. East Timor? Beaten 12-2 on aggregate by Malaysia.
Asia has moved on to round 2 already. Syria have won all 5 of their group games so far; Australia and Japan have won 4 out of 4.
In Africa qualifying started last September and it ended in September for countries like Lesotho, Eritrea, Chad, Sierra Leone. There will be no more World Cup dreams for 4 years for fans and players in twelve African countries, long before Europeans or South Americans even think about Qatar.
Another of those twelve eliminated African nations was Eswatini. I threw that country in because it's an example of how I learnt my geography and history through football. Eswatini was Swaziland but in April 2018 King Mswati III decreed that the country will be changing it's name to cut ties with it's colonial past. Eswatini means "land of the Swazi" in the language of the country. Swaziland was the Anglo and Swazi amalgamation of the same term. The King issued his decree on the 50th anniversary of the peaceful end of British rule in his country, a gift to his people.
There will be no Eswatini in Qatar. Who will be? What will happen between now and November 2022? A lot, no doubt. And it won't just be football.
"The FIFA World Cup 2022 will be a breakthrough from a social and cultural perspective. It will open the doors of this football-mad region, offering a new perspective to locals and foreigners, bringing people together and serving as a tool for common understanding."
That was Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, on the day that Fifa marked 1000 days to the kick-off in Qatar. It's a statement that can be criticized and the validity of it ripped apart. And adding in the numerous rights issues that have come to light during the construction of stadiums in Qatar, there is a lot to talk about before we even get to football.
But with apologies, before I go there, and to keep this first day light, it is almost amusing to report that a lot of 2022 football has happened already.
Last June, before 2019/20 UEFA Champions League qualifiers had happened and before qualifying for Euro 2020 was over, a number of teams in Asia had already been eliminated from 2022 qualifying. Were you looking forward to watching Pakistan or Brunei? Well, too bad. They're out. Another World Cup cycle done for them. East Timor? Beaten 12-2 on aggregate by Malaysia.
Asia has moved on to round 2 already. Syria have won all 5 of their group games so far; Australia and Japan have won 4 out of 4.
In Africa qualifying started last September and it ended in September for countries like Lesotho, Eritrea, Chad, Sierra Leone. There will be no more World Cup dreams for 4 years for fans and players in twelve African countries, long before Europeans or South Americans even think about Qatar.
Another of those twelve eliminated African nations was Eswatini. I threw that country in because it's an example of how I learnt my geography and history through football. Eswatini was Swaziland but in April 2018 King Mswati III decreed that the country will be changing it's name to cut ties with it's colonial past. Eswatini means "land of the Swazi" in the language of the country. Swaziland was the Anglo and Swazi amalgamation of the same term. The King issued his decree on the 50th anniversary of the peaceful end of British rule in his country, a gift to his people.
There will be no Eswatini in Qatar. Who will be? What will happen between now and November 2022? A lot, no doubt. And it won't just be football.
Monday, 16 July 2018
The end? Countdown to Qatar?
The day after. And just for the record it's day -1588 before Qatar
2022. But whether I will be here on day -1587, well....maybe....or
another 1000....
There's definitely a void now. If you love sport, the emotion of winning and losing, following the path of the winners and the losers, the ups and downs, you have to wonder what you are going to look forward to. The Tour de France? Yes, it's a pretty amazing human achievement, and everyday there are some pretty amazing battles. It's up there, it just lacks the euphoria of a knockout round win and the disappointment of a defeat. The new Premier League, Serie A, La Liga seasons? Yeah, there's some fun there. Who will be the new big money names in England? How will Ronaldo take to life with Juventus? Who will replace Ronaldo at Real Madrid? Yes, all good but the seasons are long and a win in August or September may long be forgotten by May.
How about the British Open? A bit of stretch. Golf is like basketball. If you want excitement watch the last 5 minutes (or last 5 holes on the final day) and hope the scores are close up until then so you catch the most exciting bit.
What else? The US Open. Now that could be fun if we go again like last year. Tennis in New York, that's pretty good. I couldn't get excited about Wimbledon, especially not the final as it clashed with the World Cup final. Maybe by the time the US Open comes around I'll be needing that bit of tennis excitement.
