Trabzon

Trabzon, the fortress of "uşak"! (Stop! No offence! By saying “uşak” I mean the male children in Laz language). Trabzon has always been the hardest, and at the same time, the most enjoyable away game. Although there are several planes to Trabzon, I always travel to Trabzon with the team one day before my actual date. This time I found the opportunity to travel with the team because the game was supposed to be played on Sunday. I visited almost every museum and historical places of this city; therefore I just focus on the food. In fact, recently I can say that I just focus on "mezgit". I love this fish so much!

 Anyway, let me speak of the team and not let your mouth water.  Recently our relationship with Trabzon have become a little ‘sour’ because of the latest transfers; and with the arrival of Burak Yılmaz, these relationships have become really tense. Selçuk İnan’s contract had expired and Umut Bulut had gone to Tolouse and then back to us; and they had sent Engin Baytar and Ceyhun Gülselam; and they had written “Who brings €5 Million, gets this player” on the contract of Burak, whom they get angry mostly. You take a risk by signing this contract with the most important player of yours and then you get annoyed when we buy him.

The people of Trabzon have seen us as their main problem instead of getting back the cup which had been taken away from them after it was proven by the court that there had been a “match-fixing”; and had given the signals that they would make special (!) preparations for Burak.

When we landed on the Trabzon airport, such an atmosphere welcomed us before the team fans.   

I can’t say that the same welcome is true for the fans of the team as well. About 100 Trabzon fans had been de-grouped before we landed by the police. Another 10-15 people insulted Burak. Unlike many “chief managers” I am very much in favor of any kind of protests unless there are any bad words. Therefore I did not get angry with those people. They had missed their beloved top goal scorer, this is not easy. 

Hey! the fans of football! Can you now understand Jenifer Aniston who lost his beloved Brad Pitt because Angelina took him away from her? Or let us be more ‘local’, can you now understand Demet Akalın who lost İbrahim Kutluay because Demet Şener took her beloved away? I hope Trabzon fans do not sing “being left” songs to Burak for 10 years like Demet Akalın. I became worried a little when I saw the melancholy and startling expression in Burak’s eyes when he got on the bus. Do not say “He is a professional, he shouldn’t care about it!”, it’s not that easy.

I forgot all my worries when we went out for dinner after arriving at our hotel. As we always did when we came to Trabzon, we went to Galanima. http://www.galanima.com.tr/

Galanima serves us delicious Karadeniz dishes as well as its own menu. This time we had the fried beans;

"mezgit" and "hamsi" with no oil at all although it was fried in a pan;

wonderful Laz patty;

and halva dessert;

and many other black cabbage and fish which we could not take any photographs before we finished without feeling any disturbances in our stomachs. There was a music, which I can say that you cannot find even in İstanbul. Can you believe that this music was performed by only two musicians?

One would want nothing more if he has a beautiful food and music with his lover waiting for him the following day after a good night’s sleep in his warm room. Honestly, I would say ‘food’ again. Because although I had slept late the night before, I still felt hungry at noon and this time I went to the pide house I always visited. "Rüştü'nün Fırını" is a fine place located in Moloz, Pazariçi district which dates back to 1920's. I looked at other blogs and saw that people had taken many photos from inside, outside, upside, front side of this beautiful bakery. I forgot to take pictures as I was so hungry and now I share last year’s photos.

As a person with a sensitive stomach, I ate "pide" with half a kilo of meat and I still can’t say that I had any stomach problems. This statement can help you understand the health of the food if not the quality. After I had my late breakfast at Rüştü’s, I was ready for the famous Kalkanoğlu Pilavcısı (=Rice Restaurant) www.kalkanoglupilavi.com Kalkanoğlu is a rice restaurant that has been active since 1856 at the same place in Trabzon. They sell the rice here in grams in this historical place in scales so as not to be responsible for any rights of human beings. I eat at this place whenever I come to Trabzon, but this time it was closed as it was Sunday. I was sorry to see that, however, I also appreciated this European attitude.  

And now the game…

As I said at the beginning, this game was expected to take place in a tense atmosphere, and so we took all possible precautions. By precautions I do not mean stones and sticks to fight with. We removed the GS logo in front of the minibus, and our GS batches, necklaces, etc. and we put on our camouflage trousers and our protective vests and did not speak loudly not to draw attention. OK man, I just love action movies, right? Trabzon spectators had started to ask Burak how he was when teams started to warm up. Oh man, it was obvious how much they had missed him(!); they did not stop during the game. 

It would be more effective if they had chosen to whistle instead of swearing when the ball hit their feet each time during the game. Interestingly enough they had funny banners as well.

As I said banners, I must tell you that there were other funny banners as well. Although it was out-fashioned and it turned the stadium into a wedding palace, all in all, it was a good idea.

