The NHL season ended a few weeks ago when my Flyers lost game 6 in overtime. It was tempting to feel bad about the loss, given the weak goals that cost them the game and the Cup, but there are a lot of positives going forward. They’ve shown resiliency in playing through all kinds of injuries, they’ve shown the ability to fight even when many “experts” predicted a Chicago rout, and most of the team will be around next year. Chicago played a great series and was the stronger team, although both goalies were human in the series. Congratulations to Chicago and all its young guns who will be in this league for the next twenty years.
It’s normally the time of year I hate: the few months where there is no sports news of interest. The NHL draft and awards come, then free agency, then a month or so of nothing as teams get ready for the new season. Luckily, this is one of the off-seasons where I have something else to focus on: soccer.
The World Cup is one of those things that I could watch all day, every day. The story lines and the drama are as top notch as the skill. The tournament starts with 32 teams in round-robin play before moving to single elimination games. The New York Times has had some great coverage not only about the games but the cultural, social and financial aspects of the African continent’s first World Cup.
The World Cup is a time for unity. All fans are united in the joy of the game, and watching and sharing these historic moments are probably my favorite part of the tournament. It’s something so huge that you want to share it with everyone, friends and strangers alike. The viewing parties were always a lot of fun when I was back in Philadelphia, and I’m looking forward to going to some here in Albania. The city of Durres has an outdoor screening area that shows the games along with numerous bars. I spent a week watching the initial rounds with some other volunteers in the southern town of Corovode, and now one of those friends is visiting me at my site to continue the viewing.
The last two nights, we’ve watched games beachside at a really nice outdoor restaurant with a swimming pool and dance floor, shaded by trees. The first night we saw them bring out an HD flat screen and almost died, given that the TV quality in Corovode was so bad we could barely see the numbers on the screen. But how would we get good reception, given all the trees? In true Albanian fashion, one of the waiters climbed onto a table, put a 6’ long bench on top of a table, stood on the very top of said bench with both feet (which would have made the fall at about 10’), and threw the antenna over the lowest available tree branch. So much that could have gone wrong there, but luckily it didn’t. We see tons of gravity defying moves like that on a regular basis.
It’s always interesting to look at the popularity of the world’s sport and to wonder why it’s not nearly as popular in the US. Personally, I never really cared much about it until I spent a year in Germany (in 2002, when Germany lost to Brazil in the finals). Watching the German side for all these years has really been a pleasure, through all the highs and lows. Perennial performers who were a game away from the finals in 2006 and lost to Spain in the 2008 European championships, you never quite know what you’re going to get from this team but you know it will be interesting. There has been a changing of the guard with veterans like Olli Kahn, Jens Lehmann and Torsten Frings either retired or not selected. Injuries to key players like Michael Ballack and Rene Adler (not to mention the death of Robert Enke) have supporters asking just how far the team can go. Add to it that this is the youngest team Germany has played since 1934 and predictions are impossible. What we have seen in the past weeks is a driven team lead by Philip Lahm and the surprisingly matured Sebastian Schweinsteiger and the success of the youth movement. Whether the youth factor will help or harm remains to be seen. But while Brazil and Spain as the heavy favorites, Team Germany can’t ever be figured out when it comes to success.
Today we are off to Durres for the Germany / England match. Last night’s US game was very exciting. Although they lost, Ghana was the better and more deserving team and seemed to be covering every inch of the field. Obviously I’m hoping that Germany wins the Cup, but I’d be more than happy with Chile or any other team that hasn’t won in a long time. That France and Italy (the defending champs) didn’t even make it out of the initial round has been cause for great happiness already, with more memorable moments on the way as the knock out phase begins.
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A Follow Up on Robert Enke
The German weekly news magazine, Der Spiegel, had a very intense, in-depth article after Robert Enke’s death (Spiegel #47, 2009) about the man himself and the suffering of thousands with depression.
