At that game England’s players warmed up wearing anti-racist t-shirts but that did not stop the racist jeers. Every time a black English player touched the ball, sections of the crowd would boo loudly and some fans directed monkey chants towards them.

Racism in Spanish football is a massive problem, but unlike in England, there is little to no effort to address it. As discussed before on this blog because of the combined efforts of fans, the FA, and anti-racist groups, racist incidents in British football are now very rare.

In Spain racism is seen both at the club and international level. The captain of the Spanish national team, Iker Casillas, reacted angrily about the FA’s perceived boycott of the Bernadeu stadium, stating, “That really does seem like a joke and completely stupid to me,”…”At every stadium there are heartless people who shout against everything and everyone, but you can’t generalize, and even less with the crowd at the Bernabeu who have always shown their respect and their love for good football.”

Casillas’s international teammate, Cesc Fabregas, also reacted to the FA’s request. He stated, “I wasn’t in the squad when that game was played, but we should be playing it down,”…”The fans go to support the national team. That happened in that moment and that’s it.”

Instead of bringing the issue out into the open and calling for a change, both players attempt to downplay the 2005 incident.

And the problem does not stop with the fans. One month before the game Spain’s head coach was caught on tape calling Thierry Henry, a “black piece of s***” during a training session. The comment sent shockwaves around the football world. Instead of making an example of the head coach by firing him, the Spanish Football Association allowed the coach to keep his job and fined him only the equivalent of a day’s wages.

No player of color is immune from abuse in Spanish club football, even from his own fans! Espanyol’s Cameroonian goalkeeper Carlos Kameni has suffered much racial abuse, most notably from Atletico Madrid (whose fans are widely considered the most racist in Spanish football) when over 500 fans hurled racist taunts at him during one game. Kameni has also accused his own fans of racially abusing him. In 2005 he was quoted in one newspaper as saying “It is understandable if the fans complain when the team doesn’t play well, but they can’t do these racist acts again and again. I’ve had enough.”

In recent years the racist abuse of one player in Spain has grabbed headlines. Samuel Eto’o, another Cameroonian playing for Barcelona, is widely considered one of the best players in the world. He is treated like a God in Barcelona, but that has not protected him from opposing fans.

In 2006, during a game against Real Zaragoza, Eto’o was racially abused by a small section of fans. When Eto’o went to collect a ball that went out of bounds for a corner right near that section, bottles and peanuts were thrown in his direction and a chorus of monkey chants sprang up. Eto’o, clearly distraught, started to walk off the field shaking his head. The referee stopped the game and ordered Zaragoza officials to announce over the PA system that the racist abuse had to stop or the game would be abandoned.

Racism in Spanish football will not go away until the Spanish Football Association and the European football governing body, UEFA, toughen their response. Fining a team 15,000 Euro’s is little more than pocket change for professional players and clubs in Spain.

A zero tolerance policy must be implemented. Every time a player or coach is convicted of a racist incident he must be fired from his club. Any fan found guilty of racism must be banned from attending games for life. Any club fans who hurl racist abuse towards another team’s players must play their home game behind closed doors. Similar polices have worked in other countries and have drastically limited the amount of racist incidents that occur each year. If Spanish football wants to effectively address racism, it has to take action.

Campbell rubbed salt into the Tottenham fans wounds by leaving as a free agent, meaning that Arsenal didn’t have to pay a penny for his services. Campbell knew that leaving Tottenham for Arsenal would mean he would be hated by the Tottenham fans but no one could have predicted the unprecedented amount of abuse that Campbell has been subjected to over the past 7 years.

Campbell left Arsenal for Portsmouth in 2006 but the abuse from Tottenham fans has not stopped and in the most recent game between the two teams in September, fans took the abuse too far. In the 4 line chat directed towards Campbell, the Tottenham fans address numerous prejudices including the mentally ill, people who suffer from HIV, homosexuals, women, and lynching someone from a tree. Fans also reverted back to a commonly used chant directed towards Campbell.

