7/26/02: Knives Out

Geez, can this article be any more one sided?

 

I agree. Every writer is entitled to their opinion, but this person makes claims that he states as absolutes with little or no backing. For example,
"But rarely do they get the chance to experience "fútbol," a far cry from soccer in the suburbs or, for that matter, the fare produced by Major League Soccer." What fare, good sir, and how would you define it? Arguments that are based on presumptions, and stereotypical ones at that, aren't really effective.

 

It's almost as if the writer went out of his way to denegrate MLS. The article could have been a nice piece about people enjoying a match between teams from their homeland. Oh well.

 

its not even worth gettin worked up about. juist think back to the best that the mexixcan league had to offer walking off refusing to shake hands after losing 2-0 to the united states...oh with some guys from mls scoring both the goals.

 

Yeah, that was some good "fare". That writer is a Mexi-snob!!

 

One way ticket back to Mexico to all those Mexicans fans who hate MLS brand of soccer,so this way they can enjoy the games up close in Mexico.

 

My god i read the first 12 paragraphs and still hadn't got to the point of his story.
and another note: using spanish words in futbol stories doesn't make you sound any smarter.

For the record, the dude doesn't write for the Times, he writes for one of those free weeklies that gets folded in with the times in certain neighborhoods.

 

Plus, I'm pretty sure his wife's mexican and since getting whipped -- i mean married -- he's kinda become a mexican soccer groupie. he had several pre-world cup articles about Mexican fans and the such. but again, he writes for a free weekly so that goes a long way to explaining the worth of the writing.

 

Those 'paisanos' who refuse to embrace MLS are symbolically attached to the umbilical cord and embarrass the rest of us who love and pledge allegiance to this country that adopted us so generously and openly.

These types of persons are the one who still keep "their belly in the U.S. and their heart in Mexico.

What a shame...

 

isn't paiasano a degratory term for italians? I ask because being italian i've heard the term (most notably in 'So I Married An Axe Murder')?

 

"ooh yeah man, like dude I was born in the good ol' USA but my loyalties are so totally like with the Mexican team dude. Like MLS is like not from Mexico so how can it be any good? Like man my family ties to Mexico are so like tight and stuff I have to be a Mexi fan dood!"
Whatever man, thats great you have about 80+ years worth of soccer history and MLS has just what 6-7? Just the fact your comparing the two is sad, but I have no worries, MLS will be a big show in "el norte" when it finally sinks into the brains of diehards that will multiply when each team has a real home. Take care you not so american/mexicans, I don't care who you cheer for... one day we can compare the two and see that MLS is really not so bad. ;-)

 

Here here.

 

Actually this guy is right in a sense. Most(not all) white Americans are so new to the game that they don't know when to cheer for a good play, etc. That's why I sit with the Latino side at the Burn games, because they know when to cheer for good plays, not just get excited about goals. Most new American fans just try and sit back waiting for goals--chances should be applauded and you should get a knot in your stomach when your team is close to scoring. The same thing goes with defense--a defender/keeper steps up and stops an attacker then that should be applauded because that's good soccer.

 

Ringo:

Being Mexico my 'biological' motherland, I can assure you that the term 'paisano' (countryman) is not only acceptable but flattering. It’s the equivalent of somebody calling you in the U.S. 'my bro...’

If in Italy the term becomes derogatory, in all honesty I couldn't say.

 

It means pretty much the same thing in Italy.

 

Well, that clears things up on the spanish term. but i think there's a degrading term that sounds similar in italian.
not that it matters.
and for the record ... i wasn't accusing efren of anything in case that's what was thought.

 

I have to agree with you in this respect. When I was at a Silverbacks game last week, I started hootin' and hollerin' whenever John Barry Nusum would make a deep run along the right flank...i.e. The "Build Up" had swung into motion on the pitch, however, the large majority of fans just sat there like it was no big deal...they just waited for goals.

This seems like a soccer specific problem here in the US...goes along with not understanding the game. They don't wait for the guy to cross homeplate before cheering in baseball, they cheer good runs, or even good efforts in football...I guess it is just a matter of comprehension, eh?

 

That's the beauty of internet and BigSoccer: they help us to know each other and makes of our planet a true 'global village'.

 

Paisan (not with an "o") is an Italian word that is essentially "peasant." Used as a term of comradery often, at least by Italian-American immigrants (I don't know about in Italy) but also can be used in a deragatory fashion, by anybody else, and often was--stereotype is being used sarcastically by a cop talking to an Italian immigrant, to imply that he is fresh off the boat and not real smart.

It's strange, there are a lot of terms like that. In the cold war, for example, "Comrade" had the same connotation--meant well, it was a nice term; but it was used sarcastically so much that it came to have more of a negative sense.