Quick Points Update: Han Kang was not on any of my lists for this years Nobel FC Draft. But She still gets the full star treatment here.
Background
Winner Han Kang as a young girl (2nd from left, not making wild face) From Kang’s Father (Han Seung-Wong far Left) and reprinted in the Korean Times
Han Kang was born in a literary family in the Korean city of Gwangju to a family that survived several traumatic childbearing experiences. That difficult experience that marked her context before birth appears throughout her writing.
So too does a love of literature as her father is both a novelist and a professor. Kang has said she grew up thinking of books as though they were “half-living beings” and to read her work is to see the ideas grow and develop and carry with them tragedy and hope in one fell swoop. (Likewise her hometown became the site of a brutal attack by a dictator against pro-democracy activists creating another trauma to grow through.) Growing up with migrane headaches, she was not very physically active, and so she built a long standing love of reading and literature.
Kang’s first work was published as poetry, though she grew into more complex and frequently meditative literature which focused on ideas, feelings, and impressions rather than plot. When she was awarded the Nobel Prize (“for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life”) she quickly became one of the youngest people to ever win as well as the first Asian woman.
Works
Swaddling Bands, white as snow are wound around the newborn baby. The womb will have been such a snug fit, so the nurse binds the body tight, to mitigate the shock of its abrupt projection into limitlessness.
Person who begins only now to breathe, a first filling-up of the lungs. Person who does not know who they are, where they are, what has just begun. The most helpless of all young animals, more defenceless even than a newborn chick.
The woman, pale from blood loss, looks at the crying child. Flustered, she takes its swaddled self into her arms. Person to whom the cure of this crying is yet unknown. Who has been, until mere moments ago, in the throes of such astonishing agony. Unexpectedly, the child quiets itself. It will be because of some smell. Or that the two are still connected. Two black unseeing eyes are turned towards the woman’s face – drawn in the direction of her voice. Not knowing what has been set in motion, these two are still connected. In silence shot through with the smell of blood. When what lies between bodies is the white of swaddling bands.
–“Swaddling Bands” The White Book
“The feeling that she had never really lived in this world caught her by surprise. It was a fact. She had never lived. Even as a child, as far back as she could remember, she had done nothing but endure.”
—The Vegetarian
Message
Far be it from me to read two stories and claim to be an expert…except that’s exactly the premise of these posts. If I were to name a theme in Kang’s work it would be that pain has a beauty all its own and pushes us to question what we fear. In both The Vegetarian and The White Book she explores the nature of human endurance and suffering and yet remains open to and appreciative of it in a way that confounds rigid societal expectations around her and her genre of the moment. The Nobel emphasized that trauma and fragility and to me this is very much akin to that notion, but far more appreciative and less dour.
Position: #8 Midfielder
For the second straight year the Swedish Academy opted to go with a stream of conscious adjacent writer. And just like with Jan Fosse last year, I’m declaring that good enough for me to see Han Kang as a box to box midfielder, capable of both a cutting pass and a crunching tackle. She also gets bonus points from me to move her ahead of Fosse in the Starting XI because she was more comprehensible than Fosse was.
I really liked Han Kang, but I really didn’t like the delay that held me back from finishing this post for two months. Still, here it is and you can argue with me below.
Next Time (Rewind the Clocks, it’s time to start on the ’05s) 1905 Honoree–Henryk Sienkewicz
Original introduction as written on October 10th: I’ve promised to do this so let’s see how it pans out.
November 24th…Not great Ben…not great
Montana Grizzlies–5 W – 3 D – 0 L; GF: 10/GA: 2
The Griz were once again dominant throughout the season. As the team celebrated 30 years of being the biggest squad in Big Sky Country, they went undefeated throughout the regular season.
It looked like we could be approaching the Big Sky Tournament like a coronation in Missoula. But after a first round bye, the team ran into the stubborn Sacramento State Hornets (one of three teams to hold the Griz to a point during the regular season) and after rising to the occasion all year long Bayliss Finn was unable to stem the tide and the Griz got upset.
It’s hard to say that an undefeated regular season championship, the first ever appearance in the national rankings was a failure, but it certainly didn’t end how the Griz wanted it to. Bring on 2025!
Key Players from the Season: Ava Samuelson and Charley Boone wrapped up incredible careers in the garnet and silver with All-Conference honors. The defensive core of Boone, Maddie Ditta and Minnesota’s own contribution to the Griz: Bayliss Finn played a big part in that as well. C’mon Aurora, give the girl a start already!
Other news: The Griz also welcomed in their newest crop of recruits on official signing day. In addition to their expanding power base in the Pacific Northwest, the team continues to be a magnet for great goalies, with Jillian Miliffe of Florida and Tayla Adams of Australia stepping up to become Bayliss’ heir apparent. But perhaps best of all Liv Thorne-Thomson will carry the local born and bred banner going from Hellgate high school (the prettiest high school in all of Montana) to the U.
Ross County–2 W – 2 D-3 L; GF: 5/GA: 10
The Staggies were able to take the lead against Celtic, which is notable simply in its rarity. Of course they gave it back which is a much more common occurrence. But the Staggies were able to ratchet up the defensive pressure and held on to a scoreless run of over 240 minutes. But by making Dingwall a fortress where only the best of the best can sneak victories, they have been able to hold on to the top six. But the next month is going to feature a host of challenges. Here’s hoping we feel as good at the start of 2025.
December: AWAY v Celtic; HOME v. Rangers; AWAY v. Hibs; HOME v. St. Mirren, AWAY v Dundee; HOME v Hearts
Key Players from the Season: The defensive dynamics at play with Ryan Leak and Akil Wright (as well as our favorite namesake, goalie Ross Laidlaw) have gone a long way to helping County run their defensive streak as long as they did. The offense has struggled to keep pace, but Irishman Ronan Hale has become a reliable force up top.
Other News: Glasgow has been the center of Scottish Football forever, but Edinburgh remains the place I’d most like to live. Sadly, the two teams in Edinburgh have been floundering so sticking with our Staggies makes it worth it.
Legon Cities–W 3 – D 1- L 4; GF: 8/ GA: 11
The losses kept piling up, with late consolation goals from Mohamed Alidu not doing much in the way of consoling. There was a strong three match run at home with three unbeaten games including a win against the legendary Asante Kotko. But once again, the squad is staring down the discouraging possibility of a long hard slog stuck among the relegation scrap.
