Faith, hope, and passion…in sport and in life!

I am getting ready to attend Book Expo America in Los Angeles tomorrow. It should be a very interesting three days. I will make daily blog entries from the show to let you know what is going on.

I want to write about football today, because the soccer world just witnessed one of the all-time greatest games ever played this past week.

The setting was Moscow, Russia, and the match was between two British giants, Manchester United, and their arch rival, Chelsea of London.

This was the Champions League final, the culmination of nine months of qualifying for the best club teams in Europe. The venue for the final game changes every year, and this was the first time the championship game had been played in Moscow. Over 50,000 British fans made the trip, and from all reports the Russian hosts were up to the task.

It was the first time two English teams had ever met in the final. Teams are drawn into pools initially, and as it turned out, the last four teams to reach the semi-finals included a third English team, Liverpool, and Barcelona of Spain.

The game had extra emotion for Manchester United, because it was exactly 50 years earlier that a plane carrying their team home from a European Cup game crashed in Munich, Germany.

Eight of the United players died in that crash, and it took a decade before the United club was able to win the championship again.

The game in Moscow was pure magic for football fans. The red-shirted United team versus the blue shirted Chelsea squad. Full out, non-stop rugged action from start to finish.

United scored first, on a brilliant header by their Portuguese idol, Cristiano Ronaldo, in the 26th. minute. Englishman Frank Lampart, equalized for Chelsea in the 45th. minute.

There was no scoring in the second half, although many close calls were witnessed. The frantic pace never let up. Caution was thrown to the wind, even though one mistake could turn out to be disastrous.

Thirty minutes of extra time were then played, two fifteen minute halves, with no sudden death goal to decide the outcome. No goals were scored during overtime, so penalty kicks would decide the champion of Europe.

The 67,310 fanatics in Luzhniki Stadium held their breath, as a driving rain poured down on the tense scene below.

Each team would select five players to take alternating shots on their opponent’s goalkeeper from the penalty spot.

Manchester United won the coin toss and elected to go first. The initial two payers scored for their respective teams.

Then, to everyone’s shock, European player of the years, and the man that had given United their only goal during the match, Cristiano Ronaldo, missed the net.

The game’s other goal scorer, Frank Lampart of Chelsea, promptly “tickled the old onion bag,” as the British announcers often say.

Chelsea seemed destined to be champions.

The soccer Gods are fickle, however, and strange things can happen when the elements and emotion are combined.

John Terry, the Chelsea captain and fifth shooter, had a chance to put the game away with a goal, but his footing gave way on the slippery turf as he took his shot.

The United goalie was able to bat the ball to safety. United were still alive.

After five shots for each team, the score stood at four goals each.

As the rain turned into a downpour, the ultimate champion awaited to be crowned under the dark Russian night.

The teams would continue to rotate shooters until a result was arrived at.

Anderson for United scored on his shot, and Kalou for Chelsea responded.

Ryan Giggs, the oldest player on the United team, was true to form for the Reds.

As fate would have it, the blue shirted Anelka of Chelsea was not. United keeper Van Der Sar parried away his low drive to the left post.

United were champions of Europe!

In a game such as this, it really is a shame for anyone to lose, but that is sport.

Faith, hope, and passion…in sport and in life.

Memories of BEA Past…

I am getting ready to attend BookExpo America in Los Angeles next Thursday. This is the publishing industry’s biggest trade fair in North America. It is a five day extravaganza involving every aspect of books and their world.

This is not the first time I have been to BEA. In June of 1997, I took a solo road trip with ten hardcover copies of RENALDO, the first batch of books ever produced, and motored from Toronto to Chicago.

I had reserved an exhibitor’s booth at the show in the small press section. Upon arrival at McCormack Place, which was the venue, the first order of business was to deal with the tradesmen that would physically set up my booth.

The way things got done in this show was that every tradesman was unionized, and they could perform only their designated task. So, one man brought the desk, chairs, and display table to the booth, another man put them in place, and a third man stapled the decorative drapery on the front of desk and display table.

The building was a whirlwind of activity and it was really fascinating to see the show take shape. Huge forklift trucks where buzzing everywhere depositing colored panels and carpeting to the right location so the other tradesmen could assemble the booths.

The location of my booth was quite good, as it turned out. I was adjacent to the large autographing area, which was mostly open space. Over the next three days I would see many of the world’s best selling authors mere yards away.

