Happy Gay Pride + US Exits World Cup 2010

Today in New York, Chicago, Toronto, and other cities across the US and globe, people are celebrating Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, and Transgender Pride, crowning what has been LGBTQ Pride Month. Other cities and municipalities have already held Pride celebrations, and others will be taking place throughout the summer and fall. It's been 41 years since the Stonewall Rebellion and similar uprisings, and 40 years since New York's first Gay Pride parade, which marke a new, public self-regard among gays and lesbians in the US. There have been tremendous civil, political and social advances for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the US and many parts of the world, but there are many more barriers to overcome, one of the most basic being complete and full equal and civil rights under the law. That, along with greater economic, political and social equality for LGBTQ people remains an issue in the US, as it does all over the world. 

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So the USA national soccer team is out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup after losing, once again, to Ghana.  The team's great but brief run included tying England 1-1 in its first game, drawing (and defeating, though the goal was denied) Slovenia in its second game, and defeating Algeria 1-0, quite dramatically, on Landon Donovan's goal in stoppage time, on Friday, to finish atop its group, C, over England. This number 1 finish in the opening round was a national first.  In the first two games, the US fell behind, only to come back--and, in the case of Slovenia, pull ahead. Facing Ghana in this Round of 16, the US again fell behind, on a defensive error, their weakest area, and went down 1-0, on a goal by Kevin Prince Boateng, until a successful penalty kick by Landon Donovan brought them even. But a tie doesn't suffice in the second round, so the US and Ghana went to overtime, and, once again, the US slipped, on another defensive misplay, when Asamoah Gyan struck on a breakaway.  The Americans couldn't come back again, falling 2-1 to the Ghanaians and out of the tournament.  At the game's start, the US team looked tentative; they appeared to lack any real strategy to press the Ghanaians, to manufacture a goal or two, or to at least expose their opponent's flaws, while the Ghanaians appeared to be relentlessly on the hunt. Yet by the beginning of the second half, the US, perhaps after a locker room dressing down, the realization that they were sending themselves home, or an emergence from 45 minutes of stupor, came out with effervescence, and kept pressing the Ghanaian defense and goalkeeper.  This led to the Ghanaian foul against Dempsey that set up Donovan's penalty kick. Jozy Altidore, Maurice Edu, Benny Feilhaber, and Dempsey all took shots on goal, but as has been the case with the US in World Cup games, they were off-target, straight at the goalkeeper, or had no followup. Sadly, there rarely seems to be a US player ready to pick up a rebound or errant ball the way Donovan did against Algeria. I'm not sure why, but it's been a recurrent problem for US teams each World Cup tournament. On top of this, the US looked exhausted by the end of the second half, and by the beginning of overtime, they were unable to connect passes or make decisive plays against the Ghanaians. They didn't give up, but it was clear that despite all their efforts, their tanks were empty.  Ghana, the only African team left in the tournament, advances to the quarterfinals.


I give a lot of credit to the US coach, Bob Bradley, and to all the players, for pushing hard in the first round. The team's determination and coherence were evident, and at times, they showed real skill in ballhandling, passing, and set plays. But they struggled to gum up their defensive flank when facing speedy opponents, convert shots on the run, or take canny kicks when the chances arose. The bad luck of receiving bad calls certainly didn't help, but they weren't alone in being stiffed (England also experienced this today), and facing Ghana, the US did have more than a few chances and couldn't convert them.

One of the things I hope the team can ground in its players for the future is the necessity of being hungry and ready all the time, from the first second the whistle blows and not just when down by a goal or two. Waiting for the perfect shot or opportunity isn't going to work against teams with superior skills or equal desire, and tentativeness as a starting principle offers no way to get beyond the round of 16 (and the US has done so, as recently as 2002) or further.  If the US's defense were stellar, they could at least aim, as Italy did a few years back, for draws followed by wins on penalty kicks, but in the absence of consistent defense, they must make a concerted effort to score at every opportunity (cf. Argentina, Germany, Portugal, etc.) One positive note is that several of the players, including defender Jonathan Spector (24); midfielders Michael Bradley (22), José Francisco Torres (22), Maurice Edu (24), and Stuart Holden (24); forwards Jozy Altidore (20) and Robbie Findlay (24); and goalie Brad Guzan (25) will probably have another shot in 2014, in BRAZIL (então espero que fiquermos lá) and there are other strong players in the pipeline. Several stalwarts, however, like Donovan (28), Dempsey (27), defender Oguchi Onyewu (28), Steve Cherundolo (31), and the Cup's best US defender, Jay DeMerit (30), probably won't be back. Nor, perhaps, will the truly world-class Tim Howard, who at 31 and with 55 caps, has probably manned his last World Cup game in goal.  This was a great ride, but the US will have to keep upping their play if they want to be real players...down south, in four years.

