Allez allez allez allez!
Were you glued to your television yesterday, like the rest of the entire world, watching France defeat Croatia in soccer’s (or football’s) World Cup? It was very exciting, I suppose, though I don’t really know what constitutes “exciting” in that milieu. I am an American and therefore grew up with little to no appreciation for “the beautiful game. but that didn’t stop me from weighing in on various fouls and offside calls.
Oh it was very enjoyable but I didn’t have nearly as much fun as the Italian Leonardo Fioravanti and his friend Kanoa Igarashi who were in Moscow, at the arena, in the stands, both dressed exactly like soccer coaches, for the final itself.
There they were, cheering “Les Bleus” with all their hearts. “Allez allez allez allez etc.” Now, by rights, Leonardo should be cheering for Italy and Kanoa should be cheering for either the United States or Japan just like Kolohe Andino should be cheering for his local Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim instead of the Los Angeles Dodgers like he does which makes me wonder about bandwagons.
In your moral economy where does bald-faced bandwagon jumping rank in terms of its sinfulness? Is it better or worse than online bullying? Better or worse than tipping poorly? Better or worse than cheating at card games?
By “bald-faced bandwagon jumping” I’m talking about the man or woman who lustily declares their allegiance to a recently popular team and utilizes historical gymnastics to make the allegiance both ancient and serious. Like, “My grandma was born in France and dated one of the French national team footballers when she young so I was basically born Les Bleu.” Or “My dad grew up in a town a few hundred miles away from Chris Mullins so I have always been a Warriors fan. Basically.”
So?
Better or worse than hurting innocent animals?
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
So Russia on Sunday, San Diego on Wednesday for Comic Con, where to on Friday? The life of an Instagram pro seems to be fun.
Fio and Kanoa are mormon missionaries. Identical white button-downs, two dudes in a foreign country for seemingly no obvious reason. It all checks out.
New handle! Seems quite formal?
Anonymity is so 2017
I was actually wondering when someone will discover that one of those Thai cave diver heroes is a surfer. Surely it can only be a matter of minutes.
send tips to @justinhousman
We only need to take our fashion tips and critiques from one person and one person only – this guy is all about the all too unbuttoned long sleeve shirt.
Chas, your thoughts?
why are they wearing matching shirts??
Leo’s been quite the influence on Kanoa’s fashion sense. Kid was a walking billboard with white sunnies up till they got young, rich, and famous and donned Gucci.
Leonard Fioravant et Kanuè Igarashez
Is that a magic bracelet Kanoa is wearing? Do you think this caused France to win?
Nothing worse in this world than bandwagon fans…..
What about pedophiles?
Leave the Mormon church out of this.
why are they dressed exactly the same?
are they one of the strange couples you see walking around in matching outfits?
I am going to be in the stands at Huntington. VIP bitches!! https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Lovely to see the apes still alive and Charlton……….. gone .( to smoking gun heaven )
Make sure you eat a lot of raw cauliflower an hour or so before. Add some blue cheese. Pass by Rockin Fig and let fly.
condolences
Trying to reconcile an Italian football fan cheering for France. Tough to compute.
Short Memory Syndrome of Today’s wonderful Youth ? Materazzi insulting the honour of Zidane’s Sister during extra time in the 2006 World Cup Final knowing ,like Othello ,that the Frenchman ( a devout Muslim, son of Algerian Immigrants) would be obliged to act .
That Materazzi header ( no pun intended) before the head butt, was insane….
Just watched it again . Superb goal ! Great leap and powerful header . Was working in a Bar in France during the match and had a table of 22 imbeciles who decided to pay separately so lost a lot of the closing parts of the match .
Yanks?
Who else could it be..??.. 22 Tasmanian Devil ankle tattoos abound!!!!!
Still, to be in a bar in France for a final is pretty gnar gnar….. wish I could have been there screaming “Vai Italia!!!!!” 2 of my cousins were working in Paris at the time and almost got mauled for doing so in the Bastille area at 2 am……
Zidane was one of the few Frenchmen who’s felt obligated to defend anything! Materazzi picked the wrong one. No self-respecting Italian could ever support France.
Yes a bit like the Germans with the Dutch and the English with most other nations . Let’s be thankful it’s only football and no longer war dividing the leading nations of Western Europe .