I don’t know what Sümeyye and Seda told; but, I love these wedding proposals that are made in front of millions of people. The one who should understand it should understand, what more can I say?.. The game ended in a boring football atmosphere and with a free spectator support without any scores. Before the game I had tweeted saying that "the one who had the right should win the game". Both teams played so badly that no one had the right to be the winner, and so my wish had come true. As the famous quotations says, “Beware what you wish!”. As I stated in my previous article, can you look at the posters when Trabzon became the champion last time. It has been a long time, hasn’t it?

Although we speak of Trabzon in this manner, but Schake 04 in Germany, which we choose in the second phase of Champions League, was regarded as the 2^nd biggest team in Germany, it last became the champion in 1958. However, it beat Inter and won the UEFA Cup in 1997. Now let us think, which one is a greater success, being a champion or getting the cup in Europe?

Yeah, as I have just said, let me think, but do not disturb me please… 

Galatasaray and I

I  don’t want to boast myself but I am a good fan. Galatasaray is my childhood love, it has always been my greatest dream “Red” which I saw near “yellow” had always excited me and stirred my blood.

The dreams that I had when I looked from Kuruçeşme at Galatasaray Island have come true and even went beyond what I have dreamed of.

I am only a fan of Galatasaray. That is to say I am not an anti-X, Y-trainer, enemy of Z etc.

Galatasaray is all that I am concerned for to the extent that Umut Yaşar Oguzcan would be jealous of it, if the had witnessed my love for Galatasaray.

I am stuck in love with Galatasaray

I  drink  liquors of  Galatasaray and become drunken , how nice

If  I don’t like the colour of the seas

I smear some Galatasaray on them and they suddenly become beautiful 

I sing songs

And write poems

All about Galatasaray

My watch always reads 5 to Galatasaray

Or five past Galatasaray

It is Galatasaray that I see whatever side I turn

....................

I've got combined tickets since 2001. For those who don’the know what this means, let me say that combined tickets are represented by a card that gives the right to watch all matches throughout the season. So it is a valuable card… It is a card which many people would like to use and bring it back to its owner if the owner would not go the match  himself/herself.  I go to all home matches unless I am very ill. The frequency of my attendance in the away matches is also not very low.

Let me repeat the famous cheering slogan at this point: “Always with you, both in away matches and in Ali Sami Yen stadium”

Having begun mentioning the cheering, let mo just mention one of them that really tells myself: “Together with you both in sad and cheerful times “ "We walked on these roads together, we got wet under the rain together” "Millions of your fans are shouting together, you are the greatest with your name, team and fans cimbombom”

I don’t watch football matches in TV anymore. Anyone who had a similar experience already knows that watching a match in TV would be like a torture for someone who is used to watch it lively in the stadium. For that reason I cancelled my subscription to Lig-TV two years ago. I already go to all matches. Why should I waste so much money for subscription?

If you think my love for Galatasaray is an insane love then you are wrong. I don’t feel as if the world has stopped revolving when my team looses a match. Even when I have hard times, I console myself thinking that we shall win the next time. One may also have pleasure in watching a match that your team has lost; it doesn’t make any difference to me whether my team wins or loose as long as I am together with my team in the football ground. For that reason I am most angry at those people who swear at their own team.

These are the type of people who begins swearing at  their spouse, children, friends etc. as soon as they make a small mistake. These rascals do not say “Just let them make mistakes, I love them as they are”. “This team had had let me live many happy moments in the past, what if they sadden me now, let me continue to love it ” is not the way of thinking of these rascals,  just on the contrary they complain continuously, and swear at their team.

Everyone  who has put on the Galatasaray uniform deserves respect in our eyes, whether we love him or not. These fans have even loved and embraced "Sabri Sarıoğlu" how can I tell this love more concretely?

There are some “piece of lion” type of fans who go to matches together with buses or sometimes airplanes but those environments are full of testosterone hormones and women con not shelter in those environments.

For that reason I am not one of those people who go to matches with such group of mobs in which much drinking and shouting is involved. Before years I had went to a match with a group of fans. I don’t want to alienate you to life by writing the details of that experience. For that reason let me suffice with saying that I don’t go to matches with a  group of people.

I will take up the argument that women do not understand football seperately.

I have been going to matches together with the team and senior officials of Galatasaray. This is the easiest and most secure way of going to matches. The team goes to the city where the match shall take place at noon one day before the match. If you want you may see the team getting on the airplane and talk with the players. But your desire for this fades away if you have been going to matches for thousands of years like me. When you see the players, whom you support with the sharpest cheering in the stadium, in flesh and blood across you, you don’t feel as if you die for them, because my love is for the colours and uniform of the team, not for individuals.

You are not allowed to see the team until the match begins. They stay in a separate floor, they sit in a separate saloon and even their hotels are separated if there are more than one beautiful hotels in the city where the match shall take place.