For those of you reading this that are easily offended please feel free to skip over the next few lines.

The new chant directed against Campbell for the first time in the September games goes to the tune of Lord of The Dance: “Sol, Sol, wherever you may be, You’re on the verge of lunacy, and we don’t give a f*** if you’re hanging from a tree, you Judas c*** with HIV”

The “classic” chant directed against Sol Campbell in the September games as well as previous games goes as follows: “He’s big, he’s black, he takes it up the crack, Sol Campbell, Sol Campbell.”

As you can see, both chants are vicious and no human being, professional athlete or not, should be subjected to fans chanting such filth. After the game ended, many Portsmouth fans complained to the local police about the racist and homophobic chants but were initially told by the police that it was impossible to prosecute the fans because there was simply too many of them. In the days following the game, Sol Campbell, his manager Harry Redknapp, and the governing body of football in England the FA all publicly condemned the actions of the small group of traveling Tottenham fans.

In the past 2 weeks, the police have published pictures of 16 fans they believe are guilty of abusing Campbell, 12 of whom have been identified and 5 of which have been arrested, questioned by police and bailed. The FA has announced that it intends to ban for life any fan found guilty of abusing Campbell and the police are optimistic that it can identify the remaining 4 fans on the list.

The bottom line is that racism still exists in British football but it has come very close to eradication. Groups like Kick It Out and Show Racism The Red Card have done an immense job tackling racism in England since the early 1990’s and continue to do brilliant work today. Each year there are a few scattered incidents of racism in English football and the culprits are dealt life bans which has clearly encouraged others to keep their opinions to themselves and watch the game.

Chicago’s bid was thought to be behind in the running, trailing Madrid and Tokyo, but Obama’s victory could swing the tide in Chicago’s favor. The big question is does Chicago deserve to host the games?

Obama’s victory in the presidential election has put Chicago on the world stage. The video of the celebrations in Grant Park were displayed around the world and many people are taking renewed interest in America’s second city. For many observers, this new gained attention can only boost Chicago’s Olympic bid. Obama now joins the list of celebs and sports stars appealing for Chicago to host the games in 2016.

But many human rights advocates look to Chicago’s ongoing problem with police brutality as a reason why it should not host in 2016. The brunt of the police brutality and torture is aimed at Chicago’s black male population. In 2006, the UN Committee Against Torture found Chicago in violation of its Convention Against Torture and Cruel Inhuman and Degrading Treatment. This report concluded that a former Chicago police commander Jon Burge and his understudies had tortured over 100 black males in a 19 year span. The men were subjected to suffocation, burns and some had their genitals electrocuted. None of the police officers were ever prosecuted for their crimes.

The violence and racism does not stop with black men however. In recent months there has been a rise in racial profiling and targeting of Latinos by a Chicago security company, Monterrey Security, at area sporting events.

Monterrey is accused of harassing, assaulting, and using racial slurs against Latino fans who attend Chicago Fire soccer games. Monterrey is hired by the Chicago Fire to work at their stadium Toyota Park and also by Soldier Field - both potential venues for the 2016 games. The harassment of Latinos by Monterrey security guards has been going on for nearly 5 years and has only escalated this year. Many guards work for or are connected to the Chicago Police Department including the security company’s owner Juan Gaytan.

In 2002, the Chicago Tribune published an investigative report which sheds some light on the security company’s owner and Monterrey’s polices. While working as a Chicago police officer, a police superintendent recommended that he be fired after an incident in which Gaytan threatened to shoot a man and then got an unnamed accomplice in the police force to paint fake blood on him to make it look like he was the victim. Monterrey also apparently neglected to conduct criminal background checks on its employees during its first year and a half of existence.

If the games were hosted in Chicago there would be a massive increase in the number of Chicago Police officers on duty. Will this increase the number of Chicago Police brutalities against Chicago’s black male population? I for one certainly don’t want to wait around until the games are upon us to find out.

