Barcelona Wins, I'm at a Loss

I don't know much about football (American football either, but that's not what I'm talking about). Seriously, back when I was teaching a student wrote a persuasive paper on the infamous off-sides rule. Which apparently is a very hot debate topic for football fans. Although he was very passionate about his argument and had researched famous instances where the off-sides rule had changed the course of history, he might as well have written the paper in Cantonese. It failed to convince me not only to agree with his side, but it also failed to convince me that the topic was worth persuading someone over. I apparently just don't get it. I simply wasn't part of his audience. 

So it comes as no surprise that I failed to recognize the importance of last night. Yesterday F C Barcelona played Manchester United in some kind of very important Champion's League Final thingy. And they won, apparently. According to an AP article this is a major feat and the first time a Spanish team has ever done so along with winning some other really, really important titles earlier this year. It seems to me rather like professional wrestling where every match is for some kind of title and the fans seem to be under the impression the fate of the world rests in the balance. 

From the Washington Examiner:

Eighty-five police officers were hurt out of 153 overall injuries and 134 people were arrested during celebrations of Barcelona's victory over Manchester United in the Champions League final, according to police.

Arrests were made mainly for public disorder, vandalism and disobeying police orders in Barcelona, while 15 other people were apprehended in the Catalan towns of Lleida, Tarragona, Girona, Granollers and Igualada.

Trouble had also flared at previous celebrations in Barcelona earlier this month after the team won the Copa del Rey and then the Spanish league title.

An estimated 100,000 jubilant supporters gathered at the Canaletes fountain on Las Ramblas, the traditional site for celebrating the club's wins, soon after the team won 2-0 over 2008 Champions League winners Man United in Rome on Wednesday.

I'm sorry. I just don't get it. Why destroy things to celebrate a football game? I can tell you from an eyewitness account that police shut down the center of Barcelona to try to control the rioting. Cars were smashed. Tear gas was used. People were urinating on one another in drunken celebration. I really, really don't get it. They were doing this because they were happy their team won?

And why do I have this eyewitness account? 

The partner had a major teleconference yesterday for an account someone else in his company is trying to win. Because this teleconference involved at least four sites around the world, the partner was chosen to represent the European site in Barcelona. And because Americans are so effing stupid about the rest of the world they scheduled this meeting when it was convenient for them. Which meant he had to be in the Barcelona office for the teleconference at 9 p.m. And to top it off, the Americans were running late and had to push the meeting back an hour. Never mind the people in Kuala Lumpur, Santo Domingo, and Barcelona have to work ridiculous hours and have to tack on an extra hour just for them. 

So the partner finished up well after midnight (about the time the trains stop running that could have taken him home). It seems someone at the American site decided to ramble on for an hour and fifteen minutes. The whole point of the partner's presence at the teleconference was so they could say (at the end) "and we also have people joining us from the other sites." The whole effing thing was another pointless example of how idiot Americans think they are the center of the world. And people wonder why I'm embarrassed to admit I'm from the U.S.

So the partner made it back to Cerdanyola, the little town we used to live in where the closest train station is to his office. From there he planned to take a night bus into Barcelona. And then from Barcelona he could take another night bus to Sitges. The night bus from Cerdanyola never made it to its destination. 

This is where the blocked off streets and riots come in. The bus stopped as close as it could to Plaza Catalunya. The partner was left to his own devices in the center of the chaos. He was terrified. When he called me it was approaching 2 a.m. I could hear shouting, singing, and the occasional reports of fireworks in the background. 

Not only could the Cerdanyola night but not make it to its destination, but the Sitges night bus couldn't make it to its origin. The partner had no idea how to find where the night bus would be able to go. He decided to get a hotel room. After five tries he finally found a place in all the chaos that had a vacancy. They gave him a key and he went to his room. Someone was sleeping in the bed. Apparently the hotel had been the scene of some intense partying as well. They said they didn't have another room. Finally after 4 a.m. he found a hotel with an empty room. In another hour the trains would start running again. But by that time he was desperately tired and his feet were blistered from extensive walking in dress shoes. 

It is 1:37 p.m. right now. He still hasn't made it home from a teleconference more than 12 hours ago that he didn't really need to attend. But hey, at least Barcelona won whatever it is that they won.