upworthy

soccer

Joy

Video shows mom describing soccer match in beautiful detail to her blind son

She won FIFA’s Best Fan Award in 2019

Photo credit: FIFA

Silvia Grecco describes and narrates a soccer match to her blind son

Upon first notice, Silvia Grecco was just another mother in the stands watching the Palmeiras Sporting Society (SE Palmeiras) and Corinthians Paulista Sports Club (SC Corinthians P) soccer match with her son in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2019. But then the cameras during the game noticed her talking nonstop and cheering directly in her son’s ear as he was looking forward. That’s when FIFA found out that Silvia’s son was blind and she was narrating the entire match to him. This got immense attention from the media, FIFA, and the internet at large.

Silvia’s son Nikollas was born five months premature, weighing in at only half a kilogram upon birth. This brought several challenges to his life, including his retinas never being fully formed, leaving him blind. At age five, he was diagnosed with mild autism.

Silvia Grecco and her son Nikollas celebrating a soccer goal.Siliva and her son celebrating a goal.Photo credit: FIFA

Silvia has been a fan of soccer, specifically the SE Palmeiras Brazilian football club, since childhood. Naturally, like many parents, her fandom passed on to her son. While Nikollas “really lives in his world” at home according to Silvia, when he goes to the games he’s “infected with joy.” While Nikollas was given a radio and headset to listen to the game while at the stadium, he took it off, wanting to fully experience the live atmosphere. That’s when his mom stepped up to make sure he got the experience he was looking for.

Silvia did more than just provide play-by-play commentary like the radio did. She would cheer for goals, boo bad referee calls, chant with the fans, describe the hairstyles of the players, the colors of their socks, describe the other fans next to Nikollas, describe the mood of the crowd, and more. She made sure what could be seen was described and heard. With that, Nikollas became just as big of a fan as she was.

This caused Silvia to go viral throughout all social media platforms, including Reddit. Commenters sounded off:

“This is absolutely beautiful.”

“It's people like that, that gives me hope.”

“Amazing mom and connection.”

Some commenters also brought up their experiences with blind sports fans and personalities:

“I had an ex whose great aunt was blind from birth, but was a big fan of baseball. So we sometimes took her to some local games and we would commentate to her the game and it was quite fun. One time, we were talking about getting some snacks, and some guys sitting nearby overheard us and said they would cover the commentary for her while we went and got the snacks. Very kind folks, and we made sure to get them some ice cream, too ❤️.”

“The Rays Spanish-language commentator is blind from birth. His wife helps him in the booth. They’re so sweet.”

“I saw a video where the friend of a blind gentleman was sitting behind him at the game and was using his finger on the guy's back to explain where on the pitch the action was. It was super cool.”

Silvia Grecco and her son Nikolass accepting FIFA's Best Fan Award in 2019Silvia Grecco and her Nikolass accepting FIFA's Best Fan Award in 2019Photo credit: FIFA

Silvia’s love for both her son and SC Palmeiras shone through. In 2019, her fandom was recognized as she received the 2019 FIFA Fan Award. Experiencing and loving a sport is human, but being able to share that love fully to invigorate someone else is something truly special.

From Your Site Articles
soccer
Joy

US players comforting Iranian opponents after their World Cup match is humanity at its best

The politically charged match ended with several beautiful displays of genuine human connection.

Photo by Emilio Garcia on Unsplash/@FoxSoccer/Twitter

US and Iranian players embrace after World Cup match-up.

The lead-up to the 2022 World Cup match between the U.S. and Iran was filled with anticipation, as the teams battled for a spot in the final 16 and long-running tensions between the two nations on the political stage rose to the surface.

The Iranian team had some internal tensions of its own to deal with as players navigated the spotlight amid human rights protests in their home country and rigid expectations of their government. According to CNN, after refusing to sing the national anthem before its match against England on November 21, the Iranian team was reportedly called into a meeting with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and told that their families would face “violence and torture” if they did not sing the anthem or engaged in any other form of protest.

Hence, before the match against the U.S., the players were shown somberly singing the anthem. Then they got down to the business they were there for—trying to win (or at least tie) a soccer match to advance to the World Cup round of 16.

