Yesterday I went to the Davis Cup Tennis Semifinal Matches between Serbia and the Czech Republic. It was a capacity crowd in the Belgrade Arena for the two reverse singles matches. In the first game, world #2 Novak Djokovic looked impressive in a 4-set victory of world #7 Tomas Berdych. That set the stage for the final fifth match between world #37 Janko Tipsarevic and world #35, Radek Stepanek. Janko came through for the home crowd with a straight sets victory! He not only one yesterday, but beat Berdych on Friday in an upset. His two wins, combined with Djokovic’s win, propelled Serbia to their first Davis Cup final. In early December, they host France, who defeated Argentina in the other semifinal.
Novak's Perfect Form and Concentration
I got free tickets from a friend, (thanks Victor and Sandra) and so I invited my friend Claudiu and his father-in-law. We enjoyed the 6 hours of tennis. The weather was cool and rainy outside, but it was a great atmosphere inside the arena. The crowd was into the match and we saw some excellent tennis. It amazed me at how difficult it is to win a point in professional tennis. The shot needs to be perfect, otherwise the opponent will return it.
Serbia should be the favorite being the host and have the highest ranked player. Serbia has never won a Davis Cup, only 12 nations have in the history of the tourney.
I am almost finished reading this entertaining book. The sub-title is “An (Unlikely) Theory of Globalization” and Foer looks at the two competing forces of globalization and tribalism. I am very interested in the tribalism aspect of soccer, especially when he begins the book here in Belgrade and looks at Red Star, my favorite team in the Serbian professional league.
Red Star Fans in the Background of last year's "Eternal Derby" Game
In every country I lived, I always pick a soccer team to support. In Colombia, it was Junior of Barranquilla, in Bolivia is is Oriente Petrolero of Santa Cruz, in Australia it was the now defunct Perth Glory, and in my last post in Venezuela, baseball took the role of soccer and I supported Caribes de Oriente. So it was natural for me to select a team upon arrival in Belgrade. I am not sure what determines the team, as I usually have a choice. Part of it is the tradition and history of the club, another are the uniforms, atmosphere at the stadium, etc.Many Serbs question why I would support Red Star when they are financially unstable and in recent years, have not been very successful. I guess it is that I live in the part of Senjak neighborhood that is rabidly devoted to Red Star and the team was formed by Serbs who were against facism shortly after WWII. The club is associated more with the police and the Serbian Chetniks, than the Communist era of Tito. They are the most popular club in Belgrade, with approximately 1/2 of all Serbs supporting them. I also like the red and white color scheme over the black and white of Partizan, the rival club and the second most popular team in Belgrade.
The book is a bit dated being published is 2004, and I would like the New York Times writer Frank Foer to update each chapter. The most poignant idea Foer presents in the book is the human need to associate with a group or tribe. Humans he states, have a natural urge to associate themselves with a group, and in today’s society, the family or tribe is not relevant. Soccer clubs in many instances, fill that role and it explains the rabid enthusiasm of fans at times, even when they are not really big soccer players and do not show this allegiance in other parts of their lives. I see the appeal of this and it might be the reason I always support a local club when posted overseas. It is something that is definitely missing for most Americans. My family is spread out over the world, the USA is very large and diverse and although it somewhat gives me an affiliation, a “tribe” based on the constitution and the ideal of the freedom of the individual, it doesn’t make me feel part of an intimate group.
Ultra Boys Graffiti In our Neighborhood of Senjak
Serbians, being part of a small ethnic group, naturally have that feeling. And with Red Star and other clubs, they also feel the comfort of the “tribe.” Foer goes into the uglier side of tribalism in the Red Star chapter. The Red Star fans are called Delije, which is a moniker given to them by the infamous Serbian soldier, Zeljko Raznatovic, “Arkan.” Historically, they called themselves Gypsies. The book details some of the fan clubs within the Delije, which can be translated as “heroes” or “warriors.” Above is a photo of one of the many fan club murals popular here in Senjak, the Ultra Boys. Around Red Star Stadium there are some interesting murals which I should do a blog post about someday. Anyway, the Red Star fans played a big part in the wars against Croatia and eventually the revolution against Milosevic, according to this book.