But back to the last memories of a wonderful month, my memories. The best times were the Canada Day long weekend, also the last 16 weekend, when it didn't take much persuasion to convince Kristine and my girls that the best way to spend the weekend was to camp out at home and watch football. I could have gone to a bar, but it was better to share those moments with my family. We had a great time cheering Schmeichel! Schmeichel! in the hope that the Danish keeper would come out on top in the penalty shoot out against Croatia. We were all jumped out of our seats when Belgium scored the last minute winner in the thriller against Japan. And we all happily waved cheerio to Spain and their boring, pointless football.
There was the drive to Cleveland with Kristine, some time finally spent alone together, and World Cup commentary on BBC Radio in the car. Shaqiri scored the last minute winner against Serbia just as we pulled into our hotel. And as Belgium put a few goals past Tunisia we were somewhere in northern Ohio, or had we crossed into Pennsylvania, or were we already in New York state? Football on the radio, BBC radio, nonetheless, it never loses it's charm.
And then finally, the joy of my teenager Lily giving up on a day at the beach with her friends to watch the World Cup Final with her dad. That made me happy.
That's it. All done. I'll find something to look forward to. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.
There's definitely a void now. If you love sport, the emotion of winning and losing, following the path of the winners and the losers, the ups and downs, you have to wonder what you are going to look forward to. The Tour de France? Yes, it's a pretty amazing human achievement, and everyday there are some pretty amazing battles. It's up there, it just lacks the euphoria of a knockout round win and the disappointment of a defeat. The new Premier League, Serie A, La Liga seasons? Yeah, there's some fun there. Who will be the new big money names in England? How will Ronaldo take to life with Juventus? Who will replace Ronaldo at Real Madrid? Yes, all good but the seasons are long and a win in August or September may long be forgotten by May.
How about the British Open? A bit of stretch. Golf is like basketball. If you want excitement watch the last 5 minutes (or last 5 holes on the final day) and hope the scores are close up until then so you catch the most exciting bit.
What else? The US Open. Now that could be fun if we go again like last year. Tennis in New York, that's pretty good. I couldn't get excited about Wimbledon, especially not the final as it clashed with the World Cup final. Maybe by the time the US Open comes around I'll be needing that bit of tennis excitement.
But back to the last memories of a wonderful month, my memories. The best times were the Canada Day long weekend, also the last 16 weekend, when it didn't take much persuasion to convince Kristine and my girls that the best way to spend the weekend was to camp out at home and watch football. I could have gone to a bar, but it was better to share those moments with my family. We had a great time cheering Schmeichel! Schmeichel! in the hope that the Danish keeper would come out on top in the penalty shoot out against Croatia. We were all jumped out of our seats when Belgium scored the last minute winner in the thriller against Japan. And we all happily waved cheerio to Spain and their boring, pointless football.
There was the drive to Cleveland with Kristine, some time finally spent alone together, and World Cup commentary on BBC Radio in the car. Shaqiri scored the last minute winner against Serbia just as we pulled into our hotel. And as Belgium put a few goals past Tunisia we were somewhere in northern Ohio, or had we crossed into Pennsylvania, or were we already in New York state? Football on the radio, BBC radio, nonetheless, it never loses it's charm.
And then finally, the joy of my teenager Lily giving up on a day at the beach with her friends to watch the World Cup Final with her dad. That made me happy.
That's it. All done. I'll find something to look forward to. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned.
Sunday, 15 July 2018
France: World Champions
Day 32 WorldCup2018
It's all over. Another four years of waiting starts today. Four years of wondering if what we witnessed over the last four weeks can be replicated in Qatar. It was outstanding, excellent, wonderful football. The excitement was, at many times, almost unbearable but made even better by how close it was to pushing the limits of how much emotions a fan could deal with. And the final today was the perfect send off.
Even though the match started at a high tempo and there immediately seemed to be a lot of promise for a classic final, at the end of the first half there was a worrisome feeling that this was going to be a French victory earned through an own goal and a penalty, no beautiful goals from open play. And to make it worse the own goal came after a shocking Griezmann dive to win a free kick, and the penalty was a "could have not been given" kind of handball. Ivan Perisic's wonderful goal in between the two French ones was the kind of beauty you hope for in a World Cup final. The reason I thought of as to why France deserved to win was that football is not about scoring spectacular goals, it's also about defending well.
