A pink taxi

A pink taxi

June 21, 2010

Can we just have one month of cable please?






"This team has the possibility to get over this obstacle with this match. Everything can change for them." Zinedine Zidane (at a News Conference yesterday discussing the upcoming match between France and South Africa on Tuesday)



I have had soccer fever my entire married life which has now been a good 12 years.


Let's rewind to World Cup 1998. I was in the USA then, preparing for my own wedding, with a six hour time zone. I was still  living alone at the time and thus fell into the soccer mania by myself. However, it was on the large screen at my grandfather's house in Sandy, Utah, that the whole family, reunited days before my wedding, watched the final between Brazil and France, half of us cheering for Ronaldo and the other half (I amongst them of course) shedding tears at  Zinedine Zidane's victorious game! I even mentioned him incidentally in my wedding speech.

I was in Geneva for the World Cup 2002, where we  participated with the entire small city and watched games on the large screens set up for the occasion in parks. Our son, a toddler then, would run around with a ball. The matches were held in the afternoon, in daylight because they were played in Japan.

By the time it was World Cup 2006,we had settled into a life in Dubai. Our LG plasma TV crashed one day in the middle of a game. We ran to the store that night in haste, purchasing a new flat screen (a Sony this time),  and luckily for us it happened to coincide with the Dubai shopping festival. As a side note, we don't have cable. We don't watch TV at home. We only owned a handful of educational dvds for the kids at the time (Sound of Music, Baby Einstein). Mostly, we were trying to set a good example for our kids so they choose to play, do sports or read instead. But for the World Cup, we decided to treat ourselves. We purchased the box, the cable, and all the bells and whistles.

That same summer, I was set to deliver my third child in Geneva, and so I spent the remaining world cup days with my six year old, who was decked from head to toe (golden soccer shoes included) in Zidane attire, watching matches. The French team with our favorite players Zidane, Ribery and Henry made it to the finals.....and we witnessed the final minutes with Zidane performing his historical head butt. We have since not forgiven the Italian team for their bullying.


We have now reached WorldCup 2010, and our four year old son isn't called Zinedine as some of us had wanted, but the soccer fever lives, with particular support to France. I have allowed my 6th grader to watch all the matches, even the late night ones. I tell him that in 4 years he won't have that opportunityto do so, preparing for his official Brevet exams.... But somehow the baccalaureat exams will be for 2017 so he has lucked out.....

PS. "La France a perdu une bataille! Mais la France n'a pas perdu la guerre!" I think General deGaulle's citation is applicable to the French football conundrum today. I wish the Bleus all the best of luck for tuesday. I hope the Mexico-Uruguay game will have a winner too, so the points can even out for our beloved Blue team. It is simply too early for the French to go home. Nicolas Sarkozy, have you given your two cents (or rather centimes) yet to Raymond Domenech?

5 comments:

  1. Yas, one thing you are and have always been is loyal, even in the face of complete and utter defeat. I'm so sorry that despite your love of France and all things French the Blue team this year at the World Cup is dissapointingly.....how shall I put this gently....bad. From the coach named "Domenech" that sits on the side lines watching in arrogance as his team is decimated time and time again to the players who all seem to be asleep when they are playing it is just bad, bad, bad.

    I believe that while deGualle's quote is nice it is a trifle over used. Might a recommend another one for your reading pleasure? I don't believe it's from anyone famous but it does come from a source of mine in France and I believe mirrors what their countrymen believe of their team...L’équipe de France, foncez rien n’est perdu, mais sortez vous les doigts du...
    http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xdkc1d_internet-blagstars-internet-pour-le_music.

    Now my French isn't what it should be but even I get the idea from that sentence and I wish I understood what they were singing in their song...I'm sure it is very eloquent as only the French can be.

    So while your beloved blue team might be just that, maybe its time to switch allegiance to a team that can actually play the game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bravo Yasmine for your loyalty! One doesn't only support your team when they win, one must especially support them when they lose. And France can actually play the game!

    A Loyal Fan des Bleus

    ReplyDelete
  3. avis de décès

    La Fédération Française de Football a le regret de vous faire part du décès de l'équipe de France, jeudi 17 juin 2010 à 22h32 au stade de Polokwane, des suites d'une longue maladie.
    Après 2 ans de souffrance le patient a succombé à une Raymondite aiguë qui a provoquée malaises, vomissements, douleurs.
    De nombreux spécialistes irlandais, espagnols et même chinois ont bien essayés de mettre en évidence les causes d'une telle infection mais le seul traitement efficace contre l' Eschérichia Domenecholi a été refusé par la famille, trop douloureux, trop cher.
    Un collège de sommités mexicaines experts dans la Ridiculite, variante extrême de la Raymondite, a mis un terme à ses souffrances en administrant 2 comprimés d'un puissant sédatif.
    D'un commun accord, ils ont débranché le patient en état de mort cérébrale 90 mins plus tard.
    Sincères condoléances

    ReplyDelete
  4. France will rise again! France will be victorious today!

    Allons, enfants de la Patrie,
    Le jour de gloire est arrive,
    Contre nous de la tyrannie
    L'etendard sanglant est leve,
    L'etendard sanglant est leve.

    Entendez-vous, dans le campagnes,
    Mugir ces feroces soldats?
    Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras,
    Egorger nos fils, nos compagnes.

    Aux armes, citoyens! Formez vos bataillons! Marchons! Marchons!
    Qu'un sang impur abreuve nos sillons

    Allez les Bleus!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I wanted to resist this one,sitting in my ivory tower watching the Bleues being dessimated by the arrogance of their coach and the laziness of their team.Even Bechamm of England and Ronaldo of Brasil(retired now) were a little more alert,despite the fact they became model stars and loved their narcistic persona similar to Anelika of France.
    DeGaulle and Domenech have one thing in common,and that is watching a battle from afar,and not choosing the right moment to blame your team.It is a concidence that the French are now celebrating DeGaulle.may be one day in 60 years they will celebrate their defunct coach!
    If you believe in miracles,the Bleues will win today,but if you watch the French TV chaines and read their papers,they are so depressed,ashamed and self-flaggating!

    ReplyDelete