My affair with her is a classic illicit story, if any. Even though it was short lived, what we had was spiky, lusty, beautiful and more, up until the last moment, when the roof fell over our heads, reminding us both that we were never meant to be together, at least in a physical sense. That doesn't mean that we are not flirting anymore.
To avoid any unnecessary assumptions from your part as to who she is, I would like to let you know that "she" here means FOOTBALL - the one true love I have now.
My feet zombie walk towards a football on seeing one; I still watch from the sidelines as those more fortunate than me knock around the ball, and show some skill for a good measure; I FOLLOW a football team to the little bits of news that come out from it; I still wish I hadn't done that simple turn on that fateful day - then maybe, I could have still played today.
That was just the trailer. I started writing out the whole script for this one, and found that it was too long for the regular readers, who usually come here for the "5 things" post. So, I'll doing two posts today.
Doesn't that make you happy? Doesn't it just spice up your mood to know that you are getting double of what you thought you were getting? Well, if it doesn't, I'm very sorry, you are getting two posts none the less.
So this week's theme is football, and some (in)famous incidents and facts and proceedings, that have happened in it over its long history.
I'm going to overlook the obvious candidates for the same like the Hand of GOD (Maradona), the infamous headbutt (Zidane), the other hand in the other world cup (Suarez) and so on. So, bear with me, for round one, as I tell you 5 things you must not have known about football. And in round two, I'll set off on a rant, with you tagging along hopefully, as I recall the brief, though eventful history I've with football.
Shall we begin then??
Did you know...
1. ...that Messi is the highest earner in football at $41m every year?
Well, this isn't a surprise to anyone. He scores all those goals; wins all those awards and accolades and has won every possible title with his club. And no one will hold a grudge against him getting paid to be a top class entertainer. By the way, for those of you who want that amount in rupees, that equates to about Rs.237 crores. And this is just what he earns as salary from his contract with his club. On top of this comes bonuses included in his contract, the deals he would have with kit makers for his boots and all; the other commercial deals he would have signed on for.
Just to put the $41m in perspective, the salary he earns is more than the GDP for this country.
P.S. This is an extra bit. The professional football players get paid on a weekly basis. They join a club on a contract that runs for a specified amount of time (varies from 6 months to 5 years). And since they are pretty useless in their field after 35 years of age, they try to get obscene amounts of salary during their playing career.
2. ...that there is a person who has scored in twenty consecutive seasons for the same football club?
Given that the shelf life of an average footballer at the top level is around 15 years, you have to appericiate the commitment, dedication and skill of a person who plays at that level for 20 years. And in these days of degenerating loyalities, to have played for the same club for those two decades is also no mean feat. And when you play for the same club, in the top flight, for 20 consecutive years, and manage to score atleast one goal in every season, then you are no less than exceptional.
By the way, the name is Ryan Giggs, who plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League.
3. ...that a guy lived as a professional footballer for 20 years, without playing a single match?
Now hear an opposite case. This happened in Brazil some three decades back. This guy used to get friendly with famous professionals, and use them to get 'trial contracts' at their club. He would then ask them to give him time to hone his fitness, and would waste a month or two in that by just running around. When they asked him to play, he would run fast/kick the ball hard, then complain about a hamstring injury (which couldn't be diagnosed by a medical team in that era). Then he would lay on the injury table for a few months, and repeat the same - at the same or a different club.
4. ...that there is a Golden Premier League Trophy?
Yes. I'm going for a bit of personal glory. Normal trophies are not made of gold, but the English FA decided to honour the Arsenal team of 2003-04 season with a golden trophy. Why you ask? Because they went a whole premier league season unbeaten. That is 38 games in a row. Over three seasons, they went 49 games unbeaten in a row.
5. ...that football is the most followed sport in the world?
Football can be passionate like 95000 fans in Australia singing what can be called the club's theme song in unison. Football can be crazy like this save or this penalty kick. It can be controversial, it can be exhilarating, it can be unifying, it can be divisive. It can be everything. And that's what it is one of the most followed sport in the world.
In recent times, the Juventus team went 49 games unbeaten in the Seria A Italian League.
