PUMAS BICAMPEON

Yay!!!!!!!

(Off to find out what I can -- know nothing, but with all the Packers fandom emanating from you, have to reciprocate somehow...)

Clausura champions?

UNAM wins Mexican Apertura championship
Mexico City, Mexico (Sports Network) - UNAM won the Mexican Apertura championship Saturday night with a 1-0 win at Monterrey.

UNAM had won the first leg on Wednesday night, 2-1. The club, which also won this year's Clausura, captured the two-legged title 3-1 on aggregate.

Saturday night, Mexican international Francisco Fonseca scored the game's only goal off a free kick just after the break. The championship is the fifth in club history.

UNAM qualified for the Apertura playoffs by finishing second in a lackluster group one. It then defeated Veracruz and Atlas on its way to the finals.

(UNAM and Pumas are the same; so are Kikín and "international Francisco Fonseca")

Cool!!

(Would've been easier to suss out if I was more fluent in Spanish... thanks for filling me in.)

Congratulations!

Pumas' Joaquin Beltran, left, heads the ball to score a goal against Monterrey at the Universitary stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, during the first leg of the Mexico first division championship, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2004.




Pumas' David Toledo celebrates after scoring a goal against Monterrey at the Universitary stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, Wednesday Dec. 8, 2004, during first game of the Mexico fiirst division championship.





Monterrey player Guillermo Franco, right, fights for the ball against goal-keeper Sergio Bernal in their Mexican Soccer League Final match at the Tecnologico Stadium Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, in Monterrey City, Mexico.



Pumas player Francisco Fonseca, center, celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal against Monterrey players celebrate after winning on their Mexican Soccer League Final match at the Tecnologico Stadium Saturday, Dec. 11, 2004, in Monterrey City, Mexico. Pumas is the Champion of the Mexican Soccer League.

Actually, soz, there are ideological reasons for being a Pumas fan, as well as for being a Packers fan.

Pumas is the team for UNAM, the Autonomous National University of Mexico, the country's biggest, and the only Latin American university among the world top 200, according to the London Times (as well as other measures).

It's a relatively "poor" team, a college team in a professional league (for a couple decades now, players are no longer UNAM students, though, but pros). Pumas has the best soccer school in the country. Kids enter at age 4-5. It often "exports" players to other teams and to foreign leagues (even if the Mexican league is the best paid in the continent, only behind the top European leagues in that aspect), and breeds new youngsters.

It is also seen as a "left-wing" team (even if among the supporters you may find many a big businessman), since UNAM is public, and traditionally a left-wing university. In the 80s there were harsh intercourses between the University and the biggest media network, very conservative, who owns our foes: Club América.

This final was against another team we dislike, Monterrey. The team is owned by a big beer maker, their stadium is owned by ITESM, the biggest private university in the country (a great business, but colleges shouldn't be great businesses).

And this week, the director of a magazine, an americanista, is inviting the meal, again. I'll order the most expensive tequila.

Congratulations!

Pumas have the coolest logo ever.

I've actually watched some Mexican League games. They are televised
on one of the cable Spanish-language stations. When I first started
coaching my son's youth soccer team, that was the only soccer on TV
(pre-MLS). I had no idea what the announcers were saying, but I picked
up a few terms like portero and mediocampista (and goooooooooool!)

Bien hecho Puma!

Thanks, George, gotta agree on that one.

You may relate with me as a soccer dad. Both my sons went to Pumitas. The older one, Patada Veloz, made it briefly to the pro-team (the younger was better, but did not go to the try-outs) and several of the kids he played with or against are today's champions.
Patada Veloz wanted to play, to study, to have girlfriends and to party. When he realized football was a job, he decided he liked it only as a game. He graduated (at UNAM, of course), -as we say- he is now in the try-outs for the science Bundesliga and had to follow the radio broadcast through internet (the final game started at 2:00 a.m, sunday, Deutschland time).
I had a ticket for the first leg of the finals, but had an important meeting at the same hour . My younger son (who studies at UNAM, of course), was the lucky guy who went to the stadium.


Panz, ¿qué puedo decir?
"¿Cómo no te voy a querer? ¿Cómo no te voy a querer? Si mi corazón azul es y mi piel dorada, siempre te querré"

Fascinating history of the team, thanks. How did that jump happen, that it was a university team with students to a university team with pros?

Good luck to both your sons.

The team was founded in 1954, and was placed originally in the 2nd division (the equivalent of AAA baseball).
Here, as in most soccer leagues worldwide, we have ascent and descent (the last team of the toughest division descends, the champions of the lower division ascend to the division on top).
Pumas, the student team, ascended in 1962, and has been on the 1st division ever since.
By the mid 70s, our first championship, it became clear that the students were more nominal than true (just like NCAA football players). My first wife was in the same dentistry class as Hugo Sánchez, who is Pumas coach today (Mexico's best player in history: 5 times top goal scorer in the Spanish Liga, 4 of them with Real Madrid). "Hugol" hardly ever went to lessons, never was seen making a exam, but is a licensed dentist (good for Colgate commercials, only). Somewhere in the 80s, the University decided to drop the simulation.

---

The 1968 Olympics were held on our stadium, which has murals of Diego Rivera. The opening and ending ceremonies, and the track and field events.
Oddly enough, the stadium was built for American football, in 1952.
From the 1940s. up through the 80s, Pumas was usually the winner of the Big 10 conference of College American Football in Mexico. Then American football in Mexico got the NCAA illness. Fake students. The best high school prospects were "drafted" by private universities with scholarships. First it was the University of the Americas (UDLA); then -massively- it was ITESM.
Now the American football Pumas play almost all their home games at a smaller stadium, and struggle just to be still among the top 10. College American Football has become a bore: three of the 4 best teams were from ITESM: ITESM Wild Rams, Campus Monterrey; ITESM Wild Rams Campus Toluca; ITESM Wild Rams Campus State of Mexico... and they all wear the same white and blue uniform. At ITESM, they have no imagination whatsoever.