My old boss said once; “Ahhh, the French. They fuck with their faces, and they fight with their feet”.
Still cracks me up.
What a waste of two tickets, shouldn’t Quiksilver not have sent Flores?
RedBull athletes ?
Red Bull athletes yes, but the World Cup is a massively locked down Coca Cola deal…
Leo and Kanoa were there thanks to Visa.
Fun fact discovered after going to the Winter Olympics… you could ONLY use Visa at the venues. Even at the ATMs. Wild.
what else is there?
Amex, Mastercard etc? Strange question.
They’re sponsored by Visa??? But I guess they gotta hook a couple of surfers up, as I imagine Visa pays the way for most of the QS and the bottom half of the WSL.
That’s nice that they both had a Russian Visa ( card ) . Wonder which passports they used ?
Syria-ously?
2? one ticket and a large over coat.
At least they backed the winner I guess
Why is it we don’t see this level of enthusiasm and excitement from Leonardo and Kanoa at WSL CT events where they actually have a vested interest?
Kanoa obviously thinks he has the Tokyo Olympics in the bag ( talking qualification ) and maybe projecting towards France as another alternative for Paris 2024 . If RedBull gives you wings and World Cup Final seats then a 3rd nationality can’t be impossible ?( obviously joking )
On another note ( not fucking joking ) I was shocked last year reading various articles in so called Australian Surfing Media sites stating that I ( as an Australian ) was supposed to be happy that John John was world Champion . Tried to head butt the IPad in disgust ! Not because he was not deserving but because he ain’t from my surfing tribe !
If that Hawaiian kid Barron Mamiya considers using the Japanese card then Kanoa might not be so confident
Japan is guaranteed 2 spots regardless of WCT rank, so both can get in, but you have to check the ISL rankings as well. Jen See did a great breakdown of how this will shake out.
READ IT ALL HERE: https://beachgrit.com/2018/…
we french are so critical about ourselves that we welcome any kind of support, with no regards of where it comes from…So thank you, for once we are the champions…
For twice ! My head still hurts from that crazy 3 – 0 victory over Brazil in 1998 and the night that followed at the beach in the Médoc.For Brazil fans , I lost quite a few brain cells in 94 supporting the Selecao against Italy which was played at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.( A real World Series for once ? )
That second star sure feels well, but Brazil with five stills rules the record…
J’espère que tu as bien fêté la victoire hier soir . Félicitations pour la deuxième étoile ⭐️ ⭐️🇫🇷.
On a fêté ça comme il se doit, merci James !
How do you say; “Get a room you two” in French?
Hard to argue with a winner, no matter what people say about style or cynical football. Congrats.
Just out of interest, has it ignited any debates re-ethnicity/ “frenchness”, as I heard that most of the team were emmigrants/ 1st generation?
All the players were born in France, apart from two of them. They’re all fully french, as far as we are concerned. This kind of victory helps us integrate the mixity of our nation and fight racism. There’s a few talks about it but mostly to acknowledge it, not to criticize it. For now we’re just happy nation wide. All the debates seem to come from abroad as a few would love to diminish that win saying Africa has won (like Pdt Maduro for instance).
Just happy nationwide? Hmmm https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Yeah, that’s the usual one month nationwide happiness! It was the same twenty years ago, or thirty years ago when Yannick Noah (a black guy) won Rolland Garros… We’re suddenly one and a united nation… The picture you’re showing is a rally against police violence, though, and it’s not only against blacks and arabs, there are also police violences against white people.
French racists don’t hate arabs or blacks, they hate poor arabs or blacks. They have nothing against Zidane or any black fooball player (I don’t know any of them, sorry). As a late humorist said, god wanted blacks and whites, riches and poors, small and big guys, but if you’re black, poor and small, then it will be really tough…
Twenty years ago that happiness lasted more than a month and had a positive impact on the nation’s moral in the long run, even if it didn’t last forever, as some of these players became spoiled with fame et fortune and forgot to play as a team. Racists jumped on it then but today is again a step in the right direction…
Aware of the picture. Was using to make a point. The late humorist knows.
As you may have noticed, this picture wasn’t taken yesterday…doesn’t look like people dressed for a July 15th…
No shit.