It was an exciting game, with the U.S. ultimately winning 1-0. But in the end, all of the intense competition and political tensions were superseded by some truly heartwarming acts of good sportsmanship and human kindness.

As the U.S. team celebrated victory and the Iranian team mourned defeat, it didn't take long for players from the two teams to embrace one another in comfort and solidarity. Videos and images of the opposing team members arm in arm, hugging and crying together, show how sports bring people together regardless of their background.

In one video, U.S. player Antonee Robinson is seen approaching a clearly distraught Ramin Rezaeian, pulling him into a hug and speaking into his ear as the Iranian player let his emotions out.

"If we were playing any team—if it was England, Wales or anyone who we would’ve knocked out that day—and I’d seen another player crying, I’d like to think that I’d go over and console them," Robinson told CBS News. "It didn’t really mean anything to me that the guy was Iranian—he was just someone that I’d just shared the pitch with in a really tough game.

"As a fellow human professional, someone who’s given everything the same way he has, it was just a moment of trying to console him and tell him he should be proud of what he’s done," he added.

After the loss, Iranian player Saeid Ezatolahi sat hunched over on the pitch, head in his hands as the tears flowed. Seconds later, U.S. players Josh Sargent and DeAndre Yedlin came to console him. Soon, fellow U.S. team members Tim Weah and Brenden Aaronson joined them, pulling Ezatolahi off the ground and embracing him with words of encouragement.

"I could feel the emotion from him on the ground," Aaronson told Fox Sports. "It’s tough, it’s a tough moment for a lot of things. You put your heart and soul and I think he had a great game too, and a great tournament from Iran. It’s hard to see that from a player. All you want to do is go and console them and tell them that everything is going to be OK. It’s just a human thing."

Weah told Fox Sports, "I think it’s more than just football. I think the United States and Iran have had so many issues politically and I just wanted to show that we are all human beings and we all love each other.

"I just wanted to spread peace and love and show him we come from different backgrounds, we grew up differently," he added. "He is still my family, he is still my brother and I love him the same way as the guys I grew up with."

Absolutely beautiful. When you strip away all the geopolitical stuff and the prejudices and conflicts between governments, we are simply one human family on this big flying rock, with far more in common than not. How wonderful to be reminded of our fundamental human connection on one of the world's biggest competitive stages.

From Your Site Articles
sportsmanship
Community

The reason Japanese fans clean up after World Cup matches boils down to one word—'atarimae'

Imagine if the whole world adopted this concept.

Photo by Jaleel Akbash on Unsplash

Japanese soccer fans explain why they clean the stadium after a match.

Japanese fans at the World Cup tournament have been receiving praise for their admirable habit of cleaning up the stadium after their team's matches. It's commonplace to see Japanese fans, blue garbage sacks in hand, hanging back after the game to pick up the trash everyone has left behind in the stadium.

It's not the first time Japanese cleanliness has made headlines. Some schools in Japan don't even hire janitorial staff, as the students clean their schools themselves. Other than in specific educational programs such as Montessori (where practical skills and habits like cleaning and organizing the environment are incorporated into the pedagogy), that idea is practically unheard of in the U.S. But watching the Japanese fans picking up after a game, the automatic assumption that someone else is going to clean up after us feels like a mistake.

So what is it that compels Japanese fans to clean the stadium at the World Cup, despite the fact that there are people hired to do it already?

It generally comes down to one word: "atarimae."

Atarimae isn't easy to directly translate into English, but it basically means "natural" or "obvious" or "the norm." Japanese fans may be getting a lot of attention for their cleaning habits, but they're not trying to make some grand statement or gesture—for them, it's simply a matter of course that one would clean up mess wherever they are.

Al Jazeera's Sandra Gathmann interviewed several Japanese fans after their team's 2-1 victory over Germany to ask them about their stadium clean-ups. It was explained that the idea of cleaning and tidying up is ingrained as a part of Japanese culture from a young age and that it's atarimae—obvious, natural, the norm—to leave a place cleaner than they found it.

Watch:

@aljazeeraontiktok

Why do Japanese football fans clean up after a match? @Sandra Gathmann asks the fans #QatarWorldCup2022 #FIFA #WorldCup #Qatar #Football #Qatar2022 #WorldCup2022 #Japan #cleaning #fans

Imagine if everyone thought of cleaning up as atarimae. Wouldn't that be something?

