The nights of August were damp and pleasantly long. As summer turns to fall, the game becomes shorter. The children go to the fields until six o'clock and there dark at 7:45 a.m. The weather was still fine, reinforced as soon as the sun shone. Before the pitch was completely shaded, one of the teams had to deal with devilish natural floodlights casting long shadows through the trees, blinding goalkeepers, defenders and attackers as the ball flies high after a goal kick. I guess it balances out because the team dealing with those sneaky shadows also has the luxury of playing downhill . In this park, a little slice of magic that ended less than ten years ago, there is a subtle reminder: yes, this is still a city park, and yes, we still face inequality.
When I move to a new location, I almost immediately scour Google Maps for green spots, numeric signifiers of nearby parks. Strolling on foot or by bike, I will discover them. Public spaces can be magical and magnetic. They are places of gathering, focal points for a community and a space to be outdoors in the bustle of the city.
The Raymond Recreation Center seems like one of those beautiful spaces, a bastion of beautiful play. The gentrifying neighborhood of Petworth in northwest D.C. is lined with trees, but the break in old storied and soulless new construction is welcome. Railings and paths lined with benches, two small grass courts, a basketball court, a tennis court, ramshackle outdoor exercise equipment that doubles as benches, a padded playground, and two tables picnic under a gazebo - all this makes the park a place where many different people can gather and exist. Capitalism, efficiency and modern design seemed to make more and more places sterile, identical. It also affects sports. Data saturates the games, the game becomes the same. Analysis sometimes negates the creativity and joy that adult men and women find in playing a game. Every year there is a new "moneyball" team.
Football however, for me right now at least, is none of that. He has the speed, reaction, creativity and excitement that seem to be lacking. My youth football career ended in college, but I remain active and well-coordinated. I've also become a fan in recent years, buoyed by the extended arm of international football and ever-growing streaming capabilities. My Italian heritage and a lucky FIFA selection led me to support Napoli. (My hometown of Pittsburgh has a team, so I support the Riverhounds in the USL). I Partenopei, as they are called, gave me ups and downs. The lows being the beautiful rhythm, then the stopping of this rhythm, of the teams Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly. Ups being the amazing shape the team is in now,
The nights of August were damp and pleasantly long. As summer turns to fall, the game becomes shorter. The children go to the fields until six o'clock and there dark at 7:45 a.m. The weather was still fine, reinforced as soon as the sun shone. Before the pitch was completely shaded, one of the teams had to deal with devilish natural floodlights casting long shadows through the trees, blinding goalkeepers, defenders and attackers as the ball flies high after a goal kick. I guess it balances out because the team dealing with those sneaky shadows also has the luxury of playing downhill . In this park, a little slice of magic that ended less than ten years ago, there is a subtle reminder: yes, this is still a city park, and yes, we still face inequality.
When I move to a new location, I almost immediately scour Google Maps for green spots, numeric signifiers of nearby parks. Strolling on foot or by bike, I will discover them. Public spaces can be magical and magnetic. They are places of gathering, focal points for a community and a space to be outdoors in the bustle of the city.
The Raymond Recreation Center seems like one of those beautiful spaces, a bastion of beautiful play. The gentrifying neighborhood of Petworth in northwest D.C. is lined with trees, but the break in old storied and soulless new construction is welcome. Railings and paths lined with benches, two small grass courts, a basketball court, a tennis court, ramshackle outdoor exercise equipment that doubles as benches, a padded playground, and two tables picnic under a gazebo - all this makes the park a place where many different people can gather and exist. Capitalism, efficiency and modern design seemed to make more and more places sterile, identical. It also affects sports. Data saturates the games, the game becomes the same. Analysis sometimes negates the creativity and joy that adult men and women find in playing a game. Every year there is a new "moneyball" team.
Football however, for me right now at least, is none of that. He has the speed, reaction, creativity and excitement that seem to be lacking. My youth football career ended in college, but I remain active and well-coordinated. I've also become a fan in recent years, buoyed by the extended arm of international football and ever-growing streaming capabilities. My Italian heritage and a lucky FIFA selection led me to support Napoli. (My hometown of Pittsburgh has a team, so I support the Riverhounds in the USL). I Partenopei, as they are called, gave me ups and downs. The lows being the beautiful rhythm, then the stopping of this rhythm, of the teams Lorenzo Insigne, Dries Mertens, Kalidou Koulibaly. Ups being the amazing shape the team is in now,
Art by Charbak Dipta
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