Football

Some of my friends and family back home will know that in the past, I have not been a huge sports fan. If you ask me which basketball team I support, or who won that game last night, you're just going to get a blank stare. However, I've now found a sport that I think I can get into: football!

OK, so I'm not talking about the American football that is associated with the Superbowl and the NFL (and which I also associate with boringness - sorry folks). I'm talking about what the rest of the world knows as football: what you Americans will know as soccer.

Why do I now like this sport above all others? The simple reason is that football gets Turks more excited than anything I've seen since I've been here. It's all about the environment - Turks really get into the game. I've seen my three Turkish roommates, who are usually very calm people, yelling and screaming at the television nonstop as a game was going on. But when you get Turks together in larger numbers... well, let me tell you the story about the game I watched last night. But first, you need some background information.

In Turkey, one of the most popular things is Nargile, which is this large water pipe smoking device. It is hard to describe in words, so you can go here to see pictures and a better explanation. Anyway, in Istanbul, they have several "Nargile Bars" where you can go with your friends to smoke Nargile, or just hang around. When there is a big football game, the Nargile bars stop everything, put up projector screens, turn off the lights, and show the game.

At the very beginning of my stay in Istanbul, I went with several exchange students to a particular Nargile bar called "Bahçe Nargile." (Bah-chay) I had a great time, because one of the waiters there seemed to especially like me. His name was Aydın (Ay-duhn), and when he first saw me, he came over and shook my hand and wanted to take pictures with me. No one else, just me. It was pretty ridiculous, and extremely funny. He must have thought I was Tiger Woods or something... yeah, me being one of the 10 black people in Istanbul has that affect on people. In case anyone was wondering, I haven't experienced any racism at all since I arrived in Istanbul... just the occasional case of someone thinking I'm a movie star. Needless to say, it is very entertaining sometimes.

OK, so fast forward to last night, when two Istanbul teams, Fenerbahçe (Fe-nehr-bah-chay) and Beşiktaş (Besh-eek-tahsh), were playing. Jen, Brian (these are two of my exchange-student friends) and I wanted to watch this game at Bahçe Nargile, but we were worried, because usually, you need a reservation, and have to pay a 10 lira ($8) cover charge. But, I told them not to worry, because I have VIP status at this particular location.

So we go in, and one of the waiters asks in Turkish if we have a reservation. I tell him we don't, and we stand around for a few seconds, until finally, I see Aydın. He immediately comes over, and shakes my hand, and does the traditional Turkish greeting (a kiss on each cheek), and seems very excited, because it had been a long time since I visited that bar.

Like I said, for football games, they put up projectors around the bar, and set up chairs in front of one large projector screen so that people can watch the game. We had arrived early, and they hadn't set up the chairs in front of the largest projector screen yet. But as soon as Aydın saw me, about five of the waiters immediately rushed to get the chairs set up, and to seat me, Jen, and Brian front-row-center. They were the best seats in the house!

Once the game started, the lights were turned off, and the place was filled with Turks. For most of the game, it was relatively quiet in the room. There was the occasional shout or grunt when the game took a turn, but nothing major. However, there were three goals scored during the game, and after each one, there was mayhem in the bar. Whenever a team scores a goal, that team's supporters jump out of their seats, cheer, holler, clap, sing, hug, and in general, make a lot lot of noise. It's pretty amazing to see, but it's nothing compared to the things that happen in the actual stadium. It gets even crazier over there... and now, I want to try to go see a live game before I leave Istanbul. In the end, Fenerbahçe won the game, and it was a great night.

By the way, I came into this game undecided about which team to support. However, I asked Aydın what his favorite team was, and he told me Fenerbahçe. So yeah... Fenerbahçe is my team now as well!

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