If you read my post, I’m saying that this kind of win helps us fight racism, not that the situation is perfect, and Yes drunkenAngel for now most of us just seek to enjoy the moment…
No. It does not help fight racism at all.
I guess it does so for the a few of the bourgeoisie who get to step out of their everyday racism and for a few days say: what lovely black men we have on our football team. Viva le differance! Viva la France!
Non-football star BMEs the day of the win and every day before it and after it: give us a job, stop discriminating against us. stop attacking us. stop colonising us. give us back our lands and resources.
Bourgeoisie: get fucked.
BMEs: racists
Bourgeoise: But football!
Yes it does…but you seem to know better.
Well, you offer no proof it does. Your interpretation of racism seems pretty limited.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Here’s your proof, even Marine Le Pen, head of the extreme right wing congratulates ALL the players
oh boy, that actually works AGAINST your argument lol.
please tell me how
you are using a far right opportunistic populist to support your argument for football helping to fight racism. 🙂
When racists are forced to acknowledge diversity I tend to think that’s a pretty accurate illustration, yes, but there are may other proofs I can witness, since I live in that country…
don’t use the ‘I live in that country’ and therefore I know. I live in a country too but that does not mean I know everything about it. Nor that someone not from that country not know anything about it – or how certain politics function.
I don’t pretend I know everything, I’m just expressing an opinion, based on what I see, read, live and experience here, all I said, answering to Harrydean, is that the global feeling here is joy right now and not a debate on race. I’m not pretending that all problems are solved and that France is presenting a clean sheet on the colonialism/race/slavery matter. Please read my words and stop asserting things I didn’t say.
i love you, carbon 14.
let’s hug it out.
with pleasure 🙂
You guys had a nice discussion! And I’m quite sure you’re both right, in your own ways! Cheers! Chuis du sud-ouest, Carbon 14, t’es aussi dans le coin?
Tout à fait Walter !
éhéhé
Previously, Jean-Marie Le Pen argued that some the team were “foreigners” who didn’t know how to sing the national anthem. Or when she said that the problem with the national team was down to them having “another nationality in their hearts”?
Sorry, but that is just classic far right opportunism.
So the fact that well known and documented racists are obliged to acknowledge the qualities of this team doesn’t show some sort of common acceptation of diversity?
no. it does not. because they are doing it on their own terms only. they are not acknowledging diversity for its own sake but rather using it to benefit themselves. that is not acceptance. that is manipulation by the oppressor.
Man, you live in a sad sad world…
no. i just call out the bs of the le pens when i see it. i am happy!
You’re right, Le Pens are bs I totally agree, but I’m saying that typing theses words on Twitter must have hurt her ugly fingers, and that’s good. Happy to see you happy BTW. 🙂
I’m afraid I’m living in the same one, and we’re, you and me, supposed to be neighbours…
so let’s sing Michael Jackson and make it a better place…:)
Especially for little kids!
Yeah, she won’t miss an occasion… She’s still a racist and a dangerous far right extremist.
20 years ago, when a diverse French team won the World Cup, we heard a lot about how it was the precursor to a new inclusive France. Less than 20 years later, France almost ended up with a racist far-right president, Marine Le Pen.
*shrug*
Yes we lost it along the way, I agree, but I’m saying that now this might push us in the right direction, not solve all problems, that’s all
And by the way, french colonialism stopped 60 years ago, we gave all lands back, as for the ressources, well that’s an other story…
Réunion (1710–present)
Mayotte (1841–present)
Îles des Saintes (1648–present)
Marie-Galante (1635–present)
la Désirade (1635–present)
Guadeloupe (1635–present)
Martinique (1635–present)
French Guiana (1604–present)
Clipperton Island (1858–present)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon (1604-1713, 1763–present)
Collectivity of Saint Martin (1624–present)
Saint Barthélemy (1648–1784, 1878–present)
Ahaha these are all french territories, ask them if they want to be separate from France or if they feel french! If you want to go that path we can talk about Hawaï or any state in the US, or Australia for that matter
really? come on, you must understand how colonialism works? Decolonising is a long process, made even harder after many years of colonisation. https://uploads.disquscdn.c… here: let me help:
Thanks, I probably needed to be lectured, but what’s your point again?
