Not your usual conversation!!

“So what is your city famous for” I asked my new friend. 

“Famous for?” she smiled a little and hesitantly said “Aliens!”

“Sorry what?” I thought I did not hear right. It’s the traffic on Paulista Avenue.

“Aliens” she said again.

“You mean Aliens…like E.T. …Aliens??”  I asked again in disbelief.  When was the last time you asked someone what their city is famous for and got that answer?  I am expecting coffee, carnival, beer…and I get Aliens!! Phew!

“Yes.  It’s the most famous alien sighting in Brazil.  The only other alien case more famous in the world that our town’s is Roosevelt’s. Everyone is Brazil knows about the Varginha alien sighting”

“Roosevelt? The American President?”

“Yeah”

I grew up fascinated by aliens, like most kids I guess, but did not remember the Roosevelt incident.  Then again there was no Internet back then. Whatever! Right now this conversation seems unreal.

“When did this happen?” I asked expecting something from the 50’s or 60’s.

“96”

“1996?”

“Yes”

“Jesus that’s not too long ago…I had started watching X-Files by then.”  I pause a bit and then asked.  “So what’s the story?”

“Oh well…three girls saw an alien and lots of strange things happened that day in town.” she said and added as an afterthought “The Brazilian military came in”

“Really?”

“I believe the story…I saw the military myself”

“Wow…that’s amazing …I’ll look it up on Google”

“Yeah look it up” she said with a smile.

Corinthians!!!

Every Brasileiro's (yes that is what they call themselves…not Brazilians!!) first love. Futebol. Little background to the post I guess will help. Sao Paulo has three big teams who play in the highest league. Corinthians, Sao Paulo and Palmeiras.  Apparently Corinthians have the largest fan base (almost 40 to 50%) in the city and like in any other inter city rivalry these fans absolutely hate the other two teams. 

The Corinthians vs. Sao Paulo game was being really talked up at work.  The struggling Corinthians badly needed a win against the more comfortably placed Sao Paulo if they had to have any chance of qualifying for the Paulista Championship Semi final.  Paulista Championship is the intra - state championship and is different from the first division football we are used to watching in Europe.  We had told our Brazilian friend at work, pretty much on the first day of our project, that we need to / have to / absolutely must see a game here in Brazil and he suggested we wait for this one.  “I’ll take you as long as you don’t wear anything in green (Palmeiras colour)” he added being a ‘hardcore’ Corinthians fan. J Having no previous allegiances, I was leaning towards Corinthians anyway partly due to the two big names they had in their ranks. Ronaldo (the fat one! Highest goal scorer in World Cups) and Roberto Carlos (arguably one of the best left backs of our generation…arguably). I was dying to see one of Roberto Carlos’s legendary free kicks. That left leg can pack a punch even in mid 30s!!  He had scored a stunner in the previous week so was likely to take a few shots on goal at least. I kept telling my friend that Roberto Carlos is going to score. Roberto Carlos is going to score. Everyone, I guess, just found my enthusiasm amusing J

The atmosphere was fantastic even though the stadium was far from full. Once particular group of fans called ‘Gaviões da Fiel’were really boisterous. Apparently they are the largest group of ‘organized’ Corinthian fans in the city. I was told they indulge in some harmless ‘organized’ trouble every now and then but I didn’t see any myself so I am not going to hold them against that reputation!! Don’t believe what you don’t see. Especially if the allegation is against sports fans J Nope. Never.

I though I had picked up parts of the Corinthians chant as well during the game until I found out (embarrassingly a day later) that all I was saying was ‘Abacaxi’ (pronounced ba.ca.shi) which means Pineapple in Portuguese!!! Had a hard time explaining the goof up to our friend from work. Guess all the new words got mixed up and I created my own Indiano - Brasileiro - Corinthiano version of the chant!! 

The game itself turned out to be a classic. Corinthians nicked the game 4 – 3 in injury time thanks to an own goal!!  As this modest Nostradamus predicted Robert Carlos scored off the first free kick he took.  Wasn’t exactly his greatest kick ever but was forceful enough to make it through the fumbling goalkeeper. Fat Ronaldo was a pale shadow of his former self! Didn’t, at any stage of the game, look interested and barely made an effort to run. Which brings me to the age old sports question…when is a good time to hang up the boots?? Later.

The Noose!!

"The NECKTIE traces back to the time of Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) when Croatian mercenaries from the Military Frontier in French service, wearing their traditional small, knotted neckerchiefs, aroused the interest of the Parisians. Due to the slight difference between the Croatian word for Croats, Hrvati, and the French word, Croates, the garment gained the name "Cravat". The new article of clothing started a fashion craze in Europe where both men and women wore pieces of fabric around their necks. In the late seventeenth century, the men wore lace cravats that took a large amount of time and effort to arrange. These cravats were often tied in place by cravat strings, arranged neatly and tied in a bow."

