Football and the Pandemic
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Eduardo Galeano said that, and also he said that he was the most human of the human gods because it had humans defects. As the gods of the Olympiad, they were like humans and they had human passions
The crowds are back. Millwall fans boo players taking the kneel
Millwall fans boo as players take the knee.
Loud booing could be heard when players from both teams took the knee in support of #BlackLivesMatter movement before kick off, with at least one supporter heard shouting "get up!"
More on this story: https://t.co/SCap9J1hYZ pic.twitter.com/xETM4W5oHB
— Sky News (@SkyNews) December 6, 2020
Coincidentally, this article appeared today, James
True, for ruling classes, football is often intended to be the “opium of the people”. But it would be naive to assume that the people, in their own ‘intellectual’ capacity, are unable to take ownership of that medium, as they have done in many other contested spaces.
I don’t know whether it’s because the pandemic has made people more health-conscious, or just because a few ex-footballers have recently been diagnosed with dementia, but it looks as if heading may be on the way out. Health-wise, that can’t be a bad thing.
I often wonder what football would be like in a socialist society. Would it just be a runabout in the local park, or would there still be organised matches with proper rules? How about one village against another, in a sort of pre-industrial free-for-all?
rodshaw – I’ve always considered organised sports as the only legitimate place for competition so I wouldn’t expect the games themselves would change much. Of course there wouldn’t be any financial pressures to win – just bragging rights. Although when it comes to ‘international’ competition I don’t know how that would be organised in a world free of nation states.
“The most human of the gods”. This is what Eduardo Galeano said about Maradona ( it might contain errors it is a quick digital translation )m
Maradona, according to Eduardo Galeano
Diego Armando Maradona and Eduardo Galeano shared a mutual admiration that they did not fear to manifest, the fact that can be seen in different public statements and in the multiple references to the Argentine star that the Uruguayan writer expressed in his works.
READMORE THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT DEMANDED THAT RODRÍGUEZ LARRETA STOP REPRESSING POLICE INCIDENTS IN THE FAREWELL TO DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA
READMORE DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA’S departure cried around the WORLD POLITICAL LEADERS AND LEADERS ADMIRED THE FOOTBALL STAR
One of the most resonant and remembered appears in his book Closed by Football (2017), in which Galeano describes “10” as “the most human of the gods”,a definition he had already advanced in the program The Days of Galeano.
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Maradona became a kind of dirty God, the most human of the gods. That perhaps explains the universal veneration he conquered, more than any other player. A dirty God who looks like us: womanizer, chatter, drunkenness, tragón, irresponsible, liar, bluffing,” Galeano said.
In that same excerpt, the Uruguayan writer referred to the price of fame and success that Diego had to endure, for being the best in the history of football: “But the gods do not retire, however human they may be. He could never return to the anonymous crowd where he came from. Fame, which had saved him from misery, made him a prisoner,”Galeano added.
“Succession is a much more devastating drug than cocaine, although it is not turned away by blood or urine tests,” the writer concluded in the moving video.
In life, each of them was declared a fan of the other. They were joined by ideals, thoughts that they always defended.
READ MOREREQUIEM FOR “THE TEN” WHY THE PEOPLE MOURN IT
In 2015 when “the 10” learned that Galeano had died he dedicated a warm message: “Thank you for fighting as a 5 in the middle of the court and for scoring the powerful as a 10. Thanks for understanding me, too. Thank you, Eduardo Galeano: it takes many like you on the team. I’m going to miss you.”
This November 25th will go to the memory of the Argentines for Maradona’s death. What many thought impossible finally happened at noon on Wednesday.
Therefore, it is necessary to remember the day that Galeano fell at his feet.
“The most human of the gods”
Maradona, according to Eduardo Galeano
Diego Armando Maradona and Eduardo Galeano shared a mutual admiration that they did not fear to manifest, fact that can be seen in different public statements and in the multiple references to the Argentine star that the Uruguayan writer expressed in his works.
READMORE THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT DEMANDED THAT RODRÍGUEZ LARRETA STOP REPRESSING POLICE INCIDENTS IN THE FAREWELL TO DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA
READMORE DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA’S departure cried around the WORLD POLITICAL LEADERS AND LEADERS ADMIRED THE FOOTBALL STAR
One of the most resonant and remembered appears in his book Closed by Football (2017), in which Galeano describes “10” as “the most human of the gods”,a definition he had already advanced in the program The Days of Galeano..
ADVERTISING
Maradona became a kind of dirty God, the most human of the gods. That perhaps explains the universal veneration he conquered, more than any other player. A dirty God who looks like us: womanizer, chatter, drunkenness, tragón, irresponsible, liar, bluffing,” Galeano said.
In that same excerpt, the Uruguayan writer referred to the price of fame and success that Diego had to endure, for being the best in the history of football: “But the gods do not retire, however human they may be. He could never return to the anonymous crowd where he came from. Fame, which had saved him from misery, made him a prisoner,”Galeano added.
“Succession is a much more devastating drug than cocaine, although it is not turned away by blood or urine tests,” the writer concluded in the moving video.
In life, each of them was declared a fan of the other. They were joined by ideals, thoughts that they always defended.
READ MOREREQUIEM FOR “THE TEN” WHY THE PEOPLE MOURN IT
In 2015 when “the 10” learned that Galeano had died he dedicated a warm message: “Thank you for fighting as a 5 in the middle of the court and for scoring the powerful as a 10. Thanks for understanding me, too. Thank you, Eduardo Galeano: it takes many like you on the team. I’m going to miss you.”
This November 25th will go to the memory of the Argentines for Maradona’s death. What many thought impossible finally happened at noon on Wednesday.
Therefore, it is necessary to remember the day that Galeano fell at his feet.