December: home v Bechem United, Away v Nations FC, Home v Aduana Stars
Key Players: Frank Akoto continues to be a strong contender for our favorite tireless workhorse, but we are certainly grateful for Rahim Yaya Abdul who has been excellent in the dying seconds to keep the squad afloat.
Other News: Legon is still in the hunt for this year’s celebratory birthday kit, but will need a perfect December to pip the other contenders, who conveniently are next on this list…
Freiburg–5 W – 1 D – 6 L; GF: 12/GA: 16
M: 3 W – 2 D- 2 L; GF: 8/GA: 5
The men’s side has not been as torrid as they were to kick off the campaign, but they are certainly still in the running for the top of the table. With Bayern Munich enjoying having the prolific striker Harry Kane, but hating the ancient curse to never win a trophy that landed on Kane’s broad shoulders, there’s plenty of opportunities afoot. (The one down side, is that Alex has fully adopted Dortmund as his German team and relished them hanging a defeat on my buddies from the Black Forest)
December: HOME v M’gladbach, AWAY v Arminia Beilefeld (1/8 Final–Cup), Hoffenheim, HOME v Wolfsburg, AWAY v. Leverkusen
F: 3 W – 1 D – 3 L; GF: 11/GA: 13
Cora Zicai’s brace against Potsdam laid the ground work for one of the team’s two wins and at just 19 there’s plenty of hope that it’s just the beginning for her. It heps that she has Selina Vobien providing a maestro’s rate of assists in the attack. But questions abound in the defense where Die Frauen have lost winning opportunities time and again in the last two months. (Though beating Bayern felt really good)
December: AWAY v Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen
Key Players: In addition to the rising starlets of Zicai and Vorbein, Freiburg has continued to appreciate a sterling men’s backline this time with Lucas Kubler, Mathias Ginter, Christian Gunter and Phillip Leinhart. (Oh and, as ever, Vincenzo Grifo is our grizzled Italian king)
Other News: Freiburg is in the lead for this year’s birthday kit, but will need a strong run in for me to make them my annual gift to myself. (That’s certainly not the most important news, but I’ve run out of Christian Streich content to savor)
Minnesota–2 W – 2 D – 1 L; GF: 8/GA: 8
The Loons wrapped up the regular season with some big showings on the road, drawing in Salt Lake City, with Dayne doing what he needs to do, and Michael Boxall standing tall despite being spat upon by Real Salt Lake’s Brayan Vera. Then we saw Hasani Dotson continue to move from a talented kid to a reliable component of team history with another win in Vancouver. With the defense dominant, the Loons banked a spot in th eplayoffs with Sang Bin Jeong hitting the net twice in the season finale. And the Loons entered the playoffs with one goal allowed in their last 500 minutes of play during the regular season.
The defense held their form throughout the first round playoff series against Salt Lake City. A pair of shootouts tested the nerves of everyone…everyone except Dayne St. Clair, who went full Vince Carter celebration in denying the last chances for Salt Lake.
We went in to the Quarterfinal against Los Angeles Galaxy full of hope…and it ended in about 90 seconds when the Galaxy pumped in the first of 6 goals. Despite some sterling shots from Kelvin Yeboah and your standard issue Michael Boxall hard nosed defense, the Galaxy crushed our dreams.
Other News: Despite the ending, the Loons had a great season and look every bit like a potential contender going forward. With the retirement of local fan favorites Clint Irwin and Zarek Valentin, and the end of Franco Frangapane’s contract we’ll need some help in midfield and defense (though not in the commentary booth where Valentin is a treat). A few additions here and there could well boost them towards the top of the Western Conference. And maybe we could just ignore the existence of Los Angeles for a year?
Punjab– 2 W – 0 D – 3 L; GF: 8/GA: 7
After a long Monsoon related layoff, the Shers of Punjab were back in action with the Slavic spine continuing to drive the team forward. Still, the wings are inconsistent and that was exploited by the best teams in the ISL to give Punjab their worst run of form in a year and dropping the squad to the middle of the table. The playoffs are still within reach, but dreams of hardware may be put on hold again.
Key Players: Nikhil Prabhu, Tekcham Singh and Khaiminthan Lhungdim (whose injury at the end of October has stung) lead the local stars while the aforementioned Slavic spine (Defender Ivan Novoselec, Midfielder Filip Mrzljak, and the Lion King himself: Luka Macjen) have focused the suqad.
December: HOME v. Mohammedan, AWAY v. Jamshedpur, & East Bengal FC HOME v. Mohun Bagan
Rosenborg–5 W – 1 D – 6 L; GF: 8/GA: 5
M: 3 W- 1 D – 1 L; GF: 8/GA: 5
Rosenborg has been out of the title conversation for a while, not finishing within 15 points of the champions since they last won the title in 2018. But this year saw the team come together nicely and will feature their closest finish to the top since that title run (even though they’ll end up in 4th or 6th place). With the Ceide twins, 19 year old Marius Broholm, 21 year old keeper Edvard Tangvik and wunderkid Sverre Halseth Nypan they truly could be up for a run at the top of the league (or they could be up for several millions of dollars if they let Nypan go join one of European’s circling giants like Man United, Chelsea, AC Milan or *Hope for Alex* Borussia Dortmund).
December: AWAY v. Kristiansund
W: 2 W -0 D – 5 L; GF 4/GA: 11
We’ve never seen things go this wrong for Rosenborg’s women side. The four straight league defeats that kicked off October were the most since May 2018. Since June they lost 10 of their last 16 league matches back to June. From a possible 48 points, they grabbed 16. By contrast, the 16 before that (including the end of the 2023 season) saw them lose twice and take 36 points from 48 possible. The reason for it? Maybe Rugile Ruyte is showing some human fallibility, maybe Emilie Nautnes is missing needed support in attack. Or maybe we just really really miss Sarah Horte.
Other News: Speaking of Sara, she did win another trophy this year…over Rosenborg in the Cup final….oof. And while the youth movement sounds great for Rosenborg, one part of it: Edvard Tagseth will be checking out and heading to Nashville where he may face off against the Loons.
Vozdovac– 2 W – 4 D – 3 L; GF: 6/ GA: 9
After running their losing streak to four games, the Dragons fired manager Dejan Celar and then pulled out a 2-1 win against Grafica and a 1-0 win versus FK Radiniki. Those results went a long way to resolving some tension for the club. After all if you fire a manager and keep losing you have to wonder what the point was.
Unfortunately for Vozdovac, the new head man, Ivan Kurtusic did not actually get to enjoy a longer winning streak as the team has managed only one goal in their last 5 matches en route to 3 ties and two losses. On top of that, they fell in the Serbian cup on penalty kicks and now sit 8th in the second division.
