Divers and Wankers

A Letter From The Editor:

Dear viewers,

From everyone on the Divers and Wankers team, we would like to thank you for the support, comments, reblogs, and every other form of support we have been lucky enough to receive.

We are going to be taking a bit of a break. Between school, jobs, internships, and the like, our staff has been overbooked and over-exhausted and needs to take this time to focus on the other aspects of our lives.

We are going to a brief hiatus in order to regain focus and time to get back to the Beautiful Game.

We are debating a great amount of change. All items are on the table to make our site as informative, thought-provoking, and entertaining as it can be for our readers and followers. 

What would you like to see our site include, a pod cast, name change, more humor, more philosophy. You let us know what you would like to see.

Once again, I would like personally thank you for the great responses we have seen for our site, an increase in writers, viewership, hits, you name it. Thank you so much.

Not a good bye, but we will see you guys soon.

Cheers,

Kyle Morse

Editor In Chief

By Rob Hughes, Corresponding from Plymouth

An Account From A Devoted Supporter

I was reading the newspaper today. I read that Europe is in a financial crisis, antibiotics are losing the battle against dangerous diseases and that for the first time in living memory, people in England are being sent to charities in order to eat. All shocking news, perhaps the world will indeed be coming to an end in 2012, but I realised after fifteen minutes or so, that I didn’t really care. I felt unaffected and needed to read the sport. I turned to the back pages and was immediately presented with what I wanted to read. The football. I was glued to the sport pages for nearly an hour. Real depression sunk in at the state of Arsenal football club, a side have admired, though not supported, for years.

I already knew Arsenal had lost 4-3 to Blackburn after yet another dismal performance from the Gunners. It wasn’t news, but I just needed to know everything about it; Wenger’s reactions and that of the journalist that presented me with the article. It’s gotten to the point where it’s not even worth mocking the poor Arsenal fans, it isn’t funny. Funny is when league contenders suffer a defeat at the hands of a second rate club. 8-2 isn’t funny, it’s humiliating. Real football fans want to see other teams lose, but not like that. Real fans want to see the league their team is in as the most competitive in the world, not one where teams that used to be great get smashed and are in turmoil. Arsenal fans have been stripped of their pride. Once a fan has been stripped of their pride, there’s nothing left. Faith in the club can only be restored over time, and it is unlikely to happen this season for Arsenal. Only Tottenham fans are smiling at the recent score lines.

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Written By Bairon Fernandez, Contributing From Washington DC

Examining The Trials and Tribulations of River Plate

(Editor’s Note: We would like to welcome Bairon to the Divers and Wankers Community with a solid D&W debut piece. Enjoy the suffering of Los Millonarios. Cheers, Kyle)

Success is defined by a person or group of people achieving a carefully planned goal. No matter what your profession or activity you decide to  partake in, everything you do is done with the intention of having your end result be successful. In football, there is nothing greater than that- than having a successful game, tournament, or career. The sense of reaching glory amongst your competition has no words to describe it. The best representation of success in South American football, specifically Argentina has a name- Club Atletico River Plate. 

An entity in existence for 110 years, which has met glory over and over again is currently undergoing the worst epoch in the clubs’ history. What happened to the most successful team that La liga Argentina has ever witnessed? The team who at one point dominated the top professional tier in the country is now fighting for a top spot in the en La Liga Nacional B , Second division in Argentina. Who is to blame for this failure? The players? The Coaches? The Board? 

 June 22^nd, 2008 was the date that Los Millonarios last lifted the league trophy. An outstanding season as we saw River Plate come up on top of arch rivals Boca Juniors to win the title and qualify for the Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana. So at this point, why would it even cross our minds that we would began to witness the demise of a successful team who just achieved their 33^rd league title less than 5 years ago?

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By Will Gorsek, Contributing From Portland

A Tribute To Th One-Club Man

In the world of football, a team is like any other- only as good as the sum of its parts. It take years to build a dynastic side, acquiring the best players they can get their hands on. While some footballers move from squad to squad, there are those special players that seem to just stick with the first team they sign for, making them an anomaly in this ever growing world of big money transfers. Whether it is for the wages or the chance to win titles, those players are the ones we love the ones we know will be there to lift the team up during their time of need. So why is the single club player becoming more and more extinct? 

A move by Samuel Eto’o and the more recent transfer of Asamoah Gyan to smaller leagues leave people scratching heads until you see their newly acquired salaries. Some players try to overlook the monetary aspect of the game, but it is tempting and often times the reason most players leave their sides. Every once in a while, you get that player that looks past the money they will earn and stays for the team. Ryan Giggs is the quintessential midfielder, while having played for twenty-one years you would have expected a player of his caliber to have made club switches on more than one occasion. But as we all know that is not the case, Manchester United has retained his services and he has played an integral role during almost every season starting in more than 600 games. A man of the squad, and a man for his team. Giggs continues to shine for the Red Devils fans he loves proving money is not an attraction for all players.

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By Joe Whitehead, Corresponding From Manchester

An Inquiry To The Isolationist Sporting Psyche Of America

When you look at global sports; for example Football, Rugby and Cricket, the US field lacklustre sides; yet when it comes to the likes of American Football and Baseball, they are world beaters. In sports that are incredibly similar, they prefer to play their own variation on the rules. Why do they play their own game, when they could have huge success on the global stage?  In light of the start of the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the new NFL season, a lot has been said about how the US could dominate many major sports and what affect this sporting culture is having how Americans perceive sport in general.