The book has chapters on Celtic-Ranger, Barcelona-Real Madrid, Brazilian professional soccer, etc. and they read as separate essays. I would recommend the book to any soccer fan and people interested in history and politics. On a separate note, nice to see Red Star on top of the table in the Serbian Professional League after five rounds. They defeated Javor yesterday, 1-0.
I really enjoyed following the recent World Basketball Championships in Turkey. Serbia and the USA both did extremely well and played an exciting brand of basketball. Serbia made it to the semifinals with a thrilling win over Spain and then they lost by one point to the host Turkey. The crowds and players were into it – highly entertaining viewing. It was great that Owen also got into the games. He watched the entire fourth quarter of Turkey – Serbia with me. We played a lot of hoops this month with Oliver and Ocean also trying too.
My favorite player for Serbia in the tourney was Duško Savanović. He is a 6-7 forward who plays for Valencia in the Euroleague. Savanovic hit some big shots and was a real team player. I also admired coach Dušan Ivković for getting his team to play hard every game. Serbia had a great tourney despite the heartbreaking loss to the hosts. If Miloš Teodosić could ever play some defense, they might have won that game. I think the US would have been too much for them in the finals, but they deserved to be there.
Nadia and I both finished Sunday’s Budapest Half Marathon (21 kilometers – 13 miles) under our goal of 2 hours. It was a beautiful late summer day in the historic city of Budapest, Hungary. It was our first truly big race with over 6,000 runners starting the half marathon. It took us 4 and 1/2 minutes to reach the starting line! We ran together and around the 17 kilometer mark, we spotted the red pacing balloon of 2 hours just ahead of us. We passed her quickly and held on the rest of the way. We sprinted to the finish and Nadia finished with a time of 1:58:07 and she finished #470 overall for the women. We had a 10 km split of 57:37. I had a time of 1:57:56, good for a #2631 finish for the men.
The buildings and sites were amazing, although there were too many people running the race and we felt crowded. Very different from our runs this summer in the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
Once again, despite the US’s gutty effort yesterday against England, the big match took place in the morning.
Yesterday the boys participated in a tough game against FK Dribbling. Oliver got into the game a few times and played well, despite being the youngest player. You can see him in the middle of the play above. Owen scored 3 goals and his team won easily.
Summer has finally arrived and temperatures were near 100 F yesterday. We brought plenty of water for them to drink. The heat did slow everyone down a bit, but they play was exciting as usual. Owen is shown below congratulating one of the opponents on a good game.
An amazing game last night at the 2010 Sajam Fudbala (Football Expo) in New Belgrade. The boys’ football club, Atacante had the honor of opening the Expo by playing a friendly “U-10” game between Serbia and “The Rest of the World.” Owen and Ollie and the international students of ISB that belong to the club played against the Serbian kids of the club. The game was played on a mini-soccer field inside the ExpoCenter, which is a big exhibition hall next to the Holiday Inn in New Belgrade. The Sajam is going on all weekend with exhibitors of soccer camps, professional clubs, sports television, and sporting goods, all having interactive booths.
The Rest of the World lost 2-1 in the game. Both Owen and Ollie played well and I’ll be posting video of the game tomorrow. The highlight was getting to meet the Serbian National Soccer Team coach, Radomir Antic. He is the guy in the center of the photo. A big thanks to Atacante coach Mihailo for organizing this for the club! It was an unforgettable experience. The city is getting excited for Serbia’s World Cup games. They open up against Ghana on June 13.
Ollie on the AttackOwen Gets Ready to Enter the Game
As you might tell from my blog, I am a big sports enthusiast. I participate in almost all sports, and follow many closely. One of my loves are the Detroit Tigers and the great game of baseball. Here in Serbia there is one nice baseball diamond on Ada Ciganlija and I have seen a team practicing. I am not sure the extant of Serbs that understand and play the game. I grew up playing and watching a lot of baseball, and later on I coached Little League baseball teams. I am teaching my sons the game and hope to get them to play a bit in this summer. My eldest son Owen is a left hander, and I am already working on his pitching. He is my retirement plan.