December: AWAY v. Sloboda Urizce, HOME v. Traya, AWAY v. Sloven Ruma
Key Players: I would say captain Nemanja Vidic at Centerback, but that would merely be click bait as the legendary national team player/international defensive standard is no relation to Vozdovac’s employee. Bogdan Petrovic seems to be the team’s only source of offence, and despite the poor record you have to acknowledge that goalkeeper Nenad Filipovic has kept clean sheets in half of his games…without which this could be a lot lot worse.
Jessy Benet is going to be my new go to symbol for the god Atlas as he’s been trying desperately to carry the team on his back. It’s been made harder as Papa Meissa Ba doesn’t seem to have much help up top, and the defense looks to spread thin as Loic Nestor’s legendary career winds down.
October: HOME v. Amiens, AWAY v. Red Star Paris
Women 3 W – 0 D -1 L; GF: 9/GA: 4
I’m a little worried about the women’s side. Not because their play has been lacking–far from it; they’ve been cruising towards second place behind legendary Olympique Lyon’s second team and have a good chance of being in the promotion conversation this year. No, I’m more worried about the team’s struggles to find a social media manager…I need my content Grenoble! ALLONS-Y!
December: AWAY v. Nimes, HOME v. Clermont
Alebrijes–W 0 – D 0 – L 5; GF: 3/GA: 13
It may be hard to remember, but Alebrijes were unbeaten in September. That broke once the calendar turned to October as Armando Gonzalez couldn’t lead a comeback against Tlaxcala. But things looked up again when Orlando Ballesteros opened the scoring against Celaya. But when he was removed due to injury the opponents hammered away with 5 unanswered. And from there things only got worse with three more defeats in a row left Alebrijes at the bottom of the table.
Emelec–W 3 – D 5 – L 4; GF: 16/GA: 16
M: W 0 – D 3 – L 2; GF: 4/GA 8
It has been a forgettable season for los Bombillos. They’ve struggled, often turned up winless weeks on end, and currently sit at the bottom of the Fall Season table. With one match to play, they will certainly finish lower than they have done in the 12 years of records that I could find. The team has been fortunate to find a strong showing from Washington Corozo (though sadly, it would be better if I could find any evidence that he was related to Electricas star: Kerly Corozo.
December: AWAY v. Libertad
F: W 3 – D 2 – L 1; GF: 12/GA 8
Las Electricas were unsure about the end of their campaign, a 1-1 Draw v. Atletico JBG left them in the top two but they felt like real underdogs facing Los Buhos for the regional title. They showed their mettle, coming back from down 2-0 at half time to equalize, but a late winner for the Owls ended the season without a repeat as champions.
However, it did allow them to make their way back into the promotion playoffs, and so far it has gone very well for them. Kerly Orozco found the net four times in the first leg and Melany Orobio hit it twice in the second leg to advance easily past CD Oriental 7-2 overall.
The quarter finals against Nusta FC allowed Melany Orobio to again score in a 2-2 draw away, before she delivered an assist on the winner at home, sending las Electricas to the semifinals where the dangerous Aucus (fresh from a 17-1 quarterfinal round win) awaits.
December: HOME/AWAY v. Aucus, [If possible–championship]
Other News: Just to underline how rarely we have things clearly communicated about Ecuador’s women’s league, I have yet to track down what on earth has happened to Los Buhos, who beat Emelec to the local title…then fell behind to their first round opponent Xportos. But they didn’t play when other teams did, and now have just continued not to play leaving Xportos, Buhos, San Miguel and now Orense (the teams awaiting on the other side of the bracket) waiting around for something to happen.
In just a few days, the Nobel committee will announce the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize for Literature. Just like last year, they will join an elite group of writers from around the world, and a small selection of those writers who we have read, reviewed, and classified as members of Nobel FC: The only Fantasy Football team where the Fantasy is that these people would ever play.
I’ll try to read the author in question as soon as I can, and write their post by the beginning of November, but I wanted to take a moment for the second year in a row to consider who will be joining this august group.
How does the “draft” work
First a recap for those who somehow found this website but are unfamiliar with both “drafts” and “The Nobel Prize” (just how deep an internet rabbit hole have you gone down, my dudes and dudettes?)
In American professional sports there are annual “drafts” where teams select from a collection of players not yet in the league. Teams study and examine player abilities, debate the best choice, and then “draft” someone to become a part of their organization.
The Nobel Prize is a little like that. The “Team” in question is the Swedish Academy (of Literature). They collection of players not yet in the league is literally everyone on earth, who has yet to be awarded the Nobel, is living, and who wrote something. (Literally, they have awarded a prime minister for stirring speech writing, and a folk singer for his lyrics.)
That’s a big field, so they take in nominations from other Academies of Literature around the world, professors of universities, living laureates, and presidents of Authors’ guilds. That is still a very big field so they narrow it down to five finalists: study and examine the writers abilities, debate the best choice and then “award” someone the Prize.
This process has been a little controversial over the years. After all, why do the Swedes get the final vote? (Alfred Nobel said so) Does the fact that the Swedish Academy is mostly old, white, male, Europeans explain the fact that most of the laureates in history have been old, white, male Europeans? (Yes) Will they try to be more inclusive in the future? (Yes, though they kind of had to after a pretty ugly scandal).
So Who Could be “Drafted” This Year?
We don’t know the top 5 candidates, or even the top 100 candidates who got nominated, and we won’t for another 50 years (long after the internet, including this post becomes a time capsule for aliens). But we have a list of likely candidates from gamblers and prognosticators. (I’ll toss out 11 here)
Last year’s 11 now off the list:
Jon Fosse won last year’s award, making him only the fourth Norwegian to win (tell me there’s no bad blood between the nordics…I bet the Swedish academy is just bitter about having soggy krumkake). While Fosse won a place in history books (or at least an extra line on Wikipedia), I won two nonsense points. My goal is to hit 11 points with 5 points if I correctly predict either on the *will win* or should win; 2 points if they’re on either “honorable mentions” list, and 1 if they’re in my 11 top candidates).
None of my other candidates lost their eligibility due to the unfortunate state of being dead…but I have decided to drop Frenchman Pierre Michon as he has slipped behind other French writer Helene Cisoux and the French have already had a major cultural moment this year with the Olympics as well as a recent laureate, I’m putting both Michon and Cisoux towards the middle of the queue, just outside this list.
