Elliott Turner's Blog - Posts Tagged "research"
Rigorous Research in Soccer Books
Almost every soccer book includes a brief taxi cab interview. For some reason, these interviews serve as the "voice of the people" and seldom offer much insight. Also, authors normally exclude the name of the cabbie, date of interview, and any means to contact the cabbie to confirm said interview happened. The result? A whole trove of research that cannot be peer reviewed. Tsk tsk.
Thus, in researching my second book, I had to just blindly follow convention. Taxi-cab research is a must. I consulted a cabbie in the US...via twitter. I asked Dmitry Samarov, author of "Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab," what he thought of Real Madrid & Barcelona. He said that "he didn't know." Conclusion? Lots of American cabbies have no opinion on the historic Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry. Surely, this is super important (even if it may not make it into the book).
Samarov's book is excellent, though. Check it out here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/boo...
Thus, in researching my second book, I had to just blindly follow convention. Taxi-cab research is a must. I consulted a cabbie in the US...via twitter. I asked Dmitry Samarov, author of "Hack: Stories from a Chicago Cab," what he thought of Real Madrid & Barcelona. He said that "he didn't know." Conclusion? Lots of American cabbies have no opinion on the historic Barcelona-Real Madrid rivalry. Surely, this is super important (even if it may not make it into the book).
Samarov's book is excellent, though. Check it out here: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/boo...
Your Kickstarter Dollars at Work: Books
So, I've tracked down and bought quite a few soccer and history books with the Kickstarter funds. Here is a sample:
Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson
The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt
Morbo by Phil Ball
Barca: A People's Passion by Jimmy Burns
La Roja by Jimmy Burns
Soccer Against the Enemy by Simon Kuper
Mardid-Barca: Historia de un Desamor by Julian Garcia Candau
50 Teams That Mattered by David Hartrick
The Battle for Spain; The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Anthony Beevor
Gracias, Vieja by Alfredo Di Stefano
The Splintering of Spain by Chris Ealham and Michael Richards
La República Española y la Guerra Civil by Gabriel Jackson
Todos los Jefes de la Casa Blanca by Juan Carlos Pasamontes.
The Franco Regime 1936-1975 by Stanley Payne.
Historia del F.C. Barcelona: El Barca, un club, una ciutat, un pais by Jaume Sobreques.
I already owned "White Storm" by Phil Ball. I'm definitely going to check out lots of other books, but I need cash to pay the editors, artist, conversion costs, copy right claims, and, of course, the super neat prints for several Kickstarter backers. Thus, to the library!
Inverting the Pyramid by Jonathan Wilson
The Ball is Round by David Goldblatt
Morbo by Phil Ball
Barca: A People's Passion by Jimmy Burns
La Roja by Jimmy Burns
Soccer Against the Enemy by Simon Kuper
Mardid-Barca: Historia de un Desamor by Julian Garcia Candau
50 Teams That Mattered by David Hartrick
The Battle for Spain; The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 by Anthony Beevor
Gracias, Vieja by Alfredo Di Stefano
The Splintering of Spain by Chris Ealham and Michael Richards
La República Española y la Guerra Civil by Gabriel Jackson
Todos los Jefes de la Casa Blanca by Juan Carlos Pasamontes.
The Franco Regime 1936-1975 by Stanley Payne.
Historia del F.C. Barcelona: El Barca, un club, una ciutat, un pais by Jaume Sobreques.
I already owned "White Storm" by Phil Ball. I'm definitely going to check out lots of other books, but I need cash to pay the editors, artist, conversion costs, copy right claims, and, of course, the super neat prints for several Kickstarter backers. Thus, to the library!
Ref Complaints & Conspiracy Theories
Hindsight is normally 20/20, unless you harbor prejudices. When looking back at Spanish soccer during the Franco era, one common complaint creeps up: biased refereeing. Here's the theory: biased refs caused Barcelona to experience a dip in trophies during the 1960's under Franco's rule.
Here are my thoughts.
1) Refereeing has always sucked. Soccer is a game of scarcity - goals are crucial yet criminally far apart. 11 people try to prevent you from scoring. Soccer is also a game of near constant movement: games go for 45 minutes with only a few stops normally for set pieces or throw-ins or goal kicks. This is unlike basketball. Soccer is a game of multiple moving parts: 20 players plus keepers roam the field.
