Sunday, March 18, 2012

The Master at Going Faster

After watching Everton play Sunderland to a draw in yesterday morning's FA Cup match I had not counted on watching any more soccer. I was online when the name Fabrice Muamba started trending on Twitter. I admit now not knowing who he was, but I saw that he was a Bolton midfielder, and that he collapsed on the pitch during the match against Tottenham. No one was near him when it happened.

I put Talksport on and listened to the commentary. The announcers were very subdued, emotional and very real in their descriptions of the scenes at White Hart Lane. The match was, rightly, cancelled. The players were gutted. Muamba had CPR administered on the field, the defibrillator was used to get his heart started. Sadly, players have died during matches. I was in Scotland when Phil O'Donnel of Motherwell died. As of now, Muamba remains in critical condition. Hoping the young man can recover.

It was with an odd irony that we had a library copy of Senna to watch. My knowledge of Formula One racing is next to nil, but this film was not really about racing. It was about the life of a man who died before he could fulfill what he wanted to do. I was very impressed with the amount of archival footage, home movies and interviews the film makers found to assemble one of the better documentaries I've seen in years. The film moved like a live action drama at times.

Had no idea Formula One was so dramatic, and not the activity on the track. It was very similar to slam, with all the driving divas, drama and villainry happening. You knew what was going to happen though, and that it would be the worst thing, and it was. What a story though, and what a life.

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