The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium hosts this year's final. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

And it is these latter stages where things get really interesting. Teams play each other on a home and away basis (two legs) with the team scoring the greater number of goals going through. But there is a catch. Away goals are like gold dust for visiting teams. In case of a drawn scoreline over two legs — the greater number of away goals tilt the balance. The final though is a spectacle on it’s own. It is played as a single game at a neutral venue and is apparently one of the most watched sports event in the world — ahead of the superbowl. Venues in the past few years have included Rome, Paris, Istanbul and Athens. This year’s final will be staged in Madrid at the home of Real Madrid — the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

All European countries respective football leagues have a set number of slots in the competition depending upon their ranking with UEFA — the sport’s continental governing body. England, Germany, France and Italy get the bulk of the places with other countries including Romania, Greece, Portugal and Russia filling out the others.

Apart from the automatic qualification slots (for the group stages), each league also has a designated number of places for teams that go into the qualifying rounds. These are a series of games before the group stages — and can account for more or less teams from a particular country. It especially benefits teams from smaller states.

But despite the presence of the minnows, it’s been the European powerhouses that have predictably dominated the competition. Spain’s Real Madrid are the most successful side having won the tournament nine times, followed by AC Milan (7), Liverpool (5), Bayern Munich (4), Manchester United (3) and Barcelona (3). Barcelona are the defending champions.

As with any sport, the real excitement is in watching the game with friends. And as I’ve learned in this country that can only be achieved at a pub. They’re the next best thing to the stadium to experience the passion, atmosphere and thrills of football. My search for country-specific pubs hasn’t gotten too far yet, though I did manage to find a German pub called Octoberfest — which is also the official one, for one of the country’s biggest football teams Bayern Munich.

Other bars such as Famous Three Kings in Kensington show games from all football leagues and other sports such as cricket (something for those from the Asian sub-continent). And if anyone is an avid Arsenal supporter like myself they can make their way to the Gunners Bar on Blackstock Road (Highbury) — just a few steps from the team’s stadium.

SEMI-FINALS (prospective winners):

Barcelona Vs Inter Milan (Barcelona)

Bayern Munich Vs Lyon (Bayern)

The semi-finals start in about a fortnight and the prospects are mouth-watering (in one case at least). History suggests that no team has mounted a successful defence of the trophy and I think that trend will continue this season. Even though Barcelona seem like the best team by a good distance in Europe, I think Bayern Munich could surprise everyone — we’ll just have to wait and see.

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Whip It, Jack, Murder and Von Bitch show off their uniforms. Photo Credit: Saad Mustafa

They’re part of a team, or league, called the London Rockin’ Rollers here for a routine Roller Derby practice session, which is one of Britain’s fastest growing grass root sports. It’s been around in the United States for decades and only arrived in Britain four years ago—but there has already been impressive growth with the emergence of twenty four clubs across the UK. And new teams are popping up almost every month across Europe.

The Rockin’ Rollers began skating in 2007 and their members have doubled since. Teams skate around an oval track trying to score points by getting one of their players, the jammer, to pass through the pack of other skaters. There are five players from either side on the floor at a time, including the pivot, blocker, inside and outside. But the rules aren’t that simple. Things can get a little messy. One of the team members Linda Ericsson (‘Kit Kat Power’) described it as “Rugby on skates” – without the ball of course.

Concussions, broken limbs and torn muscles are just some of the injuries roller derby players have suffered. But the Rockin’ Rollers say that injuries are just a part of sport. One of the team’s most experienced members Jayne Plackett (‘Bloody Valentine’) explained legal blocking maneuvers as anything between the shoulders and knees—almost anything goes.

But everyone wears protective gear like helmets, mouth guards and elbow and knee pads—and players aren’t allowed to skate until they do so. Jayne says that people don’t have to be expert skaters to join the sport. The team has a ‘newbie’ program which runs from 10-12 weeks that teaches the basics of skating.

Refreshingly, this is primarily a female dominated contact-sport, but if you look around closely, you can spot the lone male somewhere in the room. In fact men are allowed to help out as referees—with interesting names like ‘Pissed and Broke’.

The names are probably one of the more invigorating aspects of the sport. There is one organization in the US where players can register their name and number, which is unique to them. Some put a crazy twist to their own names, while others just make up intimidating titles like the ‘Von Bitch’.

