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Carioca: Botafogo win 19th Rio title
Posted in South America Football by peterbein on April 20, 2010
Botafogo have won the Campeonato Carioca (Rio State Championship) for the 19th time in their history having won the two component parts of the tournament. When any one team wins the first competition, known as the Taça Guanabara, and the second competition, known as the Taça Rio, then a championship play-off is unneccessary. Thankfully for Botafogo their Taça Rio final victory over record champions Flamengo on Sunday added to the Taça Guanabara crown they had already won in February meaning that the club could have a couple of weeks off before resuming action in the oncoming Brasileiro (Brazilian National Championship). "Stoppage Time – International Football Blog" reviews how Botafogo sealed the title:
The Campeonato Carioca sees sixteen teams split into two groups of eight in two distinct tournaments within the competition. In the first stage each team plays the other seven teams from inside their own group before the top two from each group go into the semi-finals. After seven games Group A was topped by Flamengo who had nineteen points, three more than nearest challengers Fluminense. Group B was topped by Vasco da Gama who also led their group with nineteen points with Botafogo just one solitary point behind. The semi-finals saw the top team from each group play the runner-up in the other group. Flamengo, who had won the last three Campeonato Carioca in a row from 2007-09, were to be knocked out by Botafogo after the latter won 2-1. The other semi-final was decided by penalties after a goalless stalemate with Vasco da Gama prevailing from the spot defeating Fluminense 6-5. The final saw Botafogo get revenge on Vasco, the latter had won their group stage encounter by a heavy 6-0 scoreline. Fabio Ferreira and Sebastián Abreu scored the goals to give Botafogo a 2-0 win to claim the first trophy in the competition (see VIDEO):
In the second half of the Carioca the same two groups of eight teams from the first stage remain intact, only this time each team plays the other eight teams in the opposing group. Despite the change of opposition for each team the groups had a similar finish to them as in the first stage. Group A was again topped by Flamengo who accumulated 22 points in eight games, three ahead of Fluminense. In Group B the roles were reversed from the first stage as Botafogo topped the group with fifteen points, two ahead of Vasco da Gama. In the semi-finals Botafogo defeated Fluminense 3-2 whilst Flamengo defeated arch-rivals Vasco da Gama 2-1 to set up an interesting Taça Rio final. Flamengo had to beat Botafogo in the Taça Rio final in order to set up a grand final against the same opponents to decide the overall champion. Botafogo had other ideas as they wanted to secure the title without the need for a play-off and they got their just rewards albeit with the help of two penalty kicks. Herrara converted the first penalty in the 23rd minute and Sebastián Abreu scored with one of the coolest penalties ever in the 71st minute. Vagner Love's goal for Flamengo sandwiched the two Botafogo strikes but proved not to be enough. Botafogo had won the two stages and, therefore, took Flamengo's Carioca title away from them in the process (see Video):
Tagged with: Botafogo, Brazil, Carioca, Flamengo, Taca Guanabara, Taca Rio
Campeonato Carioca – Flamengo the team to beat
Flamengo won their third Carioca championship in a row in 2009
Fresh from winning the Campeonato Brasiliero for the first time in seventeen years in 2009 Clube de Regatas do Flamengo, more popularly known as just 'Flamengo', will be hoping to keep up their recent domination of the Rio State Championship (Carioca) which begins this weekend. "O Mengão" won their third consecutive state championship last year which also helped them overtake arch-rivals Fluminense in the list of overall title wins (Flamengo have 31, Fluminense 30). Flamengo hope that they can carry on from where they left off in 2009 and begin another era of success for the club, starting this weekend against little Duque de Caxias on Sunday.
The Carioca championship is divided into two stages, the "Taça Guanabara" and the "Taça Rio". In the first stage the sixteen clubs are divided into two groups of eight teams and each team plays against the teams in their own group once only. At the end of the group stage the top two from each group will play in the semi-finals (first of each group plays against the second team in the other group) and the winners will go to the one-leg final at Estadio Maracanã. In the Taça Rio the groups remain the same but each team, rather than playing the other teams in their group, will play all of the teams from the other group once only. Similarly the top two in this tournament go into the semi-finals with the final played at the Maracanã. If the same team wins both stages of the tournament then there is no need for a two-legged play-off to decide the overall champion. In 2009 Botafogo came close to becoming overall champion in this manner. However having won the Taça Guanabara with a 3-0 win over surprise package Resende, they couldn't quite manage to win the Taça Rio, losing to Flamengo 1-0 which forced the championship play-off. Both legs of the 2009 Carioca final finished 2-2 so the title was decided by the dreaded penalty shoot-out. Leandro Guerreiro missed Botafogo's fourth kick in the shoot-out and this was enough for Flamengo to celebrate their 31st state championship.