In today's other games, Germany throttled England 4-1 (with goals by Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, and Thomas Mueller (2), to Matt Upson's lone strike), making the English defense look like a pale copy of the Americans' and sending one of the initially favored teams home with a great deal to ponder over the next four years; and Argentina rolled over the young Mexican side 3-1. Argentina, which has played with brio so far, got goals from Carlos Tévez (2) and Gonzalo Higuaín, while Mexico's sharp center forward Javier Hernández responded in the 71st minute. I have nothing against Argentina, but I was hoping the Mexicans could advance and make a strong showing. Yesterday, Uruguay, which has looked superb all tournament, defeated South Korea 2-1, to advance to the quarters, and will face Ghana, while Argentina will now face Germany. Tomorrow, Brazil faces Chile, which has looked very good, while Netherlands faces Slovakia. I pick Brazil and the Netherlands to win, but the first game will be a tight one, though Brazil will have Kaká, its major playmaker, back in the mix, and also will start the less heralded Robinho, who has been central to several of the team's goals so far.

Lastly, I'll note that several of the touted European teams are out. France had a complete intrateam meltdown that included one of its stars, Nicolas Anelka, cursing out its terrible coach, Raymond Domenech, and being sent home for doing so; the team supported Anelka, captain Patrice Evra led a boycott of a team practice, and he and his compatriots have subsequently been tarred with abuse, some of it quite racist, as a result. Italy, which won the last World Cup, in 2006 in Germany, defeating France, is also out, after lackluster--but not terrible--play. Spain and Portugal face each other on Tuesday, so one of them will also be going home (I'm rooting for Portugal to win). As I noted, the Netherlands faces Slovakia, so either "Old Europe" or "New Europe" will be advancing in its slot, only unfortunately to face Brazil or Chile.  Unsurprisingly, several of the favorites are still around: Germany, Argentina, and Uruguay. Given the draws, it could end up being an all South American final (if Paraguay, which has also looked good, goes forward), with Brazil or Chile emerging from the top half, and Argentina or Paraguay emerging at the bottom. Or not. It could end up being Ghana vs. Germany too. That would be great. Especially if Ghana finished as the first African team to win the Cup, on African soil. I'm not counting on it, though.

Addendum: On tonight's (June 2010) episode of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, in addition to pieces on out gay Wales rugger Gareth Thomas and young chessmasters from Brownsville, Texas, Gumbel revisited a 2005 story on racism in European football (soccer). It didn't add much new, but underlined what soccer players of color, especially black and brown ones, still face, some of it as bad or worse that what Jackie Robinson, Larry Doby, and others endured more than a half-century years ago.

A few photos from today's and yesterday's games:

Germany striker Thomas Mueller celebrates after scoring a goal past England goalkeeper David James during the round of sixteen in the 2010 World Cup. Pierre Lahalle/Presse Sports via US PRESSWIRE

Germany players salute their fans after defeating England 4-1 in the round of sixteen in the World Cup. Stephane Mantey/Presse Sports via US PRESSWIRE

Mexico goalkeeper Oscar Perez (R) vies for the ball with Argentina's Lionel Messi during their World Cup match. EPA/RUNGROJ YONGRIT

Carlos Tevez of Argentina scores the third goal for his team during the 3-1 victory over Mexico in the 2010 World Cup. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Ghana's John Mensah (L) and USA's Herculez Gomez (R) react after Ghana defeated the U.S., 2-1, to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup. EPA/JONATHAN BRADY

Ghana goal scorers Asamoah Gyan (L) and Kevin Prince-Boateng celebrate victory over the U.S. during the 2010 World Cup. (Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images)

Dejected U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard (R) and Maurice Edu react after the 2-1 loss to Ghana in the World Cup 2010. EPA/DENNIS SABANGAN

South Korea midfielder Yeom Ki-Hun reacts after his team lost to Uruguay, 2-1, in the 2010 World Cup. KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/Getty Images

Uruguay's Luis Suarez (R) scores the for the 2-1 lead against South Korea during the World Cup 2010. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT

