A happy new year to you all. Whoever said there is no Santa must be some "FREAKING" idiot.Santa does very much exist and yes,dreams(some dreams) do come true. With United losing back-to-back I got all the presents i wanted and so much more.I do not know about you but all I wanted for christmas was football football and some good football.Thank God for the English Premier League. There were more twists and turns in the results we've had over the festive period than on the Aburi Mountains. The top of the league is as packed as Mercy Johnson's bossom, the "bottom", as tight as Jocelyn Dumas'...(kindly refer to inverted).
Ok so my holidays wasn't all about football,(psss)you think? I mean i did stuff too. For instance I joined a group on social networking site facebook that talks about football.Yep, i know,but just forget about what they talk about. What's important is its a social thing so technically,i was out and about. Shout outs to the creators and members of the group ARMCHAIR Pundits.I believe you are all couch potaoes and proud! Anyway i posed my first question about what Ghana football needs inorder to be as attractive as the EPL. Not surprisingly, I got some fantastic responses. Some were quick to write it off in saying that it would never happen, at least not in our generation. Very unfortunate,that. Nevertheless we managed to get the convo going for a while. The issue of money dominated no doubt whilse others (i inclusive) leaned towards proper basics first o all(legislation and regulation) of football.But in all it was the word DYNAMICS that ticked me off. Apparantely we do not have the dynamics and elements to develop our league into one of the best in the world.I beg to differ.
In fact I think we have all that it takes to make our league better and very attractive.Talk about Dynamics. Compare our attitudes and culture.English folks love their football,but not more so than Ghanaians.Take the Chinese or the Koreans,their growing interest in the european leagues is very recent. They couldnt care less about what happened in the EPL until some of their bigger stars started playing there.These koreans do not lack anything.They have strictly adhered to laws and regulations,they have money. If anything,its the talent and passion for the game which obviously does not match up to ours or the brits.Yet look at where they are now.The truth of the matter is we are just as dynamic as the English.Go back over the years,back in the days of Obuasi Goldfields now Ashgold. The time of the silky Lawrence Adjei and his brother,somtin somtin Adjei.Those days when they painted the continent yellow. All you would get on TV was the CAF champions league.One had no options and the craving for african football was just as high.We loved it.We didnt have too much money then,but obviously we were doing something right.
What happened to Kwabena Yeboah and his famous monday night sports highlites show.We visited all the league centres.I knew the names of the various stadia.But gradually,Kwabena got less and less "access" to these stadia.Annoyingly we started watching 30mins of hockey highligts and 15mins commercials.Even the once electrifying clash between Hearts and Kotoko is not as intense with regards to the euphoria that surrounded the ame back in the day. Its as if over the years we've had the same technicians working at the VRA working on the game.I quite remember the disappointment knowing that the games were not goingto be on TV. Yet,the sheer passion and the fun generated listening to the game on radio more than made up for it.We were eachother's eyes and ears. Amazing how we would even argue about decisions that didnt go our way. The thunderous shouts that emanated from all nooks and crannies of our various quartiers. Some of us often looked forward to that game solely for the assured free drinks after the game. Remember the commentary from Peace FM? "aka kitikiti".Sadly these days not only are our cities littered with Dstv centres showing EPL matches but we do have commentary on these games to go with it. The truth is,the so-called dynamism we lack is in our thinking and not in our way of life as football-loving people. Until recently we were a unique, dynamic people with "sycophantic" tendencies towards our local football. We need to shed that menatality of "everything foreign is the best".
Some seem to forget that Ghana is bigger than Accra, and in their thinking neglect folks in the rural areas.It would interest you to note, that bloke in Bofoakwa would go all May 9 on his rivals if his beloved Boafoakwa United lost miserably to say Kotoko and he wouldn't care the least about what goes on in Stoke.Obviously there would be that greater sense of identification with Bofoakwa than with Stoke City.But hey dont get me wrong,i enjoy the EPL for what it is. indeed i enjoy football, and i will watch any match being played anywhere on this planet so far its good football.This is just a lamentation of a sad nostalgic COUCH potato. I believe dynamism is all about the culture and tradition and i bet we have an inbred football culture in us as Africans, almost in excess. I still dream of a day where we will have an Accra HEARTS OF OAK side littered with both local and foreign talent(europeans too),well kitted,well paid, with an eneormous support base and traditon as always,come up against the Milans and Madrids of this world. Is it Possible? I think so.