If you stay in the same hotel with the team you may support the players verbally from edge while they slowly leave the hotel and get on the bus 1.5-2 hours before the match, and applaud them if it is an important match. We leave the hotel one hour after them and go to the match. We meet them again in the airport after the match. Return from the away matches is wonderful if we have won the match. Especially the atmosphere in the airplane, in which songs, imitations and cheering songs are abundant, is very wonderful. However, return flight is a torture  if we were defeated, especially in a tournament. Everybody is dispirited, in a bad mood and nothing helps to console your sorrow. We are in a good mood in these days since we return with triumph from almost all matches but as I already said, it is also a happiness to be merely there for me. Watching and supporting my team in the field is as important as defeating the rival.

I like spending the time for watching the match but spending time in a foreign city outside the match hours is sometimes difficult for me and for that reason I generally go to the city either early in the morning or about noon depending on the departure time of the airplane. I go to the hotel and meet with the group.  

There are 5-6 people who go to the matches regulary like me It is obvious that this number is low. (For that reason I sometimes think that what I do is an important thing and become proud of it. I think I have right in thinking so, don’t I?)

Let’s now come to the match with Antalya….

The article on Antalya would be my first article on an match. I had thought on whether I could find something to write on before departure. But this thought proved to be baseless just at the beginning of the trip. Let me explain this. We left the door no. 405 in the airport to get on the airplane departing at 14:50. We got on the buses and came in front of the airplane, but we remained standing without being able to get on the airplane under a temperature of 35 ^oC. Service cars and technicians were continuously passing in front of us  and nobody was making any explanation. Everybody was in panic and I was sending tweet messages worrying whether we could catch the match. I hoped that they would replace the airplane with a new one if it was out of order so that I wouldn’t be late to watch the match.

Anyway they took all of us into the airplane among the growlings of other passangers after having waited for half an hour under the sun. Istanbul was hot but the weather in Antalia was hotter.

After coming to the hotel and  having a snack, we got on a minibus to go to the match together with  fellow fans who permanently accompanied me in away matches and some managers of the team.

It is a pity that a  beautiful city like Antalya has not a permanent stadium. Antalyaspor which has beem playing its matches in the city stadium for years  had moved to Mardan Stadium with a  capacityt of 7700 people fort he period 2009-2012 believing in the promise that their stadium in the city would be demolished and a new stadium would be built at a more suitable place. 

They say that Antalyaspor shall have to play the matches in the stadium of Mediterranean University which has a capacity of 7100 people for a period of two seasons beginning from 2012-2013 because of the  difficulty of transport which has turned into a torture as a result of the failure to complete the construction of the road connections to Mardan  Stadium. However I must also mention that no Works have been started regarding the new stadium so far. Dear fans of Antalyaspor, you must solve this  problem of stadium if you expect your team to be successful.  

After having  fulfilled our mission of provocation which mobilizes the society at large through virtual means as is the custom, we can now go on with the match. 

We entered the stadium 10 minutes later since we didn’t get the tickets, the fare of which we had paid, on time. In the meanwhile, I must draw attention to a never ending problem. The number of people who are taken into the protocol or Vip tribunes is never the same as the number of invitation cards or the capacity of the tribune. Door keepers is of no use at this point. Everybody who is acquainted  with and gives the name of someone who has a prestigious position or have an appearance of a roughneck may enter the tribune freely.     

Under these conditions we, the fans of the guest team are the injured party. If we couldn’t enter the stadium on time we can not take our seats or we absolutely fight with others for seizing the seats. This is an indispensable condition of the “match-tribune ritual”.

Don’t expect an article on the match from me because I will not write one. In this article, you will not read interpretations like the following:  Did we play with 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 system? Who was the libero, did he play tandem, did he outclassed  the rival player, could he dominate the play, his drippling is good, we must make press on the front line, non-melliferous bee. There are people  who do such interpretations better than me. By the way  let me say that the sports commentators I like best are Sergen Yalçın, Uğur Meleke and Bilgin Gökberk.  

One of the things which were interested with during the match was that I  saw and greeted some fellow fans with whom I was acquainted  but then I saw somebody near them who seemed to me to be someone that I knew but I couldn’t remember where I knew him from. When people around me reminded me who he was I understood that he was Uğur Acar who was the first person in Turkey who made a face implant operation. I couldn’t take a photograph of him but I must say that he looked far better than in his photographs.   

So this meant that I already recognized the famous doctor (on the left) in the tribune but  I wasn’t aware of that until my friends told me who he was. You recognize so many people during the matches throughout the years that when you see somebody on the road and couldn’t remember  from where you knew him,  it is the tribune that first comes to one’s mind.

Although it wasn’t a wonderful match we defeated the rival team because we played good and  the dismissal of a player of the rival team from the field  also contribute to the score. The most beautiful thing about Antalya was that I was promised to be given a uniform that a player put on in the match with Manchester. Let me not say it now since I will share it with you when I get the uniform.