A public health announcement...

I have come across this article in both the Portland Press Herald, and in the German Suddeutsche Zeitung:

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=166196&ac=PHnws
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/artikel/734/155329/

According to a new study, heart "problems" reported significantly increased during the 2006 world cup. This was particularly so during the big games. While I am thankful to not have any heart related problems myself (touch wood), I do understand why this might be occurring. From my experience, a tense game has my heart rate elevated significantly, particularly during a penalty shoot out, or in the dying moments of a close game.

Hmm, reflecting on the language of the last paragraph... dying, shoot-out, no wonder this game leads to heart attacks...

Anyway, here is what is recommended by the Press Herald for those big games:

CARDIAC-HEALTH ADVICEFOR THE RABID FOOTBALL FAN

TAKE medications as prescribed.

AVOID tobacco smoke and fatty meals.

GET plenty of sleep the night before the game.

DON’T over-exert yourself physically.

LIMIT yourself to one alcoholic drink for a woman and two for a man.

TRY “not to get too angry with the refs.”

FANS with heart conditions should keep their nitroglycerin and aspirin handy.

Source: Dr. Lori Mosca, director of preventive cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

Dr. Lori is clearly an understanding soul, as s/he realizes that we passionate ones can only "try" and not get mad at the ref.

Through the looking glass ~ 1/30/2008

"There is only one place in the world where North and South meet on an equal footing: a soccer field at the mouth of the Amazon in Brazil. The equator cuts through the middle of the Zerao stadium in Amapa, so each team plays one half in the South and the other half in the North." -Eduardo Galeano

My friend Simon (firesidehistory.blogspot.com) sent me "Upside Down" by Galeano, and I found the above quote almost immediately. But, as much as I am enjoying the text so far, I am struck by problems of such ideological polarization. Galeano offers great criticism of the western liberal model, both economic and political, but can't really provide an alternative. I see this so often in these radicalized texts.

So far Peter McClaren's essay on critical multiculturalism, and Denzin's Performance Ethnography are the best in providing a method to subvert problems of race, culture, neo-colonialism, yet again, they fall short in providing a view of how to handle the fall out of change. While it would be great to say its a simple as dismantling systems, I think the collapse we would experience would be even worse.

Again, this is what I like about Denzin and McClaren, they are offering a personal view of internalizing power, thus it is closer to the Daoist view of power in self control and not doing, rather than doing. Because it is impossible to control everybody, and also it is highly paradoxical to even try, we control ourselves, and let others choose of their own "free" will.

Can soccer be used to "promote" or expose this world view? Can a team sport ever be so individualized? Can soccer and its divisive nature be used to subvert political and economic power systems? Can it turn racism around on itself?

Where am I going with this... ~ 1/23/2008

From email correspondence:

"What I think I am having a hard time nailing down (as I have all along) is how to make the connection between these loose pieces. On the one side I am trying to look at soccer and its role as a socializer and source of identity (thus its part in civil society). On the other hand I seem to be straying into discussions about geo-political ramifications of "power" and nationalism.

I think what might be possible is to look at ever present racist "incidence" that occur at matches, who is the victim/perpetrator, and if possible what the motivation might be. If the object of the thesis is to look at the paradox of the sport being universal yet divided, and thus its legitimacy as a method of socialization, then the racism contributes to the "divisive" side of the question.

The connection between the case study of racism in European soccer is easier to connect with the games position in civil society. I have some very good articles on the evolutions in German citizenship, which can give me some background. So maybe Germany should remain my focus for these case studies."

Nationality and the round ball ~ 1/23/2008

After the meeting I wrote about below and a subsequent email response from Dr. V, the issue of nationality and soccer has been on my mind. While this will not be the focus of the project, I think it is a question worthy of some discussion in the text. Europe in general is going through some serious redefinition of its idea of nationality and the meaning of national borders, and this effects the game equally.

As Dr. V put it, the "foreign" player may suddenly lose this identity when the EU expands its borders to include the "foreigners" home land. Essentially, his or her identity has become politically meaningless and is only a personal experience. The questions to ask are, how does this change a persons relationship to their home, to their new home, to the people in their new home? I could only speculate on this without actually gong out there, but worth noting no-the-less.

On a national level, more and more players with immigrant histories and parents are playing for the adopted home nation. With names like Castro and Gonzales in the German team this becomes apparent. Also the case of Ashkan Dejagah is case and point. He is Iranian by birth, but was raised in Germany and currently plays for VFB Wolfsburg. He caused controversy this past year when he refused to play against Israel. He was quickly accused of anti-semitism, to which he responded the decision was ment to protect his Iranian family in Tehran. But he also displays nationalist tendencies towards Iran, and has "Tehran" tattooed on his wrist.