Spiegel notes the following, albeit far more eloquently than I did:
- The role of a keeper. Baseball has pitchers, hockey has goalies, soccer has its goalkeepers. These are people that have very unique personalities and, by the position they play, are the most important parts of a team. Spiegel says that “there is no position more difficult in soccer,” and that a goalkeeper has to have “strong nerves” and “self-confidence.” A goalie goes for long stretches without any work until there is a flurry. “Enke rarely spoke about the loneliness of being a keeper.”
- Most people around Enke didn’t know the extent of his fear. Recently, it was a fear of not being able to play for the national team in next year’s World Cup (even though he was the favorite for the position). On some days, his anxiety to play in net would be so strong that he didn’t want to go to practice. At one point, he even asked his father if he would “be annoyed” with him if he quit soccer altogether (“My God, Robert, it is not the most important thing,” his father answered).
- Spiegel asks if soccer doesn’t “destroy its own protagonists.” Does the sport “swallow all its talent up and then spit it out as mental wrecks and committers of suicide?” Or is it from a society that “turns performance into a fetish which makes its celebrities sick and depressed?”
- Depression effects everyone, although people with lower incomes are more prone
- Although the WHO has noticed that the number of depression cases has increased, it doesn’t mean that more people are getting sick, it means that more people are being diagnosed
- In Germany, it’s estimated that depression is the cause of 90% of suicides
- General practitioners still don’t know enough about the illness to diagnose and treat it correctly
- One out of every seven people that suffer from severe depression end up taking their lives
- In Europe, suicide is more deadly than AIDS, drug use and traffic accidents… combined
- People with severe depression often have trouble with remembering and sometimes it is so bad that it is similar to dementia. The reason is that cortisone blocks the hippocampus in the brain, which is the part that records new information
- When something good happens, dopamine and serotonin flow through the brain. Depressed people have trouble enjoying anything or feeling good because these chemicals simply don’t flow
- Heavy depression requires medication because the brain makeup changes
- Men are less likely to seek treatment because they don’t want to be seen as weak
Spiegel notes the following, albeit far more eloquently than I did:
- The role of a keeper. Baseball has pitchers, hockey has goalies, soccer has its goalkeepers. These are people that have very unique personalities and, by the position they play, are the most important parts of a team. Spiegel says that “there is no position more difficult in soccer,” and that a goalkeeper has to have “strong nerves” and “self-confidence.” A goalie goes for long stretches without any work until there is a flurry. “Enke rarely spoke about the loneliness of being a keeper.”
- Most people around Enke didn’t know the extent of his fear. Recently, it was a fear of not being able to play for the national team in next year’s World Cup (even though he was the favorite for the position). On some days, his anxiety to play in net would be so strong that he didn’t want to go to practice. At one point, he even asked his father if he would “be annoyed” with him if he quit soccer altogether (“My God, Robert, it is not the most important thing,” his father answered).
- Spiegel asks if soccer doesn’t “destroy its own protagonists.” Does the sport “swallow all its talent up and then spit it out as mental wrecks and committers of suicide?” Or is it from a society that “turns performance into a fetish which makes its celebrities sick and depressed?”
- Depression effects everyone, although people with lower incomes are more prone
- Although the WHO has noticed that the number of depression cases has increased, it doesn’t mean that more people are getting sick, it means that more people are being diagnosed
- In Germany, it’s estimated that depression is the cause of 90% of suicides
- General practitioners still don’t know enough about the illness to diagnose and treat it correctly
- One out of every seven people that suffer from severe depression end up taking their lives
- In Europe, suicide is more deadly than AIDS, drug use and traffic accidents… combined
- People with severe depression often have trouble with remembering and sometimes it is so bad that it is similar to dementia. The reason is that cortisone blocks the hippocampus in the brain, which is the part that records new information
- When something good happens, dopamine and serotonin flow through the brain. Depressed people have trouble enjoying anything or feeling good because these chemicals simply don’t flow
- Heavy depression requires medication because the brain makeup changes
- Men are less likely to seek treatment because they don’t want to be seen as weak
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Robert Enke
So much has been going on and it’s downright shameful that it’s been almost a month and a half since I’ve updated last. Although there is much to write about, I feel compelled to write about Robert Enke.
