This past weekend was a very fruitful experience. It was the first weekend being in Brasil that I did not take a "relaxation" day, which I am glad for now reflecting on it -- too much is missed when resting (at least that's my outlook on life now).
Saturday, my research adviser here in Brasil was gracious enough to bring my lab mate, her room mate and myself to a very nice lunch at Nau. The lunch consisted of a delicious appetizer, and a pasta dish to die for. The appetizer was a combination of different finger foods, including cheese, shrimp, olives, eggplant and salmon; all of which very tasty. The entree, which at least 4 people could have eaten, was one of the best pastas ever. It included steak pieces and an amazing milk-cheese sauce that made it that much better. After lunch, our professor brought us to Cabadelo to see people surfing. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the beach/surfing on display. It was a nice day, and glad I was able to have a day outside of the university with both students and the professor. This rarely occurs with me, and every time professors are willing to take time out of their days to spend time with students is a very nice and comforting gesture.
Now for Sunday. After getting back from lunch I had a Facebook message, asking me and other students if we wanted to go to a football game. Well, not soccer (futbol), but American football. Yes, there is a professional American football league in Brasil. It's not very big, but there is enough to of a want to have the league.
We cram six people into a car that is meant for five, but four comfortably. Arriving at the stadium, we have to walk through, pretty much, a giant mud puddle to even get to the gate. After crossing Lake Ontario, we had to walk around a barbed wired fence to get to the seats. Oh before we get to actually talking about the seating situation, I should talk about the price of admission. Five Reais (~ $2.50 USD). So before the game even started I knew it was going to be quite a show.
We pay, then go to look for seat. Mind you, this is a soccer field converted into a football field, so the stands are setup in a different way (that is, when the either team would be at one end of the field no one in the stands could see what was happening...whereas in soccer the game usually moves back and forth rather evenly, so this wouldn't make a difference...not the case for American football). We find our seats, which are giant slabs of concrete that were built like steps. Not benches, just coliseum looking seats that felt like you were sitting on concrete...oh wait.
Leading up to the beginning of the game, which was suppose to start at 2, there were a couple crucial things that occurred. First off, something borrowed from soccer, was that both teams lined up at the middle of the field while the Brasilian national anthem played (apparently you don't have to stand for one's national anthem, if you so choose not to). Second, the game started 50 minutes late, because they were waiting on the ambulance to show up. Yep. 50 minutes to get one ambulance to the stadium. But good thing they did.
With all of this waiting (mind you we got there at 1:45, expecting the game to start at 2, and it's now almost 3) the game finally started. Two plays into the game the home teams quarterback blows his knee out. In my mind I was thinking that the game is over and that the home team is just going to get blown out now. They get the player off the field, resume play and in Friday Night Lights fashion the backup quarterback enters the game. After his initial drive (which ended in a punt), he tore it up. He managed to carry the team the rest of the game, where I had very little faith (thinking about pro football in the states, with the fact that some backup quarterbacks are usually not the best substitutes to try and win games with). So it was refreshing to watch a second string quarterback actually be able to come out of the woodwork and do well.
Let's talk about another adoption from soccer that this game of football took to heart. Injuries. The first injury was actually quite severe, and reminded me of Theisman getting rampaged by LT, ending his career. Okay, usually in football injuries are taken quite seriously, but not here. I wasn't keeping track, but there were at least 15 total "injuries" that players sustained throughout the game. After about the fifth injury I started to understand why people were laughing at all of the injuries. It was more fun to watch the EMT's having to keep running on the field to "help" players, who of course were faking (most of the time). As I thought more, it was another adoption from soccer. Oh how I loathe fake injuries, yeah I'm talking to you Giants. This slowed the game way down, so much so that the third quarter lasted for almost 40 minutes (oh the quarters were also only 12 minutes).
One very cool thing that happened in the game though, was one of the students from my lab (who plays on Joao Pessoa's team) scored a touchdown. That was a nice addition to the the day as a whole too.
The last part of the game that made me laugh, was that none of the spectators knew the rules. So, being in a foreign country, I finally knew a lot about something that I never thought I would have to explain.
I have a quest for each of you. Try to explain these two things to someone who has very very little exposure to American football: 1) why teams get to keep the ball in between the first and second quarter as well as between the third and fourth. Oh, and the explain why the team who got the ball at the beginning of the game, regardless of having the ball at the end of the second quarter, does not get the ball at the beginning of the third quarter. Good luck. And 2) why the clock stops, and how the clock can stop when a player runs out of bounds with the ball, or when there is an incomplete pass. I don't even want to get started on penalties!
It's not until you're in a situation like this one, that you're glad you have procedural memory to take care of these things. Thanks procedural memory!
End score of the game (as posted by Sportscenter):
The team I was rooting for: 56
The other team: 2
As comical as wrote the above, it was very cool to see people come together to actually want something such as American football in Brasil. Also, as I said to a couple of people I was with, "I hope in 10 years American football actually makes it big here, so these guys can feel like they did something worth doing." This day made me appreciate the love of the game, that much more.
