Flamengo

Time for a sports blog.  I’m not really much of a sports fan, but I do follow the NFL and professional soccer.  With the Super Bowl done, now the NFL season is over (Pro Bowl? ZZZZ) so I can focus on soccer again, particularly the Rio State Championships (Campeonata Carioca) going on in Brazil.  So I’ll devote this entry to my favorite Brazilian soccer team, Flamengo.

 Flamengo is from the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is within the state of Rio Janeiro; these are two separate entities, likewise there is the city of São Paulo and the state of São Paulo.  It originally formed in the neighborhood of the same name, which is northeast of Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon.  Later they moved to Gavea/Leblon (kind of straddling both neighborhoods) and have a large, modern complex there which faces onto the lagoon.  My friend Leila lived in Leblon from 2004-2007 and was close enough to hear the games – we even visited the complex when I went to visit her in 2005.  However, the field there only holds 8,000 and is pretty much a joke, which is not a big deal as the team plays most of its home games at Maracana Stadium, which holds 95,000 as currently set up, though the original capacity was closer to 200,000.  The team is not only the most popular in Rio de Janeiro itself, but also in Brazil, making them pretty much the Dallas Cowboys of Brazilian soccer – always popular no matter how badly they suck.  Their main rivals are the other three teams in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Fluminense, Botafogo, and Vasco da Gama.  In fact, the club began in 1895, though as a rowing club at that time.  They only started playing soccer in 1911, stealing players from Fluminense to start off.  The classic “Fla-Flu” (Flamengo vs. Fluminense) game is one of Brazil’s top rivalries, and I was lucky enough to see the game at Maracana in February 2004, won by Flamengo 4-3, on the same day as the Patriots-Panthers Super Bowl.  Romario was actually playing in this game – for Fluminense. 

 While the team has a wide fan base, its most notorious core are the favelados (slum dwellers) and traficantes (drug dealers), whereas Fluminense is more closely associated with the “playboys”, as the richer segment of Rio de Janeiro is disparagingly referred to by the favelados. 

 The team uniform is black & red horizontal stripes, thus the nickname “rubro-negro”, as well as “Mengão”.  Popular chants in Maracana are “MEN-GO!” (the reply to “NEN-SE!!” from the Fluminense crowd) and “uma vez Flamengo, Flamengo ate morrer!” (one time Flamengo, Flamengo until death!).  The current jersey is made by Nike, the away jersey is white, and the current sponsor is Petrobras, the state-owned oil company of Brazil.  I have a 2000 season red/black home jersey from Umbro – the first soccer jersey I ever bought, on my first trip to Rio de Janeiro in June 2000 - and a later 2004 season white away jersey from Nike; I also  got my brother and his son each a home jersey, and his older daughter a skirt. 

 Its most memorable player was Zico (Arthur Antunes Coimbra), who holds the club record for goals, 508, more than twice the next runner up.  He played with them from 1971-83, then again from 1985-89 after two seasons with Udinese in Italy – almost 18 years. More recently, Zico was the coach of the Japanese national team in the 2006 World Cup and now coaches CSKA Moscow. Romario played for the team briefly – off and on between 1995 and 1999, scoring 204 goals for the team. 

 Flamengo’s best era was 1978-1983.  As much as the national championship, now known as the Campeonato Brasileiro (aka “Brasileirão”), the Brazilian teams also compete strenuously in the state championships, which for Flamengo is the Campaneato Carioca, split up into two phases, the Taça Guanabara, and the Taça Rio.  After 1978 they won this three times in a row, and won the national championship in 1980, 1982, 1983, 1987, and 1992.  They also compete against the other Latin American teams in the Copa Libertadores, which is the Western Hemisphere’s equivalent of Europe’s Champions League – in fact, the winners of each play each other in a sort of soccer Super Bowl, the World Club Championship.  In 1981 Flamengo won not only the Copa Libertadores, but also beat Liverpool in this championship.

 An odd thing about Flamengo is that the “franchise”, if you could call it that, also plays other sports.  There are Flamengo teams for rowing (obviously), basketball (mens & womens – I have a Flamengo basketball tank top), swimming, volleyball (men & women’s), gymnastics and fencing. 

 Unfortunately I can’t watch any of the games.  I don’t have TV Globo, as my condo faces the wrong way to mount the correct DishNetwork satellite, and Brazilian games are rarely shown on Fox Sports World or GolTV; the latter seems to be showing Paulista (São Paulo state) games when I’m at work.   

Soccer Jerseys

I suppose most people collect something or other in the course of their lives. In addition to CDs, I also collect soccer jerseys. I’ve lost count, but as of now I have something like 40 of them I’ve accumulated since June 2000.