Then the second half happened and France showed us that they can indeed score the awe-inspiring goals. That pass from Pogba to Mbappe that set up the Pogba goal. Wow! I was still marveling at the beauty of its accuracy and perfect weight long after Pogba had picked up the return and scored his first goal of the tournament. It was the pass I wanted to watch again, not the goal. In one moment of absolutely perfectly measured brilliance France went from their half to a goal-scoring opportunity.
And when Mbappe followed that goal with his own bit of individual brilliance, for a few minutes the world seemed like a better place. Did the best team look like they were going to win? That could be debated. But it was that good football, the kind we had watched for four weeks was the winner. It was the way we dream of Cup finals being won and are so often disappointed to be let down by mediocrity.
Mandzukic's goal after Lloris' comical error may have given the last 20 minutes some more significance. A 4-2 deficit seems more surmountable that 1-4. But as hard as Croatia tried, this was one step too far for them.
Were France worthy winners in the end? There may be many arguments that Croatia were more dynamic, Belgium were more exciting or that Uruguay were more defensively solid. But in the end, in the final, which France got to by out playing Uruguay by just enough and controlling the Belgians, they scored more goals than Croatia. And that's all that counts. It's that simple of a game. And that's why we love it.
There are lot more reasons why Russia 2018 was so memorable. I can't gather all my thoughts right. One more day is needed tomorrow.
Tomorrow: Day 1 after Russia 2018, Day -1588 to November 21st, 2022.
It's all over. Another four years of waiting starts today. Four years of wondering if what we witnessed over the last four weeks can be replicated in Qatar. It was outstanding, excellent, wonderful football. The excitement was, at many times, almost unbearable but made even better by how close it was to pushing the limits of how much emotions a fan could deal with. And the final today was the perfect send off.
Even though the match started at a high tempo and there immediately seemed to be a lot of promise for a classic final, at the end of the first half there was a worrisome feeling that this was going to be a French victory earned through an own goal and a penalty, no beautiful goals from open play. And to make it worse the own goal came after a shocking Griezmann dive to win a free kick, and the penalty was a "could have not been given" kind of handball. Ivan Perisic's wonderful goal in between the two French ones was the kind of beauty you hope for in a World Cup final. The reason I thought of as to why France deserved to win was that football is not about scoring spectacular goals, it's also about defending well.
Then the second half happened and France showed us that they can indeed score the awe-inspiring goals. That pass from Pogba to Mbappe that set up the Pogba goal. Wow! I was still marveling at the beauty of its accuracy and perfect weight long after Pogba had picked up the return and scored his first goal of the tournament. It was the pass I wanted to watch again, not the goal. In one moment of absolutely perfectly measured brilliance France went from their half to a goal-scoring opportunity.
And when Mbappe followed that goal with his own bit of individual brilliance, for a few minutes the world seemed like a better place. Did the best team look like they were going to win? That could be debated. But it was that good football, the kind we had watched for four weeks was the winner. It was the way we dream of Cup finals being won and are so often disappointed to be let down by mediocrity.
Mandzukic's goal after Lloris' comical error may have given the last 20 minutes some more significance. A 4-2 deficit seems more surmountable that 1-4. But as hard as Croatia tried, this was one step too far for them.
Were France worthy winners in the end? There may be many arguments that Croatia were more dynamic, Belgium were more exciting or that Uruguay were more defensively solid. But in the end, in the final, which France got to by out playing Uruguay by just enough and controlling the Belgians, they scored more goals than Croatia. And that's all that counts. It's that simple of a game. And that's why we love it.
There are lot more reasons why Russia 2018 was so memorable. I can't gather all my thoughts right. One more day is needed tomorrow.
Tomorrow: Day 1 after Russia 2018, Day -1588 to November 21st, 2022.
Saturday, 14 July 2018
Prediction time
Day 31 WorldCup2018
My last post before the last match of Russia 2018. The sadness of the finality will be described tomorrow.
Today, in keeping with family tradition, I am supposed to make a prediction. But if you've read anything I've written for the past 1030 days or so you'll know I don't do public predictions. Maybe by the end of this I will.
When I was asked about who I thought would win the Belgium-France semifinal my answer was, "my heart says the fun, attacking Belgians but my head tells me to be sensible and go for a win for the pragmatic French."
