Link to Maradona Speech

Maradona's Farewell Speech

After listening to this the cold logic still stands: we need hardware in the trophy cabinet. And we need a coach who can get that for us. But I believe more criticism should be directed towards Don Julio and his band of thugs, not towards Diego. It is true what he says in this speech, when he joined the team it was in disarray. He did move it forward: the team was more aggressive, offensive and now has a spectacular unity. I would hate to see that destroyed. I feel bad for Diego, especially because no coach should stay on when 7 of his crew are being let go. This opinion piece quite well describes Grondona's way of handling national coaches.

Death In the Morning

By a vote of 68-55, Catalonia banned bullfighting today. The world just got a little less interesting.

Gone is the Spain of Federico Garcia Lorca and Ernest Hemingway. Gone are the days when bullfighters were as famous as footballers. Though the spectacle remains alive in the rest of mainland Spain, an extraordinarily dangerous precedent has been set. These kinds of laws do not get repealed. One wonders whether the tradition is safe. I doubt it. Cockfighting and dogfighting can go underground, as they require less space. Raising a bull is far more difficult, and the actual bullfight necessitates a sizable arena.

The Canary Islands outlawed the bloodsport decades ago, but the maritime region was never a hotbed of corrida. Catalonia certainly was. Barcelona once hosted three rings, though popularity has waned considerably in recent years.

When one thinks of Spain, certain images come to mind. Cervantes, the Civil War, football, FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Iniesta, Rafael Nadal, Pamplona, Fernando Alonso, Lorca, Iglesias, Serrat, spaghetti westerns, tapas, red wines, Ibiza, blood sausage, and BULLFIGHTING. Those flags at games aren't for nothing. Gone from Catalonia is one of the things that makes Spain SPAIN.

Globalization, by and large, is a wonderful thing. It has led to a rise in incomes and standard of living. The interchange of culture and trade have made products available where they would have been unthinkable a generation ago. The sad element of globalization is that the world is getting more BORING. If I can't see a bullfight in Barcelona, in all seriousness, what the hell is going on? I saw comments in articles lauding Catalonia's "stance that aligns with the rest of Europe." Pretty soon, the only thing Spanish left will be the language!

I love travel. When I visit different places, my mind swells with the collective history of the place- battles, faces, literature, and culture. Now, part of Spanish lore is relegated only to the words of the past. Many will forget that it was ever a central part of life.

If you don't like drugs, you don't have to do them. If you don't like a TV show, you don't have to watch. If you don't like bullfighting, don't go to the arena. Why bury someone's cherished tradition because you find it disturbing? Those who argue against bullfighting on grounds of "civilization" ought to think thrice about their own stances toward Islam. Much of Europe has enacted "hate speech" laws that render jail terms for the voicing of anti-religious sentiment. Last time I checked, Islam has been a bit destructive as of late. Of course it is absurd to ban such a thing, but by the "reasoning" we all to often hear, why should it not be outlawed?

Now I know people will say "we need laws to speak for the voiceless" and "we need to protect the animals." Well, while you're at it, why don't you give animals the right to vote? Why don't you write into the Geneva convention that every animal is deserving of basic health care, housing, and education? If we protect bulls, dogs, and roosters, why not cockroaches and iguanas? Why not extend protection to plants and computers? Especially computers, as they have Artificial Intelligence and are a hell of a lot smarter than man humans, let alone animals. If you support a ban on bullfighting, you'd better not be eating red meat. After all, it was bred, held in captivity, overfed, and slaughtered for your utility and enjoyment. And, apparently, that is wrong and evil in the context of bloodsport. There is no internal consistency to animal rights nincompoops. They have no argument, no standard, and no shame. ANIMALS DO NOT HAVE RIGHTS, ONLY PEOPLE DO.

Maradona the Original

The End of an Era

I am opposed to any representative of Argentina's soccer team making a political statement. On principle, for that matter, I am opposed to a representative of any sports organization making political statements of the type that Maradona made this past week in Venezuela. It is not his place. Now let me make myself clear though, I am opposed to the person making public statements, but I am not opposed to the person holding these sentiments. I could care less if Maradona is best friends with Chavez and Fidel, and still loves and supports Che. There are a lot of people with these sentiments, and well, I don't care. But what Maradona did this past week was unsupportable. On the basis of his statements and appearances alone, he should be fired.

From the date of this writing, it appears that he will not be staying on as head coach of the Argentine national team. The reasons stem more from his barrio-like beliefs of keeping his most loyal aides by his side. Considering the fact that he grew up in Villa Fiorito, we need to understand his decision. When you grow up in those places you are in a true dog-eat-dog scenario. You must have a close group of loyal friends. I understand this, and really I understand his sympathy for "socialism". I understand his tirades at the media, and his decision to bring Veron and Palermo to the World Cup instead of Cambiasso and Zanetti. I understand, because if you take his upbringing and his education into account you shouldn't be surprised. It always stuns me when people act shocked at his actions. There is no need to. It is totally predictable.

I am mostly filled with relief that Don Julio and Diego were not able to come to some sort of agreement. Mostly because I look forward to a functional coach who can make the right decisions and win some hardware for Argentina. Everyone talks about Bianchi, but he hasn't coached in a long time, and is too afraid to tarnish his reputation. So I don't even consider him for the position. Sabella appears to be Grondona's choice, but he has limited experience as a head coach. Although his time as el Kaiser's sidekick on the national team and at River, Monterrey, etc could come in handy. Even with his terrific Libertadores win in 2009, he still needs more experience in my opinion. El Checo Batista is a great choice, given his experience with the last Olympic gold medal and his abundant experience on top of the U-21 national team. But his Olympic performance was not beautiful, it was more practical. (Although slamming Dunga's Brazil sure does count for something.) For me the two best choices are Ramon Diaz and Cholo Simeone. Ramon Diaz has the most amount of experience for the job, and Simeone has a beautiful tactical system. This isn't just my inner-River speaking, this is the reality. I plead with you, Don Julio, make the right choice.

