Californexico ? There are moments when one might wonder.

This may be preferable to the Mexicans chanting support for Osama bin Laden during a soccer match a few years ago.  Mexico was an oddly split country - 20-30% believed the US government had destroyed the WTC.  Maybe they are getting better now that bin Laden is dead.  A few days ago three trucks carrying Mexican soldiers crossed the US border (their government, which lies almost every time they speak, told the US the soldiers were confused) - maybe they were on the way to the soccer game.



In Gold Cup final, it's red, white and boo again




Mexico rallies for a 4-2 win over U.S. behind overwhelming support at Rose Bowl. In what other country would the visitors have home-field advantage?




By Bill Plaschke

June 25, 2011, 10:15 p.m.



It was imperfectly odd. It was strangely unsettling. It was uniquely American.


On a balmy early Saturday summer evening, the U.S soccer team played for a prestigious championship in a U.S. stadium … and was smothered in boos.


Its fans were vastly outnumbered. Its goalkeeper was bathed in a chanted obscenity. Even its national anthem was filled with the blowing of air horns and bouncing of beach balls.


Most of these hostile visitors didn't live in another country. Most, in fact, were not visitors at all, many of them being U.S. residents whose lives are here but whose sporting souls remain elsewhere.

Welcome to another unveiling of that social portrait known as a U.S.-Mexico soccer match, streaked as always in deep colors of red, white, blue, green … and gray.

"I love this country, it has given me everything that I have, and I'm proud to be part of it," said Victor Sanchez, a 37-year-old Monrovia resident wearing a Mexico jersey. "But yet, I didn't have a choice to come here, I was born in Mexico, and that is where my heart will always be."

[to read the rest of the article, click the title link above]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
mexico

Soccer: Fans and the Sport. Strange.

A Severed Pig's Head, a Friend's Dead Body and Other Things Not to Bring to a Soccer Game


Mar 31, 2011 – 7:32 AM
Matthew Hall




You can add the dead guy at a pro game in Colombia last weekend to a list of crazy behavior by soccer fans at games.

In the now infamous story, fans in Colombia stole the body of a murdered friend from a funeral home and took his corpse to the stadium to cheer on their favorite team -- a whole new twist on Pro Zombie Soccer.

Christopher Jacome, 17, was shot and killed on Saturday while playing soccer in his local park. The following day, friends took his coffin and carried it into the 42,000-capacity General Santander Stadium in Cucuta for a match between Cucuta Deportivo and Envigado.

It is not known whether the corpse required a ticket to gain entry.

Jacome was a member of Cucuta Deportivo's hardcore group of supporters known as Barra Del Indio. The same group is believed to be responsible for stealing the coffin from the funeral parlor.

Spanish-language media reported that a funeral procession of 200 fans followed the coffin into the stadium, but local police have been unable to identify who stole the body from the funeral home.

The incident is believed to be the first time a dead body has made an appearance at a sports event, but a human corpse is not the only bizarre item brought into a soccer stadium.

Fans of FC Barcelona from Spain threw the head of a dead pig onto the field during a game against rivals Real Madrid in 2002. The Barcelona fans were protesting star player Luis Figo's earlier controversial trade to Madrid. He was bombarded with objects during the game: whiskey bottles, billiard balls and the pig's head.

In 2001, fans of Italian team Inter Milan somehow managed to smuggle an entire Vespa motor scooter into the 80,000-capacity Giuseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan during an Italian league match.

The fans attempted to set the scooter on fire before throwing it from an upper tier of the stadium onto a section of seating below.

Barra Brava fan groups (roughly translated as "tough gang"), similar to the one Jacome was a member of, are widespread in South America. Argentina probably has the greatest number and best-organized Barra Brava in the world.

Some groups fight deadly "wars," not unlike rivalries in U.S. gang culture, and gang members have been revealed to be on the payroll of the teams they follow, paid in exchange for supporting the incumbent club president or board of directors.


















soccer

Feelings, Nothing more than Feelings ...

To be honest, AYSO has similar rules.  This is a story because it is in one of the largest newspapers in Canada (all 30 million of them) and it is another example of foolish people making things worse.



