What makes the FSU so interesting?

[mendeleyev]

Why is it that choosing a football team in Russia seems just like an American Presidential election? My goodness, what a task.

At first I didn't really care as soccer wasn't even a word in the dictionary back in the hills of Virginia, Kentucky and West Virginia. But over the years I've slowly come to learn more about REAL football, you know, the kind you kick with the FOOT: Soccer football.





Of course I will never abandon my love affair with God's favourite college team, Nebraska ("on the eight day HE created the Cornhuskers and it was good" Genesis number something), but as it's easy to enjoy real FOOTball teams in Europe, perhaps now it the appointed time to make the choice for a professional Soccer team.

There are four professional teams in Moscow, each very good and they play the finest European and Russian teams. The Локомотив (Locomotive) has a brand new and comfortable stadium plus a cool logo & uniforms and great looking cheerleaders.





Not that it matters, but they win games. Probably due to the cheerleaders. This team has been around since 12 August 1923 and originally named "October Revolution." They were connected to the Russian national railroad system. Locomotive...get it?


The CSKA team has nice uniforms too and a good logo. Cheerleaders are very fetching and not that many people have been trampled to death in post game festivities, well not lately anyway. Not lately matters in that department, I'm thinking. Hmm, they began in 1911 and at one time connected to the Russian Army so cousin Gera naturally wants me to choose them.





CSKA is moving to a brand new stadium next year. Wonder how CSKA cheerleaders compare side by side to the Locomotive cheer ladies? We'll need to check that out.


Next up, the Moscow Dynamo. They're "Dynamo" alright, cause these guys haven't won a championship ever, I mean EVER, though they're connected to the Russian KGB (FSB). What the heck? You mean they can't even finagle to win and they're "connected" to the main spies?






Wimps I'm thinking, but would never dare say so in public. Of course any good decision is made after viewing the cheerleaders.

Finally, there is the Moscow Spartak team (as in the "Spartans") so double no, nothing that even smacks of Michigan back in the USA. The only thing going for them is that they win championships and wear RED uniforms, like Nebraska.





Okay, they do have some downright HOT cheerleaders, but with a name like Spartak, even the cheerleaders don't count as much in this potential choice. Well, there are several hot blondes in the second row...


You know, I've come to the conclusion that choosing a FOOTball team in Russia is about the same as choosing a president in the USA: the lesser of all the other evils.

The rest is up to the cheerleaders.
                         

[Anotherkiwi]

...There are four professional teams in Moscow, each very good and they play the finest European and Russian teams. The Локомотив (Locomotive) has a brand new and comfortable stadium plus a cool logo & uniforms and great looking cheerleaders.

...The CSKA team has nice uniforms too and a good logo. Cheerleaders are very fetching and not that many people have been trampled to death in post game festivities, well not lately anyway.

CSKA is moving to a brand new stadium next year. Wonder how CSKA cheerleaders compare side by side to the Locomotive cheer ladies? We'll need to check that out.

Next up, the Moscow Dynamo. ...Wimps I'm thinking, but would never dare say so in public. Of course any good decision is made after viewing the cheerleaders.

Finally, there is the Moscow Spartak team.  Okay, they do have some downright HOT cheerleaders, but with a name like Spartak, even the cheerleaders don't count as much in this potential choice. Well, there are several hot blondes in the second row...

You know, I've come to the conclusion that choosing a FOOTball team in Russia is about the same as choosing a president in the USA: the lesser of all the other evils.

The rest is up to the cheerleaders.
                       

So where are the photos of all these goddesses so that we can choose? 

[Olly]

So where are the photos of all these goddesses so that we can choose? 

you are welcome!  CSKA and DINAMO Cheerleaders!

[Anotherkiwi]

you are welcome!  CSKA and DINAMO Cheerleaders!

Thank you, Olly!

[Faux Pas]

Mendy, real FOOTball? A Husker fan from West (by-God) Virginia? Surely yoou jest 

[mendeleyev]

Faux Pas, some of my growing up years were in the Netherland Antilles-Virginia-Ky-WV. Graduated from high school in WV. But University degrees came far from home. My allegiance could just as easily been to Kansas University but for some reason I was too busy working my way thru school and studying during those years. The time in Lincoln was really special and somehow that bond stuck and I've been a Cornhusker ever since.

Lived later in Houston and a Houston radio station carries the Husker games each Saturday.

Transferred to Chicago where a Chicago radio station plays the Husker games each Saturday.

Shipped off to Los Angeles and again a local LA radio station broadcasts the Husker games on Saturdays.

Moved to Moscow and friends at NBC's uplink centre in Southern California made sure I got Husker games via a Satellite "backhaul" even if several hours late.

We spend part of the year in Phoenix and you'll never guess...a Phoenix radio station carries the Husker games.

I probably couldn't get away from the "Big Red" even if I wanted to. 

