Stages of the Global:
It’s interesting that Rowe doesn’t really make any arguments about the game of Football and only talks about how racism is in soccer. He brings this about talking about how sport and media are tied together and that now, “sport and media were once largely confined within a national framework, but their infra- structure and imagery are increasingly subjected to the pressures of globalization.” (pg. 356) He then describes the case of Zidane and the historical context of his nationality in the controversial case of the Final. I find this quote fascinating, “thus, when over three years after the World Cup the Scottish writer A.A. Gill visited Algeria, he found Zidane’s violent act popularly celebrated as ‘authentically Algerian’ after his many years as a ‘brown Frenchman’ subjugated by a former colonial master:” (pg. 364) The Algerians celebrated what happened because he broke all rules against their colonial power and forced them to fail towards their accomplishments, which seems like they are exaggerating the importance of the event a little.
Glocal Boys:
This quote on acculturation is really fascinating while reading with the Spanish background I’m applying to the class. They say that “relativization, which resonates with separation strategies in that individuals consciously and proactively ‘preserve their prior cultural institutions, practices and meanings within a new environment, thereby reflecting a commitment to differentiation from the host culture’…” (pg. 204), which is exactly what the Catalans did during the regime of Franco, when their culture was oppressed. The Catalans hid a bunch of their culture in outdoorsy activities, rural historical sites like Monserrat, and in Camp Nou.
I think these two quote describe the article perfectly. First:
“Given the limited time which the Football Scholarship affords players to acquire, develop and display the necessary talent to make this transition, and that the occupation of professional footballer is associated with high failure rates amongst even elite young aspirants, acculturation processes are clearly important to career development.” (pg. 213)
And second:
The issue here stems from the fact that in essence, the core function of the academy is the production of professional footballers, and in an environment which can be seen to valorize the pursuit of becoming a professional footballer ahead of alternative occupations or activities, this renders the glocal interpretation of such policies by migrant players and other parties problematic. (pg. 215)
Weedon seems to argue that young player migration ultimately fails to work, thanks to acculturation.