This post is for Tismee at Squared Off
In May 2006 my husband and I went for a trip to the UK to visit two of our children who were living in London at the time.
We were immediately caught up in World Cup fever as England was rising through the ranks and became a hopeful in this prestigious event. All around town the cars were sporting a little flag attached to the windows somehow. The drivers honked at each other and there was a general air of excitement.
There was a critical game coming up, against Ecuador I think (all you soccer fans can send me comments to correct me as I am sure to have got some facts wrong!)
Well, England lost. We even went off to a pub and watched the game on the big screen there. There were lots of people drowning their sorrows afterwards.
But the saddest thing of all was this flag I saw later that day, lying abandoned on the road and cars were running over it!
It was strange being in a different country, watching their sport, and observing the hype but feeling no emotion whatsoever!
I suppose rugby evokes the same hype - there were some very sad NZers when we lost against France in the last World Cup (oh the shame).
5 comments:
Hi Mrinz, thank you for this post. We are very quick to rise to the occasion here, but afterwards, as our teams fail to achieve our expectations we soon return to the norm.
With one or two exceptions, English teams are fairly mediocre, but their fans will support them no matter what. Newcastle Utd are known as one of the few clubs who despite winning absolutely zilch in 39 years still pack their stadium to the rafters, week after week.
One year when we got to Wembley for the FA Cup Final, someone draped a massive Newcastle shirt over the Angel of the North. If you have ever seen it, it's pretty high! Shame there were few photo's taken as it was spotted early that morning and the police had it taken down.
Those flags are 2 for a pound when 'in season'. Due to the high quality, they often fall off, or end up like shredded ribbons. There are usually many of them like yours, lying in gutters.
I love to see the flags hanging out of windows and ribbons on car aerials. Makes me feel very patriotic!
I have one of those flags flying on my "loser cruiser" this weekend! I bought it for the World Cup, but it's lovely to have other uses for it-- like Victoria Day here. It also makes my car very easy to find in large parking lots...
xo CGF
Oh, my goodness, Mrinz! What a great post! I had the same feelings hanging out with my Brit friends and seeing how crazy they are about their "football". I personally enjoy British football (what we call soccer here) much better than American football! I still don't understand that game! LOL!
I suppose it would be the same about Canadians and hockey. Where I'm from (Montreal, Quebec), hockey is like religion. Montrealers are very serious about their hockey! The sad part is that they riot when they win, they riot when they lose...Not all fans are like that though!
Tismee - thank you for your comments. I have just googled Angel of the North. What an amazing statue. When I am in the UK next (probably/hopefully next year)I would love to see it.
Yes I gathered that the flags must be quite cheap as I did see lots and lots of them.
Candy - Its a wonder that flags are not here in NZ also! Probably only a matter of time ...
Chrissy - ohh ice hockey. When I lived in Canada in Quesnel BC I became so caught up in the local hockey games I even bought a season ticket. I loved it and the players were such heroes!
Mrinz I have found some video footage of the Newcastle shirt being put on the Angel. I have posted it on my blog.
Take a peek!
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