Racial profiling and brutality need to be addressed now, not just because of the Chicago’s Olympic bid but because it’s time we confronted our city’s injustices. I also don’t want to wait until 2016 to see a change of security in Toyota Park and Solider Field; stadiums I visits dozens of times a year. A change in security or an end to racial profiling by Monterrey Security is needed now; 2016 is again much too late.

The issues of racism and brutality have plagued Chicago for far too long.

But for some fans Hamilton’s victory was not met with joy. Fans in Spain were especially bitter with Hamilton’s victory because of his feud with Spanish driver and former McLaren teammate, Fernando Alonso.

Hamilton was unhappy because he felt that the McLaren team did not respect him and he was only there to support 2 time champion Alonso. The feud continued throughout the 2007 season and at the end of the season, Alonso left McLaren. After Alonso left, his career has dipped slightly, finishing 5th in 2008 while Hamilton’s stock has risen to the very top winning the championship in 2008. At the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this year Hamilton was abused with racist jeers by many Spaniards who were unhappy with Hamilton for fighting with their golden boy. Fans in Spain wore black face paint and black wigs, these fans were also wearing t-shirts that said “Hamilton’s Family.”

The incident caused uproar in the F1 world which had never faced such racism before. Racism at sporting events in Spain however is not a new thing. Racism at soccer games throughout Spain is very common where some black players are met with monkey chants and bananas.

Before the final race of the year in Brazil a website surfaced in which fans could sprinkle nails on an imaginary track so that Hamilton’s tire would burst and he would not win the race. The website’s comments page displayed hundreds of racist responses. Both racist incidents were made worse by McLaren chief and multi-billionaire Bernie Ecclestone who played down the incidents. Ecclestone commented that the incidents were a joke and were blown out of proportion. When Ecclestone’s comments were attacked by anti-racist groups he tried to make up for his gaffe by stating that when he said the word “joke” he meant it to mean that the racist fans were clowns. Hamilton was not pleased with Ecclestone and when interviewed stated that he didn’t think the racist behavior of the fans in Spain was a joke at all. But Hamilton did not let the attacks affect him and he continued to dominate as the season progressed.

It is quite remarkable that Hamilton, still only 23 years old could drive the way he did this season with all of the distractions facing him. Many men would have crumbled when faced with such adversity. Hamilton’s middle name is Carl named after American sprinter Carl Lewis. Lewis was and still is an icon and a role model for African Americans and Hamilton is following the footsteps of the man he was named after. Racism can occur anywhere at any time and covering it up by saying that there is no racism in a certain sport is not a solution. Lewis Hamilton like many others before him has faced the challenge of racism and come out on top. We must all look to people like Hamilton for inspiration in our fight to eradicate racism not just from sports but from all aspects of society.

Promoting cultural understanding, peace, and sustainability, FBRs seem to spend most of their time familiarizing themselves with native peoples of each of the countries they visit. Thirsting for more than geography lessons and UN statistics, they have managed to paint a global narrative filled with faces and personal interactions, all documented through their blog.

I stumbled upon fueledbyrice.org while searching for a good bike route from Chicago to Minneapolis. I had been meaning to make my way out there to see my dear friend, and thought I’d “walk the walk” and take my bicycle. I found myself fixated on their website for hours, entirely in awe of their accomplishments. They are a group of five that recently graduated from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, and are “looking for adventure and a more intimate acquaintance with the people of the world.”

Starting in Beijing, they peddled through China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Turkey, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Hungary, Austria, Germany, and France.

Their mission statement is 3 fold: 1) “To experience a big cross section of the world by traveling through rural agricultural areas of Asia wherein resides most of the world’s population,” 2) “To help build bridges of understanding to the people we’ll meet along our journey. Playing and singing music will be a major tool for us to have meaningful interaction across language barriers,” and 3) “To advocate deliberate, simple, low-impact lifestyles.”