I'll be back with more in the next blog, as soon as it is finished.
That's all folks!!
Have a great weekend!!!
To avoid any unnecessary assumptions from your part as to who she is, I would like to let you know that "she" here means FOOTBALL - the one true love I have now.
My feet zombie walk towards a football on seeing one; I still watch from the sidelines as those more fortunate than me knock around the ball, and show some skill for a good measure; I FOLLOW a football team to the little bits of news that come out from it; I still wish I hadn't done that simple turn on that fateful day - then maybe, I could have still played today.
That was just the trailer. I started writing out the whole script for this one, and found that it was too long for the regular readers, who usually come here for the "5 things" post. So, I'll doing two posts today.
Doesn't that make you happy? Doesn't it just spice up your mood to know that you are getting double of what you thought you were getting? Well, if it doesn't, I'm very sorry, you are getting two posts none the less.
So this week's theme is football, and some (in)famous incidents and facts and proceedings, that have happened in it over its long history.
I'm going to overlook the obvious candidates for the same like the Hand of GOD (Maradona), the infamous headbutt (Zidane), the other hand in the other world cup (Suarez) and so on. So, bear with me, for round one, as I tell you 5 things you must not have known about football. And in round two, I'll set off on a rant, with you tagging along hopefully, as I recall the brief, though eventful history I've with football.
Shall we begin then??
Did you know...
1. ...that Messi is the highest earner in football at $41m every year?
Well, this isn't a surprise to anyone. He scores all those goals; wins all those awards and accolades and has won every possible title with his club. And no one will hold a grudge against him getting paid to be a top class entertainer. By the way, for those of you who want that amount in rupees, that equates to about Rs.237 crores. And this is just what he earns as salary from his contract with his club. On top of this comes bonuses included in his contract, the deals he would have with kit makers for his boots and all; the other commercial deals he would have signed on for.
Just to put the $41m in perspective, the salary he earns is more than the GDP for this country.
P.S. This is an extra bit. The professional football players get paid on a weekly basis. They join a club on a contract that runs for a specified amount of time (varies from 6 months to 5 years). And since they are pretty useless in their field after 35 years of age, they try to get obscene amounts of salary during their playing career.
2. ...that there is a person who has scored in twenty consecutive seasons for the same football club?
Given that the shelf life of an average footballer at the top level is around 15 years, you have to appericiate the commitment, dedication and skill of a person who plays at that level for 20 years. And in these days of degenerating loyalities, to have played for the same club for those two decades is also no mean feat. And when you play for the same club, in the top flight, for 20 consecutive years, and manage to score atleast one goal in every season, then you are no less than exceptional.
By the way, the name is Ryan Giggs, who plays for Manchester United in the English Premier League.
3. ...that a guy lived as a professional footballer for 20 years, without playing a single match?
Now hear an opposite case. This happened in Brazil some three decades back. This guy used to get friendly with famous professionals, and use them to get 'trial contracts' at their club. He would then ask them to give him time to hone his fitness, and would waste a month or two in that by just running around. When they asked him to play, he would run fast/kick the ball hard, then complain about a hamstring injury (which couldn't be diagnosed by a medical team in that era). Then he would lay on the injury table for a few months, and repeat the same - at the same or a different club.
4. ...that there is a Golden Premier League Trophy?
Yes. I'm going for a bit of personal glory. Normal trophies are not made of gold, but the English FA decided to honour the Arsenal team of 2003-04 season with a golden trophy. Why you ask? Because they went a whole premier league season unbeaten. That is 38 games in a row. Over three seasons, they went 49 games unbeaten in a row.
5. ...that football is the most followed sport in the world?
Football can be passionate like 95000 fans in Australia singing what can be called the club's theme song in unison. Football can be crazy like this save or this penalty kick. It can be controversial, it can be exhilarating, it can be unifying, it can be divisive. It can be everything. And that's what it is one of the most followed sport in the world.
In recent times, the Juventus team went 49 games unbeaten in the Seria A Italian League.
I'll be back with more in the next blog, as soon as it is finished.
That's all folks!!
Have a great weekend!!!
No comments :
Post a Comment