Having lived in Japan myself, I can attest to how clean Japanese cities there are—despite being densely packed with people—due to this concept. The contrast between an average Japanese city and an average American city in terms of cleanliness is quite remarkable.

But being an American raising kids in the U.S., I can also attest to the fact that it's much easier to ingrain those automatic cleaning habits into kids when the entire society is living this concept. Parents in the U.S. are in an uphill battle trying to train kids to take responsibility for cleaning up in a someone-else-will-do-it society, and it would take a major cultural shift to make automatic cleaning a matter of course for Americans. I would certainly love to see it, though.

In Qatar, the Japanese are showing what's possible when a habit is culturally embraced and are setting a wonderful example the whole world can follow. Perhaps before the World Cup is finished we'll see people from all nations taking trash bags into the stadium and running with the idea that cleaning up after an event without being asked is simply … atarimae.

From Your Site Articles
japanese culture
Pop Culture

Recently unearthed '90s ESPN clip magnificently celebrates the greatest sports moments of the 20th century

From Lou Gehrig's farewell to Muhammad Ali's declaration of being a "bad man," there are so many gems.

www.flickr.com

Michael Jordan features heavily in the compilation.

Sports moments tend to live on forever, thanks to highlight reels and the emotions they can evoke in their fans. Recently, a video has been making the rounds that reminds people of some of those moments. In December 1999, sports channel ESPN compiled some of the greatest sports moments of the 20th century to air on New Year's Eve.

With a new millennium approaching, the network wanted to remind sports fans (die-hard and casual alike) of just how far most sports had come in the 1900s. Football helmets used to be leather! Jackie Robinson integrating Major League Baseball! Babe Ruth! Even by 1999, a lot of those moments were being forgotten by younger generations. The video is a beautiful mash-up of the awesome wins and moments that made people hold their breath, mostly set to the song "Dream On" by Aerosmith.

Arguably one of the best basketball players of the 20th century (and beyond), Michael Jordan gets a lot of face time. He had an absolute chokehold on 1990s culture; from his partnership with Nike to his McDonald's commercials, everyone wanted to be "like Mike."

Muhammad Ali also gets a lot of attention, given that he was a formidable figure in the boxing world for 20+ years. From his early days as Cassius Clay to the moment he lit the Olympic torch in 1996 (his hands shaking due to Parkinson's), it's impossible to talk about great sports moments of the 20th century without highlighting his contribution.

There are some moments that you may not remember if you're a certain age. The Chicago Bears performing the "Superbowl Shuffle" is one of them, but it is iconic.
sports moments, football, chicago bears

The Chicago Bears perform the "Superbowl Shuffle" in 1985.

YouTube

Noticeably missing was Kerri Strug's winning vault in 1996 after she had severely injured her ankle. If you were a young woman in the '90s, that is one of the sports moments that would stick out to you vividly. But they do show gymnasts Mary Lou Retton and Nadia Comăneci. We also get flashes of track and field star Florence Griffith Joyner, aka FloJo, tennis star Martina Navratilova, and the iconic moment soccer star Brandi Chastain ripped her shirt off after scoring the World Cup winning penalty kick. We also see Nancy Kerrigan holding her knee after being ambushed at the '94 Olympics.

Comments on the video are full of nostalgia, many people remembering watching the clip for the first time.

"Remember exactly where I was when I first saw this back on December 31st, 1999...with my late father getting ready to start celebrating New Year's Eve. He watched the whole thing without comment and then just said, "Wow". We both had chills...maybe ESPN's finest moment."

"I'm not even a sports fan, but damn if this video doesn't give you a sense of the achievement and dedication that these athletes have. Such an epic video."

"Arguably the Greatest Sports Journalism Montage Ever Produced... PERIOD. I saw it live in 1999 and it brought tears to my eyes then. It's now 2020 and we just celebrated Kobe yesterday. It STILL brings me to tears 20 years later! Bravo ESPN and Thank You!"

Watch the video below:


From Your Site Articles
sports
Trending Stories