Finances though still remain a problem for the fledgling sport and teams mostly have to promote events themselves through the internet and word-of-mouth—the equipment doesn’t come cheap either. But some equipment manufacturers are beginning to sponsor sides. While players in the states may be able to earn a sizeable amount playing the sport, the Rockin’ Rollers all rely on day jobs.

According to the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation three percent of women participate in team sports compared to seventeen percent of men—so why are more women joining one like roller derby? Linda says there are a number of reasons—the most important being the need to break free from the daily routine and add some much-needed excitement.

Dr. Victor Thompson, a clinical sports psychologist, says that the pressures of daily life drive both men and women to have physiological stimulation and rushes of the ‘feel good’ hormone, endorphin. But Dr. Thompson puts the increasing participation of women down to the changing dynamic of society where they occupy increasingly dominant roles. He says their more aggressive roles allow them to express themselves in a similar manner in sports. Dr. Thompson says that Roller Derby, like other active sports, also has health benefits. It helps improve cardiovascular health and has real social advantages for those involved.

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England exported cricket and the colonials now play it much better

Colonial origins

The history of cricket stretches all the way back to 16th century England. Colonial expansion by the British at the start of last century then spread the game to many different parts of the world. Today there are over one hundred and four cricket playing nations, which are part of the sport’s governing body, the International Cricket Council.

Most European countries including Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and Finland have cricket associations. Even the traditional South American football powerhouses – Brazil and Argentina are involved in the game. Among the top teams, Australia/England and Pakistan/India, are among the fiercest rivals in the sport.

Gladiator equipment

The equipment involved is a lot like that used in baseball i.e. a bat and a ball. The bat though is flatter and the ball is made from cork and leather. The harder ball means batsmen need more protection in all areas, which is why they look like a bunch of gladiators when they step out.

The rules are pretty simple (the complex ones are left out):

• Each team consists of 11 players. At any given time the fielding side will have all of them on the field, while the batting side is represented in pairs of two.
• When all 11 players get out (in any of the ways described below) the teams innings is over. Since they are there in pairs of 2, one batsman always remains not-out.
• Games consist of overs, and 6 balls constitute one over.

Scoring is as follows:

• 4 runs—when the ball rolls along the ground and crosses the boundary line.
• 6 runs—when the ball flies over the boundary line.
• Out—bowled (ball hitting stumps), caught, run out (stumps hit before run is complete)

The most controversial way of getting out is leg before wicket (LBW); only the umpire can decide about this. The stumps are those things behind the batsmen in the picture.

The aim of the whole thing is to score runs and then bowl the opposition out (or restrict them in the allotted overs). Or vice versa.

The outsider’s view

A couple of years ago there was a sitcom about international students learning English titled “Mind Your Language”. The teacher was explaining the principles of cricket to one of his students. The student summed it up like this.

“When you’re out, you’re not really out, you’re in—and when you’re in, you’re not really in, you’re out.”

Hopefully The First Pint‘s readers have understood a bit more than that.

Types of matches:

Test matches
The defining characteristic of a Test Match is that it lasts five days. Most people would think that would give teams enough time to win or lose a game – but there’s a catch. A large percentage of these matches end up being drawn. Sounds harsh (and stupid) not to get anything out of a game that lasts so long.

The really significant rule change is that there is no limit on the number of overs each side has to play. So in essence teams can keep on playing until the batting side is bowled out, or decides it has had enough. Both teams bat twice and if they can’t manage a result over five days, the game is declared a draw.

One-day International
These are 50 overs long and as the name suggests end on the same day. The team with the greater number of runs wins.

Twenty20
This is the newest and most exciting of the formats. Its only 20 overs per side, which means an average game lasts three and a half hours (only!). Again the side with the highest score wins.

Sub-continental passion

In the sub-continent (India and Pakistan) and neighboring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh cricket takes on a completely new shape. The fans are more passionate and there’s always a carnival-like atmosphere at games with drums, dancing and colorful costumes.

But all that passion can quickly turn into anger if teams don’t perform well – especially against each other. Crowds gather round to burn effigies of players and officials and in some cases even mob players at their homes.

Cricket also plays a role in regional politics. Recent tense relations between India and Pakistan mean the countries are not playing each other on the international stage. A cricket-related incident in 2010 even led to the cancellation of a Pakistani parliamentary committee’s visit to India. Cricket does tend to bring people from both sides together but it’s also the first thing that suffers when politicians take strong stances.

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