Monday 12 May 2008

Barça’s Less Celebrated Title / Una part del Barça va guanyar

Catalonia ought to be celebrating, since Barça won today. If only I had been writing about football – a sport which you must start to follow at least superficially, unless you can afford to distance yourself from other men here – but unfortunately I am not.

The football section of FC Barcelona had yet another disappointing evening. In Frank Rijkaard’s last game as the coach of the club, they symptomatically lost 2 – 3 to Mallorca, and this at home at Camp Nou. Before the match, there were calls on the fans to bring black handkerchiefs to reveal their grief over the club's results in the liga, of which it is already clear that Real Madrid will be the winner. Instead people preferred to stay at home - the spectator count was apparently unusually low.

It is of limited comfort that FC Barcelona Sorli Discau, the roller hockey section of the same club, took home the European Cup. Not only is that almost a tradition – they have won this cup eighteen times by now – neither do the victories bring any new attention to Catalonia, since the finals tend to be internal Catalan affairs. This year, it was l’Alnimar Reus Deportiu which the team blaugrana defeated with 5 – 2.

Until now, I know very little about this sport and I must improve on that. It is probably the only sport where our local team, CP Vilanova l’Ull Blau, plays in the same league as the European champion.
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Quant al tema de hoquei sobre patins confesso que la meva integració en la societat catalana és més que dolenta – no conec res de res. I així tot i que visc a Vilanova on l’equip local, CP Vilanova l’Ull Blau, juga en la mateixa liga com el titular de la copa d’Europa.

Siguem feliços que almenys una part del FC Barcelona segueix funcionant com cal.

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