Hello everybody. This year I could not go to the Calle 6 de Marzo, so I just looked around my neighborhood. I liked the change, since doing the same thing over and over again gets repetitive.
The streets were pretty stocked with several Años Viejo as usual. You don’t get to see the more elaborated ones but the sample was quite representative. The availability was not short of the most commented local event of this year, Barcelona’s championship. Barcelona S.C. is a local team from Guayaquil, do not confuse it with Spain’s Barcelona F.C.
Barcelona S. C. has the largest fan base in Ecuador, but it hasn’t been champion for 14 years. Depending of who you talk, this is a really serious business that might get you in some heavy debates. Hardcore fans have been subject of jokes and mockery as the other teams managed to get championships and even better results on international events. Imagine this, kids who were fans of Barcelona out of tradition, because their parents were, never have seen their team win a championship, and you have to wonder what kept them loyal to a team with such a bad performance. Either the tales of glory from the early years of Barcelona told by their parents, or a pretty good marketing effort from the team itself have managed to keep the team relevant. Take your guess.
After 14 years of bad results, the rival teams were really to celebrate Barcelona’s “Quinceñera”. This is a special celebration girls have for their 15th birthday, with pink fancy dresses and dance, but in this case it was a taunt to Barcelona entering its 15th year of failure.
However 2012 was a brilliant year for Barcelona. It didn’t only manage to win the first half of the national tournament, but the second half too, even before the tournament was over, and with no need of a final match. This simply had no precedent. It also delivered some of the most humiliating defeats to its traditional and direct rivals. Opposing teams were not laughing anymore. And their players scored some of the most beautiful and exciting goals of the tournament. This was like a rebirth and even the most cynical fans were excited and once more everybody wanted to be part of the celebrations, go to the stadium and buy shirts.
All in all, it was a pretty positive experience, for the fans, for the tournament, for the economy, even for the rival teams I’d dare to say. Just perfect! Now I can only hope they can keep it up and keep their place as “Idolo del Ecuador”.
Happy New Year!