Because I was by myself, it was difficult for me to leave my booth and really take in the show. This is a lesson I remembered when I exhibited in Frankfurt Germany a few months later. Basically, in Chicago, the show had to come to me, I couldn’t go to the show.

Nevertheless, hundreds of people stopped by my booth to chat. I made friends with many of the exhibitors in the adjacent booths, so there was always someone to compare notes with and have a drink or dinner with after the show ended.

Two events stand out from my experiences at BEA. The first was the autograph session with Richard Simmons launching his new book, “Sweating to the Oldies.” Richard was walking around the show the entire three days in his tank top, short-shorts, and Afro hairdo held in place with a matching headband. He was extremely gregarious and funny, and actually put on an exercise show right in the autograph area. The place was packed, and many of his fans passed by my booth after the show.

The second event was much more ominous.

The booth directly across from me was rented by an Englishman by the name of David Irving. He was an independent author of some repute, or perhaps I should say, disrepute.

Mr. Irving’s claim to fame was that he insisted that the Holocaust in Europe during Hitler’s Nazi regime never took place.

He had written several lengthy books on the subject, which he proudly displayed in his booth at the show. The worst thing though, was that he constantly ran black and white videos showing the glory days of Hitler and the Nazis.

Mr. Irving was a large, friendly, well spoken man, probably in his mid-fifties. He was not dogmatic about his subject matter when I engaged him in general conversation, but I never queried him on his topic.

My father had fought in Germany during World War Two, and the whole premise that the Holocaust didn’t take place made me shudder with disgust.

It seems that I was not the only one upset with Mr. Irving’s presence at the show. On the second afternoon, I noticed three men engaged in a heated discussion with the controversial author. These men were dressed in the black traditional clothing that is worn by Orthodox Jews. They were obviously agitated with Mr. Irving, and all of a sudden, they took cans of spray-paint from their clothing and started to deface his entire display.

A scuffle ensued, in which Mr. Irving was punched and knocked to the ground. The three men were gone in an instant, and it was several minutes before BEA security, and then the police arrived.

All of the exhibitors that had witnessed the attack, including myself, were interviewed by the authorities. The end result was that Mr. Irving’s material was deemed too controversial for the show, and he was told to pack up and leave. He did this with much protest and fanfare…but really, good riddance.

As far as promoting RENALDO at the show was concerned, I met a publicist from Santa Barbara, California that was willing, for a fee, to investigate trying to get the novel sold through his contacts in the film industry.

I told him I would be in touch with him on my return to Toronto, gave him all the books I had left, and set off down the highway with some amazing experiences fresh in my mind.

Football

I want to add another topic to my blog today, and that topic is “Football.” Some call it soccer, but around the world it is know simply as football.When I started to write RENALDO, I could have chosen the main character to play any sport. Heaven knows, I am an avid fan of almost every sport that exists. But in all my years of fandom, nothing has aroused the passion in me like World Cup soccer.

I have attended several World Cups personally, and I must admit that when I am asked “who are you cheering for?” the answer is not always straight forward.

I was born in Canada, and our international Canadian ice hockey players have given me many, many occasions to be justifiably proud. But our national soccer program, at the highest level, is an absolute shambles.

Canada has played in one World Cup, in 1986, scoring zero goals while losing all three of their matches. I would love them to participate in another World Cup tournament in my lifetime, but they seem unable to beat the likes of Honduras and Cuba, let alone the U.S. and Mexico, to qualify.

My heritage is Scottish and Italian. The Scots always try so very, very hard to make things work, but they inevitably fall just a wee bit short.

The Italians, on the other hand, are a source of great pride and passion for me. When Italy won the World Cup in 1982, every city around the globe that had an Italian community went absolutely nuts. I know for a fact that Toronto had never seen a celebration the likes of what went on that Sunday night in June 1982.

As I write this, the Italians are the reigning world champions, and will remain so for the next two years. Viva Italia!

I am also extremely interested in the European Champions League, a tournament that pits the best club teams from each and every country in Europe against one another.

The final is to be played in Moscow later this month, with two legendary English teams facing off, Manchester United versus Chelsea of London.

Then in June, the FIFA European Championship tournament for the best national sides on the continent takes place in Switzerland and Austria.

So, my new friends, if you have a passion for football, let’s start a dialogue.