Sparta v. Slavia

So, a while back I mentioned watching a fotbol (rhymes with soccer) match between the two local teams. It was a fairly typical match except for when the bomb went off. Sure you had massive smoke screens in parts of the stands, and the occasional flare, but that’s all to be expected.

Today the two teams played again, and once again there was plenty going on in the stands. At one point they were showing a corner kick, but my eyes were drawn to the stands behind, where fireworks were going off louly enough to reverberate around the stadium, pop-pop-pop with bright flashes of light. On the track that surrounds the field fireman were rushing around with buckets to carry off flaming debris, and the riot police were preparing for a charge. At one point conditions got so bad that play stopped and the referee warned the coaches that (I assume) they could be penalized for the behavior of their fans. Meanwhile the clock kept ticking, meaning the team that was ahead benefitted from the violence.

The game itself was not terribly exciting. Maybe that’s part of the problem.

Now I’m watching Hockey, a civilized sport. This is the seventh and deciding semifinal game between HC Slavia Praha and my favorite Liberec White Tigers (rhymes with Bílí Tig?í). The winnerr goes to the championship, and from what I’ve seen both these teams are stronger than the two remaining in the other bracket. The bad guys scored early and it was not until Les Tigres had to kill a penalty that they started to play. This is not unusual for them; perhaps they should just start the game a man down.

I guess I should get back to writing now.

4 thoughts on “Sparta v. Slavia

  1. You think you could get me a t-shirt for those White Tigers? You could send it along with the insurance card for the Miata.

  2. I’ve been meaning to get a shirt for myself, but to buy in a store i may have to go up to Liberec. Around here all you can find are the prague teams.

    Be warned also that sports jerseys here will remind you of NASCAR. It’s a different revenue model than in the US major sports.

  3. Are you saying NASCAR is not a Majour US soprt?

    Anyway, who won? Sounded bad for the Tigri last I heard…been pretty busy lately. OH, and Happy Big Day.

    pL

  4. The Tigří lost, but it was one of those great hockey moments as time expired, the good guys throwing everything they had, mayhem around the net, and the puck dribbling a few centimeters wide of the unprotected post as time expired. The cries of fear, the cries of agony, the release.

    Dang.

    Still the outcome sucks.

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