Leading Candidates:
The leading favorites are Can Xue, a Chinese author who frequently challenges the increasingly authoritarian establishment in Beijing. Her style has some parallels with other challenging stream of conscious writers like Elfriede Jelinek and John Fosse, and while the committee likes to hit similar styles she would offer a distinct cultural and linguistic perspective, especially given the absence of awards to Asia in the last 10 years. There’s also been a surge of popular sentiment around Syrian poet Adonis who is often on these lists, and would represent a first winner from the arab world since 1988, while also drawing attention the ongoing issues in Israel with both Palestine and Lebanon. Lyudmila Ulitskaya is another political context pick who was briefly atop the rankings this year given her position as a strident opponent of Vladmir Poo-head (sorry, that’s Alex’s name for him). But she has slipped as well, particularly as the unrest in Israel grows.
Returning Candidates:
Then there are the popular picks, like Haruki Murakami, who has a wide following in seemingly every country on earth. However, given that the Nobel likes writers who court a little political controversy, Murakami seems less likely than Xue. The same could be said of other popular writers from often awarded regions and languages like: American Thomas Pynchon, Global Indian/Brit/American Salman Rushdie, Canadian Anne Carson and Australian Gerald Murnane. The Academy has seemed to be breaking apart from its old habit of just cycling through the West’s biggest culture factories, but that doesn’t change the fact that these broadly appealing writers are perennially near the top of the betting odds and in wide circulation at the Swedish library.
If they wanted to award a Western literary heavyweight but NOT someone who writes in a frequently awarded language, then they could consider Romanian novelist Mircea Cartarescu. Caratescu just won the Dublin Literary award (which represents the biggest financial prize for one book rather than a series). But as there’s no real link between awards and the Nobels seem to see themselves as separate entities, it may not work. Since they went to this well with Fosse last year, I’d put this as the least likely candidate.
Beyond Europe and Asia, the oddsmakers and the pundits don’t have many options. Perennial contender Ngui wa Thiong’o of Kenya looks to represent Subsaharan Africa and at 84 may be running out of time, while Mexican poet Homero Aridjis is a widely appreciated poet from Latin America (an area of the world not awarded since 2010), odds makers have him running behind Argentine poet (Cesar Aira), but with a limit of 11 picks, and several pundits pointing out Aridjis popularity among committee members for the last few years, I opted to keep Aridjis on the list. Like Cartarescu he also is coming off a prize win for the Griffin Poetry Prize from Canada (though that was more about his translator George McWhirter than an award for himself).
Analysis: Who will it be? Who should it be?
In articles analysing a team’s draft-day decisions, writers look at two things. What they think the team leaders will do, and what the author themselves would do if they had a chance.
Having already read books by Murakami and Rushdie as well as selections from the other returners, I read a few well-recommended lines from my two new names (Adonis and Ulitskaya) and came with the following suggestions.
The Academy Will Pick
The Swedish Academy tends not to prioritize the best selling or most widely acclaimed author available, they prefer those who have something artistic to offer in their work and especially if they have something beyond the purely personal to uncover. At times that leads them to revel in awarding obscure writers, and in the last four years, awarding more diverse picks, with a significant increase in female laureates.
So I think they will pick: Can Xue. I only read very brief excerpts from her work…but even that seemed weird and obtuse. Critics claim her work is often plotless, but that’s not a negative in the hands of the Nobel Committee, in fact it makes a nice counterpoint to Jon Fosse’s more linear stream of conscious win from last year and an echo of Elfreide Jelinek. She’s got art, she’s got style, she’s got a point of view. She’s the favorite for a reason.
If left up to me, I would try to award a writer from outside the common-sphere of Nobel winners (ie Western Europe/America and white men). A more diverse writer with a point of view that connects to the wider world would be the ideal for me. Artistry is something I think lies in the eye of the beholder, so better to be clear than artful in my eyes.
While I liked what I read from this year’s new comers, I don’t see enough reason to step away from my same pick last year: Homero Aridjis. Admittedly, I only looked at four of his poems, but he evokes a universality similar to Paz and Neruda, while also considering the broader scope of history and nature–which might suit the climate change conscious Academy/myself to boot.
Honorable Mentions: Ludmilia Ulitskaya, Salman Rushdie (I still think of him as an Indian writer despite his increasingly American identity)–BONUS: I’m going to keep pushing Louise Erdrich out of stubborn loyalty.
Who would you pick?
Leave a comment below, please, even alien overlords, comment with your pick.
UPDATE!
Next Time…I rush to judgement on whomever our winner isSouth Korean writer, and youngest Nobelist in 37 years…Han Kang
Nonsense Point total: 2/11
I was nowhere near Han Kang in all these names, so zero points to me…next year should see a massive drop in chances for Xue and Murakami though, so it’s going to be different for sure
Okay, as promised/sworn/I’m going to update team performance each month.
Seriously.
I mean it this time.
For real!
Okay, fine, I’m going to TRY to update team performance each month.
With that, please stop laughing at my attempts to hold myself to a schedule and let’s get started.
Montana Grizzlies–7 W – 2 D – 2 L; GF: 19/GA: 8
It seems like most of college soccer has come to realise just how reliable the Griz are. They’ve consistently been a top ten team among western schools, and even got a vote to be one of the five best teams in the country.
The squad did slip twice, on the road against Washington State, and again in Fresno, but in general they’ve been clinical with Skyleugh Thompson’s leadership. Jen Estes, Eva Samuelson and Chloe Seelhoff have all taken big strides.
Arguably our favorite development has been seeing two team favourite Bayliss Finn take over in goal and rise to the occasion with three clean sheets, including the conference opener versus the North Arizona Lumberjanes.
October: away v. Northern Colorado, Home v Idaho and Eastern Washington, Away v Sacramento State, Home v Portland State. away v Idaho State and Weber State.
Other news: Because the purpose of American education is to make a lot of money, there are several falling dominoes that have opened up among bigger conferences (with more difficult games, greater national attention, and, yes, more money). Recent foes Washington State and Oregon State are looking for new conference members, while the Griz would be a long shot for that, Boise State (another Griz victim) already moved which may leave an opening in their old conference…more to come.
Ross County–1 W – 2 D-2 L; GF: 6/GA: 11
When the Stags ran out after our recap they suffered a brutal 6-0 drubbing v. Rangers. Conor Randall held his own, but everyone else looked overwhelmed.