Win a soccer game by more than five points and you lose, Ottawa league says




By Terrine Friday June 1, 2010 – 6:05 am
The National Post
Canada


In yet another nod to the protection of fledgling self-esteem, an Ottawa children’s soccer league has introduced a rule that says any team that wins a game by more than five points will lose by default.

The Gloucester Dragons Recreational Soccer league’s newly implemented edict is intended to dissuade a runaway game in favour of sportsmanship. The rule replaces its five-point mercy regulation, whereby any points scored beyond a five-point differential would not be registered.

Kevin Cappon said he first heard about the rule on May 20 — right after he had scored his team’s last allowable goal. His team then tossed the ball around for fear of losing the game.

He said if anything, the league’s new rule will coddle sore losers.

“They should be saying anything is possible. If we can get five goals really fast, well, so can the other team,” said Kevin, 17, who has played in the league for five years. “People grow in adversity, they don’t really get worse…. I think you’ll see more leadership skills being used if a losing team tries to recuperate than if they never got into that situation at all.”

Kevin’s father, Bruce Cappon, called the rule ludicrous.

“I couldn’t find anywhere in the world, even in a communist country, where that rule is enforced,” he said.

Mr. Cappon said the organization is trying to “reinvent the wheel” by fostering a non-competitive environment. The league has 3,000 children enrolled ranging in age from four to 18 years old.

“Everybody wants a close game, nobody wants blowouts, but we don’t want to go by those farcical rules that they come up with,” he said. “Heaven forbid when these kids get into the real world. They won’t be prepared to deal with the competition out there.”

Paul Cholmsky, whose four- and six-year-old boys play in the league, said the intended goal of a default-lose rule might backfire in teaching life skills.

“If there’s one team that’s consistenly dominant and one team that’s not, well, that’s life,” he said.

Mr. Cholmsky said he would be in favour of temporarily handicapping a team, for example reducing the number of players on the field, over ensuring a team loss for a high score differential.

According to the league’s new rules, coaches of stronger teams are encouraged to deter runaway games by rotating players out of their usual positions, ensuring players pass the ball around, asking players to kick with the weaker foot, taking players off the field and encouraging players to score from farther away.

Club director Sean Cale said he is disappointed a few parents are making the new soccer rule overshadow the community involvement and organizing the Gloucester club does.

“The registration fee, rergardless of the sport, does not give a parent the right to insult or belittle the organization,” he said. “It gives you a uniform, it gives you a team.”

Mr. Cale said the league’s 12-person board of directors is not trying to take the fun out of the game, they are simply trying to make it fair. The new rule, suggested by “involved parents,” is a temporary measure that will be replaced by a pre-season skill assessment to make fair teams.

“The board is completely volunteer-run and we do the best that we can to provide a good, clean, fun soccer experience for everyone,” he said.

Although parents are fuming, he said the commotion is coming from “about 1% of the parents.”








 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
stupid people

Football/Soccer and the Masses

Egypt: Violence erupts over World Cup decider



http://www.adnkronos.com/


Cairo, 20 Nov. (AKI) - Protesters threw stones and firebombs at police near the Algerian embassy in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Friday in the continuing fallout over the countries' World Cup qualifying match. In Algeria, 14 people were killed and 250 others were injured in victory celebrations in Algeria late Thursday.

In the Cairo protest, 11 police officers were reportedly injured and several cars were damaged in mounting anger over the decider which the Algerian team won in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, on Wednesday.

The protest began late Thursday on a street leading to the embassy, when riot police repeatedly turned back the demonstrators, who burned Algerian flags.

According to Algerian internal security officials, cited in the Arab daily, Al-Quds al-Arabi, all the victims killed or injured there were Algerian fans involved in road accidents caused by fans.

A total of 175 road accidents were registered nationwide and the deadliest incidents were reported in the Algerian capital. Algiers and the provinces of Tebessa, Warqla and Saida.

In other developments, the Egyptian government on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Algeria following complaints about violence towards football fans.

The move came hours after Algeria's ambassador to Cairo was summoned to the Egyptian foreign ministry.

The Algerian football team beat Egypt in a decisive World Cup qualifying match in Sudan on Wednesday.











soccer