So what does "nationalism" mean in this context? In Dejagah's case, he is playing for the German national team, and yet appears to be sympathetic towards Iran, identifying himself as such. Perhaps on this level of sports, nationalism is rather meaningless in the face of fame, success on the field, and a chance at winning a World Cup. It becomes a business decision for players. The young immigrant from a nation without much soccer power choses to play for the rich European state because they will potentially go farther (as a player).

On the other side, the European countries soccer associations (like the DFB, FA, etc) are simply taking the best players they can within the legal restrictions. Clearly they are not concerned with national identity as such; perhaps the assumption is that once a player puts on the national kit, they could be nothing but loyal. It is true that legally they will never be allowed to play for another country after their first national cap.

If soccer is really nothing more than a business, then there is nothing wrong with such arrangements. To suggest otherwise can also border on racism. How can you say England or Germany, Italy or Spain should have only ethnically "pure" nationals playing on the national side? Not only is that a very questionable statement, but also totally unrealistic in a multicultural society. The popularity of soccer, and the national teams place in the national psyche does however mean its evolution effects the popular view of national identity. When this is challenged (by having "foreigners" as part of a national symbol for example) there is often a negative backlash.

Hillary ~ 1/22/2008

It's nothing to do with soccer, but worth a mention anyway.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/7DC22855-3109-4F75-AACA-D53C0BD0E74E.htm

The public attention to the death of Sir Hillary is remarkable. Although the level is probably different in the US and Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand are really mourning his passing. I had no idea this man was so revered, nor that a climber received such notoriety.

From the article it appears that Sir Ed dedicated himself to building schools and community structures in the himalayas after his successful assent of Chomolungma (Everest). Who knew... But it is nice to see this man's popularity has persisted over the years, and that he did more for the world than just climb a mountain. Certainly his physical feat was amazing and will have taken unbelievable skill, but it is really an egoistic endeavor. Yet Hillary seems not to have been that type of individual; perhaps as a result of the magnitude of what he overcame.

From my childhood in Bavaria I am familiar with R. Messner and H. Harrer (RIP 1/7/2006) because they are/were local boys. They do have a legendary status in the Alpine region, but are not well know outside of that (except within climber circles, and with anyone who saw/read Seven Years in Tibet). In any case, I should read more on this man some time.

Meeting with Big D (part II) ~ 1/21/08

As Serbia goes to a run off election between the hardline Nationalists and the pro-EU party, on the day when America celebrates the legacy of MLK, and after an interesting debate with E about the Racino issue and racism towards Native Americans, I finally got a sit down with Dr. D to take a look at the thesis.

As it stands the thesis is something of a compromise between the initial idea/inspiration for the thesis, and Dr. B's interest in doing a field study, a personalized experience with soccer culture in a community/region where marginalized peoples engage in the game. This second part was an idea that we banded around a few months ago, but that I never really was able to develop fully in my head, at least as part of the thesis.

So today, we looked at what I was hoping to get out of this project. This is not a one off for me, but really just a first chapter/trip into this subject. Considering my basic time frame (the thesis technically being due in May), the praxis is becoming something of an issue. As it stands, I was going to look at a very general cross section of soccer players in the US, players from USM, from an indoor league, and from the pickup games at Back Bay. But this doesn't really look at the "at risk" demographic meant to be the subject of this thesis.

If I think back to Oggi's speech (almost a year ago now) what had me so crazy was the possibility that soccer was available for use as a means of conflict resolution, or as empowerment of minority/repressed/illegal/other/'immigrant' communities. Since then the paradoxical nature of this has become clear to me. That the nation state can also tap this source for its own designs, perpetuating racism, inequality, and power structures. In light of the current complaints coming from the larger EU clubs complaining that the African Nations Cup is taking away the African stars for the next few weeks; considering the debate over immigration currently in the EU, this might rather be the focus of the project.

So, the suggestion was to look at the paradox of a sport that on one side empowers these communities, and on the other, allow the Nation State to further its ambition of control and power. Instead of trying, at this juncture, to do some field study, focusing on the theory supported by examples to support either side of the argument. The question will be to see if this debate is sustainable, if the co-existence of these two antithetical ideas means soccer is inherently dangerous, or if the risk is acceptable?

Thanks Pontiff ~1/9/2008

Looks like old Benny (a.k.a the Pope) has even taken up my cause!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7179757.stm


Blessed are the footballers...

Conditions of Liberty ~ 1/9/2008

I'm reading Conditions of Liberty by Ernest Gellner and came across this definition of Civil Society:

"Civil Society is that set of diverse non-governmental institutions which is strong enough to counterbalance the state and, while not preventing the state from fulfilling its role of keeper of the peace and arbitrator between major interest, can nevertheless prevent it from dominating and atomizing the rest of society" (Gellner, 1994: 5).