From there, the play dramatically improved. The team as a whole did well against Aberdeen, but a missed penalty by Ronan Hale and a late goal for the Dons left them heart broken. They snapped out of the funk with a strong 2-0 win over Dundee FC (sorry Brian Cox.) Akil Wright notched his first goal and Jordan White convereted penalty. Next came a gutsy come back draw against St Johnston in front of the home faithful. Courtesy of Alex Samuel and Akil Wright, and then a 60 minute lead against Hearts in Edinburgh…only to be undone in stoppage time.
October: Home v. Celtic, Away v St Johnstone, Home v Kilmarnock and Hibs.
Other News: Our old Stag Ross Stewart has become made the climb all the way up to the English Premier League (playing for Southhampton). While a few Freiburgers have made it, Stewart took a long way.
Legon Cities–W 0 – D 1- L 3; GF: 1/ GA: 3
It has been a rough go for the Royals. Outside of brief hope of draws, most of their time has been spent chasing games that are out of their reach. After 5 years in the top flight, the team has never finished more than six points clear of danger…this year is setting up to be too much to overcome.
October: Away v Nsoatreman, home v Kotoko, Away v Berekum Chelsea, Home v Accra Lions
Other News: Legon’s preparation for the year was limited by a paucity of new faces. Six players joined the team, but none of them got preseason practice with the team. Only three players: Joseph Amoah, Ishmael Amoah, and Foster Twum have seen a lot of time on the field. Ishmael and keeper Kwame Aziz have been team of the week, but that’s about it.
Freiburg–6 W – 1 D – 3 L; GF: 18/GA: 12
M: 3 W – 0 D- 2 L; GF: 8/GA: 5
A Lead off win v. Stuttgart put Breigsau Boys on top of the table after the first match day, but Bayern brought them crashing back to earth. Still, the squad’s veteran core continues to provide much needed balance. Vincenzo Grifo and Ritsu Doan look impressively driven and thoroughly capable of running the show. New tip of the spear striker Chukwubuike Adamu has also looked impressive. While a frustrating defeat to fellow hippy haven St. Pauli might leave us questioning VAR, the truth is Freiburg looks solid to start the year.
October: Away v Werder Bremen, Home v Augsburg, Away v Liepzig (boo), Cup tie (Round 2) v Hamburger
F: 3 W – 1 D – 1 L; GF: 10/GA: 7
A couple of penalties made the 2-3 defeat against big bad Bayern Leverkusen look a little closer than it probably was. But a solid Pokal win v. Nurnberg, another against Hoffenheim, a draw versus Carl Zeiss Jena and another win in Koln set things back on the right track.
In addition to Samantha Steuerwald being a steadying figure in defense, Greta Stegman’s development as a left back, and winger Selina Vobian’s incisive attacks have given Freiburg a new look to frustrate opponents.
October: HOME v. Turbine Potsdam, AWAY v. Eintracht Frankfurt, HOME v. RB Leipzig (boo again)
Other News: It’s a good thing that some of the newer members of Freiburg’s women’s team have stepped up because the team is most certainly in a state of flux. Reliable winger Janina Minge moved on to Wolfsburg, and, at 32 and injured Hasret Kayici may be nearing an end to her strong career.
Minnesota–4 W – 0 D – 2 L; GF: 8/GA: 7
I’m a little worried that I’m not helping the cause here.
We were able to go to a couple of matches in the last month, first taking Owen to see the Loons play Seattle…which we lost. Then going on a date with your mom to see the Loons play Cincinatti…which we lost.
Perhaps my incessant support is bothering them? The team did win three times on the road and saw Bongokuhle Hlongwane return to excellent form and welcoming in new striker Kelvin Yeboah who has been lethal from close range. But the Loons last home game…which I DID NOT attend…was only the teams second clean sheet since April. Despite Dayne St. Clair doing his best, it raises questions about how to improve the defensive unit. (Looks quietly to the side hoping that he doesn’t have to criticize Defender/Dad Michael Boxall)
October: AWAY v. Salt Lake, and Vancouver, HOME v. St. Louis City…and then…maybe….Playoffs?
Other News: After a dismal summer, the team seems to have been rejuvenated, not least due to the arrival of Yeboah, and another talented Argentinian midfielder in Joaquin Pereyra. Though hopefully, that won’t come to mirror the last talented Argentinian midfielder situation (death star at Emmanuel Reynoso). It was pretty big spending by the Loons, but all on prime age players.
Punjab– 3 W – 0 D – 0 L; GF: 6/GA: 2
The team started the season on a high, opening with their first win against Kerala Blasters, but felt that deflated by word that talismanic striker Luka Macjen would be out for six to eight weeks following a…questionable challenge in the penalty box that led to two fractures in his jaw.
Rahul KP v. Luka’s jaw…
But if anything, the pain seems to have spurred the Warriors on to stay the course until the captain can rejoint hem. To wit: they went on to win games without Luka (a very rare occurrence the last three years.) They’ve gotten contributions from all over the front line, including Luka’s fellow Slav, Filip Mrzljak, as well as Indian nationals and Leon Augustine. Combine that with a stalwart backline and you have a team that’s a serious contender for the league title.
October: AWAY v. Bengaluru, HOME v. Chennaiyin
Rosenborg–9/2 on
M: 2 – 1 – 0; GF: 6/GA: 1
Draw v. Lillestrom, meh…good match for RB Adrien Pereira, assisting on equalizer and winning 7/9 ground duels. But the team turned up the heat with a convincing thumping of FK Huagesund and a less convincing win over Sandefjord. But they all count, and they all get sweeter when you have the Konradssen Ceide twins (Emil and Mikkel) making beautiful music together!
October: A long lay off and then HOME v. Brann, and AWAY v. Bodo/Glimt
W: 2 W -1 D – 2 L
There were some lofty highs for the Kvinner this last month or so. To start with, they beat Mighty Athletico Madrid in the Champions League!!! (To be fair, we’re still counting it as a 2-2 draw, and they required Penalties to advance, but it’s still a pretty big scalp to score!) Little heralded Andrine Tomter gave them the lead in extra time, and though Madrid equalized, Rugile Ruylte showed up big during penalty kicks to push them on to the next round!!
Unfortunately, the spent squad gave up an early goal to Arsenal and couldn’t get enough possession to swing the game, back, so just a little bit after their triumph, they were out of European competitions.
But there was another high to follow, as a clear 3-0 win against Arna-Bjorner served notice that they might still have a chance to finish near the top of the table this season too! And then Koboltn came out and beat them against strong possession leaving them to make up ground quickly if they want to get back to the big time.
