Fear And Loathing In La Liga Analysis
Introduction
Being a passionate footballer myself, I was intrigued by my father‘s experience on a business trip to Barcelona, which happened to coincide with one of the El Classico games in the city. His description of the electrifying atmosphere, excitement, energy and buzz in the city both pre, during and post-match. The proud display of the Catalan flags throughout the city, were enough to ignite the desire to understand both the culture and politics behind this sea of contrasting emotions brought about by a simple game of football between two old rivals.
The aim of the research is to uncover the history of the rivalry between two biggest clubs in the world, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid FC in Spain, as it relates to the cultures of Spanish …show more content…
Lowe’s book “Fear and Loathing in La Liga” is an editorial by a renowned journalist that seeks to dissect, explain, and then debunk some myths long held to be truth regarding the two superpowers of Spanish football, such as the notion that Real Madrid was General Franco’s team. However this book is actually a celebration of the two great rivals. This book is a sweeping tale about the rivalry from its early history, the assassination of Josep Sunyol, to the coming of Johan Cruyff, and the 1990’s Barca Dream Team.
What makes this book so valuable to the ORT is the amount of research that Sid Lowe actually put into this book. Ranging from interviews with influential figures in this fixture during the time of the Authoritarian Regime, the likes of the now late Real Madrid legend, Alfredo Di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, former Barcelona president Joan Laporta, and many more, who provide first hand accounts of the events of that period of time. According to Lowe himself, “this book is about the episodes that have shaped the rivalry and made Real Madrid and FC Barcelona what they are and about the human stories behind them. This is their story. …show more content…
“Morbo, The story of Spanish Football”. By Phil Ball.2001 Chapter 5. The white noise, Madrid and the legacy of Franco. https://books.google.co.za/books?id=a0wvGERxjfQC&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=white+noise+phil+ball&source=bl&ots=_AdmI-SPRF&sig=XZ8wgyEF3Vsrf2FP7XjrxedcO34&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNktSFsbXVAhXDJMAKHSrIBXsQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=white%20noise%20phil%20ball&f=false Date accessed : 21 July 2017 In this particular chapter, Ball tries to look into the connection between Real Madrid and Franco, whether Real Madrid was really Franco’s team, and to what extent he had a helping hand in Madrid in that period establishing themselves at one of the greatest teams of all-time.
For the purpose of this research I will not only look at the specific chapter but the book overall as it provides in depth analysis and insightful thoughts from interviews and quotes from newspapers and people who were involved and affected by this rivalry during the reign of General Franco. Ball offers a rather neutral point of view with no bias to any of the teams. This book is actually looks at Spanish football history as a whole and not only places emphasis on El Clasico but other football rivalries around
Being a passionate footballer myself, I was intrigued by my father‘s experience on a business trip to Barcelona, which happened to coincide with one of the El Classico games in the city. His description of the electrifying atmosphere, excitement, energy and buzz in the city both pre, during and post-match. The proud display of the Catalan flags throughout the city, were enough to ignite the desire to understand both the culture and politics behind this sea of contrasting emotions brought about by a simple game of football between two old rivals.
The aim of the research is to uncover the history of the rivalry between two biggest clubs in the world, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid FC in Spain, as it relates to the cultures of Spanish …show more content…
Lowe’s book “Fear and Loathing in La Liga” is an editorial by a renowned journalist that seeks to dissect, explain, and then debunk some myths long held to be truth regarding the two superpowers of Spanish football, such as the notion that Real Madrid was General Franco’s team. However this book is actually a celebration of the two great rivals. This book is a sweeping tale about the rivalry from its early history, the assassination of Josep Sunyol, to the coming of Johan Cruyff, and the 1990’s Barca Dream Team.
What makes this book so valuable to the ORT is the amount of research that Sid Lowe actually put into this book. Ranging from interviews with influential figures in this fixture during the time of the Authoritarian Regime, the likes of the now late Real Madrid legend, Alfredo Di Stefano, Johan Cruyff, former Barcelona president Joan Laporta, and many more, who provide first hand accounts of the events of that period of time. According to Lowe himself, “this book is about the episodes that have shaped the rivalry and made Real Madrid and FC Barcelona what they are and about the human stories behind them. This is their story. …show more content…
“Morbo, The story of Spanish Football”. By Phil Ball.2001 Chapter 5. The white noise, Madrid and the legacy of Franco. https://books.google.co.za/books?id=a0wvGERxjfQC&pg=PA113&lpg=PA113&dq=white+noise+phil+ball&source=bl&ots=_AdmI-SPRF&sig=XZ8wgyEF3Vsrf2FP7XjrxedcO34&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNktSFsbXVAhXDJMAKHSrIBXsQ6AEIJzAA#v=onepage&q=white%20noise%20phil%20ball&f=false Date accessed : 21 July 2017 In this particular chapter, Ball tries to look into the connection between Real Madrid and Franco, whether Real Madrid was really Franco’s team, and to what extent he had a helping hand in Madrid in that period establishing themselves at one of the greatest teams of all-time.
For the purpose of this research I will not only look at the specific chapter but the book overall as it provides in depth analysis and insightful thoughts from interviews and quotes from newspapers and people who were involved and affected by this rivalry during the reign of General Franco. Ball offers a rather neutral point of view with no bias to any of the teams. This book is actually looks at Spanish football history as a whole and not only places emphasis on El Clasico but other football rivalries around