FIFA 2010 World Cup Underway

Amid my reading of the final versions of the novellas, and the conceptual art projects, I've taken some time to catch some of the FIFA 2010 World Cup games, which began yesterday with host country South Africa's match against Mexico. To the relief of the South Africans, and perhaps the Mexican fans, the match resulted in a 1-1 tie. Draws in fact have dominated the tournament's first day; in the other opening day match, France and Uruguay finished 0-0. On Day 2, today, South Korea trounced Greece 2-0, while Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0, and nearly scored several more.
The match to catch (and I missed it because I've been at a poetics conference), however, was England vs. the USA. Despite having a team packed with Premier League stars, England could only manage a 1-1 tie, which counts almost as a win for the Americans.  The game started in heart-dropping fashion for the US when English midfield Stephen Gerrard scored only 4 minutes into the contest, based on a defensive lapse, the sort of harbinger of a US debacle to come. Yet the Americans were able to hang on from that point onwards, even surviving a potential injury to their star goalie, Tim Howard, when England forward Emile Heskey slid cleet-first into the Howard's chest, and, in one of the most remarked moments of the tournament thus far, tied things when Clint Dempsey kicked a squibbler towards the English net and goalkeeper Robert Green couldn't hold onto it before it crossed the goal-line. From that point onwards the US team made no significant mistakes, despite being outshot 10-4 and corner-kicked 8-4. A great deal of credit goes to Howard for unflappable play, and to Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, who nearly got another US goal, for penetrating the English defense.

Tomorrow's games should provide some excitement, though I forsee Germany tromping over Australia, and Ghana v. Serbia ending a tie while I predict Slovenia will defeat the unheralded Algerians. The game I'm waiting for is Brazil's opening match, on Tuesday, against North Korea. In tribute to the match, I even wore my Brazil socks yesterday.  Below are a few of the photos from the games that I was able to cull thus far.

South Africa's goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune (R) and defender Aaron Mokoena (C) try to stop Mexico's striker Giovani dos Santos (L) from scoring during their 2010 World Cup group A first round football match on June 11, 2010 at Soccer City stadium in Soweto, suburban Johannesburg. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images)

South Africa's midfielder Kagisho Dikgacoi vies with Mexico's striker Giovani dos Santos during their Group A first round 2010 World Cup football match on June 11, 2010 at Soccer City stadium in Soweto, suburban Johannesburg. South Africa and Mexico play in the opening match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. (PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/Getty Images)

France's striker Nicolas Anelka (C) and France's striker Sidney Govou (R) fight for the ball with Uruguay's midfielder Alvaro Pereira during their Group A first round 2010 World Cup football match on June 11, 2010 at Green Point stadium in Cape Town. (FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Getty Images)

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - JUNE 11: The French team line up ahead of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group A match between Uruguay and France at Green Point Stadium on June 11, 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa. (Photo by Jamie McDonald/Getty Images)

England's Jamie Carragher (L) fights for the ball with Jozy Altidore of the U.S. during a 2010 World Cup Group C soccer match at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg, June 12, 2010. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: SPORT SOCCER WORLD CUP)

U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard fails to stop a goal by England's Steven Gerrard during a 2010 World Cup Group C soccer match at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg, June 12, 2010. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: SPORT SOCCER WORLD CUP)

 Clint Dempsey of the US celebrates after scoring during a 2010 World Cup Group C soccer match against England at Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg June 12, 2010. REUTERS/Brian Snyder (SOUTH AFRICA - Tags: SPORT SOCCER WORLD CUP)

Classes (Nearly) Over + 2010 FIFA World Cup

Classes have (nearly) come to an end. Or rather, this is the final official week of classes in the College, though I still have one more class to teach next week, during reading week. (We'll be discussing the final three student novellas in workshop.) Now that it's over, I can shout from the blogtops Conceptual Art/Writing class exhilarated me; I feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to teach the class, and to have been able to do so with students who were willing to step out, as it became clear, on what sometimes initially appeared to be shifting ice. By which I mean, to be looking at, thinking about and creating work--and whose exemplars--that remain under tremendous contention.  The class served as an intellectual transfusion for me, as it required me to think through a genealogy that was indistinct, but discernible, and put it together, in coherent fashion, for the class, while also making clear that this was only one reading of the history of this constellation of art forms. (It helped too that we have the graduate level Poetry and Poetics Working Group, because its conversations informed those in my class.) Now that I've done it, I feel I have a much clearer and deeper sense of conceptual art's history, its origins and antecedents, and its relation to and phantasmal presence in other canonical and non-canonical artforms. As I was saying to a friend, I feel capable now of reading backwards, before the coining of "conceptual art," to see conceptual practices in many different places and forms. (This was also the first time that I've taught the work of figures such as Marcel Duchamp, John Cage, Andy Warhol, Kenneth Goldsmith, Rob Fitterman, Mendi + Keith Obadike, and many others.) The students all created 6-8 projects, grounded in language and its possibilities, and it was a delight to read them, and imagine how the ones containing the possibility of performance might be realized. One student proposed realizing them--performing some of them--during the assigned exam period, so we'll see how that turns out. At any rate, the class, like the other one I'm teaching, represents one of the most enjoyable aspects of teaching, which is transmitting knowledge to students, watching them learn, grow intellectually and create knowledge, and learning from them in the process.  And who knows, down the road another Yoko Ono or Marcel Duchamp might emerge from this experience.
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The 2010 FIFA World Cup begins in two weeks, on June 11, running till July 11, in South Africa. This is the most watched sporting event in the world, and this is the first time it'll be held in Africa, with the host country leading a group of 32 national teams, including prior winners England (1966), France (1998), Italy (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006), Germany (1954, 1974, 1990), Brazil (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), Uruguay (1930, 1950), and Argentina (1978, 1986), and stalwarts such as Netherlands, Japan, Portugal, Mexico, Denmark, Cameroon, South Korea, and, interestingly enough, North Korea. Though the opening matches, pairing South Africa and Mexico, and Uruguay and France, will be held in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively, subsequent matches will be held all over the country, culminating in the third place match at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, and the championship match at Soccer City in Johannesburg.