Rod Shaw and Wez
I have also considered for some time the way sport would function in a Socialist Society and for my part I think sport will continue to be a big part of Socialist Society, competitive and non competitive.Although like most things in capitalist society there is a great focus on the elite money making side of sport, for the majority of participants in sport practically everything is done at a voluntary level.
I used to play local leagues football back in the 80s and 90s and all of the officials for the leagues, the administrators, the County FA committees, etc were volunteers. I used to be amazed and to an extent humbled by the referees and linesman (no female match officials in those days) who would trudge to the middle of nowhere to official at a match for a pittance of expenses and receive dog’s abuse from the couple of dozen spectators who watched.
The same applies at higher levels of sport as well. My brother in law is on the committee of a local football team that have developed from being a works team to playing at a semi professional level, however apart from the players and the manager, everything at the club is done on a voluntary basis, from operating the turnstiles, producing the programme, running the club shop, etc.
The same is true of youth sports, with junior teams and sport activities usually run by volunteers and parents. This is true across a range of sporting activities. Local bowls clubs, rugby clubs, squash clubs, etc. etc. thousands and thousands of volunteers across the country.
To me this is a fantastic example to use to illustrate how socialism can work. For example there are 60,000 pigeon fancier in the UK, when I was younger I used to race pigeons myself. The vast, vast majority of running the sport is done on a volunteer basis. Local clubs running their own affairs, usually in a very democratic fashion all of it without having to elect a leader!!! The unpleasant jobs also get done, cleaning out shower rooms, washing kit, marking out pitches, clearing dog shit off the playing area, etc.
In terms of elite sport, I am a big fan of Gaelic Games, and I think that some of the ways that GAA sports are organised could be used as a model for sport under socialism. In GAA you generally are only allowed to play for the club in your parish (this is starting to change). The individual clubs play against each other on a county wide basis. The county champions then play against the other county winners on a provincial basis (Ulster, Munster, Leinster and Connacht) and then the provincial winners play each other to become the All Ireland Senior Club champions (at Football, Hurling, Ladies Football and Camogie). At County level you play for the county your club is in (if selected) the counties play out the provincial championships and then the All Ireland Championships to decide the All Ireland Champions.
Although there are some anomalies in this format (Co Dublin has by far the biggest pool of talent to pick from, essentially you play for where you’re from, whether that be parish or county. This also means that there are times when a group of good players appear in one localit, giving most counties a chance to have their time in the sun. From the point of view of nations and how socialists would feel about being picked to represent a nation, I would hope that the divisions would have the same impact as county divisions have in Ireland, which is rivalry at a sporting level and very little impact otherwise.
Have you read this re-post of mine on my personal blog
https://mailstrom.blogspot.com/2007/06/anarchist-football.html
Extracts from the Anarchist Football Manual by the AAP Collective
BTW, some trivia, Back in the 70s, Edinburgh Branch ran a Sunday League football side called ‘Capital’, a clever play on words.
I think “higher level” football in a socialist society would maybe be played at the level of whatever administrative regions were set up, with players from their own locality. I do somehow envisage these as being more at county level than current national level.
But if some existing nations were more or less kept as is for administrative purposes, there’d be nothing to stop people from still having a “national” footie team.
“Welcome to the first World Cup final of the socialist era, where the team formerly known as England take on the team formerly known as Brazil…”
Maybe not. Anyway I wouldn’t be sure of the wisdom of teams in any sport travelling halfway round the world to play one another.Fan-Power?
“Welcome to the first World Cup final of the socialist era, where the team formerly known as England take on the team formerly known as Brazil…”
In my youth, there were regular international matches …The Scottish League v. the English League. Actual, nationality of the players were irrelevant. With the crowded schedule that players have now, these purely prestige friendly games fell out of favour.
In future, we may well have matches to determine the Premier League or the Bundesliga or Series A or La Liga provides the better football. Sadly, i predict the Scottish League, will still be ranked low.
The first of many studies i expect tobe forthcoming.
“Our evidence indicates that – from a sport psychological perspective – the absence of supporters has a substantial influence on the behaviour of players, staff and officials. Without the external factor of supporters, players and staff stayed calm more often and got less carried away with arguments and discussions, which decreased by 4.7% and 5.1%, respectively.”
19.5% fewer “emotional” incidents, such as arguments or altercations, in matches without fans. The results also showed a stark decline in interactions involving the referee. In the pre-pandemic half of the study, the official was dragged into 39.4% of emotional incidents, but with no incitement from the stands, that number fell to just over a quarter, 25.2%.
It found that “self-reproach” after a player missed a goalscoring chance went up in games without fans.
Football fans might not be able to go and watch teams play in the grounds. But nothing changes it would seem. Especially when a team lose.
Man Utd ‘disgusted’ at racial abuse sent to Axel Tuanzebe and Anthony Martial
….We utterly condemn it and it is encouraging to see other fans condemn this on social media also…..Haven’t seen anything of the sort, annoyingly a Manchester United fan makes a post saying “abuse is endemic in society”…..clearly moving the goalposts (pun intended) no criticism of his own fans racist (he avoids actually saying racist) behaviour last night, whatsoever. Just lumps all clubs together and said this: “all clubs have a racist element”. Yet not a shred of evidence to back up his claims. A case of two wrongs don’t make a right then!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/55813101
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I was watching a live match earlier and spread across part of West Brom’s crowdless stand, in large letters, was a banner saying “The Lord is My Shepherd”.
I know football is often said to be another religion but this is really taking it literally.You want to go to a rugby international in Cardiff and hear them singing;
Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but Thou art mighty,
Hold me with Thy pow’rful hand.
Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more.A perfect example of human self-abnegation before the figment of their own imagination. It sounds good, though despite the words. Not that they mean them (even if their great grandfathers did).
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