[ML]

Faux Pas, some of my growing up years were in the Netherland Antilles-Virginia-Ky-WV. Graduated from high school in WV. But University degrees came far from home. My allegiance could just as easily been to Kansas University but for some reason I was too busy working my way thru school and studying during those years. The time in Lincoln was really special and somehow that bond stuck and I've been a Cornhusker ever since.

Really sorry to see Nebraska bolt to the Big 10, Texas A&M & Mo go to SEC, Syracuse, PIT, WVU leave the Big East, etc.
Screwed up  a lot of conferences.

[Faux Pas]

Mendy
I was just poking you a bit. Personally, I was as Lewis Grizzard (a Great American) used to proclaim, I am Georgia Bulldog born, Georgia Bulldog bred and when I die, I'll be Georgia Bulldog dead. The Huskers are expected to make a statement in the Big 10, 11 or something or whatever they are calling that conference now. Good Luck to your boys.

[mendeleyev]

Hats off to both you gentlemen and your teams. 

[mendeleyev]

As noted today in the Mendeleyev Journal:

Wedding padlocks: one of the meaningful traditions of a couple to observe after their wedding at the State Registry Office (ZAGS). Once a couple has completed the civil wedding ceremony it is customary to visit several important sites in their city where the couple and their wedding party pose for photos and make toasts. One of the first stops is a war memorial where some of the flowers they received as a wedding gift are laid in honour of war heroes and/or a tomb dedicated to unknown soldiers from the Great Patriotic war again Nazi Germany.




Above: Aлександра и Aлександр is "Aleksandra and Aleksandr" and they'll both share the nickname "Sasha" (Cаша) so guess we could call them "Sasha & Sasha."

The couple visits a park or famous river bridge where doves or butterflies are released and the couple attaches a padlock, with their names engraved, onto the railing of the bridge or some metal structure. It is common at some bridges to see hundreds of rusty padlocks from over the years.

.

Above: Аня и Саша: Anya (Anna) and Sasha (Aleksandr) locked in love forever.

The key is thrown into the river to signify the lasting state of their love and marriage.
       

[ghost of moon goddess]

While strolling through Mariinskiy Park and crossing Park Alley, you are likely to be charmed by "Unbreakable Love" symbols attached to Kyiv's "Bridge of Lovers".   

Constructed in 1910-1912, the bridge was replaced with a new one in 1983— admittedly, old construction was not strong enough to bear the "burden of love"



Who knows, maybe  Alex and Julia are two romantics from RWD planet 

[Eduard]

But over the years I've slowly come to learn more about REAL football, you know, the kind you kick with the FOOT: Soccer football.

excellent observation, Jim!

[ML]

But over the years I've slowly come to learn more about REAL football, you know, the kind you kick with the FOOT: Soccer football.
                     

Just to be a stickler or a PIA,

in the only REAL football (American style), the ball is also kicked with the foot.   

[SANDRO43]

in the only REAL football (American style), the ball is also kicked with the foot. 

Then it should be more properly called foothandball or handfootball, since hand passes are more frequently used than kicks, whereas they are allowed only in very limited cases in soccer . 

[Gator]

I probably couldn't get away from the "Big Red" even if I wanted to. 

Careful, Big Red is the official nickname of Cornell University athletic teams, where I completed my graduate studies. 
 
Not a football powerhouse today but four national champioships in the distant past.......and more impressive - 41 Nobel laureates.
 
Although  Ivy League, Cornell is not that old, probably about the same age as U of Nebraska.

[ghost of moon goddess]

Then it should be more properly called foothandball or handfootball, since hand passes are more frequently used than kicks, whereas they are allowed only in very limited cases in soccer .

If hand passes weren't allowed in soccer, it could  be called everythingbuthandsball or just hands-free-ball   

[Gator]

Based on injuries, American football was originally called foolball.  But that did not sell well, hence the name changed. 
 
I  love the sport. 
 
A 13-yo from Russia is attempting football here for the first time in a Pop Warner league.  He is black and blue but still hanging in there after three weeks of grueling contact practices.  His mama and sister think it good for his conditioning and social fellowship.  They urge him to be "strong man," but we all wince when boys who know proper technique pancake him.  We will see. 
 
He thinks it cool to dress like a gladiator.  And he likes the cheerleaders and they like him.   So that alone may keep him going.

[SANDRO43]

If hand passes weren't allowed in soccer, it could  be called everythingbuthandsball or just hands-free-ball

Why use a negative/privative definition ? We simply call it calcio (kick) or, once, il gioco del pallone (the big-ball game, so not to confuse it with smaller ball games ).

The rules of association football were codified in England by the Football Association in 1863 and the name association football was coined to distinguish the game from the other forms of football played at the time, specifically rugby football. The term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford "-er" abbreviation of the word "association"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_football

An interesting forerunner was/is:

Calcio fiorentino was an early form of football that originated in 16th century Italy. The Piazza Santa Croce of Florence is the cradle of this sport, that became known as giuoco del calcio fiorentino ("Florentine kick game") or simply calcio (later being the name applied to soccer in Italian). The official rules of calcio were published for the first time in 1580 by Giovanni de' Bardi, a Florentine count. Just like Roman harpastum, it was played in teams of 27, using both feet and hands. Goals could be scored by throwing the ball over a designated spot on the perimeter of the field. The playing field is a giant sand pit with a narrow slit constituting the goal, running the width of each end. There is a main referee, six linesmen and a field master. Each game is played out for 50 minutes with the winner being the team with the most points or 'cacce'.