The 1994 host of the tournament, the United States, will also field a participating team this year, having made it through the qualifying rounds for the North/Central American region to finish first, with 20 points, just ahead of Mexico's 19. The US ended up in the Tournament's Group C, which also includes one of the tournament's best teams, England, but also Algeria, which barely edged into first place in its Africa Group 6 matches, over Gambia and Senegal, and Slovenia, which finished second to Slovakia in its European Group 3. Getting by England (ranked 8th in the FIFA World Rankings) will be the US's (ranked 14th) major challenge, and few online commentators I've read give the US team much--any--chance of achieving this. Yet the US team had one of its best summers in 2009; in the Confederations Cup, the US ended up in Group B, with Brazil, Egypt and Italy, yet after losing to Italy (3-1) and Brazil (3-0), the US came back to finish second in its group, and reached the semifinal on tie-breaking goals, surpassing Italy. In the semifinals the US beat Spain, then atop the FIFA World rankings, 2-0, losing to Brazil in the final 3-2, though they were up 2-0 at half-time, and had the game in hand.  They must capitalize on any leads in South Africa, and do everything they can to keep the ball out of their defensive area, which is where they're far and away weakest.

The 23-person World Cup squad, recently finalized by coach Bob Bradley, comprises a number of veterans from the 2008 campaign, in Germany: star goalie and Everton (English Premier League) mainstay Tim Howard, forwards Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey (above left), midfielders DaMarcus Beasley and Michael Bradley, and defenders Oguchi Onyewu (at right) and Steve Cherundolo. Newcomers include Jozy Altidore (the 20-year-old sensation who scored a hat trick against Trinidad and Tobago in a qualifying game), Robbie Findley (top of article, right), José Francisco Torres, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, and surprise picks Edson Buddle and Herculez Gomez. In a little remarked change, nearly 1/3rd of the US team are black, and 1/2 of the team are either black or latino, a first for the US.  The forward and midfield core are especially strong, and can hang with some of the best teams (except perhaps Brazil, Spain, and Portugal), but the US's defense remains an issue. Unaggressive play and defensive mistakes have doom the US, as does the absence of players competing in the world's top leagues, but the latter has gradually changed, and the US's own major league, the MLS, has gotten stronger with each passing year. If the defensive corps can keep mistakes to a minimum, they do stand a chance with Donovan, Bradley, Altidore, Findley, and Dempsey going hard.

It'll be interesting to see if host country South Africa gets a boost, as has often happened; France (1998), Argentina (1978), Germany (1974, as West Germany), England (1966), and Uruguay (1938) have won the tournament when hosting it, and most recently, Germany finished 3rd in 2006 and South Korea finished 4th in 2002 when serving as hosts.  Moreover, the multibillion-dollar new stadiums and infrastructure the South African government has built have been controversial in a country still suffering from severe gaps in income equality, and the threats of terrorism, violence and crime are also pressing. Just recently, on May 25, the Colombian team, which had not qualified for the tournament, were robbed in their 5-star Johannesburg hotel of about $2600 in money and other personal goods. South Africa has repeated assured visitors that it has security and safety issues under control. Let us sincerely hope they do.

I will be certainly be watching closely and rooting avidly for the US and other teams, including Brazil. My prediction for the finals: Brazil 3, Portugal 2.