My feelings are similar for tomorrow. My head really has to say France. They have controlled pretty much every match they have played in Russia. When they went 2-1 down to Argentina in the last 16, they shrugged their shoulders turned up the heat for a few minutes and wrestled back the initiative. No problem, we were never worried. Didier Deschamps has them playing in such a way that a burst of speed from Kylian Mbappe sets hearts racing because it's such a contrast to the conservative approach the team employs the majority of the time. And I did say whoever won the France-Uruguay quarterfinal would win the whole thing.
Croatia are the sentimental favourite, the team from the country that has captured so many people's hearts with their passion and stories of surviving the terrible Balkans war in the early 1990s. And in this tournament they have fought many a battle on the pitch and come through them all. Destiny is the word that comes to mind. I find it hard to imagine Croatia not fulfilling that destiny.
This is a tough one and what I wrote on Day 3 after both teams' opening matches doenst help me much.
"Earlier France beat Australia 2-1 in the Italian way, the Italian way where they go on to win the whole thing." (They won through a penalty and an own goal). France are either going to have a Nicholas Anelka player revolt moment or they are going to go on and win the whole thing."
"And even later Croatia tamed Nigeria with an own goal and a penalty. Hold on. If France don't have their meltdown, does this mean Croatia are going to win this thing?"
I did not change any of that. It is really what I wrote. It's not quite my 1990 dream but I do believe they are the only two teams I mentioned as potential winners.
Can I predict a draw? It's the sensible option versus the one driven by passion. Who comes out on top. Ok here goes. Why do I worry about making predictions anyway? In the end it's just a guess. Not even the most intelligent football brain can foresee an unlucky own goal, or a team that hits the post 4 times and loses when the other team scores with their only shot.
As much as I love the passion, here it is....France 1-0.
My last post before the last match of Russia 2018. The sadness of the finality will be described tomorrow.
Today, in keeping with family tradition, I am supposed to make a prediction. But if you've read anything I've written for the past 1030 days or so you'll know I don't do public predictions. Maybe by the end of this I will.
When I was asked about who I thought would win the Belgium-France semifinal my answer was, "my heart says the fun, attacking Belgians but my head tells me to be sensible and go for a win for the pragmatic French."
My feelings are similar for tomorrow. My head really has to say France. They have controlled pretty much every match they have played in Russia. When they went 2-1 down to Argentina in the last 16, they shrugged their shoulders turned up the heat for a few minutes and wrestled back the initiative. No problem, we were never worried. Didier Deschamps has them playing in such a way that a burst of speed from Kylian Mbappe sets hearts racing because it's such a contrast to the conservative approach the team employs the majority of the time. And I did say whoever won the France-Uruguay quarterfinal would win the whole thing.
Croatia are the sentimental favourite, the team from the country that has captured so many people's hearts with their passion and stories of surviving the terrible Balkans war in the early 1990s. And in this tournament they have fought many a battle on the pitch and come through them all. Destiny is the word that comes to mind. I find it hard to imagine Croatia not fulfilling that destiny.
This is a tough one and what I wrote on Day 3 after both teams' opening matches doenst help me much.
"Earlier France beat Australia 2-1 in the Italian way, the Italian way where they go on to win the whole thing." (They won through a penalty and an own goal). France are either going to have a Nicholas Anelka player revolt moment or they are going to go on and win the whole thing."
"And even later Croatia tamed Nigeria with an own goal and a penalty. Hold on. If France don't have their meltdown, does this mean Croatia are going to win this thing?"
I did not change any of that. It is really what I wrote. It's not quite my 1990 dream but I do believe they are the only two teams I mentioned as potential winners.
Can I predict a draw? It's the sensible option versus the one driven by passion. Who comes out on top. Ok here goes. Why do I worry about making predictions anyway? In the end it's just a guess. Not even the most intelligent football brain can foresee an unlucky own goal, or a team that hits the post 4 times and loses when the other team scores with their only shot.
As much as I love the passion, here it is....France 1-0.
Friday, 13 July 2018
Croatia: they went through a war, really
Day 30 WorldCup2018
In the early 1990s I was fully aware of the simmering political tensions in what was Yugoslavia and how the unrest led to the horrible wars in Croatia and Bosnia. As I watched the news with my Mum she regularly asked me to explain who was fighting and who was on the good side and the bad side. Is there a good side in a war? It was terrible to see this happening so close to home. It's easier to admit now that the "closeness to home" factor shouldn't have been a reason to feel more affected by it. The war in Kuwait and Iraq or anywhere else should have been equally saddening, because wars are terrible.
