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Anyone who's known me a while knows I am not particularly sporty. I'm more of gentlemen now than I ever thought of being back when I actually played some kind of sports.
Just like my experience in the 50 yard dash I could develop a head of respectable steam if needed.
Still, this indifference also masks a perverse delight in T.V. shows like "$##!" on the VS channel and "Sports brawls and disasters" on the Learning Channel.
Take that, PBS ...
So, today was the consolation and final championship games for the Latino Championship. I missed the beans and rice that Adira told me about - she and Mr. Cambalache had done a tango exhibition the week before as part of the entertainment between games.
This whole thing was put on by the City of Portland Health department and one had to pass tables of folks presenting info about health.
Mental health was being tested on the field during the last game.
Teams were based on folk's home countries - in this case, El Salvador and Guatemala. The crowd was small but partisan.
It was obvious, right from the start, that these were guys with soccer built into their DNA. They had moves I didn't even know existed. Also they went after the ball - it was really hard to know how to shoot pictures since they would clear it out so fast. They really kept hammering at each other right from the start.
However the bad part was the officiating. Guatemala had a set of 5 penalty kicks against El Salvador in something like 6 minutes. A lot of doubtful grabbing went un-noticed right in front of the head ref.
This doesn't take away from the skill of the players - but it did try everyone's patience. The kicker (pardon the expression) came during the last 6 minutes of the first period. El Salvador got so honked off they stopped playing, the coach stormed the ref, the players tore off their jerseys and wrapped them around their heads (the ladies in the crowd started getting REALLY rowdy then) and started kicking balls into the stands.
The Guatemalans responded by waving their arms in the air, pulling out a Guatemalan flag and whistling derisively at El Salvador.
It got so intense the announcers broke into English to ask everyone to go back to the benches.
This mishigas kept on through halftime.
Eventually everyone calmed down, especially after the kids finished in the Pinata Zone and came over to watch. I think knowing they had an impressionable audience made the difference. I empathize - I like a good argument like anyone else - one of my favorite shows is "TV Sports Fights and Disasters" on the Learning Channel but this little Latino Tantrum was happening a a tournament dedicated to health - it just couldn't keep on.
Can't say it wasn't fun to watch, though.
Guatemala 5 - El Salvador 2.
Good game.
