Sad news, as it was announced overnight that Eusebio had passed away at the age of 71. He may not have had much of a link to Boston, other then the statue of him outside Gillette Stadium.. (seven games with the Minutemen, playing in the first soccer game at Foxboro Stadium).. but for a large part of the Portuguese population (both at home, and amongst the large expatriate population here in the New England area, there was no brighter light in the soccer world.
A good friend of mine played for The Cosmos. His remembrances of Eusebio, "He always trained by himself...warmups, laps, dead ball practice.He handed out postcards in the locker room with his picture and autograph. His legs...from the knee down his shins were wavy from all the brutal attacks and no shin guards were strong enough to prevent cleats up tackles. In the game vs. the Cosmos and Pele, he outplayed Pele until the crowd flooding the field ended the game somewhat prematurely. I'd never seen anyone hit a direct kick with such ball movement …" Truly one of the great legends of soccer and will be missed by all fans.
I watched Santos play Lazio when Pele was still in his prime, and he was fouled constantly from start to finish, everytime he touched the ball (he did get a measure revenge by scoring under the wall on one of the free kicks he earned). I think in those days, there was no persistent infringement policy.
This is good to see as Ludlow has a thriving Portuguese community. Eusebio was one of the all time greats and deserves respect even if his ties to the area are limited.
The whole thing always felt to me like a failed marketing effort to the Portuguese community -- and it now really feels that way. It feels like he was used, then kicked to the side.
It was a quintessential Revs marketing campaign. It was a decent idea that had the Krafts appear in the beginning, then not fund to any degree, then slowly petered out until it became a punchline. There was a large crowd from the Lusophone community the night they brought out Eusebio. Nothing else was ever done to entice them back because the prevailing attitude has always been "well they like soccer and we play soccer so..." A sad story all around.
On a similar note, has anyone else noticed that cup holders (at all stadiums, not just CMGi/Gillette) are at just the right height to wet the hair of the woman sitting in front of you. I'm torn between "You're messing with my beer" and "I wonder what her husband's gonna think when she gets home with the 3 kids, smelling of beer."
I think it's a pen holder. Perhaps there are hardcore (NFL) fans that want to keep track of stats as they watch the game. Just a guess.
My thought was that the little nib is to hang something from. In many other countries cell phone are worn on a lanyard. The slot could hold a folded program. They are both a waste if you as me.