Rush Hour

As you all know, the World Cup is being played in Africa for the first time in history, and rightly so, in South Africa, given their recent history. Now, I am not won to dwell too much on the past and I certainly don’t believe that modern-day Holland is connected to apartheid however, one cannot avoid considering the history between the mainly Dutch-Afrikaner rule in South Africa and their role in slavery and apartheid in that country. Yes, of course, this is sports and the Dutch in Holland (and elsewhere) are as nice as anybody else nonetheless, the history of what their ancestors did to the black people of South Africa….I mean, I just can’t seem to be happy about their soccer victories. It’d be like supporting the Germans in the World Cup on Israel soil 20 years after the Holocaust. You know what I mean? And even though one of Holland’s players is on the Italian team I support (Wesley Sneijder), I can’t help but have mixed feelings about all of those ‘orange supporters’ roaring their happiness through the streets of South Africa. Many South Africans have gone beyond the past, however for many, the wounds are still fresh. On a brighter side, this could help create a more positive and stronger bond between the two countries, which would only enhance South Africa’s economy. In any case….

…tonight, it’s Spain against Germany. I am supporting Spain; my husband is Spanish and I worked in Madrid for four wonderful years. ¡Vamos a por ellos! However, should the final be Germany – Holland, the young, multi-racial, and exciting German team gets my total support. It is what it is.

Yesterday, the 19th Football (soccer) World Cup began in South Africa and we are all very excited about it. It is amazing the progress South Africa has made in just 20 years since it began the arduous road of becoming a democratic nation free from apartheid (the law to finally lend it came about in 1994.) It seems like yesterday that I was in my home in Milan, watching, with tears in my eyes as Nelson Mandela was freed from prison after almost 30 years.

Sports, like music, unite people and remind us of just how similar we all are. This World Cup is all the more important because of where it is taking place. There are countries participating who years ago had colonized Africa, amongst them, France, Spain, Italy, England, Germany, Portugal, and let us not forget the Netherlands. I pray for a successful World Cup for all of Africa and may the best team win! (Tonight, England versus the U.S.A. Can’t wait!)

My heart goes out to Madiba and the Mandela family for their terrible loss yesterday.

I watched the match with my friend Betty, then we went to Chamonix to celebrate. No one in Chamonix, being in France, could have cared less about an Italian team winning the Champions’ League but that did not put a damper on our happy mood. We climbed up the Paccard and Balmat statues and waved our flags. What a get feeling.

….and saved some silly women the embarrassment of taking their clothes off (and for many of us to have to witness it). I still do not understand why some Italian women look for any excuse to strip. And I’m not talking about young women who feel they have nothing else to offer; I’m talking about grown-up, successful in their career, some married with children and…nearing fifty. It is beyond me. None of the women (or girls) who support my team offered a strip-tease in exchange for the championship. The ladies supporting Roma, the capital city, were the most generous is this case. However, they will have to look for another motive to peel off their clothing (I don’t think it will take them long – pardon my cynicism). Football, or soccer as we Americans call it…. (more…)

You might ask what these two have in common, well in Italy, naked women seem to be everywhere for whatever reason and judging by 46 year old television actress Sabrina Ferilli’s affirmation that she will strip down naked (again) if her team, AS Roma, wins the Italian soccer championship, there seems to be a direct connection between the two, though, for the life of me, I can’t comprehend what it is. This has nothing to do with nakedness in itself; I am no prude, however, I tend to be a logical person and I just don’t understand what would provoke a grown woman to take off her clothes because her football team wins. I can understand partying all night long, diving into the Trevi Fountain, running through the streets screaming with joy….but stripping down naked? Where is the connection? What is it all about? And, although she is still a pretty lady, she is 46 years old. Think of the young male supporters of the Roma team, the 15, 20, 25 year olds….do they really want to see a women their mother’s age taking her clothes off? (except for a laugh and an elbow poke?) And what about the women and girls? Not only do they not care to see her running around naked, most of them are probably embarrassed (except for the older, silly women who are probably envious).  And the worst of it is, none of the other Italian women oppose Ferilli’s foolishness. On the contrary, there have been other female TV personalities women her age who plan on joining her. Yes, I know, the age thing bugs me. And these women have careers, some have children, on paper, they do not need to do this. What has triggered this regression in their minds?

The only reason I can think of for these women to act so foolishly is because they are just looking for any reason to take their clothes off and, sadly, they believe they have nothing else to offer. They say you can ‘get by on charm for 15 minutes, afterwards you better know something’. Well, these women have long past their 15 minutes and it’s obvious they have nothing else to say and they are hoping that their nakedness will distract the world from their vacuousness. It will probably work….for 15 more minutes.