brazil

I have been invested in the World Cup 2014 hosted in Brazil this year, following the last week of matches and teams celebrating for advancing and commiserating in their defeats. I couldn’t help but take a moment during this to reflect on something that is more widely important that football; human emotion.

Imagine this, the superstar of the Colombian national team who has scored in every single match, break down in tears after a loss to the host country Brazil. That is what happened today with James Rodríguez breaking down in desperation after the loss. Consoled by his defeaters, among others, David Luiz, embraced his fellow footballer and exchanged jerseys and drummed up support and cheering for his beaten opponent. Apart from sportsmanship, this shows something important that might be missed by other people.

Men that cry

Though devastated in his defeat, among other things, and desperately trying to hide his tears from the cameras an the crowd, this moment highlights the importance of crying among men. In my experience observing male interactions in society, I have noticed that men are emotionally guarded, sometimes stunted, and incapable of articulating emotions. They often appear cold and despondent, and in times when things get tough or “down” their frustration and angst is demonstrated by aggression which is a useless emotion.

And so, although I felt sorry for the situation, I was happy to see that a famous man showed the world that it’s okay to cry and that it’s a step in the right direction for men to show emotions. The world is such a mess these days and it’s important for people to embrace emotions and not suppress them, to show them, to communicate them, to demonstrate to the world that it’s okay to cry and that in no way affects their masculinity or perceived masculinity.

In a somewhat related note, the concept of masculinity is being highlighted in a documentary film that will eventually be released: The Mask We Live In. This film will examine how the concept of masculinity ruins boys and leaves them with great emotional and identity crises. I look forward to its release to understand and see this perspective.

In the meantime, the more of men that I see cry the better.

In my attempt at being super-duper, I thought I would go over my top two favourite men’s volleyball teams at this years Olympics in London, United Kingdom. I have followed team Brazil for years, and only recently been intrigued by team Italy. I’ve not missed a single match, thanks to World Feed 12 and online streaming because Canadian broadcasters really don’t like to show volleyball for some reason. It’s tragic I know, but here we go with my odes:

If you know me at all, you’ll know that I don’t fall suseptible very often to Latino, Medeterranian, or “touchy” type cultured people, but for some reason I’m drawn to these two teams. I hope you like my commentary!

Olympic Team 2012 Brazil

1 REZENDE Bruno (S) 26, 190cm, 76kg	4 DE SOUZA Wallace (OS) 25, 198cm, 103kg	5 DOS SANTONS JR Sidnei  “Sidão”(M.B.) 30, 203cm, 98kg
6 VISSOTTO NEVES Leandro “Vissotto” (OS) 29, 212cm, 97kg	7 GODOY FILHO Gilberto “Giba” (WS) 35, 192cm, 85kg	8 ENDRES Murilo (WS) 31, 190cm, 76kg
10 SANTOS Sérgio Dutra “Sérgio” (L) 36, 184cm, 78kg	11 ALVES Thiago Soares “Thiago” (WS) 26, 194cm, 88kg	14 SANTANA Rodrigo “Rodrigão” (M.B.) 33, 205cm, 85kg
16 SAATKAMP Lucas (M.B.) 26, 209cm, 101kg	17 GARCIA Ricardo (S) 36, 191cm, 89kg	18 AMARAL Dante (OS) 31, 201cm, 86kg

Other Commentary:
(1) My future husband, who just doesn’t know it yet; I watch him play and I’m put into a trance; seriously, queue up bitches!
(6) A huge blocker, and huge attacker winning tons of points this tournament
(7) The Godfather, legend Giba coming off a leg injury and got to play against USA!
(8) The sexy Argentinian looking Murilo has some attitude, but I don’t care at all!  
(16) A huge “teddy bear” as I like to call him, tallest and heaviest on the team but I think he’s much softer than he appears
(18) Sex on legs, is Dante; I don’t know why but watching him play, just makes me swoon!

Olympic Team 2012 Italy

1 MASTRANGELO Luigi (M.B.) 36, 202cm, 90kg	3 PARODI, Simone (WS) 26, 196cm, 82kg	6 PAPI Samuele (WS) 39, 190cm, 84kg
7 LASKO, Michel (OS) 31, 202cm, 100kg	9 ZAYTSEV Ivan (WS) 23, 202cm,92kg	10 BONINFANTE Dante (S) 35, 188cm, 85kg
11 SAVANI Christian (WS) 30, 194cm, 83kg	13 TRAVICA Dragan (S) 25, 200cm, 94kg	14 FEI Alessandro (M.B.) 33, 204cm, 90kg
15 BIRARELLI Emanuele (M.B.) 31, 200cm, 95kg	16 BARI Andrea (L) 32, 185cm, 74kg	17 GIOVI Andrea (L) 28, 183cm, 80kg

This team is my second favourite team of all time. Generally speaking I’m not a fan of supporting Italian teams, but this one is just so impressive. I think what impresses me most about the team is that they are generally a little older, and more experienced. Their facial expressions, and they way that they play just impresses me and is typically flamboyant in the Italian style.

Other commentary:
(1) The name Luigi makes me laugh, but most importantly the swagger around the court of this player is beyond sexy
(6) The name “Papi” is very fitting to the way he looks, if you’re familiar with Spanish language.. haha
(7) Polish born Lasko likes to wear necklaces and bracelets which typically on Italians looks uber-hot
(9) Italian born Russian Zaytsev likes to spike his hair and plays with it throughout matches
(11) Much better looking whilst playing than in ID photo! 
(13) Croat born, charming player with awesome hair!
(16 & 17) The two ugliest Libero positions I’ve ever encountered….

Needless to say I think it’s obvious that I prefer Brazil to win Gold this year, but they are going to be in tough against the Americans who are sadly whoopin’ some ass.