With their long journey, they have managed to touch various different groups of people through their music and outreach. By day, they bike through nations, fostering relationships with people they meet. And when night rolls around, they mostly sleep in the homes of welcoming locals. Apparently, they made such a good impression that they were invited to speak to a graduating class of high school students at Tan Shui High School, located in the Guangdong Province of China.

And soon, I will have the unique opportunity of biking with them in their last stretch home. They will be passing through Chicago and are willing to have me along for their ride back up to Minneapolis. I feel honored, and look forward to the challenge of riding across states alongside those who have ridden across continents.

Every time Cuba visits the United States either for a tournament or a qualifying game they expect defectors. The team hotel has security, but as the German born Cuban coach put it, “but you can’t handcuff them to their rooms.” Over the past few years, Cuban soccer has improved immensely, with the team reaching the quarter finals of the 2006 Gold Cup. But since these players can only play in Cuba, defection to the United States is a necessary option for them to take their career to the next level. If the 12 players that defected since 2002 were still playing in Cuba today, the national team would be much more of a force in Central and North America. Earlier this year, the Cuban U23 team traveled to the United States to attempt to qualify for the Olympics. After the first game was over, 7 players had defected, meaning that Cuba had only 10 remaining players and had to play a man short in their next game. Cuba will never qualify for a major tournament again if they barely have enough players to field a team after defections.

As for the players themselves, they all feel that they can come to the United States and start playing professional soccer. But as with any job, it isn’t that easy. The professional soccer team in Miami, Miami FC, holds tryouts for the defected players and if they are good enough they may get signed. Some players may never sign professional deals and will have to look for other jobs while other players can spend months trying out with teams all over the country before someone decides to sign them. Defection in an attempt to get a professional contract is very risky but if you have the talent, it can be very rewarding. The best example of this is Cuban defector Maykel Galindo. He defected in 2005 knowing that he would never play for the national team again and is now playing for Chivas USA, one of best teams in the MLS. He finished as the team’s top goal scorer last season and continues to play well this season.

But not every story of Cuban defection is a success like Gilindo’s. Not every defector will sign a professional contract. The players know that by defecting they have given up their chance to ever play for their national team again, a thing that all players hope one day to do. They player’s defection hurts the national team as a whole but if a player wants to defect, it is very difficult to stop them. Cuba will not stop producing talented athletes any time soon, it is a natural occurrence. In the future we can hope that we see the day when Cubans national team comprises of players playing professionally all over the world and not just in their home country. If this happens, we could be watching Cuba play in a World Cup for the first time since 1938.

Soccer ball manufacturing generally starts at the contractor’s factory where the pieces of leather are printed and cut into small segments. Most of the time those materials are then assembled at the same factory, packaged, and sent to the retailer. However, in some cases the raw materials are packed and handed to middlemen who distribute them to local families, and this is when this situation becomes troublesome.

There are now labor laws in place to monitor city factories where the initial labor is performed (like the FoulBall campaign of 1996) but unfortunately, these regulations haven’t been able to reach the doorsteps of the citizens. Children as young as six years old have been found sewing soccer balls from their homes. Some of the children go to school as well as work, and some have been found working up to 12 hours per day, usually squatting in a hunched over position. They are paid per ball, which takes about 3-6 hours to complete, and on average make 27 cents for each one. When they become adults and if they are lucky, they can make up to 62 cents per ball. That is, if they get to work on the medium-premium quality balls.

One of the saddest things about this terrible situation is that sometimes their labor never comes to an end. Many industries (including soccer ball manufacturing) contribute to and therefore encourage the use of the most horrifying form of human slavery, known as debt bondage. It occurs when a person becomes the collateral against a small loan, usually incurred for basic necessities like food, emergency medical treatment, or funeral expenses. According to a report by Swathi Mehta of Tufts University,

“With exorbitant interest rates of up to 60%, these loans are difficult, if not impossible, to repay. Individuals thus become trapped within a system of debt bondage that forces them to repay loans by working unconditionally for their entire lives - even passing on the same debt for generations.”