So how can we expect one referee, even with assistants, to keep track of every call? For decades before the Franco regime, refs missed calls. The decades since? The same.
I have no doubt that refs blew calls in big games involving Barcelona. History shows a few such examples. However, this has also happened in the last decade. Thus, for somebody to prove a refereeing bias, they need some pretty solid proof.
2) This conspiracy theory lacks statistical and evidentiary support. Barcelona may have won less La Ligas in the 1960's than earlier eras, but they still competed and won some General's Cups. Nobody has shown substantial support that refs systematically ignored calls or made poor calls to Barca's detriment.
This is in contrast to the great work done by David Goldblatt in The Ball is Round. In the Soviet Union, lots of corrupt refereeing occurred. Evidence has come to light that supports this. In the case of Spain? Multiple hearsay and anecdotes.
3) This conspiracy suffers from bias perspective. Catalans were subjected to atrocities and real life persecution by Franco and Franco forces. Immediately after the siege of Barcelona ended, Franco's forces killed tens of thousands of individuals only because of their alleged association with leftists. This was and is horrific. I can understand suspicions and animosity towards Franco, but even comprehensible suspicions need supporting facts.
4) Barca's fall from grace has other explanations. The club had two directions at the end of the 1950's: ax aging Kubala and stick with legendary coach Helenio Herrera and native star Luisito Suarez Miramontes, or keep Kubala.
They fired double winning coach Herrera for losing to Madrid in the European Cup and he eventually plucked favored son Luisito Suarez to come and play for Inter. And Kubala? He left the club as a player in 1961. D'oh!
Also, Barcelona suffered from serious debt problems: the Nou Camp was grand, but they were unable to sell Les Corts for several years. Real Estate 101: don't buy until you sell your first property! Thus, their investment in players was pretty bad during this era.
Here are my thoughts.
1) Refereeing has always sucked. Soccer is a game of scarcity - goals are crucial yet criminally far apart. 11 people try to prevent you from scoring. Soccer is also a game of near constant movement: games go for 45 minutes with only a few stops normally for set pieces or throw-ins or goal kicks. This is unlike basketball. Soccer is a game of multiple moving parts: 20 players plus keepers roam the field.
So how can we expect one referee, even with assistants, to keep track of every call? For decades before the Franco regime, refs missed calls. The decades since? The same.
I have no doubt that refs blew calls in big games involving Barcelona. History shows a few such examples. However, this has also happened in the last decade. Thus, for somebody to prove a refereeing bias, they need some pretty solid proof.
2) This conspiracy theory lacks statistical and evidentiary support. Barcelona may have won less La Ligas in the 1960's than earlier eras, but they still competed and won some General's Cups. Nobody has shown substantial support that refs systematically ignored calls or made poor calls to Barca's detriment.
This is in contrast to the great work done by David Goldblatt in The Ball is Round. In the Soviet Union, lots of corrupt refereeing occurred. Evidence has come to light that supports this. In the case of Spain? Multiple hearsay and anecdotes.
3) This conspiracy suffers from bias perspective. Catalans were subjected to atrocities and real life persecution by Franco and Franco forces. Immediately after the siege of Barcelona ended, Franco's forces killed tens of thousands of individuals only because of their alleged association with leftists. This was and is horrific. I can understand suspicions and animosity towards Franco, but even comprehensible suspicions need supporting facts.
4) Barca's fall from grace has other explanations. The club had two directions at the end of the 1950's: ax aging Kubala and stick with legendary coach Helenio Herrera and native star Luisito Suarez Miramontes, or keep Kubala.
They fired double winning coach Herrera for losing to Madrid in the European Cup and he eventually plucked favored son Luisito Suarez to come and play for Inter. And Kubala? He left the club as a player in 1961. D'oh!
Also, Barcelona suffered from serious debt problems: the Nou Camp was grand, but they were unable to sell Les Corts for several years. Real Estate 101: don't buy until you sell your first property! Thus, their investment in players was pretty bad during this era.
