What should I write? About crazed customers, who tend to become a habituous reality? About women? About the death of Arch-bishop Chrsitodoulos and his successor, Ieronymous? About how different and scary it feels to watch a movie like "I Am Legend"? I will be innovative and write again about football.
No, this time I did not join my friend Mitsos to another great performance of Iraklis FC. Neither did we attend a match between Kalamaria VS Olympiakos - those tend to happen more than once after all. Instead, I accepted my boss'es offer of joining him to a local derby, the Northern "el classico" between PAOK VS Aris. Now, tell me: How many of you go to the stadium with your boss? And not only your boss, but his brother-in-law, his best man, his cousin, his neighbour and of course, a woman, the girl I am working with.
Let's not forget that I am a supporter of Olympiakos. Georgia, my colleague, is a supporter of Aris. Both teams are lethal enemies of PAOK. Olympiakos steals the championships that PAOK should win EVERY DAMN YEAR! Aris just sucks. Also, let me remind you that I once was beaten by PAOK supporters, for no apparent reason...
This time was different. It was a shame to be living in Thessaloniki and never go to see a local derby. In fact, I've never seen a derby before. And since my boss was so excited to invite me, I said "why the heck not!".
The ticket cost 30€. A reasonable price for such a game, unlike Iraklis, who mistakes Tripoli for FC Parma, Atromitos for Boca Juniors and Panathinaikos for, well, Panathinaikos and charges every ticked for ridiculous prices. The seats were near the Gate 4, which is where the hardcore supporters of PAOK assemble and do stuff like smoking joints, taking drugs and reaping women during the game. Still, I didn't worry, although it was freakingly cold and my bones where aching due to the injuries I sustained some years ago from the very same (?) PAOK supporters. But this time I was well prepared: As all of you know, PAOK colors are black and white. So I wore a black blouse with white stripes, a black & white scarf, black jacket, black handgloves and a black knit. No way they could even think I was not one of them! I waited for half an hour, watching a welcoming graffiti...
...and then my boss and his company showed up. Quickly, we entered the tunnel of Gate 3, passed the police check, which was so thorough, I could pass an Browning M50 machinegun... mounted on a VBL reckon vehicle, but anyway...
Remeber that Peter Jackson recored a stadium full of rugby supporters and used their noise to recreate the screams and battlecries of the Orcs in the "Lord of the Rings" Trilogy? This thing, among others, brought him an Oscar for best Sound. Well, he could have achieved more if he had recorded the noise of Toumba, the PAOK stadium. The place was 3/5 full and the loudness was incredible! I could feel the concrete shaking under my feet. Things could only get better...
As we looked for our seats, I even saw a gigantic chicken, waiting to eat some fresh "worms" (the mocking name of Aris)
We climbed up the stairway to Toumba, since our seats where on the top row. That meant MORE cold.But all of it was forgotten, as soon as both teams came out on the field. The things the fans said and done...incredible. It was fantastic! And of course nothing of the sort happened, concerning what I wrote at the beginning. They were supporting their team, cursing a bit the opposition, put some flames, but they were behaving well.
And the game helped maintain the atmosphere: PAOK was dominating the match, while Aris did little to win it. PAOK seemed to be a team from another championship, while last week the team was suffering its fourth defeat in a row... After scoring 3 goals with relative ease in the first half, the crowd was pleased and Santos was amused.
The second half was more about the inspirations of Gate 4, since PAOK didn't score any more goals. These people were amazing, they sung stuff which balanced delicately over sexuality, vulgartiy, humour, crazyness, madness, stupidity and folklore. My boss even left 5 minutes before the end, satisfied and with a new interest for life. I stood there until the end, despite the gripping cold, pretending to be a fanatical supporter of PAOK, while my brother and his friend danced pagan danced, drunk from the nectar of success. Mind you, both are supporters of Olympiakos as well...
Overall, it was a great experience. Finally, I've got a taste of a full Toumba and the feeling of a derby. I hope I can go to watch MY team in our OWN stadium for a change one day...
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