Mr.  Gumbel’s segment focuses on a family enduring this process, where a young mother has two children and the youngest is in dire need of medical attention. So the weary mother makes the difficult decision to “sell” her older child(’s labor) to get a loan to save the life of her younger. I think “her” debt was something along the lines of a hundred dollars. They film the older child sewing away, and at the end of the report announced that the baby ended up dying sometime after the film crew had left.

After the show was over I changed the channel and that “low price guaranteed” commercial for Walmart showed up on the T.V. screen. I couldn’t help but cringe.

These cruel practices must be halted. The world’s poorest people should not be enslaved so that the sporting goods industry can meet the demand of the global market. The Campaign for Labor Rights provides a list of companies that mass produce soccer balls. Write letters to them to express your concern about child labor and demand external monitoring.

ADIDAS Steve Wynne, CEO. 541 NE 20th St. Suite 207, Portland, OR 97232; Tel: 800-289-2724, Fax: (503)797-4935.

UMBRO-USA Ian McLaren, President. 1500 Ponsett Hwy., Greenville, SC 29609 or PO Box 3725, Greenville, SC 29609; Tel: (803) 233-0000 or (800) SOC-CERO; Fax: (803) 271-1689.

BRINE, INC. William H. Brine, Jr. Chairman. 47 Sumner St., Milford, MA 01757; Tel: (508) 478-3250 or (800) 227-2722; Fax: (508) 478-2430.

MITRE SPORTS INTERNATIONAL Joe Field, President. Pentland Sports Group, 2214 Metro Center Blvd,. Suite 200, Nashville, TN 37228; Tel: (6150 313-3500; or (800) 826- 7650; Fax: (615)367-7320.

LOTTO USA, INC Gary Wakley, Co. Manager. 1900 Surveyor Blvd., Carrollton, TX 75006; Tel: (214)416-4003 or (800) 527-5126; Fax: (214-416-4233.

With their illustrious ace Carlos Zambrano taking the mound, the Cubs felt a little less pressure than perhaps they should have going into Game 2. Zambrano cruised through the first inning but hit a brick wall in the second as the infield of the Cubs completely folded. As a result, the Dodgers scored five runs in the inning catapulting them to a commanding lead in the game and the series.

For many unfortunate fans, last night may be the last time they see they boys in blue at home. One of my major questions for Cubs fans is why there is so much pressure to win it all? It is as if the fact that they made the playoffs is not good enough.

Sure we would all like to see our teams be as good as they can be and succeed to the fullest extent, but when they do not, can’t we take solace in the fact that our team was better than a whole host of other teams.

I find this fact to be especially true with many Cubs fans though. And that is what I think really bothers me about them. There’s a sort of pomposity that goes with thinking, oh yeah, we are so good we don’t even have to play all the games. We should just get the trophy right now. This was the type of pomposity that was going on during the last month or so of the Cubs regular season, especially around their division clinching win against the Cardinals.

Unfortunately all the games must be played and attitude does not trump the ability to overcome the Cubs losing history. The playoffs are a wonderful time for baseball and until the Cubs and their fans learn to appreciate and properly prepare for every game and not just the World Series, they will be sealing their own fates.

]]> http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/10/03/another-chapter-to-the-eternal-struggle/feed/ http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/09/26/the-%e2%80%98proximity-effected-fan/ http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/09/26/the-%e2%80%98proximity-effected-fan/#comments Fri, 26 Sep 2008 11:45:48 +0000 Joel Ebert http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/?p=671 Many people like rooting for a sports team because of the proximity effect; they live in or near a city and therefore feel the need to root for that team. This, I believe, is possibly one of the stupidest reasons to root for a team.

