Stages of the global: Media, sport, racialization and the last temptation of Zinedine Zidane

Introduction:

-Due to the media in society, it is difficult to watch a sporting event completely disconnected from the media.

– The combination of sports and the media are a key component to globalization. For example, you watch on a day-to-day basis the interaction of players from different countries on the pitch, this type of connection echoes to the millions of viewers that see these acts. Continue reading →

Here is the article.

This article talks about the potential problems the Barcelona Football Club would have if Catalunya seceded from Spain.  They note the combination of the soccer team with the nationalist movement and question and I really like the quote from the chairman about what FC Barcelona would do if Catalunya seceded. He says:

“Sandro Rosell, the club chairman, may have joined the September 11th march in Barcelona that shot Catalan independence to the forefront of national debate, but he is clear about the club’s future. It must continue to play in the Spanish league, he says, even if Catalonia becomes independent.”

This would be because the Catalans would need to continue to prove their dominance and influence in Spain.  The football team appears like it would be the symbol for Catalunya in Spain and help defend the idea that Catalans could have their own country.  If I had to guess, it would also be an important income for the country, as well.

Women’s Struggle for Athletic Equality stems to the Victorian Age

The obstacles facing women in sports are nothing new as this article illustrates. As football began to evolve in Great Britain during the end of the 19th century, the same patriarchal systems of sports-playing followed the birth of football. Women’s right to compete was quickly curtailed as it was considered unseemly for ladies at that time. This era was the deep inhalation before a time of social turbulence in the early 20th century. As women’s voting rights were realized and traditions of fashion and behavior were broken, soccer had yet to come to that point.

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/13573322.2013.721576

The Dutch reading draws on the notion of building or continuing a national style of play. Specifically in the article the author discusses Coach Van Basten’s attempt to re-Hollandize the national team. This hits very close to home as a U.S. soccer fan. Under our last coach, Bob Bradley, the Americans played a defensive counter attacking style of football, an almost Italian mentality. Then when the current coach Jurgan Klinsman came in, he wanted to create an American style. First he tried to mimic Mexican style by bringing in many Mexican Americans. When this didn’t work Klinsman started bringing in German-Americans who play a “total soccer”, box to box, much like the Dutch or Germans.

Continue reading →

This TIFO relates to the readings that we did. It shows how difficult it can be to be a coach in Europe. Coaches are faced with a lot of pressure from the avid fans along with having to produce for the clubs.

http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/football-levski-coach-petev-keen-stay-despite-fan-132838628–sow.html

TIFO

This video shows how dedicated the fans are to these European clubs. Also we see from the video that traditions and songs are vital to the game of soccer. This video can give someone who has never been to a match the opportunity to visualize and feel certain emotions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iLL57puZPM

TIFO

What im looking at today for my TIFO are the sponsors for the Italian soccer team. I was also looking at the roster to see if they have non-Italian players playing for them now and if so how many.

http://www.figc.it/eng/sponsor.shtml?3215

TIFO

This article shows the longest rivalries in the game of soccer in Europe. These rivalries create and bring back nostalgia memories to fans that attend each year. Some of these rivalries started when these clubs were created making these games mean more.

http://listverse.com/2010/08/18/top-10-soccer-club-rivalries-of-all-time/

I chose this article because it is yet another instance of a North, Central or South American player deciding to use the MLS as a league to further his career. It is no longer just retirees and Americans playing. More and more players thought the region are seeing MLS as the league with the most opportunities and exposure.