Enke was a goalkeeper for Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga. After a career of ups and downs, he had finally become settled. Last year, he was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. He was set to be Team Germany’s #1 in next summer’s World Cup. This on-field success makes it difficult to believe that he took his own life last week by jumping in front of a train.
His father, who had urged him to get help, said the circumstances of his life lead him to suicide. Enke’s grief for a young daughter he lost to heart problems in 2006 never fully ended. Although he told teammates and coaches he was fine, he never really recovered. There were injury setbacks and moves to different teams. According to his wife he had battled depression the last six years. He was afraid about the consequences of people knowing he was depressed. He feared that authorities would take the daughter that he and his wife had adopted.
It’s a terribly tragic situation but there is a lesson to be learned.
That Enke was so afraid of people finding out says a lot about how taboo mental health issues still are, even in today’s society. But perhaps even worse is the blood-thirsty media that we’ve created. How might a common rag like the Bild Zeitung handled the news if Enke went into treatment? What about the fans on internet forums? We have become so obsessed that privacy for athletes and other celebrities doesn’t exist. You aren’t even allowed to grieve in private anymore, and it’s disgusting. In some ways, it’s not just the circumstances of Enke’s life that lead him to those train tracks, but the invasion of privacy and over preoccupation with others that has become even more omnipresent in the digital age.
Imagine standing in a stadium full of thousands of fans and feeling completely alone. So often we equate “success” with money, performance and achievement and think that it is all we need to be happy. People wondered why Enke would have taken his life, considering his “success.” His wife, in a very memorable statement, said that they “always thought love would be enough to see things through, but it wasn’t.” Not money, not love, not success could alleviate the pain. Alone amongst thousands.
We scrutinize athletes constantly. Some people may argue that the athletes chose their professions and should be prepared for the criticism that comes with it, but no athlete signs up to be made into a god. No matter how long the list of achievements, no matter how many medals or how many trophies, they are only men. With all their highs, lows, perfections and imperfections. They are humans, not gods, and they walk a very fine line.
Enke was a goalkeeper for Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga. After a career of ups and downs, he had finally become settled. Last year, he was voted Goalkeeper of the Year. He was set to be Team Germany’s #1 in next summer’s World Cup. This on-field success makes it difficult to believe that he took his own life last week by jumping in front of a train.
His father, who had urged him to get help, said the circumstances of his life lead him to suicide. Enke’s grief for a young daughter he lost to heart problems in 2006 never fully ended. Although he told teammates and coaches he was fine, he never really recovered. There were injury setbacks and moves to different teams. According to his wife he had battled depression the last six years. He was afraid about the consequences of people knowing he was depressed. He feared that authorities would take the daughter that he and his wife had adopted.
It’s a terribly tragic situation but there is a lesson to be learned.
That Enke was so afraid of people finding out says a lot about how taboo mental health issues still are, even in today’s society. But perhaps even worse is the blood-thirsty media that we’ve created. How might a common rag like the Bild Zeitung handled the news if Enke went into treatment? What about the fans on internet forums? We have become so obsessed that privacy for athletes and other celebrities doesn’t exist. You aren’t even allowed to grieve in private anymore, and it’s disgusting. In some ways, it’s not just the circumstances of Enke’s life that lead him to those train tracks, but the invasion of privacy and over preoccupation with others that has become even more omnipresent in the digital age.
Imagine standing in a stadium full of thousands of fans and feeling completely alone. So often we equate “success” with money, performance and achievement and think that it is all we need to be happy. People wondered why Enke would have taken his life, considering his “success.” His wife, in a very memorable statement, said that they “always thought love would be enough to see things through, but it wasn’t.” Not money, not love, not success could alleviate the pain. Alone amongst thousands.
We scrutinize athletes constantly. Some people may argue that the athletes chose their professions and should be prepared for the criticism that comes with it, but no athlete signs up to be made into a god. No matter how long the list of achievements, no matter how many medals or how many trophies, they are only men. With all their highs, lows, perfections and imperfections. They are humans, not gods, and they walk a very fine line.
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