Not liking ITESM much.

Still interesting that they just dropped the pretense re: nominal students, rather than... I dunno... reform or something. I'm not sure how bad it is now in the NCAA, I went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Rose Bowl champion Badger football team and had classes with several players. It was generally understood that they were taking classes and laboring away, if their way was being smoothed -- I forget who now, but some guy (the qb?) was known for being a good student as well as a star.

Most scandals I can think of have to do with illegal payoffs, free shoes and cars and such, rather than just outright non-student ringers.

NOT AT ALL.

Here, the big university fight is between ITESM and UNAM.

ITESM is very expensive, they use computers a lot (every student must have their laptop with them all the time), somewhat racist, all they think about is money money money, which is the main value they preach, has great deals with businesses, does very little research, and a lot of marketing. It's very driven to specialities. The Monterrey campus is academically very good; others range between so-so and plain terrible.

UNAM is free, (every non-rich high school graduate wants to be there: one in seven makes it, because of the exam to enter), it's not so well equiped for the average student (but boasts 50% of all scientific research in the country), it educates on criticism of the status quo and "universal knowledge". It has the biggest and best libraries, and (obviously) Mexican Nobel prize winners come from UNAM (all three). Depending on the school, it ranges from very good to so-so. But, since it leaves a lot to the student (like, you can choose your teacher), there are ignorant graduates from the good schools and brilliant graduates from the so-so ones.

The big fight is at the labor market. A few decades ago, we used to be the "cropped" since the sophomore year. Now, some businesses don't want UNAM graduates, since they are considered "conflictive" (and not good looking, or "classy" enough), and prefer well dressed ITESM airheads.
Labor market studies show that the average UNAM graduate enters the professional market earning 20% less than their ITESM counterpart... only to surpass them on a 5 year range, only after the Unamitas have shown their skills, and the Techies have brayed.

This fight is now also political, since the Techies are hegemonic at the President's office. I can't go into details, but their level of stupidity and their ignorance of the country they live in, is amazing. In my workplace, we have to deal with them, and here -even if only a minority of us come from public, state school- we all say: "How harmful has ITESM been to Mexico".

I won't dwelve into my extended family problems. Lemme just say that the only affluent member of my wife's family is practically bankrupt, because of her stern hope of having her -not studious, but very spending prone- children at ITESM.

Congratulations fbaezer.

I have gotten interested more in soccer just recently. I like Pumas, even if they beat Chivas (my dad's a big fan so it rubbed on me) on last final.

About the schools, I almost decided to go to ITESM and now I'm glad I didn't, even though the school I'm in right now is similar in many things.

I just finished my third semester in this university and I still get a phone call every one or two months from ITESM(or ITESM Campus Guadalajara or Tec Milenio) telling me when the inscription process will be, asking me why I didn't go study there or to ask me if I want info on anything. That shows how much they want my money.

You said it all

Joe, what college do you attend?
It's absolutely normal that your dad is a Chiva. When he was a child in the early 60s, Chivas were champions 6 out of 7 years. And they boasted their 100% Mexican (actually 100% jalisquillo) players, when nationalism was rampant.
I don't buy their brand of nationalism. But they are always to be preferred against our common arch-enemy: América.

Back to my older son's pumismo.
He wrote me an e-mail, saying he went to a party on Saturday night and, at 2 a.m. moved to his host's computer, only to find it did not have Real Player, and he could not hear the game through internet. So he and his girlfriend took a bus to her home, only to find that the ticker on the page didn't work "... tears, the last 15 minutes went on a burst, I could see the final score, more tears, a drowned Goya cheer (everyone was asleep at the moment, 4:00 a.m), more tears, I play the sports anthem of the University, I rise, take the Mutze off, raise my fist and sing it with all my lungs and my mouth closed. Pumas is bi-champion ¿Como no lo voy a querer sí mi corazón es azul y mi piel dorada?" (How can't I love it if my heart is blue and my skin is golden?)

My school's name is CETYS (Centro de Enseñanza Técnica y Superior) and it only has a campus on Mexicali, Ensenada and Tijuana. It's still the most prestigious university here in Tijuana, alongside UABC (Universidad Autónoma de Baja California), but from what I've heard, it's on a descent since a few years back. And with the inclusion of the 2004 study plan it's getting worse becoming even more centralized (the core being Mexicali) and ITESM-like to the degree that teachers will be sent a programme and test directly from Mexicali allowing practically anybody to teach a subject.

here are the websites:
http://tij.cetys.mx
http://mxl.cetys.mx


The Chivas thing, add to the mix that my dad is from Nayarit so he went to study High School and University to Guadalajara and loves the city. When I was a newborn, we lived about 3 blocks away from the Jalisco and they tell me you could hear the crowd "GOOOOOOOOOL" screams from the house.

fbaezer, did you attend any or both the world cups?

Joe, I forgot that crap about centralized tests at ITESM. Like having a mechanical teacher .
What do you study? I have a couple of friends who used to teach at UABC.

I only went to Mexico-Belgium and Mexico-Paraguay on '86.
On 1970, I went to a Canned Heat concert, held at the UNAM campus, during the WC, instead.

I have a terrible joke about Nayarit, but I'd better not tell it .

Yes, centralized tests, classes and decisions are crap. Thankfully I'm in the last generation that still gives the teacher some freedom.

I started studying electronic systems, after the first semester I switched to computer science but I'm still debating whether that's the best choice for me.

(No comment on the Nayarit joke.)