Then again, perhaps their big time will be at the end of November again. As a 3-1 win over Roa in the KvinnerKup Semi final set up a rematch of last year’s final against Valerenga.
October: HOME v. Lyn and LSK Kvinner, AWAY v. Stabaek
Other News: I said in their catch up post that Froya Brennskag Dorsin, had really taken off. I was excited to watch more of her, and her showings during the Champion’s League matches were exciting. But, Paris St. Germain, they of much greater resources, snatched her up. Fingers crossed for the next Rosenborg product to be a European sensation…
Vozdovac– 1 W – 0 D – 3 L; GF: 5/ GA: 7
Remember when I recapped Vozdovac’s campaign and pointed out that they actually now had a good opportunity to dominate a lower division and earn promotion quickly?
Yeah…about that…The whole dominating thing is a lot easier when you…you know…beat opponents.
They did do that to begin with, a 3-0 win over Dubocica Leskovac boosted them up the standings further with Milan Kolarevic getting his third goal of the year, and supersub Djordje Belic getting his second. But then came a defat against Smederevo, and then another defeat (this one at league leading Macva), and another to fellow demoted side FK Radnik Surdulica.
The dragons are still in the top half of the league…but it’s getting dark early on the Mall roof top.
October: AWAY v. Borcac Cacak, HOME v. Grafica, AWAY v. Radniki Sremska, HOME v. Vrsac
Grenoble–5 W – 1 D – 1 L; GF: 14/GA: 4
Men–3 W – 0 D – 1 L; GF: 10 /GA: 3
Pape Meissa Ba has led the charge for Grenoble this month, with three goals over the team’s two wins. despite the set back against AC Ajaccio, the team came right back out to dominate Clermont Foot en route to a 3-0 win (including Ba scoring AGAIN and Jessy Benet running the show as we all love to see).
Women 2 W – 1 D – 0 L; GF: 4/GA: 1
While I’m always a little conflicted about beating our friendly rivals the squirrels of Albi Marssac, les alpineres, have continued to do exactly what they always do so well: attack together, defend consistently, and celebrate like crazy after the match. The one thing that seems different this year is that they now have highlight reels!
The Alebrijes turn around continued with two draws, running their record to four undefeated (though giving up a two goal lead, including one late equalizer at home might be a bit of a stinger).
Emelec–W 1 – D 0 – L 1; GF: 3/GA: 2
M: W 1 – D 0 – L 1; GF: 3/GA 2
Emelec’s record isn’t too shabby, but dropping points against a team in the bottom 2 (Cumbaya) does not help their cause. Also, failure to pay their debts lost them three additional points when they needed it most. Juan Pablo Ruiz notched another goal to make up for some of the injuries that have sucked the life out of Los Bomibillos offense.
F: W 1 – D 1 – L 0; GF: 4/GA 0
Despite only just kicking off, Las Electricas picked up where they left off in the Guyaquil women’s league: undefeated! While the owls of Buhos ULVR were able to stymie the strong attack of the Emelec furies, the team still looks every bit as potent as it was last year in its march to the title.
Well…except for the fact that I started these in August and it’s now mid-September…so I’ll need to do another one to capture all the results for teams I recapped back before the fall started.
I’m going to do it…seriously…I promise you random reader who clearly doesn’t open the link in their email notifications of posts…I’ll be better!!
Match Results: 10 W – 7 D – 6 L ; 22 GF / 19 GA
Men: 8 W – 7 D – 6 L; 21 GF/ 20 GA
While they were in sixth for the first half of the 2024 campaign. It might have been better, but the team suffered a downpour of draws, including three match ups against teams who finished ahead of them in the standings. One goal in each of those matches, and they would have finished tied for first place.
The fall season however, has not been nearly as productive with twice the number of losses as the spring in half the games.
Women: 2 W – 0 D – 0 L; 4 GF/ 1 GA
Electricas just kicked off, which is frankly a relief as Ia dearth of news, posts and updates meant the season had been cancelled, or worse, the women’s team had folded.
Instead, absence simply made the heart grow fonder. While it’s still early going, the women’s side has picked up where they left off, dominating the local league with two wins from two matches, including goals for old friend Kerly Corozo, new friend Angela Suarez, and a pair of goals for Alison Ochoa who seems to have the most effective leaning shot imaginable. (Also, thank you Emelec for posting highlights!)
Did you know that Emelec welcomed back club legend Miller Bolanos last year? It’s true…I know because I posted about him approximately every time I wrote a post.
Well, that’s done now. Bolanos made a move across town to Guyaquil City in February…and then watched helplessly as they dropped to the second tier.
Star Players:
Aside from our usual favorites (Alison Ochoa (obviously), Goalie Pedro Ortiz, and full back Romario Caicedo), Facundo Castelli stepped up as the goal scoring target in the spring. Marcelo Meli served as the fulcrum for the attack (when it was clicking) and I’m also keen on Ronny Borja who, at just 19, is holding down at defensive midfield.
In the long run of time between posting match recaps, I had many pings and doots on my phone to announce scores. Most of the time, I checked the screen to look for news, but, if I’m honest, when Alebrijes were in action, each ping felt more likely than not to bring news of another goal given up. But was that really the case, or was I conditioned to expect it after some seriously rough rounds of action for the Oaxacans?
Match Results: 6 W – 5 D – 8 L; GF 21/ GA 33
The results don’t fully support my anxiety…well.. at least it didn’t in the spring. Alebrijes was pretty even in their results and they even managed to make it to the playoffs where they scored a Quarter Final upset against Cimarrones on penalty kicks. They couldn’t keep the good times rolling in the next round, but after a lot of struggles, it was a nice turn of events.
This summer into fall however, the ratio of phone alerts to bad news for Oaxaca went back to what I’d expected. Over the first five games of the new season, Alebrijes got one point, scored one goal, and conceded 17. (That includes two separate 6-0 pastings.)
Recently things have been looking up as the squad picked up back-to-back wins including a 1-0 win over top 4 side Venados.
Other Stories:
There’s really not much to say…but again, my hat goes off to the Oaxaca Social Media team, who continues to come up with my favorite images and memes of all our teams.
Julio Cruz was the focal point of the attack in the Spring, but as is often the case, the quality of the outcome for Oaxaca begins and ends with the defense. Octavio Paz remains the man between the posts, but the defensive corps in the spring showed some tremendous strength with Fernando Morales and Francisco Lopez offering strength as defensive midfielders and Edson Santos stepping up in the role of a corner back. (Lopez showing was so strong he got poached by regular promotion contenders Venados.)