In the Beginning. I was on my first trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2000. It was winter there, though winter means 70 degrees, fog on the beach, and it gets dark at 6 p.m. We were staying in Copacabana, and I was just getting to know the city and all about it. I learned its four premier teams were Flamengo, Fluminense, Botafogo, and Vasco de Gama. On that trip I got my first jersey, the red/black home jersey of Flamengo; by the end of the trip I had my second, Botafogo (black/white vertical stripes). And I was hooked.

Teams. I rounded out the RJ collection on the next trip (New Year’s Eve 2000-2001) with Fluminense and Vasco, then spread across Europe: Arsenal (UK), Bayern Munich (Germany), as well as French, Spanish, and Italian teams. I stayed away from national (World Cup) jerseys, with the exceptions of Brazil (5 stars after 2002), Poland, and Romania (1973 version). I even managed to get the Iron Maiden variant; after so many rock bands made baseball and hockey jerseys for themselves, Iron Maiden – die hard fans of West Ham United (east London) – decided to make their own soccer jersey.

Rivals. I do commit the heresy of collecting and wearing the jerseys of mutual rivals: Arsenal v. West Ham and Tottenham, Flamengo and Fluminense, Schalke & Borussia Dortmund, Real Madrid and Barcelona. I tend to pick the most important teams and cover the bases.

Brazil: Flamengo (x2), Fluminense, Botafogo, Vasco (RJ), Cruzeiro (MG), Santos (x2), São Paulo FC, Palmeiras, Corinthians (SP), Atletico Paranaense (PR), Internacional (RS) + Seleção (5 stars)
England (Premier League): Arsenal (x4), Tottenham, West Ham, Chelsea (London); Manchester United, Liverpool, Newcastle
Germany (Bundesliga): Bayern Munich (x2), Hertha Berlin, Schalke '05, Borussia Dortmund, Hamburg FSV (x2), Werder Bremen (x2), Vfb Stuttgart, Bayer Leverkusen, FC Kaiserslautern
France (First Division): Bordeaux, St Etienne, Paris-St Germain, Olympique Lyonnais (x2), Olympique Marseilles
Italy (Serie A): AC Milan (x2), Inter Milan, AS Roma (x3), Juventus, Fiorentina
Spain (First Division): Real Madrid (x3) & Barcelona
Romania: Steaua Bucuresti, and national team (1973)

Personalized. Most of mine have either blank backs or a number and no name. Until recently Brazilian teams didn’t put the players’ names on the back. Occasionally I’d get a personalized jersey: Giovanni Elber (Brazilian) with Bayern Munich; David Beckham (two Real Madrid jerseys); Ronaldo (Brazilian) w/Real Madrid; Ronaldo (Portuguese, aka Christiano Ronaldo) with Manchester United; Kaka (Brazilian) with AC Milan; Ronaldinho (Brazilian) with Paris-St. Germain, etc. I tended to pick Brazilian players with European teams, with the obvious exception of Beckham.

Home/Away/3rd. Teams have a home jersey (usually dark), an away jersey (usually light, often white), and sometimes a third jersey (odd color) to wear when their home/away jersey is too similar to the opposing team’s away/home jersey. I’ll pick whichever one strikes my fancy. Santos (Brazil – Pele’s team) has a home jersey which is plain white, so my two Santos jerseys are the away versions with black/white vertical stripes. Neither of my AC Milan jerseys are the standard red/black home jersey.

Sponsors. What’s remarkable about soccer jerseys is that unlike with US sports teams, they have corporate sponsors on them, a practice which began in the 80s; by comparison the jerseys of the 70s and earlier look rather dull and sparse. Many of the sponsors are insurance companies, Internet companies, cell phone carriers or companies (Siemens Mobile or T-Mobile), and even beers – Carlsberg, the Danish beer, sponsors Liverpool, and Holsten, a German beer, sponsored Tottenham. Emirates, the airline from Dubai, has been sponsoring a few teams lately, notably Arsenal.

Comfort. The shirts are extremely comfortable, made of the latest high-tech fabrics to breathe well; and I always get the short-sleeved versions anyway. They’re great to wear in the summer or on the treadmill at the gym. They also often have collars, so they’re almost like polo shirts.

Sources. Most of the time I ordered them from Subsidesports, a company in England with a great selection, plus they do a great job of personalizing the jerseys. Almost all of my Brazilian jerseys were purchased in Brazil. A few I bought from stores here and there, but it’s rare to find a store in the US that carries these. There was a very brief time a few years ago when the local Foot Lockers and similar places carried them when it was a brief fad, that is long gone. Finally, I’ve ordered some jerseys from the teams themselves, which lets you get a 100% authentic jersey with any player’s name on it. The official jersey has the team crest embroidered, and is of noticeably better quality than some knockoffs - as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.