The Logo of the MLB Detroit Tigers
Joking aside, the purpose of this blog post is to give my thoughts on my favorite Major League baseball team, the Detroit Tigers. My mother was a fanatical Tigers fan and that is where I get my enthusiasm for following them. In the MLB, every team plays 162 games a season, so it is an everyday rhythm that one needs to follow a team. Unlike other professional US sports, there are no salary caps for teams, so the payrolls for the teams are very unequal. Luckily, the Tigers have the sixth highest payroll out of the 30 teams in the league, but with $122 million, they are still far behind the $206 million of the NY Yankees. Now I know that payrolls don’t necessary determine winners, but it helps to have enough money to get and keep good players.
The Tigers are currently 1.5 games behind the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central division. They lost to the Twins last year in a one-game playoff after both teams finished with identical records after 162 games. The Tigers are on a better pace than last year, and after 48 games this season so far, they are on pace to win 93 games, 7 more than last year. I predict they will win their division this season. Let me tell you why.
They lost a couple of good players to free agency. Two All-Stars, Placido Palanco (Phillies) and Curtis Granderson (Yankees) left for higher salaries. I was concerned in the off season as I really liked these two players. But, they did get Austin Jackson from the Yankees and he is turning out to be just as good as Granderson, and maybe even better. They also have an MVP candidate in Miguel Cabrera, who after a drunken meltdown at the end of last season, is putting up monster numbers this year. Add Johnny Damon from the Yankees and a comeback year from Magglio Ordonez, and the Tigers have more batting power than last season. They also got unknown rookie, Brennan Boesch, who has been very impressive in his debut season.
The pitching has started off shaky, but shows signs of coming around. They always have Cy Young Candidate Justin Verlander, one of the top pitchers in baseball. Rick Porcello will also be a great pitcher. Behind the big two, if they can get a comeback year from Jeremy Bonderman and Dontrelle Willis, they will be tough to beat in the playoffs. One addition that will also help, is that of closer Jose Valverde, who they got from the Houston Astros. He is a huge upgrade from Fernando Rodney, who blew so many save opportunities.
The team also has some good chemistry, with Damon leading the way and improved attitudes of the Venezuelans. I am really keen on this team and hope they can overcome the Twins and make the playoffs. It will be fun following the Tigers all season long! I bought the MLB.com radio package so I listen to some of the games and always watch the highlights of each game.
It is nice to feel like a kid again! Standing next to Vlade I feel like I am ten years old. He was kind enough to pose with me at this weekend’s MS girls volleyball tourney.
Our girls’ team won the tourney easily. We had a tall, athletic front line of Serbian students that the other teams could not handle. As I said many times before, there seems to be a disproportionate percentage of tall, athletic people here in Serbia. That combined with the sports and training focus in the culture, makes this small country a remarkably successful nation in Europe and the world.
The biggest game for me this weekend was Sunday’s FK Atacante taking on FK Tempo. My son Owen plays for Atacante and he made his debut yesterday. He started the game very tentative and when the coach told him to play left defensive back, he stayed out too wide and did not get into the game. I was instructing him from the sidelines and he told me not to tell him everything to do. The second time in, he played much more aggressively and did very well. I learned the lesson to film his play and discuss afterwards or find a quiet time instead of shouting during the game.
They lost but the kids had a good time. Oliver played with Mihailo and Ocean kept diving into my arms. It was a great morning and the highlight of my weekend.
I have plenty of video and photos from the game on my flickr.com account.
Yesterday a group of us attended the Eternal Derby – the soccer game between the two biggest clubs in Serbian soccer. The game between Red Star and Partizan decided this season’s champion of the Jelen Beer Super Liga. Coming into the game, Partizan was 1 point ahead of Red Star atop the table with 2 rounds left in the season. There was a capacity crowd at the game and as you can see in the video, there is no stadium atmosphere like it in the world. Sadly, Partizan dominated play and won a 1-0 victory to most likely, ensure another championship. They looked faster and in better shape than Red Star, who was playing defense most of the game. I say sadly because I am a Red Star supporter. Red Star can take consolation with their victory earlier this week in the Lav Beer, Serbian Cup. The Cup is the knockout tourney that occurs simultaneously as the regular season. Red Star is in rough shape financially as are all of the teams in the Serbian league. The country is too small to have a quality league. I wish they could do the same as basketball, and form a regional league with the countries of the Yugoslavia.
The fans are fanatical, and it made the game better with all of the singing, flags, large banners, and fireworks. I don’t understand the passion however.
I enjoyed the game with my friends, a special thanks to Dan for getting us the tickets!
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