I am thinking here of how colonized people become “French” by assimilating into the colonial culture and language. If they successfully assimilate they are treated as superior, which convey privileges. Over generations colonization results in the internalizing of the colonizer’s social and political system. The colonizer’s ideas are subsequently reproduced. They are also reproduced when directed at others in the colonized community if they dare to speak of not being ‘French’. In turn, there can engender an alienation from one’s own self and pre-colonial culture. Territories are neo-colonialism, and extension of the previous model.
Totally agreed. That’s also the model of imperialism. But to be exact, most of the population in the caribbean lands were not colonized, they were brought there through slavery…
Um, I’m pretty sure that being enslaved isn’t better than being colonized…
Great book!
BTW in all French overseas collectives and territories there have been continuing protests about economies and governments dominated by descendants of colonists (hence why some want to be ‘French’). People in the Comoros Islands have called their imposed French status an “occupation by a foreign power”.
well in all these territories, referendums didn’t show a majority of people voting for independence, I guess in that case democracy sucks…
well there are serious questions as to who got to vote, consequences for voting in particular ways (e.g. economic abandonment), and who had the money to push the different agendas in these referendums, actually. Referendums do not simply equate to some pure democracy.
I think you’re going a bit too far there. In some of the places you’re talking about (Reunion, Clipperton…), there were no “native” people, and in some others (Antilles…), the carribean disappeared long ago, and not necessarily because of french colonialism. In places like Mayotte, given the choice between being comorian and being french, people massively asked for being french, I can understand them. Check it out, there are four islands in Comores, three of them aren’t french, it’s a country.
In Guadeloupe or Martinique, they don’t want the independance, they want their autonomy, ie having the cake and eating it. We never had a referendum for the independance of Guadeloupe or Martinique in the metropole, and I know why! There are huge chances for a massive “yes”!
I’d say that the french policy in Africa is much more to blame, and racism in metropole is much more to fight against. Go and vist one of the place you’re listing above, compare it with one of our “ex” colony in Africa and you’ll understand.
Final note: Viva is in spanish, try Vive 🙂
Love it ……. Superbowl is my favorite day to surf.
Rad to be in the final, but that video is lame.
Yes and they waited till the game was terminated before showing their allegiance ! The sticky gold paper all over the pitch gave them away .
Maybe they entered the stadium in the last few minutes…for free.
Definitely less unforgivable than adding an “s” to Chris Mullin… fuck you, Chas Smiths.
Anybody else remember him as more Indiana Pacer and less Golden State Warrior? It’s all lost in a swirl of blue and gold for me…
I remember him as a 3X Big East Player of the Year at St. John’s. Before the booze wrecked him….
The Pacers and Warriors were interchangeable in those days.
He’ll ALWAYS be a Pacer. Always.
But then RUN TMC didn’t exist.
Are you THAT passionate about the British labour party?
Chris Mullin (politician) (born 1947), English politician, journalist, and author
It’s like Chas Smith, Cleveland State University music professor who died of AIDS…
..or this gripping youtube debate about unsteadiness on ones feet in Argentinia starring Mariano Landa.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Is that what he died of?
If we’re to believe your/his Wikipedia page, then it appears so.
Dude was probably the most fun you could bump into on a college campus…
No one’s “always been a Warriors fan,” anyway. Unless always means “since June 2015.”
I honestly think that people repping teams is always more about geographic loyalty that doubles as an excuse to party extra hard if/when they’re any good.
I completely agree. Geographic loyalty is the basis for fanhood and fans who have no emotional or physical tie to a region shouldn’t be allowed to cheer that region’s teams.
Like that one cousin/uncle that everyone has who loves either the Yankees or the Dodgers but lives at least two time zones away. Fuck pickin’ a winner after they’re winnin’!
Geographic exposure, not so much loyalty, maybe. I am a Dodgers/Lakers/Rams fan living in SF, but generally despise SoCal as a place. But SLO got KTLA, so I grew up fan of the teams on those channels.
Not true. Mostly true, but not true. Plenty of people up here are legit Warriors fans. Plenty more are tech douche bandwagoners of course.
You are totally right. That is mortal. See you in Tim Hardaway!