Thanks to our American friends from LA which I talked about earlier we went to see a football match today. The match was Paris FC against Stade Reims (these are second division clubs). I bet 20€ on Paris FC to score the first goal and win the match... The final score was 3-0 for Stade Reims, obviously sports betting is not one of my skills. I have to say that I'm quite pleased with the result, betting can be an addictive and ruinous habit, so it's better to lose on the rare times you do bet thus ensuring you do not get hooked.
I can't say the match itself that good, and actually it interesting to see how big a difference there is between the first and second divisions. These are still professional players and they are playing just one level below the best players in the world and yet the difference in level of play is massive.
As Reims rapidly took the lead and my likelihood of winning my bet became increasingly low, I lost interest in the game and instead observed my surroundings. We were in quite big stadium (20,000 seats) Which was over 3/4 empty. We were in the Paris fans area which occupied probably less than a quarter of the stadium on the other side opposite there was a small group of Reims fans, a few hundred at most.
As soon as the match started, a group of Paris Fans not far way from us took up a drum beat and chanting, which they kept up throughout the match. They were standing in tee shirts or even bare chested (although it was not the warmest of days) and punctuated their songs and chants with raised fists or salutes. There was no sense of menace or violence but I did reflect that it was strange to see these predominantly white fans cheering a team of predominantly black players using gestures which could have easily been part of a fascist rally.
As I mentioned earlier there was no danger in any way in spite of the clearly partisan booing and cheering. But even that gave way to general cheering for the goals. Surprisingly the Paris fans cheered just as much as the Reims group for the goals even though these were all going past their goal keeper.
An interesting and pleasant afternoon was had by all, however I am not expecting this to become a regular saturday event.
I can't say the match itself that good, and actually it interesting to see how big a difference there is between the first and second divisions. These are still professional players and they are playing just one level below the best players in the world and yet the difference in level of play is massive.
As Reims rapidly took the lead and my likelihood of winning my bet became increasingly low, I lost interest in the game and instead observed my surroundings. We were in quite big stadium (20,000 seats) Which was over 3/4 empty. We were in the Paris fans area which occupied probably less than a quarter of the stadium on the other side opposite there was a small group of Reims fans, a few hundred at most.
As soon as the match started, a group of Paris Fans not far way from us took up a drum beat and chanting, which they kept up throughout the match. They were standing in tee shirts or even bare chested (although it was not the warmest of days) and punctuated their songs and chants with raised fists or salutes. There was no sense of menace or violence but I did reflect that it was strange to see these predominantly white fans cheering a team of predominantly black players using gestures which could have easily been part of a fascist rally.
As I mentioned earlier there was no danger in any way in spite of the clearly partisan booing and cheering. But even that gave way to general cheering for the goals. Surprisingly the Paris fans cheered just as much as the Reims group for the goals even though these were all going past their goal keeper.
An interesting and pleasant afternoon was had by all, however I am not expecting this to become a regular saturday event.
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