Illustration of a game of Calcio Fiorentino from Harald er Stjerna, 1688

The sport was not played for around two hundred years but then revived in the twentieth century when organized games began again in 1930. Today, three matches are played each year in Piazza Santa Croce, in the 3rd week of June. The four teams face each other in the first two games. The winners go to the final, which occurs on June 24, the day of the Saint Patron of Florence, San Giovanni (St. John). The modern version allows tactics such as head-butting, punching, elbowing, and choking, but forbids sucker punching and kicks to the head.

Match between Azzurri and Rossi (Blues & Reds)

This is also called calcio storico now.

[mendeleyev]

Nice photo, Ghost of Moon Goddess.

How many years old is this "tradition" of wedding padlocks? Is it a newer tradition or an older one?

[ghost of moon goddess]

The old wedding custom was placing a new padlock under a front door threshold and keeping it there as a symbol of "locked down" happiness and fidelity. To be honest, I am not certain whether this custom is a thing of the past or not.

The "hooked padlock" tradition is believed to have been derived from a book written by Federico Moccia. His characters attached a padlock onto a lamp-post on Ponte Milvio, sealed their love with a kiss and showed their commitment by throwing the key away.

[SANDRO43]

The "hooked padlock" tradition is believed to have been derived from a book written by Federico Moccia. His characters attached a padlock onto a lamp-post on Ponte Milvio, sealed their love with a kiss and showed their commitment by throwing the key away.

So an Italian is responsible for that ? That's globalisation for you !

Rome's Ponte Milvio

The Milvian Bridge has some considerable history behind it:

The bridge was built by consul Gaius Claudius Nero in 206 BC after he had defeated the Carthaginan army in the Battle of the Metaurus. In 115 BC, consul Marcus Aemilius Scaurus built a new bridge made of stone in the same position, demolishing the old one... In AD 312, Constantine defeated his stronger rival Maxentius between this bridge and Saxa Rubra, in the famous Battle of the Milvian Bridge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponte_Milvio

Battle at the Milvian Bridge, Audran after Le Brun.

In a way, one may consider that Christianity was an unplanned consequence of that last battle .

[ghost of moon goddess]

So an Italian is responsible for that ? That's globalisation for you !

As all roads lead to Rome, all signs point toward Italy   

[mendeleyev]

In the Mendeleyev Journal today we asked readers if they'd had the opportunity to see Tina Kandelaki's television feature on war hero Irena Sendler. For those who missed it, Irena was a Polish/German woman who at the start of the war knew the German's plans for exterminating Jews in Poland and so she sought and received work in Warsaw, the city of her birth. The Germans invaded Poland in 1939 and she began rescuing Jews by creating false documents to help Jewish families escape the Ghetto.




Irena in 1942 before her arrest and torture.

Her job as a director of the Social Welfare Department meant that she had a special permit to enter the Ghetto to check for signs of typhus. She created a false bottom in her ambulance toolbox to carry small children out of the ghetto but had to rely on a burlap sack for older children. She went in and out of the ghetto each day accompanied by a dog trained to bark when Nazi soldiers approached. Co-workers began to assist with the effort and children were smuggled out by various methods from hiding under bricks in wheelbarrows to hollow compartments in trucks.




Photo: German Federal Archives, Herrmann, Ernst - Bildbestand (N 1576 Bild).

Eventually her activities were uncovered but before her arrest she and colleagues had smuggled out around 2500 children. The identities of the rescued children were kept buried in jars so that after the war it would be possible to reunite them with their relatives. Many of the children were sheltered in Catholic convents until they could be placed in homes with new identities.

When caught she was tortured, and even after both her arms and legs were broken, she refused to tell the Nazi's where the children had been placed and refused to reveal their identities. She was sentenced to be executed but narrowly escaped being shot with assistance from the underground. After the war she assisted in the effort to reunite children with parents but most of the parents had perished in the Nazi gas chambers.

In 2003 she was honoured with the Polish Order of the White Eagle, Poland's highest award. Israel's Holocaust museum awarded her the title of "Righteous Among the Nations."  She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.




Irena Sendler, seated at left, in black.

Late in life, in a letter to the Polish Parliament, Irene wrote that "Every child saved with my help is the justification of my existence on this Earth, and not a title to glory. I feel guilty that I didn't do more ..."

She died on 12 May 2008.




A movie about her life, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler was filmed in 2009 in Riga, Latvia.

[ML]

Yes, I saw that film about Irena on TV here in USA; PBS carried it I believe.

Good story and production.  I recommend it.

[Faux Pas]

Irena Sendler lost the Nobel Peace Prize to Al Gore and his book "Inconvenient Truth" *factoid*