(OT-ish) Yet another one from the "RSS is great" series

[Lleo]

I really should have posted this a few weeks ago, but couldn't do it due
to some time constraints. But here it goes now.

So, while you're all out there talking about EPL, Serie A, EPL, EPL, La
Liga, EPL, Bundesliga, EPL, EPL, EPL and a bit of EPL, back here in Rio
de Janeiro our local championship has kicked off in mid-January and we're
a few rounds into it already.

(sorry if in the above paragraph I have failed to mention some league, like,
for example, the EPL)

But I don't really mean to talk about the Rio State League itself. As I
was saying, while you were all talking about diverse subjects (such as,
say, the EPL for example), I had the unique opportunity to add a chapter
to the time-honored "RSS is Great" series: I watched a game, at the
Maracanã, with this newsgroup's one and only Jesus Petry!

He was on vacation with his family here in Rio de Janeiro, and kindly
dropped me a line so that we could meet up and watch some football.

In the weekend of the opener round there was Vasco playing in São Januário
saturday, and Flamengo playing on sunday. Unfortunately, due to undelayable
commitments, I couldn't take him to the REAL football stadium between these
two ;-) but at least sunday presented the opportunity for him to see what
the new Arena-style Maracanã looks like.

So, off we went to Flamengo vs Audax. The Maracanã had vast empty spaces
(att 12,000), since it was Flamengo reserves playing against a minnow,
under Rio's scorching summer heat. The vultures won 1-0, with an early goal
by Welinton (a defender with a well-earned calamity reputation, which showed
later on) poaching in the remains of a goalmouth scramble.

As we talked on, I had to bite my tongue a few times in order not to reveal
my vascaíno identity in the middle of enemy territory (I slipped on a couple
of occasions, but nobody seemed to notice :-)) In the end, it was a pleasant
afternoon overall. Yeah, the vultures won, but I can say I had a good time
meeting and chatting with an RSS legend and friend. JP, it was very nice to
meet you, and I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Rio de Janeiro. Best
regards!

--
Lléo

[Jesus Petry]

[snip]

On Thursday, February 6, 2014 7:01:25 PM UTC-2, Lleo wrote:
> He was on vacation with his family here in Rio de Janeiro, and kindly
> dropped me a line so that we could meet up and watch some football.

I'm the one who should thank you, of course, for helping us getting
tickets for a great spot in that beautiful stadium.

> In the weekend of the opener round there was Vasco playing in São Januário
> saturday, and Flamengo playing on sunday. Unfortunately, due to undelayable
> commitments, I couldn't take him to the REAL football stadium between these
> two ;-) but at least sunday presented the opportunity for him to see what
> the new Arena-style Maracanã looks like.

It was my first time at the Maracanã, so I'm not hit on the sentimental
side by the memories of the old way (although I'm used to watching games
standing up at the old Beira-Rio).

> So, off we went to Flamengo vs Audax. The Maracanã had vast empty spaces
> (att 12,000), since it was Flamengo reserves playing against a minnow,
> under Rio's scorching summer heat. The vultures won 1-0, with an early goal
> by Welinton (a defender with a well-earned calamity reputation, which showed
> later on) poaching in the remains of a goalmouth scramble.

The game was of little importance, but we did get a bit of an epic
story to tell people about on that day. It happened that both my wife's
cousin and myself, used to the relative freedom of dressing code in our
place, went to the stadium using our local teams' jerseys. He was
wearing a Grêmio shirt and I, of course, a Internacional shirt, a white
one with red sleeves. My shirt went mostly unnoticed, as I was wearing
black bermuda shorts that made me look to be in Flamengo colors from
distance in the middle of a crowd. But Cousin's striped blue/white/black
attire called the attention of both some disliking flamenguistas (really
just a couple of jerks, the majority were either nice or indifferent to
us) and the people in charge of stadium safety and information - let me
say in their favor: a large, identifiable and well-prepared bunch of
people in nice red caps that always looked eager to help everyone in
sight. They came to us mostly because of cousin's shirt, but after
coming close, they've noticed that I was also not following the
"dressing code" that seems to have been pulled out from some
unidentified hole - one of them mentioned the "Estatuto do Torcedor"
(Supporter's Law), but I'm pretty sure there's nothing about it there,
as it's at least not enforced where I live - by using a shirt from a
Brazilian team that wasn't involved in the match. Cue Cousin an I
running around the stadium minutes before kickoff trying to find a
shirt vendor - they were easy to find when he had come out of the
metro station (btw I loved the Rio metro system!) - but quite out of
luck. Fortunately, the girls (my wife and her sisters), who had stayed
near Bellini's statue to meet the arriving Lléo, found a sneaky
salesman (they're not exactly licensed) and smartly bought two #10
Neymar Brazilian NT shirts whose authenticity claim can't be held for
more than a fraction of a second (for instance, Cousin's shirt badge
read "CBF" and mine read "BRASIL"). We quickly went in to get our seats
moments before kickoff.
I was overwhelmed by the great view of the pitch. I expected it to be
good, but it's excellent, especially for a big stadium.

> As we talked on, I had to bite my tongue a few times in order not to reveal
> my vascaíno identity in the middle of enemy territory (I slipped on a couple
> of occasions, but nobody seemed to notice :-)) In the end, it was a pleasant
> afternoon overall. Yeah, the vultures won, but I can say I had a good time
> meeting and chatting with an RSS legend and friend. JP, it was very nice to
> meet you, and I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Rio de Janeiro. Best
> regards!