- The stupid-est piece of fashion that did not disappear into oblivion in two years!!! Funny thing is, hotter the country and higher the level of education...the less like you are to question it...stupid stupid!!! 

Skye is the Limit!

Skye Bar, Sao Paulo

I am not huge on nightclubs. A television  with sports and beer will do it for me but I got to talk about this one. Syke Bar at Unique Hotel (the hotel is shaped like Noah’s ark btw…look it up!) has got to one of the best I have ever been to. Infact is by far the best nightclub I have been to. Period. Expensive but the view of Sao Paulo from the terrace is worth every single Brazilian reals (pronounced ‘hay-eyes’! No kidding…even the currency is pronounced sexy :)). I was looking up stuff to do in the city a few days later and on one of the websites one (what read like a well travelled) bloke was all about Skye. He kept raving about how he’s been all over the world but that Skye stands out as the best. I am not surprised. The terrace pool, the bar, the restaurant, the crowd, the ambience and the view.  Incredible! 

Lunch anyone???

So we come back after an early lunch and the office is like a ghost town…not a single person in sight ...I am not kidding…not one…and its 12:50 pm on a Thursday afternoon. My hung over ‘New York’ mind is thinking “what the hell is going on?”. We find out that apparently the whole office takes lunch at sharp 12:30! Every single one …for an hour…and they all go out…no lunch boxes and no fricking 'working lunch' business. As unusual as it is to see, the culture is easy to explain. The street below has great reasonably priced restaurants, incredible food, the weather is around 30 degree centigrade (back on metric units..YAY!!) and I can’t even describe the eye candy. Got to be a fool to spend lunch hour in front of a computer. Thankfully Paulistas unlike some New Yorkers (what?? I am being honest!) don’t have the ‘I work harder than you coz I even have lunch at my desk’ attitude!!

Sampa Sampa Sampa!!

Menina Bonita next to me on the flight. View of the pool from my hotel window (and I am not talking about the colour of the water duh!) Great Sushi and Sake. Lonely Planet Poor-too-gesh phrase book. Futebol on TV. Great view. Couch. Likely nap in the warm sunlight coming in through the windows. This is it!!

Best Football League in the World?? Really??

Fight for best league in the world

1. The Argument.

Which is the best football (soccer) league in the world? The question’s been asked before on the web. Yahoo Groups, Wiki Answers, Countless Blogs, et al. The overwhelming majority of the responses say English Premier League (EPL)! I am tempted to concur considering the amount EPL I watch. It surely is the most popular. It surely (you may disagree on this ‘surely’) is the most exciting. Biggest cash cow. Most watched. Talked about. And all that. But is it really the best??

Before we go any further we need to figure out what exactly are we looking for? League with the best players? The most successful clubs? Style of play? Most competitive group of clubs? Or is a blend of all these and more?? A certain X factor as some call it!! It’s complicated and some of these factors are extremely subjective. But let’s look at all of them individually and try and see if we can ‘clear the air’ a little bit. Or at least add a new dimension to the argument because lets face it… we may just have to ‘agree to disagree’ at the end of it all!

2. The Research – Part 1

The ‘league with the best players’ argument, as subjective as it is, can be used as a justification to eliminate all leagues other than the three big ones in Europe. I know it not fair and it certainly not meant to be disrespectful but most people who follow football can’t deny that the cream of football talent ply their trade in Europe. The last time someone from a club outside of England, Spain and Italy even finished 2nd in the FIFA World Player of the Year awards was Oliver Kahn of Bayern Munich way back in 2002!!! For all of Brazil’s dominance in world football, an overwhelming majority of their current squad play in the Big 3 European Leagues. The same is true for most of the big players from Africa. Coaches of Asian national teams would do anything for their ‘boys’ to get some experience in Europe. So clearly the imaginary race to get anointed as the ‘best league in the world’ is between English Premier League (EPL), Spanish Primera Division and Italian Serie A.

But can we look at the star cast and decide which one of these leagues is the best? I would much rather not. Gerrard vs Kaka. Rooney vs Benzema. Ronaldo vs Ronalidino. Eto vs Ibrahimovic. Vidic vs Gattuso. Messi. Lampard. Iniesta. David Silva. Aguero. It’s a crazy muddle of talent and honestly it’s not going to help this discussion (ok monologue). Only prolong it.