The state championships may not be as important as they once were in Brazil but they still retain a place in the calendar as many fans see them as part of national footballing tradition, much the same as English football has a special place for the FA Cup. Flamengo will be optimistic of winning their 32nd tournament in 2010. Brazilian international player Vágner Love, who was being chased by German club Hamburger SV, has now opted to stay on loan in his homeland having been loaned previously to Palmeiras from his club CSKA Moscow. Love will team up with Adriano in the heart of the attack for the Rubro-Negro (Red and blacks) and will hope to add to a personal trophy cabinet that includes two Russian championships, a UEFA Cup and two Copa America titles which he won with the national team in 2004 and 2007.
Now that their national championship drought has been fulfilled can Flamengo create a new team to rival the the great side of Zico from the 1980s by capitalising on recent success? The 2010 Carioca championship will be the first place to find out.
Tagged with: Adriano, Botafogo, Carioca, Flamengo, Fluminense, Leando Guerreiro, Maracana, state championship, Taca Guanabara, Taca Rio, Vagner Love, Zico

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Daniel* more than just enjoys his education – he loves it! His mum doesn't have to drag him out of bed on a morning, she doesn't have to threaten or bribe him. She gently wakes him, then pops off to work, knowing that he'll get himself safely there. Too perfect to be true?
This wasn't the case for the first 14 years of his education. Far from it! He never liked school, always made excuses trying to get a day off here and there, lied about how much homework he had and how much trouble he was in. That sounds more like it!
He's left school and started college.
Despite being academically intelligent, Daniel preferred practical subjects. His favourite subject at school was design technology. As he was an A* student, he was forced to drop DT and take a modern foreign language as one of his "choices" even though he hated MFL. He was also forced to "choose" between history or geography, despite wanting to take drama. His only pleasure was PE, one lesson per week. Imagine hating 24 out of 25 lessons! This is reality for far too many children now. Their Year 9 "Options" are actually Year 9 "Directions" and not necessarily the right directions!
At Secondary School, students are being pushed down an ever-narrowing academic route, especially since the introduction of the English Baccalaureate. Some schools are in such a panic about OFSTED grading them "Inadequate" and forcing a government academy on them, that they are panic cramming more and more English, maths and science down unwilling throats and removing creative subjects such as art, drama and music.
Have we forgotten "less is more"? Have we forgotten that everyone excels in things they enjoy and enjoy things in which they excel? We need to broaden the curriculum not narrow it. Our children do NOT need a degree in an academic subject to be successful!!!
First of all, define success! Success is NOT money in the bank. Success is happiness. Who are the happiest people? Hairdressers, plumbers and interior decorators are among the top ranking most happy people. Not doctors, head teachers or bank managers.
The solution is simple – ban the Baccalaureate! If a student wishes to take maths, English, science, MFL and history or geography, that's up to them. But it should be their choice to take it just as much as it should be another students' choice not to take it. It is criminal that so many students' happiness is cast aside for some crack-pot idea a random politician once dreamed up just to show that he'd done something!
If we are living in a free country, why are our students not free to make their own choices in what they study? Why are schools not free to offer the courses that they know their students want?
There are many different types of intelligence. The main ones are emotional, musical, verbal/linguistic, logic/mathematical, kinaesthetic/body, interpersonal, intrapersonal. In the past students with great athletic ability have been proud of their skills but now their triumph is overshadowed if they cannot also excel in English. Likewise, students who can play the most beautiful music, have this success over-shadowed if they cannot show top results in maths. This has to stop. Students' successes should be celebrated and they should be encouraged to pursue the subjects and careers that suit them as an individual. Let them be who they want to be, not who one grey faceless politician says they should be.
