Europe Explained

We recently did Egypt on this Blog, then yesterday was Brazil, so it's time to return to my favorite place, which of course would be Europe.  In fact, Debbie and I were just there, as evidenced by this photo from the Hofbräuhaus in München (Munich).  We were in Southern Germany from September 13 through the 22nd.

So there are two versions of Europe: one found in Heaven and the other at the opposite end of things down in Hell.



It has been said that in Heaven:

 The police are English;
 The mechanics are German;
 The lovers are Italian;
 The cooks are French; and
 It's all organized by the Swiss.

But in Hell:

 The police are German;
 The mechanics are French;
 The lovers are Swiss;
 The cooks are English;
 and it's all organized by the Italians.

   Think about it.

   Prosit!

Soccer and Naked Women in Brazil

   In a marvelous story in today's New York Times, Sam Borden takes a close look at the culture of pick-up soccer in Brazil, which will host next year's World Cup.

  The game is called pelada, a word Borden says is used by Brazilian men to refer to a naked woman.  He said a hotel doorman in Rio, waiting to play in a pick-up game, explained that, “Football and women are the only two things we really love.”

   You can tell the story is worth reading just by the first paragraph: "In Brazil, the ball is always moving. It moves on grass and on sand, on concrete and on cobblestone. Sometimes, during the rainy season, it even moves on water."

   Borden takes us from Rio to the quadras of Sao Paulo to the remote city of Manus in the Amazon where players play for the love of the game, because they have nothing else to do, in the hopes of being discovered by a professional team or to escape drug dealers.

Is Bradley Still Walking Like An Egyptian?

Last week Grant Wahl wrote an excellent piece (as he always does) in Sports Illustrated about Bob Bradley, who was fired as coach of the U.S. men's national team, in 2011.  Bradley had since taken over in Egypt where he has attained rock star status as the Pharoahs were on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup - until yesterday.

Egypt has been torn by political strife and stained by the deaths of 74 fans at Port Said Stadium last year.  It has not been to the World Cup since 1990 but suddenly was undefeated in six matches as it took on Ghana in a home and home aggregate goal series for one qualifying spot.  Bradley, meanwhile, was everywhere in Egypt, adored by fans and walking like, well, an Egyptian.

But now the dream may have fallen to pieces.  Ghana won, 6-1 yesterday, meaning Egypt will need to win by six goals when the series resumes in Egypt next month.  After the blow-out rumors surfaced that Bradley would be fired, although he told Wahl that was not true.