Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Chimamanda's Classic Football Article...

Yay, we have a new template. Tell us what you think about it!

Chimamanda writes this sweet piece in the Guardian on football and nationalism. The football field is one place where we are united. Or when we are watching those on the field...The cup has come to Africa, does it mean that the world is one? Reminds me of a funny World Cup ad by a big multinational here; it reads: Let's Get Behind Africa. Sure an editor missed the ambiguity of the words. Enjoy the piece!


"I remember feeling very light, hugging everyone, laughing, repeating the same things that somebody else had just said. We hugged neighbours we did not like. We offered drinks and relived the game over and over. From the streets came the sounds of car horns, of shouting, of singing.

What happened that night was an explosion of nationalism of a certain kind, a benign, forgiving, optimistic nationalism. We forgot about neighbours who stole our electricity wires and leaders who stole our oil money. We all became, for that moment, Nigerians who had contributed to the vanquishing of the world.

Still, football nationalism, for many of us, often expands past Nigeria, and into the rest of Africa. I do not ordinarily much care for football or for excessive nationalism, but whenever Nigeria plays a major game, I find myself undergoing a transformation. I kick the air as I watch. I scream. I pray. I will the universe to make us win."

Read complete article here

2 comments:

  1. That was a really good article, didn't care for the end though.

    The new template looks different, more colorful...

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