There's a popular hashtag #letourkidsbekids which fights against excessive testing and homework. It might not be as catchy, but I propose the hashtag #letourkidsgrowintohappyadults!
You want world peace? Fill the world with happy people!
The students who are most able to learn are those who have good mental health. A child who feels safe, happy and loved, is more receptive to learning. So far I haven't told you anything you didn't know.
To nurture a child and help mould them into a healthy well-balanced person, parents need to spend time with them: listening to them, talking to them, helping them to deal with their emotions, talking through their fears, planning how to deal with situations, praising them for good attitudes. Parents need to spend quality time with their children, playing board games, reading together, caring for a pet together, curling up in front of a good film. A child who feels as though their parents have time for them and care for them will grow up with a much better attitude than those who feel ignored or marginalised. Still you already know this.
Day One – Today I will have quality time with my child. I'm going to be the best parent ever.
You're driving home from work, you think, we'll have a quick tea tonight so that we can spend some quality time with our child. You get in from work and your child has already been home half an hour but hasn't started their homework. They claim they didn't get straight on with their homework because they were tired after a day at school and just wanted a snack and to chill out in front of the TV. You're livid. That's half an hour wasted that they could have got on with their homework. That's half an hour less time available for your planned quality time. Stop! Wait a minute – your child was right! Of course they are tired and hungry when they get in from school. Aren't you frequently tired after a full day's work? And they were learning new things ALL DAY LONG! Just the thought of it is making me tired. And they're only kids! So they deserved their chill out time.
Now it's time to do their homework. They need to spend 40 minutes on their English project but dinner is ready in 30 minutes so they just rush it to finish it.
They have their tea and now they're feeling sleepy, but they still have their maths homework to do. They don't want to do it. They want to watch TV. You are a law abiding, rule abiding parent trying to do the right thing so you tell your child off for being lazy and insist they do their maths homework. An argument ensues and you're particularly fuming because you wanted to spend quality time with them but they're taking it up with homework. Stop! Wait a minute – you TOLD them to do their homework. They worked all day then you made them work all evening. The school loves you for being so supportive. But who's supporting your child?
Finally, homework is finished. They're still in their uniform. No point getting changed now, it will be bed time soon anyway. "Let's have a game of cards" you say. "I just want to watch TV" they reply. You're really hurt. You wanted to spend quality time with them and all they want to do is watch rubbish on TV. Stop! Wait a minute – they have no brain energy left to spend on a tactical card game. They have no energy left to do anything except flop in front of the TV and watch The Simpsons.
Next morning, your child doesn't want to get out of bed. They're dreading school. This is because they know they didn't complete their English homework to their best standard and the teacher will say something. They know they were too tired to do their best in maths and the teacher will say something. Worse, they had a history homework that they didn't tell you about and so now they know they will have an after-school detention. They arrive at school tired, grumpy and fed up. They are not mentally prepared to learn and have a hard time taking in new information.
Day Two – Today I WILL have quality time with my child. I'm going to be the best parent ever.
You get home from work and your child is still at school – in detention. When they eventually get home you are furious that they didn't do their history homework. They'd lied when they'd said they only had English and Maths. Now they've already used up one hour when you wanted to have quality time with them. You tell them off and order them to get straight on with today's homework. No they can't have a break – they lost that chance by being in detention. Stop! Wait a minute – did they actually have time to do that homework last night anyway?
Homework is interrupted by tea. If they hadn't been in detention they would have finished their homework before tea – it's their own fault. They finish tea and you force them back to their homework. They argue again but you point out what happened when they didn't do their homework last night. They only end up having to do it in the end anyway in detention if they don't do it at home. Stop! Wait a minute – They've been working all day long, they didn't get a break when they got home, they worked up to tea and now they're working after tea. Are these work hours even legal?
They finish their homework, but it wasn't their best effort they were angry. And tired. They refuse to play a board game with you and stomp upstairs to play on their X-box and complain to their friends what awful parents they have. Their friends listen to them and sympathise.
Next morning your child doesn't want to get out of bed. They're dreading school. This is because they know they were too tired and angry to do a good job of their homework and their teacher will say something. Also today is their least favourite day with their least favourite subject and least favourite teacher. They arrive at school tired, grumpy and fed up. They are not mentally prepared to learn and have a hard time taking in new information.