I, on the other hand, felt free to talk about Internacional throughout
the game, comment on Flamengo reserves' and the brave Audax players'
abilities and also get to know more about a RSS poster that I've always
admired, since I was just a lurker. The girls are not much into football
but enjoyed the adventure. And RSS is great indeed, also for moments
like this one.

Thank you again for everything, Lléo!

Tchau!
Jesus Petry

[Clément]

Thank you both for the report!

"Jesus Petry" escreveu:

> On Thursday, February 6, 2014 7:01:25 PM UTC-2, Lleo wrote:
>> In the weekend of the opener round there was Vasco playing in São
>> Januário
>> saturday, and Flamengo playing on sunday. Unfortunately, due to
>> undelayable
>> commitments, I couldn't take him to the REAL football stadium between
>> these
>> two ;-) but at least sunday presented the opportunity for him to see what
>> the new Arena-style Maracanã looks like.
>
> It was my first time at the Maracanã, so I'm not hit on the sentimental
> side by the memories of the old way (although I'm used to watching games
> standing up at the old Beira-Rio).

While I have been a few times to the old Maracanã over the years, I'm like
you in that I don't have any affective connection to the old stadium, and in
fact I celebrate the renovations. The big issue being, of course, that the
renovations were more expensive than necessary and, in the Maracanã's case,
there were also too many renovations over relatively short amount of time.

(...)

> and the people in charge of stadium safety and information - let me
> say in their favor: a large, identifiable and well-prepared bunch of
> people in nice red caps that always looked eager to help everyone in
> sight.

Nice to hear this. Hopefully, the practice isn't lost after the World Cup.

> They came to us mostly because of cousin's shirt, but after
> coming close, they've noticed that I was also not following the
> "dressing code" that seems to have been pulled out from some
> unidentified hole - one of them mentioned the "Estatuto do Torcedor"
> (Supporter's Law), but I'm pretty sure there's nothing about it there,
> as it's at least not enforced where I live - by using a shirt from a
> Brazilian team that wasn't involved in the match.

I call BS on that as well. I'm pretty sure there's no rule on this, but I
understand why they would enforce this as a house rule. That said, it's a
sad reflection on the state of affairs in our football stadia, and the
behavior of a dangerous minority of "fans".

(...)

> I was overwhelmed by the great view of the pitch. I expected it to be
> good, but it's excellent, especially for a big stadium.

Also nice to hear.

Abraço,

Luiz Mello

[Lleo]

Clément escreveu:
> Jesus Petry escreveu:
> > escrevi:
> >> [I couldn't take JP to São Januário, so Flamengo vs Audax it was]

> >
> > It was my first time at the Maracanã, so I'm not hit on the sentimental
> > side by the memories of the old way (although I'm used to watching games
> > standing up at the old Beira-Rio).
>
> While I have been a few times to the old Maracanã over the years, I'm like
> you in that I don't have any affective connection to the old stadium, and in
> fact I celebrate the renovations. The big issue being, of course, that the
> renovations were more expensive than necessary and, in the Maracanã's case,
> there were also too many renovations over relatively short amount of time.

To me, the best improvement was that they increased the amount of accesses
to the arquibancadas. In the old version, it was a bit baffling that it
was basically only two ways in and out - at Bellini's statue (the one with
the "Estadio Mario Filho" signboard) and UERJ's gates. Now it is easier and
quicker to get in and out of it. Inside it, the bathrooms are much better
now too.

(...)
> > and the people in charge of stadium safety and information - let me
> > say in their favor: a large, identifiable and well-prepared bunch of
> > people in nice red caps that always looked eager to help everyone in
> > sight.
>
> Nice to hear this. Hopefully, the practice isn't lost after the World Cup.

Here's hoping too. I attended this tuesday the Libertadores game between
Botafogo and San Lorenzo, and while there were a lot of people there (at
least at the gate we were entering), getting in was quick and painless.
They are indeed quite helpful (a friend of mine, who arrived later, said
he thought they were being paid by information given :-) he couldn't walk
a few steps without a steward trying to help him somehow)

> > They came to us mostly because of cousin's shirt, but after
> > coming close, they've noticed that I was also not following the
> > "dressing code" that seems to have been pulled out from some
> > unidentified hole - one of them mentioned the "Estatuto do Torcedor"
> > (Supporter's Law), but I'm pretty sure there's nothing about it there,
> > as it's at least not enforced where I live - by using a shirt from a
> > Brazilian team that wasn't involved in the match.
>
> I call BS on that as well. I'm pretty sure there's no rule on this, but I
> understand why they would enforce this as a house rule. That said, it's a
> sad reflection on the state of affairs in our football stadia, and the
> behavior of a dangerous minority of "fans".

Indeed, we quickly found out this "rule" probably wasn't being enforced by
any other steward. After we got in, we saw people wearing other club jerseys
(like Remo, Paysandu, Racing Club, maybe a few others I've forgotten).

> (...)
> > I was overwhelmed by the great view of the pitch. I expected it to be
> > good, but it's excellent, especially for a big stadium.
>
> Also nice to hear.

The view from the seats at the level of the old arquibancadas remains
excellent. I never really liked the view at the old "cadeiras" (the lower
level, under the arquibancadas in the previous version), but, so far, I
haven't attended any game so close to the pitch in the new arena.


--
Lléo

[Mark V.]

On Thursday, February 6, 2014 1:01:25 PM UTC-8, Lleo wrote:
Yeah, the vultures won, but I can say I had a good time
>
> meeting and chatting with an RSS legend and friend. JP, it was very nice to
>
> meet you, and I hope you have enjoyed your stay in Rio de Janeiro. Best
>
> regards!

>

> Lléo

This is great! :)