An inconsequential contemplation of pain

Although I’ve experienced intense pain as I’m sure most people have, I’ve never really given much thought to the mechanics of it. However, as the title implies, this is not a scientific examination of pain, but neither is it meant to play it down.

I’ve often watched televised matches in disgust as professional soccer players writhe and wail on the pitch when brough down in a foul, (in apparent agony, or so I thought). In my experience rugby players don’t ever shriek and howl as much, so the natural inclination was to conclude that soccer players were a bunch of sissies just looking for attention and sympathy from the crowds… and the referee, while the former are made of sterner stuff.

Seems I may have been wrong.

This weekend I watched in an admittedly inebriated stupor as a close friend injured her knee quite dreadfully while playing soccer. Her teary eyes quite clearly attested to the pain she was in, and it was not until a day later when she got the hospital’s diagnosis, that we learnt of the full extent of the injury.

Wikipedia

There was a complete disruption of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and significant damage to the Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL), coupled with some muscle damage. Now I don’t really need to suffer a similar demolishing to know that it must have been severely painful, and still is after having just spoken to her. She will require reconstructive surgery and at least one source I have looked at, estimates a recuperation period that could extend up to six months. Ouch!

So where is this all leading to?

You’ve probably heard the expression that women are much better at tolerating pain than men, and thought it was bollocks. Well I can tell you that my lady friend handled it pretty darn well, and still is. She was back at work today, on crutches, walking up several flights of stairs, for crying out loud.The studies I’ve read here and here seem to indicate that women feel pain more intensely, while men have a higher pain threshold. While the studies look mainly at biological factors, it seems that social and psychological factors also play a part.

And my conclusion…

Even though the science may suggest that men can handle higher intensities of pain, I’m pretty convinced that women deal with it much better.

The Arsenal Strip Show

Like myself, if you’re an Arsenal supporter, you might be furiously fending off nasty comments from the Chelsea and Manchester United faithful, or just tearing your hair out in exasperation. Against Chelsea yesterday, after yet another promising start, the Arsenal succumbed to the ugly determination and sheer [brute] strength of a lesser deserving team.

My disappointment is so immense, I can’t help comparing watching the Arsenal week after week to going to a strip club, week after week. You get to watch some great ass, but if you don’t get any action from one of the lovelies on show, it becomes an expensive waste of time. Just like the Arsenal; fantastic moves but they don’t get to score…

Football is about scoring goals; the intricate passing and fluent movement should be just a bonus. Sometimes… no most times, an ugly goal or two will do just fine. It’s time some of the players showed that they’re not just ballerinas in baggy shorts, dancing across the turf.

I’m actually convinced that Wenger, being the shrewd economist and tactician he is, is actually colluding with the board by playing percentage football. My theory is that he just does enough with his (showy, but ultimately inadequate) team, winning games to keep the fans interested….just so that they can continue keeping the club profitable. Perhaps he’s trying to seal his place seat on the board of directors.

I read about one fan last night who is determined to start supporting another club. Who knows how many others there are. I know that the die-hard faithful will stay, but these performances are hurting the club.

It’s time Wenger showed us that he can coach as well as make profits. I’ll tear the rest of my hair out in appreciation.

It’s half-time at the FIFA Confederations Cup: USA vs Egypt

Okay, this is probably sneaky. I’m not one of the accredited journalists here at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg where the USA is playing Egypt in the final group stage match, but I’ve just come in from the stadium grandstand, and am now sitting in the Media Centre with a fairly large contingent of journalists, and thought I’d play at being one too.

So while the real journalists are busy posting their half-time stories to countries all over the world, yours truly is posting to his blog.

The USA is leading by one goal to nil, but Egypt look likely to equalize. The atmosphere is amazing as always, in and around the stadium.. The vuvuzelas are in full cry, and I’ve even seen a guy with some sort of snare drum which echoes in the stadium corridors. Most of the local support appears to be directed towards Egypt, perhaps as a show of solidarity for another team from the African continent.

It’s pretty cold out tonight, so I’m going to stay in the warm Media Centre for the rest of the game, and watch it on one of several large-screen TV’s located at various journalist’s tables.

Until next time, this is your wanna-be reporter, Lenny, signing out.

