Enjoying a Euro 2012 telecast with a friend recently, we realized that among the things we like most about soccer are...the interesting names of the players.
One of the best German players currently, for example, is Bastian Schweinsteiger, which translates to "pig farmer." Another German national team player is Holger Badstuber, the meaning of which is unclear, but the sound of which is clearly cool. Mesut Ozil is a German star of Turkish descent whose nickname is Nemo, after the big-eyed Disney character.
A Real Madrid clubmate of Ozil is named Kaka, one of the top Brazilians in the game today. A compatriot of Kaka goes by the name Dudu, but let's not go there.
Some philosophy students may have been surprised to learn that it wasn't until early this year that Socrates passed away. That Socrates was a great Brazilian player. A Greek soccer player named Sokratis Papastathopoulos--try stitching that across the back of jersey--remains alive and well, however.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Spanish national team that will be defending its European championship against Italy this Sunday includes three players who go by a single name: Pedro, Xavi, and Juanfran. Not to be completely outdone by their Iberian neighbors, the Portuguese national team defeated by Spain in Wednesday's semi-final match had five players on the roster with single names: Nani, Custodio, Pepe, Eduardo, and Beto.
Is there a place in soccer for people in the world named Jones or Johnson? Well, yes, of course. The English national team that competed in this month's Euro 2012 championship had a Phil Jones and Glen Johnson on the squad.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
The Joy of Mets
When New York City’s two major league baseball teams meet in Citi Field this weekend, there will certainly be many more happy Mets fans than happy Yankees fans. It’s been that way for most of the past 50 years.
Since the Mets joined the National League in 1962, the team has given its fans many years of happiness – 19 to be exact. There was never more joy in Metsville than in 1969 and 1986, when the team won the World Series. But Mets fans were also ecstatic in 1973 and 2000, when the team made improbable runs to the World Series, and happy nearly all other seasons when the team won more games than it lost. In fact, among the Mets' 23 winning clubs, only the 1987 and 1988 editions, which failed to follow-up on the ’86 championship, and the 2007 and 2008 teams, which collapsed in September, disappointed Shea Stadium faithful.
Yankees fans? Most of them were only happy the eight times in the past 50 years the team won the World Series: 1962, 1977-78, 1996, 1998-2000 and 2009. For Yankees fans, a World Series championship from a team that perennially has the highest payroll and a lineup of well-established players is an expectation. Anything short of a World Series title is a disappointment, and certainly nothing to be happy about. The 12 years between 1964 and 1976, and 15 years between 1981 and 1996, when no post-season games were held at Yankee Stadium, are considered the dark ages in team history, and rarely discussed by Yankees fans.
The images of Jesse Orosco on the pitching mound celebrating the final out of the ‘86 World Series are forever etched in the memory of Mets fans. Older Mets fans will never forget the picture of Jerry Koosman in the arms of Jerry Grote and a joyful Ed Charles on the mound after future manager Davey Johnson flied out to Cleon Jones for the final out of the ’69 World Series. Do Yankees fans have comparable memories of major moments in the team’s history? Probably not, since people rarely treasure an accomplishment that was merely an expectation.
Considering the Yankees have been in existence 109 years, all but 27 seasons have been considered failures by their fans. It certainly gives New Yorkers and other baseball followers across the country a new appreciation for the suffering of Yankees fans over the years. For Mets fans, satisfied with victories whenever they come and happy when the team finishes with a winning record, no such sympathies are needed. That’s why Mets fans will seem so happy this weekend, especially if their team wins two or more of the Subway Series games, and few Yankees fans will appear cheerful, since a World Series will not be at stake.
Since the Mets joined the National League in 1962, the team has given its fans many years of happiness – 19 to be exact. There was never more joy in Metsville than in 1969 and 1986, when the team won the World Series. But Mets fans were also ecstatic in 1973 and 2000, when the team made improbable runs to the World Series, and happy nearly all other seasons when the team won more games than it lost. In fact, among the Mets' 23 winning clubs, only the 1987 and 1988 editions, which failed to follow-up on the ’86 championship, and the 2007 and 2008 teams, which collapsed in September, disappointed Shea Stadium faithful.
Yankees fans? Most of them were only happy the eight times in the past 50 years the team won the World Series: 1962, 1977-78, 1996, 1998-2000 and 2009. For Yankees fans, a World Series championship from a team that perennially has the highest payroll and a lineup of well-established players is an expectation. Anything short of a World Series title is a disappointment, and certainly nothing to be happy about. The 12 years between 1964 and 1976, and 15 years between 1981 and 1996, when no post-season games were held at Yankee Stadium, are considered the dark ages in team history, and rarely discussed by Yankees fans.
The images of Jesse Orosco on the pitching mound celebrating the final out of the ‘86 World Series are forever etched in the memory of Mets fans. Older Mets fans will never forget the picture of Jerry Koosman in the arms of Jerry Grote and a joyful Ed Charles on the mound after future manager Davey Johnson flied out to Cleon Jones for the final out of the ’69 World Series. Do Yankees fans have comparable memories of major moments in the team’s history? Probably not, since people rarely treasure an accomplishment that was merely an expectation.
Considering the Yankees have been in existence 109 years, all but 27 seasons have been considered failures by their fans. It certainly gives New Yorkers and other baseball followers across the country a new appreciation for the suffering of Yankees fans over the years. For Mets fans, satisfied with victories whenever they come and happy when the team finishes with a winning record, no such sympathies are needed. That’s why Mets fans will seem so happy this weekend, especially if their team wins two or more of the Subway Series games, and few Yankees fans will appear cheerful, since a World Series will not be at stake.
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