Obviously the recent season hasn’t been the defense’s finest hour, though part of that comes down to Paz being on the bench, and his replacement ceding 11 of the 12 goals from those twin 6-0 losses.
Ok, I’ve said it plenty of times by now: but I really struggled to keep up daily writing routines when I was teaching full time. That’s what happens to me when I spend most of the day supporting 70 other people’s writing, and the rest of it trying to be a parent. Now that I’m back to teaching, I’m back to struggling. But I remain determined that I keep up with a practice that I quite enjoy: writing about sports.
So even when it’s hard, and when it takes me a while to do, I’m going to write updates about the teams I love and their struggles and successes. This time, a trip to the French Alps and Grenoble
Match Results: 14 W – 4 D – 13 L; 47 GF / GA 34
Women’s Results: 9 W – 1 D – 2 L; GF 30 / GA 7
The women of Grenoble had high hopes that they could move up into the second tier of club soccer, and they did just about everything in their power to make that happen. Jade Decilap, Claudia Fabre, Romane Pilot and Melanie Chabrier were the top leaders for the scorers, and Julie Tissino was excellent in goal to give them a chance to win every time out.
Unfortunately, the two defeats came to the two top sides in their League 3 Pool: Toulouse and Clermont. Those defeats were what left them in third place when the season came to a close. But with the season about to kick off again, hopes are high that this year is THE year for Grenoble.
Men’s Results: 4 W – 3 D – 11 L; GF 17/ GA 27
There’s simply no way to sugar coat this…the Men of Grenoble collapsed. They were vying for promotion in the first half of the season. But as soon as the calendar turned to February they simply could not buy a win. Worse, one abysmal month saw them score 1 goal and give up 8 en route to 5 straight defeats. Suddenly promotion was a fantasy and survival was in question. Vincent Hognon was dumped (understandably so) and Laurent Peyane took over…with just enough change in results to keep the team afloat. Over the summer Oswald Tanchot was given the opportunity to turn things around, and so far things have been…fine. Not good, not bad, just…fine.
Other Stories:
Really the bottoming out of the men’s side captures most of the drama of the year, but the women had to make a swap as well: elevating long standing assistant Nasreddine Behloul should provide some consistency for a strong team, but how much it pushes them to the next level will remain to be seen.
The other big story is the bittersweet departure of club icon Brice Mableu. It makes sense for one of the biggest difference makers on the club to look for a bigger stage to showcase his skills…and if Grenoble as a whole can’t go up to the top league, at least Brice can (with Saint Etienne). There were other changes too with Amine Sbai leaving for Saudi Arabia, Mathys Touraine going to Paris (FC), and Loic Nestor suffering a ligament tear that likely ends his 24-25 season before it began. Grenoble will have to do their best with a newer look.
Star Players:
The difference makers for les Femmes are the most noteworthy stars: Delicap, Fabre, Pilot and Chabrir are tried and true team leaders, just as Mableu, Nestor, and Jessy Benet have been for the men. While Mathys Touraine had a great season, he was less impressive during the downpour of defeats…but that’s true for everyone. The newest featured star is probably Julie Tissino who anchored the impressive defensive run for the women as well.
I fully and freely admit when I have fallen down on the job…and while I did in general this spring, with Vozdovac I feel extra guilty.
But rather than turn away or ignore the reality, let’s take a moment to dig in to what happened, and what’s next for the shopping mall Dragons
Match Results: 7 W – 7 D – 15 L; GF 32//GA 37
To begin, you have to know the club’s position coming in to 2024. Vozdovac was never the top dogs, despite playing on the roof of the Stadion Mall, but…they had become a reliable fixture in Serbia’s top flight. Over the first half of the season (Fall 2023) they had 28 points, good enough for 7th place out of 16 teams. Not awe-inspiring…but not out of the usual for the Dragons.
Then…just…oof.
The team said goodbye to the deeply valuable Borisav Burmaz who left for Romania and raked in a million pounds for young Nikola Zeceviv. While the transfers make sense as part of Vozdovac’s long term strategy, they did put a big strain on the team coming into the final stretch of the season…a strain doubled by players having to learn a brand new system when the club parted ways with manager Marko Savic right before the season resumed….and the strain showed.
Suddenly, the steady mid-table side became consistently bad. They netted only two points from 10 matches after getting 28 from the first 20. If they had done what they did before, they’d be back up in the race for European spots…but the bad times just got worse as they faced other relegation teams.
The back breaker was a May defeat to Zelznicar Pancevo. The decisive goal may well have been an own goal incurred by Vozdovac’s midfielder Matija Mitrovic: that goal lost the game…that loss left them one point behind Zelznicar at season’s end…that ended Vozdovac’s run in the top flight (but not Mitrovic, who signed with…[checks notes] Zelznicar…who also hired [checks notes] former Vozdovac boss: Marko Savic (sigh)).
Without the hope (however faint) of European football, Vozdovac ended up having to cut back on players and couldn’t rely on other teams sending players on loan to their team. And yet, the squad looks to be in good shape as they start their season in the second division (aka the Prva Liga Srbija). While the tickets haven’t been great yet (200-300 per game so far), they have won 3, drawn 1 and lost 1 putting them in 4th place (scoring 9 and only ceding 1). Keep this up and the Dragons may soar back into the top flight next year.
Other Stories:
Obviously, relegation really captures the main thrust of the season, but its’ worth noting that Vozdovac continues to raise eyebrows with their strong support for young players, training up talents…who then go on to play well for other clubs not named Vozdovac. But after a year that saw them bring in loanees from France and England…only to drop down…the incoming players were once again: local, and free, but in an effort to bounce back to the top tier they also brought in veteran talent and an old friend in coach Dejan Celar (who had spent 2 years as an assistant coach back in the 2010s).
Star Players:
This is Junior Flemmings…not a Serbian man with many surprising ‘J’s in his last name.
Jamaican international (and French league loanee) Junior Flemmings was easily the brightest spot during the spring slog. But there were solid showings from Mihajlo Neskovic (winger), and Bogdan Jovic (midfielder) as well as Nikola Djurcic and Vurkasin Djurdjavec in defense. But don’t get too excited…none of them are back for this season…about the only returning players for the dragons are newly deputized strike team of Bogdan Petrovic and Milan Koleravic so…fingers crossed for that.
It was hard to keep up with these posts when I was teaching full time, but I had hopes of figuring out a system as I prepped for a new school year. I did my reviews, I caught up on details, and made a full sheet of notes about our frequently victorious team from Norway: Rosenborg.