I must preface this article by saying that I live in a major metropolitan city with two professional teams on the verge of heading to the playoffs and I hate one and feel indifferent to the other. I am a fan of one of these team’s rivals which often results in me getting perturbed looks and jabs. Aside from maybe rooting for a team because they have cute or likable players (i.e. many Yankees “fans” rooting for the team because of how nice Derek Jeter is or how hot A-Rod looks in his uniform), the proximity effect is just about the laziest reason to root for a particular team.

It suggests that when you move you must become a fan of a different and possibly competing team. This can become a problem if you happen to live in a state with more than one professional sports team. I decided to look at how professional sports teams are distributed in the United States between the National Football League, the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and the National Hockey League in order to better understand the fan that follows the proximity effect.

Here are my findings:

The state of California has 15 professional sports teams that reside in its borders. This means that the roughly 36 million citizens (of course not all of these are sports fans) that live in the state must narrow their decision down between 7 major cities. If you are citizen of northern California, near the border of Oregon, your choice of teams would be drastically reduced.

California takes the cake as the state with the most teams, second to New York, Florida, and Texas, respectively. Now of course this makes sense when you consider the populations of all these states. California is the most populous state in the U.S., followed by Texas, New York, and Florida. A possible explanation as to why Texas does not have more sports teams than Florida or New York may be due to the sheer magnitude of the state.

Sporting events in large metropolitan areas are generally a safe bet for owners and investors because they have the opportunity to reach a wide variety of people. This may explain why there are currently no professional sports teams in the following states: Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Iowa, Arkansas, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, South Carolina, West Virginia, Delaware, Rhode Island, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Connecticut.

Conclusion:

The entire problem with the proximity fan is just this: What happens if you live in one of the above states? Do you not have the “right” to root for a sports team at all? If you happen to choose a team that is halfway across the country for reasons beyond team cuteness and physical location, I would say that you have every right to do so. In fact, I would give you more respect than I would these proximity fans.

In closing, I hope you root for your team(s) not because you live near them. Perhaps you have ties to your team because of family, place of business, or you just happen to like a successful organization (there are a host of other valid reasons). I just can’t stand the “But you’re from (insert city), how can you not like the (insert nearest sports team)” argument. I also must confess that I happen to live in Chicago during the Cubs and White Sox respective playoff runs and I reserve every right to root for their utter failure.

]]> http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/09/26/the-%e2%80%98proximity-effected-fan/feed/ http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/09/12/sports-united-through-disaster/ http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2008/09/12/sports-united-through-disaster/#comments Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:09:24 +0000 Joel Ebert http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/?p=574 The world of sports has found itself between a rock and a hard place. With the landfall of Hurricane Ike, expected to be this weekend, numerous high school, college, and professional sports teams have been forced to postpone, cancel or relocate their games.

At least five college football games have been forced to make adjustments to their plans. Three high school football games have been affected by the hurricane, with one read more

The world of sports has found itself between a rock and a hard place. With the landfall of Hurricane Ike, expected to be this weekend, numerous high school, college, and professional sports teams have been forced to postpone, cancel or relocate their games.

At least five college football games have been forced to make adjustments to their plans. Three high school football games have been affected by the hurricane, with one read more

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Old baseball players, analysts, and nostalgic “purists” may believe that the use of instant replay will be terrible for the read more

A CBS sports columnist, Gregg Doyel, recently went off on a huge rant about how players read more

This is an interesting argument when you think about it in the world of sports. A fellow blogger of mine (Jill G) wrote read more

Allow me to digress.

Occasionally I run into people that I read more

The worst was the segregation, poverty, and police brutality. I heard about it, but I never saw it. It wasn’t until I was read more

Usually the scenario goes like so: Person A says to Person B “Look, it has been a wonderful run, but I read more

With its roots tracing back to the late 1800s, baseball has often been referred to as a national pastime. While baseball may not be as old as our great read more