Big fuss over sounds of joy

I really don’t understand the big hoo-hah over the blowing of trumpets (known locally as vuvuzela’s) at the FIFA Confederations Cup matches currently on the go, at various stadiums around the northern half of South Africa.

I was at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg last night, where I’m working 🙂 as a Venue Manager providing support for the Media-IT and Broadcast network, and had the privilege of witnessing the sheer ecstasy and unbridled admiration of the South Africans supporting their team affectionately known as Bafana Bafana. Accompanying the wild gyrations and joyous singing of the fans, was the unmistakable sounds of the vuvuzela, in varying degrees of loudness. There is no doubt that the sound it emits is loud, shrill even, but when blown by elated fans in unison, it has a hypnotic tone that screams “come join the party.”

However, there have been complaints by some grumpy members of the public about the noise it makes. These complaints seem to emanate from those people who have just heard the sounds over the television or radio; they have not actually been in a stadium surrounded by hundreds of singing, vuvuzela-blowing fans to experience its magical effect and the euphoric atmosphere it helps create. Thus far, I have heard of just one complaint from a soccer player; Xabi Alonso, playing for Spain. He says that FIFA should ban it (the vuvuzela) because it is not a nice sound to hear. Apparently that didn’t affect his team from thumping New Zealand, five goals to nil on the opening night of the Confederations Cup tournament. Now imagine if I could get every sound I didn’t like banned; Beyonce, Backstreet Boys, The Pussycat Dolls and a host of other pop stars, would become just bad memories.

There have been absurd claims by some that the vuvuzela is a South African, cultural phenomenon, but this is so far from the truth that it needs to be dismissed with utter contempt. The vuvuzelais not an artifact of African culture; it is just an instrument that helps express the pure joy being felt by a soccer fan, most of whom happen to be Black. If you were at the game last night between South Africa and the hapless New Zealanders, then you would have witnessed scores of White South African fans happily blowing the vuvuzela, albeit with some difficulty. At the after-match press conference last night FIFA President, Sepp Blatter summed it up quite nicely when he said:

“It’s a local sound and I don’t know how it is possible to stop it. I always said that when we go to South Africa, it is Africa. It’s not western Europe.” and “It’s noisy, it’s energy, rhythm, music, dance, drums. This is Africa. We have to adapt a little”

The vuvuzela is here to stay. Visitors to the FIFA 2010 Soccer World Cup next year, are in for a treat; a most amazing assault on the senses and an experience in pure joy. But the vuvuzela will require some stamina, an open mind and a willingness to have fun. I recommend that you pick up one at your nearest sports outlet and start practicing.

Aaarrrgghh, another bad sporting weekend

Another big match lost, this time 2 – 1 to Chelsea. Arsenal are arguably the best football team in Europe. Manager and coach, Arsene Wenger has with somewhat limited resources, put together some of the best young (and older) talent available on this planet who play a brand of football  which for the purist, is unsurpassed for sheer brilliance, fluid passing motion, and the pleasing effect that remains long after a game has concluded. However, the team is dogged by constant injuries to key players, several at a time. Arsenal contested this weekend’s FA Cup semi-final against the big guns of Chelsea with a completely make-shift back-line, including reserve goalkeeper, because of injuries. If it’s not the midfield or forwards who are decimated through injury, it’s the defense. Will this team ever experience a time when their entire squad are fit and available?

 

 

The Sharks have lost, two weeks in succession, this time by a narrow margin (13-10) to the Crusaders, who are the reigning Super 14 champions (although  their form this season belies that title). The Sharks could have had that title a couple of seasons ago, but were denied by an oversight from the referee. The Sharks have got to be one of the unluckiest rugby teams around; they always seem to cop some of the most dubious refereeing decisions, and somehow manage to get key players injured at the most crucial times. But the team is gifted with some of the best talent anywhere in the rugby-playing world, North and South of the equator. They just looked a bit jaded this week (and last), and maybe that bye this coming weekend is much needed to revitalize and join the fray, anew.

After watching both the Sharks and Arsenal losing this weekend; I considered how monumental bad luck seems to hound both these teams who deserve so much more than they are currently getting in terms of results and recognition. I even contemplated that perhaps there is a supernatural presence out there conspiring against these teams; and maybe a god that resents human achievement does indeed exist…