Then…I started preparing for the new school year…and…well…three more weeks went by necessitating still MORE catch up.
Such is the nature of the beast: and here now, a chance to catch up with Rosenborg BK
Match Results: 27 W – 4 D – 17 L; GF 85/GA 55
Women: 15 W -1 D – 6 L; GF 42/GA 20
The reigning cup winners came into the season hoping to finally break the hoodoo around a much deserved League title. And while they certainly look every bit as reliably awesome as usual, it seems to be another year of playing the bridesmaid in the Toppserien.
Simply put the Oslo side Valerenga is too potent having run away with the division a full 17 points ahead of Rosenborg at the time of writing. The black & white side is in danger of slipping to third place overall and ending up outside of European qualification spots as Brann refuses to give them any room for error. (There are still good chances that the team will muster a repeat in the Cup competition as a recent win over Viking has put them back into the Semi-finals in September)
Men: 12 W – 3 D – 11 L; GF 43/GA 35
The Menn were off to a great start in April. Storming through two rounds of the Cup competition, and owning a 3 win, 1 Loss rate in the league. Then May hit and the guys hit the skids, shortly followed by a pretty clear set of selling off established players (including Jayden Nelson, and Leo Cronic), stripping the team down to just the essentials, including a spurt of talented teenagers.
After I made those notes of a rough summer, the team had a tremendous resurgence at the end of August, including bringing back old friend Emil Ceide from the Italian side Sassuolo. But he’s been forced into the role of a super sub while the next generation of young stars bomb up and down the field leading the team to a four match winning-streak.
Other Stories:
Both teams have some very big games on their docket.
The men played against European super club: Manchester United in a friendly and managed a 1-0 win. To be fair, it didn’t count for anything, and the “Red Devils” are more “pesky imps” at this point than the dominant side of my childhood. But a win is a win, and a win against a reknowned opponent is awesome. (Reports that Manchester are eying some of Rosenborg’s young talent is both financially exciting, and personally aggravating).
Meanwhile, the Cup title and second place finish last year puts the Kvinner back in the European spotlight with a qualification match against legendary Spanish club Atletico Madrid. The Spanish triumvarate of Barca, Real and Atletico have been making major moves to build Female superclubs as well so…catching them at a down time for Rosenborg is, in Minnesotan terms “interesting”/”terrifying”)
Star Players:
Sara Horte held down the defense superbly for Rosenborg…which means her defection to Valerenga is bittersweet. She’s looking strong for another run to the title, but she might do it against our prefered side.
Meanwhile the youth movement is in full effect at both clubs with Svarre Halseth Nypan (17), Jesper Reitan Sunde (18), and Marius Broholm (19) leading the men while Froya Brennskag-Dorsin (17) has had superlative moments for the women in a way that reminds us of long-time blog hero: “Julie Blakstad” (cue trumpet fanfare)
Both Men and women do have some reliable veterans showing up as well. Cesilie Andreasenn and Emilie Natunes remain fulcrums of the attack while Rugile Rulyte remains a constat in between the pipes. Meanwhile the men continue to trust Edvard Tagseth, and Ole Christian Saeter to be what they always have been: club legends.
Elfriede Jelinek is the first female writer we’ve covered in our Nobel Laureate reread project, and she is a truly distinctive voice in contrast to what else we’ve read in this project.
Jelinek was born in Austria shortly after the fall of the third reich but with a family that connected both to Austrian high society and Czechoslovakian Jewish community. She began her writing career as a poet before moving into fiction and then drama, all the while maintaining frequent poetic interludes that border on free verse stream of consciousness (the kind that is…challenging to parse). While she has long been widely appreciated in German literature, but less widely known in translation. She was taken aback by being given the Nobel in 2004: “for her musical flow of voices and counter-voices in novels and plays that with extraordinary linguistic zeal reveal the absurdity of society’s clichés and their subjugating power”. She was not alone as one member of the Swedish academy resigned following her prize calling her work: “whining, unenjoyable public pornography”, and “a mass of text shovelled together without artistic structure”. She’s also had a documentary that calls her a “linguistic terrorist”.
Jelinek still writes, but as someone who struggles with agoraphobia and paranoia, she did not accept the award in person (like Jean Paul Sartre 40 years before).
Works
“Erika distrusts young girls; she tries to gauge their clothing and physical dimensions, hoping to ridicule them”–The Piano Teacher
“We made these nothings [athletes] into greats, into disturbers. Into heavyweights. We commoners, we who can never get used to our lives. The quiet want to be loud, but the loud don’t want to be quiet”–The Sports Play (Die Spielstruck)
“As much as football can cause war, it can also cause peace; football is a kind of Geiger Counter of civilization, a catalyst for good as well as bad.” (2012 Interview)
Message
Elfriede Jelinek is a truly combative writer. While the Nobel committee first cited her musical flow, I found myself considering another aspect of her writing the committee also noted. Her works “present a pitiless world where the reader is confronted with a locked-down regime of violence and submission, hunter and prey.” The psycho-sexual drama of The Piano Teacher (as seen in the well regarded 2001 film) is all about hunter and prey. While sports is all about two opponents, her play about sports builds that to an extreme degree leading to violent confrontations and ideological duels. To me, her writing seemed to revolve around a rather dark and dire message: we must constantly struggle–with one another for power, and with ourselves for control.
Position: #3 Left Back
That combative confrontational tone put me in mind of a defender, especially an aggressive one who might both attack down the flank and also have to rush back to stop others, so I’m going to play Elfriede as a fullback. (I’m also tipping my cap to her socialist politics by putting her on the left side, and using the colors of my favorites at Freiburg who also have a fondness for defensive Austrians.) While there’s some real powerful ideas in Jelinek’s work it is also QUITE difficult to understand and “mass of text shovelled together” seems a fair critique to me. I’ll gladly acknowledge she can do some impressive things, but it’s often hard to wade through the confusion to find it.
Now there are definitely flaws with my assessment so…for the 14th time, I invite someone, anyone to write a comment rather than just leave a like. Would I see it differently if I saw her work performed on the stage or the radio? Would it be different if my German was stronger? If I wasn’t blinded by my masculinity? Seriously, anybody, help me out here…
Next Time, 2024 Honoree ??
We’ll cover the possible contenders at the start of October and review the winner in November. Then start this whole mishagosh over again in January with the 20 year cycles of ’05 Winners
MacKenzie's Boot Room 