Take a walk down a street anywhere in Europe or the Southern Hemisphere and you’ll see jumpers for goal posts, wickets painted on the walls and kids practicing a scrum. Yet take a wall down an American boulevard and you’ll see kids throwing and catching with a glove. The United States are so ingrained in their own sport culture it’s not allowing youth a good enough chance to come forward in a sport other than the big four. Sure, someone from Wisconsin can brag to a Pennsylvanian, or Bruins fan to a Canuck, but it’s about being proud of your countries achievement that’s where true passion lies. What I enjoy in sport is when a country like England can enjoy a rivalry with the Germans every world cup; or when the All Blacks can face off with the Wallabies in the tri-nations; when club fans can become united to support their country. This doesn’t seem to happen in the traditional US sports. There is Club v Club, and its stops there.

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Written By Will Gorsek, Portland

With a disappointing loss during the Gold Cup final to rivals Mexico, it appears to be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and within weeks head coach Bob Bradley was relieved of his position. With Bradley’s departure, there seemed like there was only one replacement that was ever considered. Within 48 hours Jürgen Klinsmann was appointed the position bringing new life to a beleaguered US squad. It looked like the US were looking to make the tough decision they failed to make in 2005 when Jürgen was passed up for his predecessor in fear of what he was going to do to the National team roster.  The question remains as to whether United States fans are ready for the change that is to come? And was Klinsmann was the correct decision?

Jürgen was one of Germany’s greatest players of all time and continued his career with managerial positions at Bayern Munich and the greatest honor of them all, the German National team. His managierial career has been less than stellar as the single season he was the coach of German giants Bayern Munich he lost the Bundesliga title by a margin of two points. On the other hand coaching the German National team he seemed to have better luck most notably during the 2006 World Cup, in which he led the Germans on home soil to a devastating 3^rd place finish. He was brought into manage the US national setup, presumably for his attack minded style that was put to good use during his earlier coaching spells.

A lack of attack thrust has long seemed to be the issue with the US National team and placing Jürgen at the helm will bring changes that will look to solve that issue along with many others. He will also look to firm up the defense and make it a squad instead of a team with stars packed in. While in his first two matches as coach he has only managed to get a point he has already shown improvement. With a slew of new players being given a shot at the big stage things have been shaky but are looking up. It seems to be the small things that are going to make the largest impact.

One the best things that I have seen come out of the Klinsmann era thus far is that of the selection and inclusion of fresh faces. I am also a large fan of the small things, some people won’t get it but the addition of the starting eleven wearing zero through eleven just screams teamwork in my ear, add that to the fact that no player had their name on their jersey it shows that Klinsmann wants to institute a team first mentality that many teams have lost in the pursuit of glory. If he can manage to find that true striker that the national team of old was missing things could be turned on its head and fast.

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By Kyle Morse, Writing From DC

Staring through my fogged thoughts and buoyed by hope for more than what this world is becoming. We sit as a people divided through violence, bigotry, and madness. We look to the sky and try to make sense of all these thoughts bulldozing through our minds with no regard for our sanity or well-being. We look to god, politicians, and the media to grant us a moment of tranquility in a world that operates like Grand Central station. What do we receive? Footnotes in regards to our ever impending destruction. Where is there beauty, a break from this day-to-day lifestyle?

I found myself. I found myself lying in the grass, ball by my feet. A fine cool spring time breeze flutters across my face and brings me to my feet.

The process began. When my senses began flipping images right side up, and communicating with my hypothalamus to produce stronger versions of heroine to keep my muse. It began with my leg rapidly coming down, and in the back of my head my coaching is still screaming something loudly in the back of my head. As my foot made contact, the exhilaration starts running, and my body turned me into one thousand junkies reaching that high.

I found myself. I found myself in this escape.

By Jakub Krzyzostaniak, Corresponding From Prague

Poland Set for Germany Friendly

With 16 meetings between the two sides, Polish fans have to look back to 1978 to even remember their last draw with the Germans during the World Cup in Argentina.  A heart-breaking loss in the 2006 World Cup and at the European Championships in 2008 have left a bad taste in the mouth of the Poles more recently.  Although this match will officially be called a ‘friendly’, there will be little friendliness left on the pitch when these teams meet tomorrow night.  The two rivals will play the showcase opening match of one of the newest stadiums in all of Europe, PGE Arena in Gdansk, host city for Euro 2012 next summer.

The Germans come in to the match in quite possibly the best form they have been in for 10 years.  The young team that was the most exciting to watch at the 2010 World Cup has gained valuable experience and look neigh unstoppable after cruising through their Euro qualifying group with a perfect record so far and have already guaranteed themselves a place in the finals.  Joachim Loew is expected to make some changes from the side which demolished Austria 6:2 on Friday, in order to give playing time to some of his squad.  The most notable name to jump in to the starting eleven is dynamic Borussia Dortmund midfielder Mario Goetze who will be replacing Real Madrid’s Mesut Ozil, while Tim Wiese will be marshaling the German goal in place of Manuel Neuer.  Included in the squad are of course Polish-born Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski who will be playing in the country of their birth for the first time.  Both featured against Poland in previous matches with Podolski netting at Euro 2008 and graciously refusing to celebrate either score.  One insane Polish politician still attempted to have Podolski’s Polish citizenship revoked, unsuccessfully thankfully.

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