But as with many other significant events for me there was a connection with football. The passion of the supporters of the different clubs across Yugoslavia was evident but I didn't really understand the true reasons why Dinamo Zagreb hated Red Star Belgrade. Really hated. Not like Manchester United and City, Birmingham and Aston Villa, or even Rangers and Celtic. These supporters would be prepared to fight their rivals to their death, not because of football but to defend their Croatian and Serbian roots. And it was with this background that the "kick that started a war" happened.
Zvonimir Boban, who went on to become one of the stars of the great Croatian team of the 1998 World Cup was the perpetrator of the infamous kick. He was incensed that Red Star fans were being left to attack Dinamo fans, 10 minutes into a match between the two. He launched his kick at a policeman and it took the fight between Serbs and Croats to a higher level. Whether that incident started the war in Croatia is debatable but it definitely brought the tensions out in the open. And from there it escalated into the terrible civil war.
I followed it closely, as I did the Bosnian war, but I can never say that I fully understood it. But how could I, so safely ensconced in my comfortable life?
It is no lie though, no exaggeration of facts that this was the background that many (most?) of the Croatian team playing in the World Cup Final on Sunday grew up in.
We can be sad about England and them being so close, and I still will be, but these Croatians, and excuse me for being blunt, suffered some real shit.
So come what may on Sunday, watch those Croatians with an understanding of where the passion comes from with which their supporters will them on to win, a passion for a very young country that lost many, many lives to be what and where it is today.
In the early 1990s I was fully aware of the simmering political tensions in what was Yugoslavia and how the unrest led to the horrible wars in Croatia and Bosnia. As I watched the news with my Mum she regularly asked me to explain who was fighting and who was on the good side and the bad side. Is there a good side in a war? It was terrible to see this happening so close to home. It's easier to admit now that the "closeness to home" factor shouldn't have been a reason to feel more affected by it. The war in Kuwait and Iraq or anywhere else should have been equally saddening, because wars are terrible.
But as with many other significant events for me there was a connection with football. The passion of the supporters of the different clubs across Yugoslavia was evident but I didn't really understand the true reasons why Dinamo Zagreb hated Red Star Belgrade. Really hated. Not like Manchester United and City, Birmingham and Aston Villa, or even Rangers and Celtic. These supporters would be prepared to fight their rivals to their death, not because of football but to defend their Croatian and Serbian roots. And it was with this background that the "kick that started a war" happened.
Zvonimir Boban, who went on to become one of the stars of the great Croatian team of the 1998 World Cup was the perpetrator of the infamous kick. He was incensed that Red Star fans were being left to attack Dinamo fans, 10 minutes into a match between the two. He launched his kick at a policeman and it took the fight between Serbs and Croats to a higher level. Whether that incident started the war in Croatia is debatable but it definitely brought the tensions out in the open. And from there it escalated into the terrible civil war.
I followed it closely, as I did the Bosnian war, but I can never say that I fully understood it. But how could I, so safely ensconced in my comfortable life?
It is no lie though, no exaggeration of facts that this was the background that many (most?) of the Croatian team playing in the World Cup Final on Sunday grew up in.
We can be sad about England and them being so close, and I still will be, but these Croatians, and excuse me for being blunt, suffered some real shit.
So come what may on Sunday, watch those Croatians with an understanding of where the passion comes from with which their supporters will them on to win, a passion for a very young country that lost many, many lives to be what and where it is today.
Thursday, 12 July 2018
Nothing-ness
Day 29 WorldCup2018
Today was an empty day. Really. No football, not much to look forward to. At least that's what I thought as I woke to the day after what could have been for England. But as I drove to work and listened to the comically mundane words-to-fill-airtime coming out of the sports radio hosts, something made me look forward to Sunday. This is still the World Cup that I looked forward to since the day after the last one ended, and more specifically for 1000 days. France against Croatia is going to be the culmination of a month of incredible football. So bring on Sunday!
