Good Ol' Invasion Day

It is that time of year again. The Australian Open heads towards it's climax, Australia beats some disinterested tourists in cricket and Australia Day appears on the calender. However, something is different not only this year, but in the last few years as well. People seem to be giving a rat's arse about Australia Day. Quite a few seem to think it's more important than sport! What the hell is going on?


Patriotism seems to have become rather fashionable in recent years. Even some of the more ugly expressions of it, such as in Cronulla, seem not to have dampened enthusiasm for people in Australia going around pointing out to other people in Australia that they are Australian and are rather chuffed about the situation. Even so, the hype surrounding Australia Day is only now starting to reach ANZAC Day proportions.

One of the key ingredients this year was the Big Day Out flag controversy. Ken West's decision to ask people attending the BDO to keep (all) flags at home gave budding hyper nationalists around Australia all the ammo they needed to circle jerk about the flag and why anyone who thought that people wearing the flag like a cape in any social situation was a but excessive should be boiled alive in a vat of 100% all-Aussie Timor Sea oil. Sure people at last year's BDO in Sydney were politely by some punters asked to kiss the flag or cop a punch to the face, but how could one link the flag to such events? The flag represents everything that happened in Australia that we think is good. Nothing bad has ever happened in Australia with the current ensign flying proudly above us. Nothing. Never. Never ever. Got it?

On the day itself the whole thing went into overdrive. A critical analysis of the Day and why we are celebrating it on the 26th of January was thrown out the window as news coverage fawned over anyone with a nice thing to say about Australia. Meanwhile the flag was given superhuman powers by all except that rascal Luenig in a cartoon the day after. People even greeted each other with "Happy Australia Day", helping take nationalism along side Christmas and Easter to religious status.

In the end, I think my main problem with Australia Day as it currently is and patriotism in general is that is seems to be just plain pointless. Much like the related "Australian Values" debate, those who argue that Australia(n Values) is/are so great don't tend to answer why it is so. Why are Australian values better than these foreign values? What makes these values so Australian anyway? Why do people need to wear flags to a music concert? Why can't Australia look back on all aspects of it's history honestly rather than just glorifying the bits that make people feel all warm and fuzzy? Why are people proud of being Australians if all they did was be lucky enough to be born here? Me thinks I could be waiting for a while for the answers.

LA Galaxy: The New Galacticos?

While the rumours had been circulating for months, it was still a surprise to yours truly when it was announced that David Beckham will be moving to the LA Galaxy at the end of the season. For one thing, it would seem to be a self declaration that he considers his England career over, having failed to make an England squad since the 2006 World Cup. Such is the mindset of English football that when Beckham originally moved to Real Madrid, there were fears from (admittedly few) corners that this would compromise his ability to be selected for the England team despite of Real being one of the biggest clubs in the world in a league that is often considered of higher quality than the EPL. No such grand claims can be made about the LA Galaxy and the MLS therefore unless Becks is able to pull a shifty and "discover" that he has American grandparents, it's fair to say that one can declare Beckham "retired from international football".

So what has motivated Becks to move over to a footballing backwater? Of course one could start and finish the argument with his staggering pay packet. Even in the financial la la land of professional football, Beckham's reported wage leaves everything else for dead. It's very difficult to believe that he is receiving such high wages merely for his (usually overrated) footballing ability. Cynicism over whether Beckham's real value to a club was due to his on field abilities or his ability to shift replica shirts with his name on the back has gone on as far back as his Old Trafford days. This cynicism can only he heightened when Figo, a much better player in my opinion can only get a US $6 million move to Saudi Arabia. Certainly football authorities in the US would love to have Beckham rekindle interest in football not seen since the Pelé days of the NY Cosmos, albeit without the disastrous crash afterwards.

However there is more to the move than this. Beckham's move will signal the dying stages of the Galacticos era at Real Madrid. Stranded on the bench since the start of the season, Beckham had little reason to stick around a sinking ship, especially since Real have not won a trophy since he arrived and show little sign of turning things around any time soon. Tim Stannard explains things more thoroughly here and on his blog, however I might just steal some of his words:

There is neither the time nor the space here to plough through the causes of their recent decline, but the short version puts the blame on the combination of the ridiculous dismissal of Vicente del Bosque, the wrong players being sold (Makelele, Solari, Cambiasso, Owen), the wrong ones being kept (Guti, Ronaldo, Roberto Carlos),and the wrong ones being bought (Gravesen, Baptista).

Having six managers and three presidents in three seasons and the kind of political infighting to make the downfall of the Tory party in the 1990s look like a minor spat was not that helpful either. It's this ongoing weakness for woolly thinking and politicking that was the major factor in yesterday's announcement of Becks' departure in June.

The Galacticos plan seemed so good at the time. Real Madrid were at the top of world football. The plan to stay there was to invest in only one or two world class players per season. This was kicked off with the controversial purchase of Figo from bitter rivals Barcelona for what was then a world record fee. The next season Zinedine Zidane joined the club from Juventus, breaking not only the world record transfer of Figo a year ago but also the world record fee set just two weeks before for Hernán Crespo's move from Parma to Lazio. Other stars such as Ronaldo and Beckham soon joined them and an era of brutal dominance not seen since Franco ruled Spain seemed assured. Then the craziness began.

Manager Vincente del Bosque was sacked just days after winning the La Liga. Then Claude Makelélé's demand for an improved contract were ignored and the (severely underrated) player was soon shifted off to Chelsea, where he has been kicking arse ever since. Attempted replacements such as Thomas Gravensen have proved to be disappointing. The only thing worse has been the off field politics, with the club having gone through four presidents in the last twelve months. And there biggest and fiercest rivals Barcelona look likely to win back to back La Liga and European Champions League titles. Bad times indeed at Santiago Bernabéu.

The Galacticos era is a powerful reminder to many that money is not the only thing which can bring success in football (Although it sure helps). Clubs built on more modest foundations such as Arsenal, Lyon and Bayern Munich have all tasted success in recent years aginst the Galacticos without sending the football transfer system into chaos. Meanwhile Real Madrid languish in comparative mediocrity. I suppose sometimes life is fair.

See You In Paris For NYE 2008!

Ever felt that New Years Eve is slightly (or indeed extremely) overrated? Sure there's the drinking and the fireworks, but I could get that at the football. Well at least I used to. Now they banned the flares and the only beer is Carlton Draught. GRRR!! And as for the slightly liberating ability to walk all over Flinders St, we did that when Australia qualified for the 2006 World Cup. However while there might be endless bullshit news articles featuring Z list celebs crap on about what they wish for in the New Year, the French, as they often do, show us the light. In what this blogger sees as much the same spirit as Festivus in combination with the French national sport of protest marching, people in Nantes have held a protest against the year 2007.

From the BBC:

French marchers say 'non' to 2007

Hundreds of protesters in France have rung in the New Year by holding a light-hearted march against it.

Parodying the French readiness to say "non", the demonstrators in the western city of Nantes waved banners reading: "No to 2007" and "Now is better!"

The marchers called on governments and the UN to stop time's "mad race" and declare a moratorium on the future.

The protest was held in the rain and organisers joked that even the weather was against the New Year.

The tension mounted as the minutes ticked away towards midnight - but the arrival of 2007 did nothing to dampen their enthusiasm.

The protesters began to chant: "No to 2008!"

They vowed to stage a similar protest on 31 December 2007 on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.

How can you not love the French? (unless of course you were colonised by them) Protests, food and the Tour de France. Plus they didn't invade Iraq.