“Football Is an honest game. It's true to life . It's a game about sharing. Football is a team game. So is life.” Joe Namath
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| It is . . . trust me and millions of others! |
Have you ever heard of Mitchell and Kenyon? My guess is you probably haven't. I came across them in the early part of the new millennium, when the BBC showed a series of films marvellously restored from the beginning of the 20th century.
These films chronicled the lives of the working class people of the North of England. It truly is a remarkable DVD and I am certainly glad that we have it. It is an invaluable resource to have at our disposal. We can learn so much. When we think we are having it rough it should be compulsory to watch this DVD and see what life was like for people, especially young children working in the mills and the factories. Here's a clip showing people coming out of a factory near Oldham Lancashire in 1901 . . .
Sport has played a big part in the working class lives of people, both here in the USA and in Great Britain. If you want proof, here's what is believed to be the first footage of a rather famous team that means a lot to both my wife and myself . . .
Why do I mention this? I am moved to defend the heritage of the game I love after reading a recent article in The Daily Hampshire Gazette (Tuesday 24th May 2011) written by a gentleman called Nathaniel Reade. He made what for me were some very valid points pertaining to an attitude that still persists in American society regarding the game loved by 208 countries (the membership of the game's governing body FIFA)
He highlights the problems faced by the Northampton Soccer Club in securing access to the Oxbow Marina. Now, before I continue, I have to declare something of an interest in this subject as the President of the club is my friend Tim Stokes. He was my co-presenter on "Match of The Day The USA Way"
There seemed to be continued objections, restrictions imposed on the club and the regional team Western United on playing there and primarily objections raised by the residents of Island Road, the road leading to the Marina. I have it on good authority that at one stage during the discussions Tim was asked "Western United have managed to find another venue elsewhere, can't you?"
Western United are a regional team - Northampton Soccer Club, are, well guess what, a team representing NORTHAMPTON!
It really did expose the hypocrisy that is prevalent in the town of Northampton in my opinion. I won't go into that just now, suffice to say the town prides itself on being diverse and a town that encompasses all cultures yadda yadda yadda yet unbeknown to itself shows a very narrow minded and blinkered attitude to a game that is gaining in popularity with each passing year with 3 million children registered as players. Let's not forget to take into account the ratings for last year's World Cup, which were the best ever by all account. My wife and I attended a game being shown at a restaurant in Northampton and the place was full to the brim.
I can't help but wonder what the attitude would have been if the game being played at The Oxbow Marina had been baseball, a game perceived to be "America's game". I'm sure the attitude would have been completely different, because. let's face it, we have to promote something that is uniquely American and not "foreign" don't we? It reminds of that line "If it's not Scottish it's crap!"
There seems to be a deep suspicion of anything that isn't perceived as being American. Well, I have something to disclose. I am thankful I own a book entitled "National Pastime - How Americans Play Baseball and the Rest of the World Plays Soccer" written by Stefan Szymanski and Smith College Professor and one time guest on our show Andrew Zimbalist.
There's a fascinating picture of the father of King George III, Frederick Louis, Prince of Wales. The book quotes him as being a fanatic of cricket, and that in 1748 he wrote about "playing base ball" . There is also documented evidence of a game of baseball being played at Lord's Cricket ground in London between Boston Red Stockings and the Philadelphia Athletics in August 1874.
Here's a picture (below) likely to send some Americans into a rage - an Englishman playing baseball. The cheek of the limey! The point of all this is that football, and sport in general is universal. Irrespective of where it comes from it should be championed. Sport brings people together. It promotes togetherness and teamwork. It really does mirror life in many ways. It provides an outlet for people to make something of their lives. It gives a sense of pride in having taken part in some physical activity. You have memories that last you a lifetime. The memories that those young people have in representing Northampton will never go away. Let's hope Northampton doesn't have to find a venue in another town and adopt another name. The club isn't a franchise that can be moved anywhere at a whim. It's a club that belongs to the town and should remain so.
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| Harry Wright - an English baseball player for Boston Red Sox |
Enjoy your football, wherever you watch or play it
Ed
1 comment:
Hi Eddie,
I'll disclose to all that I'm the Tim Stokes to whom Eddie has referred in his article. The saga of the Northampton Soccer Club's fight to defend it's fields has exhausted and frustrated many of its friends over the last several years. Yet, like you, we feel compelled to stand up to the efforts of a small number of people who seem bent on diminishing the lives of the hundreds of kids that the club serves.
Like you, I find that the plethora of rhetoric about community, diversity, tolerance, etc. in Northampton is often at odds with the actual practices of its city government and supporters. Tolerance for what, I suppose is the question. Certainly not republicans, or (gasp!) cigarette smokers. I happen to practice neither of those particular habits, but I know plenty who do and I am not afraid of them nor would I tell them that they really should change in the name of my comfort. Northampton is not alone in this by any means, but somehow "community" has a not so secret sub-definition of "freedom from those who bother you." Thus, you have a strange circumstance where one street has somehow muscled the City Government into controlling one group of people's access to a public road.
Actual people are harder to deal with than words and ideas, and as long as everyone's just like you well then there's no question as to what freedom is. So when a fellow sings Dick Cheney's praises between puffs of his Marlboro life gets a little harder. But as an American, I can't imagine telling this guy that the solution to my discomfort was his banishment from my street. Unfortunately, some peopIe in city government appear to believe that banishment works just fine. I can tell you unequivocally that one of the planning board members did, in fact, say to me "Western United have managed to find another venue elsewhere, can't you?" i.e., you make me uncomfortable, please go away.
I do think it would be a lot harder to close down baseball or football fields, but we serve about as many kids as the local little league and the recreation department has even more kids in their soccer program, which makes soccer the most popular youth sport in Northampton. So, I think this is less about an anti-soccer spirit than it is about a perversion of what tolerance and community actually mean. Ironically, these same "progressives" end up advocating policies that promote the same gated community mind-set that they would otherwise abhor. This sort of social incest never ends well and anyplace that abides it should beware.
I 'll confess that I hate the word"community", but only because it's often used in a way that equates it with unanimity. I've never lived in a place like that and I wouldn't want to. I think the meaning of that word might be better felt in its absence than any stock definition. I've spent hundreds of hours watching, and coaching soccer and other youth sports in Northampton and they are the most heterogeneous places I've seen in this town. People of all stripes come to watch their kids play, gossip, talk about work, etc. One or two of them may even discreetly slip off to smoke a cigarette! Take that away and we''ll all be poorer for it.
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