Back to the radio this morning and I said to myself that I wasn't going to this. But I can't resist sharing what I listened to just because I wanted to hear some sort of England post-morterm. It's TSN radio, a show hosted by one of the top dudes of the many Canadian TV and radio sports dudes, Michael Landsberg and his co-host, former Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Carlo Colaiacovo. For the first 10-15 minutes they were talking about the tradition of who picks the music for the hockey locker room. Seriously. I thought it was joke at first but Colaiacova shared his personal experience and described the ritual and tradition. It's hard for me to convey how serious the conversation was about something so ridiculous. (Producer: "there's another 15 minutes eaten up. Good job boys.")
Then the conversation moved to football. After Landsberg stopped himself (mid-word) from saying Britain again (everyday, does nobody tell him?) they went through the fairly predictable discussion about how sad it is for England and how ecstatic the Croatians were. Admittedly, it was good to hear talk of it, healing in a way. Then Colaiacova went off on a tangent about how he heard that the 50th country on Fifa's rankings is some funny/weird country. To which Landsberg replied, in the polite way you do when somebody in a room with you has said something that can embarrass himself, "what constitutes a weird country in your head?"
The producer/assistant/somebody found out that the country is Burkina Faso and Colaiacovo howled and howled with laughter. "That's it! That's it! Have you ever heard of that! Is that a country? No way!" Yes, replied everybody else, by now even more exasperated by how their superstar hockey player was embarrassing himself. And with that I got to work, turned the radio off and thought I never have to listen to that tripe again.
Just as not to sound like I'm in anyway stereotyping hockey players I have met current and former players and they have all struck me as level headed, pretty intelligent guys.
Anyway, there's my story of distraction for today. What will tomorrow bring? On Saturday the 3rd/4th place match may be the distraction, but I'd need to be pretty desperately in the need for my mind to be somewhere else if I would watch the losers' match that even the losers don't want to play. Is it even possible for Belgium and England to play with more second string players that in their final match of the group stages?
Today was an empty day. Really. No football, not much to look forward to. At least that's what I thought as I woke to the day after what could have been for England. But as I drove to work and listened to the comically mundane words-to-fill-airtime coming out of the sports radio hosts, something made me look forward to Sunday. This is still the World Cup that I looked forward to since the day after the last one ended, and more specifically for 1000 days. France against Croatia is going to be the culmination of a month of incredible football. So bring on Sunday!
Back to the radio this morning and I said to myself that I wasn't going to this. But I can't resist sharing what I listened to just because I wanted to hear some sort of England post-morterm. It's TSN radio, a show hosted by one of the top dudes of the many Canadian TV and radio sports dudes, Michael Landsberg and his co-host, former Toronto Maple Leaf hockey player Carlo Colaiacovo. For the first 10-15 minutes they were talking about the tradition of who picks the music for the hockey locker room. Seriously. I thought it was joke at first but Colaiacova shared his personal experience and described the ritual and tradition. It's hard for me to convey how serious the conversation was about something so ridiculous. (Producer: "there's another 15 minutes eaten up. Good job boys.")
Then the conversation moved to football. After Landsberg stopped himself (mid-word) from saying Britain again (everyday, does nobody tell him?) they went through the fairly predictable discussion about how sad it is for England and how ecstatic the Croatians were. Admittedly, it was good to hear talk of it, healing in a way. Then Colaiacova went off on a tangent about how he heard that the 50th country on Fifa's rankings is some funny/weird country. To which Landsberg replied, in the polite way you do when somebody in a room with you has said something that can embarrass himself, "what constitutes a weird country in your head?"
The producer/assistant/somebody found out that the country is Burkina Faso and Colaiacovo howled and howled with laughter. "That's it! That's it! Have you ever heard of that! Is that a country? No way!" Yes, replied everybody else, by now even more exasperated by how their superstar hockey player was embarrassing himself. And with that I got to work, turned the radio off and thought I never have to listen to that tripe again.
Just as not to sound like I'm in anyway stereotyping hockey players I have met current and former players and they have all struck me as level headed, pretty intelligent guys.
Anyway, there's my story of distraction for today. What will tomorrow bring? On Saturday the 3rd/4th place match may be the distraction, but I'd need to be pretty desperately in the need for my mind to be somewhere else if I would watch the losers' match that even the losers don't want to play. Is it even possible for Belgium and England to play with more second string players that in their final match of the group stages?
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