Optimistic About The Future

Oxford Street, Liverpool, Autumn 2009.

Awards Night

I'm working for the month in the reprographics department at a school in Stockport. Tonight is the school's awards night. Whilst we were working on the programmes for the event, the following conversation occurred:

A: There's a kid from last year's Year 11 who got no qualifications, but he's on this list.

B: He's not getting an award, is he?

A: Not unless there's an award for nicking laptops, no.

In Sun And Shadow

It was 1947. Botafogo against Flamengo in Rio de Janeiro. Botafogo striker Heleno de Fritas scored a chest goal.

Heleno had his back to the net. The ball flew down from above. He trapped it with his chest and whipped around without letting it fall. His body arched, the ball still resting on his chest, he surveyed the scene. Between him and the goal stood a multitude. There were more people in Flamengo's area than in all Brazil. If the ball hit the ground he was lost. So Heleno started walking and calmly crossed the enemy lines with his body curved back and the ball on his chest. No one could knock it off him without committing a foul, and he was in the goal area. When Heleno reached the goalmouth, he straightened up. The ball slid to his feet and he scored.

Heleno de Freitas was clearly a gypsy. He had Rudolph Valentino's face and the temper of a mad dog. On the playing field, he sparkled.

One night at the casino, he lost all his money. Another night, who knows where, he lost his desire to live. And on his last night, delirious in a hospice, he died.

- Eduardo Galeano, Football in Sun and Shadow (1997)