Overall, everyone who went to the game with me had a blast, which is a positive for everyone in the situation.
- a hero within
Saturday, my research adviser here in Brasil was gracious enough to bring my lab mate, her room mate and myself to a very nice lunch at Nau. The lunch consisted of a delicious appetizer, and a pasta dish to die for. The appetizer was a combination of different finger foods, including cheese, shrimp, olives, eggplant and salmon; all of which very tasty. The entree, which at least 4 people could have eaten, was one of the best pastas ever. It included steak pieces and an amazing milk-cheese sauce that made it that much better. After lunch, our professor brought us to Cabadelo to see people surfing. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the beach/surfing on display. It was a nice day, and glad I was able to have a day outside of the university with both students and the professor. This rarely occurs with me, and every time professors are willing to take time out of their days to spend time with students is a very nice and comforting gesture.
Now for Sunday. After getting back from lunch I had a Facebook message, asking me and other students if we wanted to go to a football game. Well, not soccer (futbol), but American football. Yes, there is a professional American football league in Brasil. It's not very big, but there is enough to of a want to have the league.
We cram six people into a car that is meant for five, but four comfortably. Arriving at the stadium, we have to walk through, pretty much, a giant mud puddle to even get to the gate. After crossing Lake Ontario, we had to walk around a barbed wired fence to get to the seats. Oh before we get to actually talking about the seating situation, I should talk about the price of admission. Five Reais (~ $2.50 USD). So before the game even started I knew it was going to be quite a show.
We pay, then go to look for seat. Mind you, this is a soccer field converted into a football field, so the stands are setup in a different way (that is, when the either team would be at one end of the field no one in the stands could see what was happening...whereas in soccer the game usually moves back and forth rather evenly, so this wouldn't make a difference...not the case for American football). We find our seats, which are giant slabs of concrete that were built like steps. Not benches, just coliseum looking seats that felt like you were sitting on concrete...oh wait.
Leading up to the beginning of the game, which was suppose to start at 2, there were a couple crucial things that occurred. First off, something borrowed from soccer, was that both teams lined up at the middle of the field while the Brasilian national anthem played (apparently you don't have to stand for one's national anthem, if you so choose not to). Second, the game started 50 minutes late, because they were waiting on the ambulance to show up. Yep. 50 minutes to get one ambulance to the stadium. But good thing they did.
With all of this waiting (mind you we got there at 1:45, expecting the game to start at 2, and it's now almost 3) the game finally started. Two plays into the game the home teams quarterback blows his knee out. In my mind I was thinking that the game is over and that the home team is just going to get blown out now. They get the player off the field, resume play and in Friday Night Lights fashion the backup quarterback enters the game. After his initial drive (which ended in a punt), he tore it up. He managed to carry the team the rest of the game, where I had very little faith (thinking about pro football in the states, with the fact that some backup quarterbacks are usually not the best substitutes to try and win games with). So it was refreshing to watch a second string quarterback actually be able to come out of the woodwork and do well.
Let's talk about another adoption from soccer that this game of football took to heart. Injuries. The first injury was actually quite severe, and reminded me of Theisman getting rampaged by LT, ending his career. Okay, usually in football injuries are taken quite seriously, but not here. I wasn't keeping track, but there were at least 15 total "injuries" that players sustained throughout the game. After about the fifth injury I started to understand why people were laughing at all of the injuries. It was more fun to watch the EMT's having to keep running on the field to "help" players, who of course were faking (most of the time). As I thought more, it was another adoption from soccer. Oh how I loathe fake injuries, yeah I'm talking to you Giants. This slowed the game way down, so much so that the third quarter lasted for almost 40 minutes (oh the quarters were also only 12 minutes).
One very cool thing that happened in the game though, was one of the students from my lab (who plays on Joao Pessoa's team) scored a touchdown. That was a nice addition to the the day as a whole too.
The last part of the game that made me laugh, was that none of the spectators knew the rules. So, being in a foreign country, I finally knew a lot about something that I never thought I would have to explain.
I have a quest for each of you. Try to explain these two things to someone who has very very little exposure to American football: 1) why teams get to keep the ball in between the first and second quarter as well as between the third and fourth. Oh, and the explain why the team who got the ball at the beginning of the game, regardless of having the ball at the end of the second quarter, does not get the ball at the beginning of the third quarter. Good luck. And 2) why the clock stops, and how the clock can stop when a player runs out of bounds with the ball, or when there is an incomplete pass. I don't even want to get started on penalties!
It's not until you're in a situation like this one, that you're glad you have procedural memory to take care of these things. Thanks procedural memory!
End score of the game (as posted by Sportscenter):
The team I was rooting for: 56
The other team: 2
As comical as wrote the above, it was very cool to see people come together to actually want something such as American football in Brasil. Also, as I said to a couple of people I was with, "I hope in 10 years American football actually makes it big here, so these guys can feel like they did something worth doing." This day made me appreciate the love of the game, that much more.
Overall, everyone who went to the game with me had a blast, which is a positive for everyone in the situation.
- a hero within
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