What Gellner is talking about in his opening chapter is the resurgence of civil society in the wake of the USSR and general collapse of Marxist ideology. What is interesting in these first pages is his discussion on the reasons for the Marxist's rejection of the very concept of civil society (and the dictator's use of this rhetoric to increase their own power). Essentially, civil society exists as a counter weight to the state, and manifests itself in many different forms, thus it is by nature pluralistic and inherently divisive.

For the marxist this is high problematic not only because it prevents the ideological unification of the citizens, but because it helps support state functions, civil society prevents the so called 'withering away' of said state. This association with the state, also implies a coercive nature to civil society. In the marxist ideal, because the citizens are ideologically unified, and there is no more need for state apparatus, civil society also because redundant. J.J. Russeau had a similar problem with political parties, and advocated for a single party because if social conscience was divided, then the government would never be legitimate.

The problem I have with the marxist view, notwithstanding the effects this had when applied by the USSR et al., is that single ideology is equally as coercive and divisive, only on a larger scale. It leaves no room for dissent nor difference in thinking or appearance. Not only is this unrealistic, but also highly discriminatory. Certainly I agree there is an element of coercion to the function/activity of civil society, but it also provides opportunity for dialogue on social, cultural, economic, and political rights and needs. Without civil society, it is had to imagine how all this would be articulated.

I suppose the marxist might suggest, as Chavez does from time to time, ideas and difference can be articulated within the single party/state/ideology, and it is a more efficient method for creating consensus. Again we arrive at the same problem, that what ends up happening is just a conglomeration of difference into a single identity, with is then necessarily divided against that which it is not. A more functional solution might be not trying to change people and their identities, but rather understanding them from their own perspective, in order to solve co-habitational issues. Civil society can aid in this endeavor.

Lucky so and so... ~1/6/2008

http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?query=Rob+Hughes&sort=publicationdate&submit=Search

I want this man's job. Traveling the world, collecting stories, facts and figures on a small game named football.

As I was saying... ~ 1/4/2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7169575.stm

Found this on the BBC this morning.

Our Man Mac ~ 1/3/2008

Some (paraphrased) thoughts on Machiavelli's The Prince

Well, to start with, I don't quiet trust the text, because I don't see telling your enemy (Medici) how to take over the world. But, since the traditional reading does not take this into account, I shall take the text at face value.

I am of course less interested in the analogies he uses, focusing rather on his actual theory of how to consolidate power. Around the fifth chapter there is a particularly useful passage about the three options for consolidation: raze the place, move in, or turn the local elite into lap dogs. For Machiavelli, only the first one really seems to have much success. For my purposes, destroying the local community is more metaphorical than literal (though one never knows...). In order to turn "hearts and minds" it is necessary to completely dismantle the pre-existing infrastructure and social customs, replacing them with your own.

This can be done militarily (and most likely was in his day), or it can be done subtly through coercion, civil society, and (re)education. Iraq might be a good example of Machiavelli's first approach (first tear it down with force, then rebuild according to your own standards), and the "Cold War" may be a good example of the more subtle tactic (I am thinking of things like Radio Free Europe being broadcast across the Iron Curtain).

In either case, soccer can be part of the rebuilding process. It is a communal activity with disciplines students into certain (normative) behavioral patterns, and it is a good source of economic activity, thus it stimulates to aspects of growth. The amazing success of the Iraqi team at the 2007 Asia Cup was the cause of wide-spread national (surprising considering the fractured nature of the country at present) celebration in local cafes and restaurants. Young Iraqi's now have 11 heros to look up to, and if my experience as a kid is anything to go by, then they are going to want the national team kit, the posters, the replica boots and ball, etc. Suddenly there is a market for this stuff.

But however soccer comes into the mainstream, it serves to bring people together in a uniform, regulated way, which can/will be used by the political elite to entrench national ambitions. So, as Machiavelli would have said (pre Berlusconi) Forza Italia!

Thesis needs ~ 1/02/2008

Happy New Year Everyone!!

This spring semester I will be completing my Honors Thesis. In order to get there I still need to do the following:

1) Complete IRB Request so I can do the field study,
2) Meet with all my advisors by the start of the Spring semester,
3) Organize my notes and review the research to refresh my mind,
4) Have the rough introduction done by January 14th,
5) Have a rough draft of the thesis by March 1st,
6) Thesis defense has to be before the end of classes in May!

So far two faculty members have agreed to be on my committee, and I am waiting to hear on the third.

What a fun semester it will be...