3. The Research – Part 2

Which one do you like vanilla or chocolate? Spicy Italian or Chicken Teriyaki? :) The fast paced direct English style or the ‘technically superior’ Spanish style? Or is it the cold blooded cautious approach of the Italians that whet’s your football appetite? This again is a hard one to call. Two reason. One. Its really up to the viewer what he or she wants to watch. The purist may prefer the creative Spanish but me personally…I love the frenzy of the English game. And who is to say who is right? Two. The big clubs don’t really play one particular style anymore. The influx of foreign coaches (especially in England) has lead to teams changing their tactics to suit opponent though it may be argued that the core of their approach has still remained largely unchanged.

This line of comparison leads one straight to the Champions League. How have the different styles of football matched up to each other? Over the last three seasons the English have dominated the Champions League. 3 out of the 4 semi finalist in 08-09, 07-08 and 06-07 seasons have been English clubs. No wonder the internet is full of posts declaring EPL to be the best…and invariable in every one of those posts the success of the English teams in Champions League has been used as evidence enough of EPL’s superiority!! They have a point but let’s scratch the surface just a little bit more. How has the next tier of English team done in UEFA / Europa cup?? Last time an English team made it to the finals was in 2006 when Middelsbrough lost to Sevilla. One English, four Spanish and two Italian teams have made it to the semi finals of the UEFA Cup in the last five seasons. There obviously is a hugh drop in the standards after the big four (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool…for the folks who live in America or in a cave :)). Things are changing at a rapid pace with all the investment coming into City, West Ham and other smaller teams but can we say that the big four has had an easier time winning in the English Premier League? Does Real, Barcelona or the teams from Milan deal with a tougher set of competitors’ week in week out?

4. The Research – Part 3

How do we determine the competitiveness of each league?? Subjective again but I think some number crunching might help us look at things a little more objectively. In a world where dirhams, roubles and dollars flow in and out of clubs, changing the fortunes of players and competitiveness of leagues, 3 years is a long time in football to measure change. So I aint looking beyond the 2006-07 season for my Sunday morning research. The fundamental premise of my number crunching is that the stronger the lower half of the league…stronger the league! You are as good as your weakest link as they say or links in this case. How well are the bottom 10 teams performing in comparison to the top 10?

(For the uninitiated reader, probably an American (I am not picking on you!:)) or a cricket crazy Indian :), each of the three leagues has 20 teams playing two games against each other. One at Home and one Away. That makes for a total of 38 games for each team each season. They get three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. The team with highest points at the end of 38 games is the winner. Period. No Play offs. No Post season)

The first thing to look at is the end of season point differential between the top ten and the bottom ten teams. I took a three year average of point difference between top 10 and bottom 10 teams for each of the leagues and to my surprise the Spaniards came out on top.

STAT A: Three year average of point difference between top 10 and bottom 10 teams

(Lower the difference, stronger the league)

English: 27.76666667

Spanish: 21.46666667

Italian: 28.9

I looked at the numbers again. There’s got to be some kind of mistake. The English can’t be that way off the mark. I found an excuse to redo the math. In 2007 – 2008 season, Derby County was rock bottom of the EPL table collecting only 11 points over 38 games. No other team did as badly in any of the leagues over the three seasons I was looking at. I was convinced that this lead to the anomaly. So I pretty much did the first step again except I took out the top 3 and bottom 3 teams (from each league) to try and neutralize Derby's horrendous performance in 07-08. It did not make any fricking difference!! :) I need to come up with a good one now if I have to turn it around for EPL!!

STAT B: Three year average of point difference between top (4 to 10) and bottom (11 to 17) teams

(Lower the difference, stronger the league)

English: 17.0952381

Spanish: 12.71428571

Italian: 23.76190476

What is a good team?? From the 10 years (not much by most standards) of my watching football closely, I can say, that good teams score away from home and rarely concede goals at home. A ratio of goal scored away vs. goals conceded at home is a good indicator of the team’s ability to win matches. For the sake of simplicity let me call it the Weakest Link Ratio. Can this magic ratio be the saviour? Let’s see.

STAT C: Weakest Link Ratio (Three year Average) = Average Goals Scored Away by Bottom 10 teams / Average Goals Conceded at Home by Bottom 10 teams

(Higher the Ratio Stronger the Bottom 10 teams)

English: 0.644986578

Spanish: 0.749581422

Italian: 0.721181961

Again!!!

5. The Conclusion

On all three of my STATs the Spanish Primera Division came out on top…hands down. Does it bother me?? Yes it does. Never again can I be in an argument and say “EPL is the best” without a little hesitancy in my voice!! :) You decide…but only for yourself.

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If any of you had the patience to read through this post and would be interested in looking at the spreadsheet I used to crunch the points table…feel free to write a note below with your email address and I’ll send it to you.