Let's not forget what Maradona has done for us before we criticize him too much. As coach, he brought passion and a love for the albiceleste that no other coach has shown. And as a player he brought the entire world beauty that has never been replicated. Dale Diego, siempre vas a ser querido por todo el pueblo Argentino!

Link to the Manolo Sanchis interview

Manolo Sanchis Interview

A Difference of Results

There is an old expression that advises one to keep his friends close, but his enemies closer. Therefore, I took the time to visit Marca.com today and read an interview with Manolo Sanchis, a legend of Real Madrid fame. Manolo said something very interesting with regard to the respective canteras of Real Madrid and Barcelona. He noted that the outfits operate in a similar manner, but the results have been very different. If we are to take this remark at face value, and I have no problem doing so, it suggests that Barcelona is simply better at identifying talent. Better results through better selection.
La Masia- FC Barcelona

Afterthoughts

Clearly, we have been lazy over the past few weeks with posts. I had intended to cover Wimbledon, but the World Cup, work, and apartment shopping got in the way. My spare time was spent reading Jimmy Burns' epic Barca: A People's Passion and Phil Ball's Morbo, which plumbs the depths of Spanish football and psychology. The timing couldn't have been better, with Spain emerging victorious.

I am glad that Spain won because I love their players and it was a victory for "brains over brawn." Both Flaco and I are unabashed supporters of FC Barcelona and next year looks bright with the backbone of La Roja and the able assistance of Messi and Alves.

I also agree wholeheartedly with Flaco's post below. I believe that Argentina's defense needs to be entirely revamped with new players brought into the fold. Ansaldi, Zabaleta, Garay, Pareja, and Otamendi would be the choices for me. But while there has been focus on Argentina's porous defense and Coach Diego's attempts to mask weaknesses with offense, little has been said about the greatest problem with La Seleccion and its performance: the defensive midfield. Coach Diego put far too much responsibility on the legs of Javier Mascherano. Jefecito is amazing but he can't do it alone. Soccer is won and lost in the midfield. No one will change my mind on the issue. The defense should not have to be a rock; holding midfielders should be of top class quality if one wants to build a great team. They need the defensive prowess to regain possession and the offensive awareness to start the attack or move the ball to the attacking force. Esteban Cambiasso was sorely missed. This humble blogger hopes for his return for Copa America.

Any depression about Argentina's exit is tempered by Barcelona's outlook for next season. Supercopa is only a month away and I am practically frothing with anticipation. Pep has re-upped for another year (after which he may be at the helm of La Roja) Messi will continue to startle, Busquets will improve, Puyol will inspire, Xavi and Iniesta will control, and Villa will leave his stain all over the white shirted enemy!

World Cup Finale

Yesterday Spain made history by winning the World Cup for the first time in their checkered sporting history. Fortunately for all the viewers the final game was most definitely the emotionally-charged event that it was expected to be. Now that the month long event is over, we should ask ourselves, ‘Was the entire event the emotionally-charged, quality tournament that should be expected from the World Cup?’ I think a variety of factors caused the cup to be less competitive than it should have been.

First of all, the lead up to the World Cup affected how the tournament played out. There were many teams hyped as good that in reality weren’t more than straw houses. For starters, the African teams showed their traditional weaknesses and did not perform. A combination of injuries and weak midfields created a disaster for the African challengers. Unfortunately, their star players (most of them star strikers, such as Eto’o and Drogba) were surrounded by players of significantly lesser-quality. The surprising country, in my opinion, was Ghana. Gyan and company made it the furthest of any African nation in the tournament, despite having the “weakest” team. Secondly, the marginal teams really did appear marginal. Sometimes there are surprises that make it through to the semi-finals, but that did not happen this year. True, some of the big favorites did not leave the group stages, but the teams that progressed far were most definitely traditional soccer powerhouses. The main straw houses (and I had predicted this at the outset of the tournament) were: England, Italy and France. England, with the exception of 4 players (Gerrard, Lampard, Terry and Rooney) is a crap team; Italy is more of a geriatric club; and France was a psychiatric ward (in between the underage prostitute drama, the lack of coaching and the anger management issues).

During the WC many FIFA decisions affected the quality of the tournament. While I think the first week of refereeing actually began well, the quality soon crashed to horrible levels. Goals were not called, linesmen were asleep, and the Jabulani ball became a super villain!

Brazil played horrendous, disastrous soccer. Because of that a major force of beautiful and competitive soccer was lacking. Dunga’s “efficient system” was shown for what it really is: a scam. Efficiency in soccer can be important in certain ways (attacking efficiently), but when defensive soccer rules, and Brazil can easily be mistaken for English soccer you know that a travesty is occurring.

Enough of the negatives. There were some highlights: Uruguay and Chile put Latin American soccer on the map. Chile played beautiful offensive soccer, and Uruguay played smart defensively with moments of offensive brilliance. Argentina, for all the drama Maradona brought out, really played beautiful soccer until the Germany game. And Paraguay showed their true potential (I will admit that Argentina is to thank for much of this- coach, players, style, etc.). Spain was weak most the tournament, but was true to their style. Germany was brilliant in my opinion. They showed what a team full of young, offensive and ambitious players can do.

In the end, I think that justice was served. Spain emerged victorious. Only an Argentine victory would have satisfied me more. Now I hope the 7 starting Roja players come back to Barca and win everything this year again!