Day Three – Today I WILL have quality time with my child. I'm going to be the best parent ever.
You arrive home from work and your child is already home. Great this is better than yesterday. But they haven't done their homework. They're stuffing food into their face, staring at the TV. "Why aren't you doing your homework?" you snap. How many times do you have to tell them they must do their homework as soon as they get in from school otherwise they end up doing it too late at night and going to bed late. They argue with you and stomp about a bit but eventually start their homework. You stomp into the kitchen to make the tea angry that your child has been lazy yet again. Stop! Wait a minute – haven't we already been here? Haven't we already noted that the child is not lazy – just overworked! And which subject has given homework today? Only the subject that they hate the most. What motivation do they have to complete it – the threat of detention. What do they get if they complete their homework? Nothing. Just not a detention. You give them their tea and then ask to see their homework. You're suspicious because you know they hate this one. Just as you suspected, they haven't done their homework, they've been messaging their friend about how awful the teacher is, how awful the subject is and how awful parents are. You shout at them, remove all electronic gadgets and force them to do their homework. They don't finish until after bed time.
Okay, so I've made my point that your child is too tired (and probably disinterested) for homework, they're not doing it to a high standard and I've made my point that it is impacting negatively on their learning the next day. I hope you have also picked up on how miserable your child is and how miserable the parent is.
Now how about the teachers?
Setting homework eats into the time they would rather spend creating exciting and informative lessons.
They don't have time to create a whizz-bang exciting homework, because they are already over-stretched with all the lesson planning and marking.
They know the homework they set is not going to aid learning, but they will be in trouble if they don't set something so they just grabbed anything.
The homework is always a poor standard – you can tell the children have rushed it and not taken care over it.
They're going to have to find time to mark the homework.
They are going to have to start the lesson on a negative because some of the children will not have done their homework. It's not easy to get students enthused in your subject when you've started with a telling-off.
They are going to have to spend an hour in detention with the students who didn't complete their homework, taking yet more time away from planning amazing lessons.
Some of the children don't have a book to do their classwork in because they "left their homework at home". The teacher immediately stresses about "what if OFSTED sees their book".
You're driving home from work, you think, we'll have a quick tea tonight so that we can spend some quality time with our child. You get in from work and your child has already been home half an hour. They've got changed, made themselves a snack and been watching TV for half an hour. They feel content and relaxed because they've had chance to wind down from a hard day at school. You ask how school has been and they tell you about the funny thing that happened during break. You both have a laugh and your child follows you into the kitchen when you begin to make tea. During this time, they tell you that they have had trouble with another child at school. You discuss the problem and the best way to deal with it, and your child is relieved that you listened and helped. You sit down together and eat a meal. After tea, your child's friend calls and they play out for an hour. When your child gets back you play a board game and they tell you they're no longer worried about the child who had caused trouble because they have arranged to walk to school with their friend and hang out with them all day. You watch a comedy program together and then your child gets ready for bed.
Next day your child gets out of bed, meets their friend and goes to school. They are fresh alert and ready to learn. The teacher greets them with a smile and teaches a whizz-bang lesson.
Now … which scenario do you think sets them up for a happy, successful life and enables them to learn at their personal best?
Surprisingly, I'm not asking for an all-out ban on homework. Judicious homework now and then can reap huge rewards. If a teacher tells a class who doesn't normally have homework, that they have an assessment coming up and here's some revision guides, I strongly suspect they will take it far more seriously than if it was just yet another homework among many. Preparing for a new topic might have an interesting bit of research. Another homework that I agree with is for students to finish what they didn't complete in class. If they've wasted class time messing around then they can finish it in their own time. This gives the students incentive to behave in class. Behave – no homework. Mess around – homework! There are homeworks that make sense, but the minute you start dishing out drivel, week in, week out – that's when you turn students off homework and off independent study.
There are those who argue that homework is keeping some naughty children off the streets. I disagree entirely. The "naughty" children aren't doing their homework anyway. They're still on the streets, but the conscientious children are missing out on fun, locked away in the misguided notion that they're doing the right thing.
I also think there's a place for voluntary homework. For those students who enjoy school work, especially academic work, why not have a bank of homeworks they can either access on-line or from the teacher's desk at school? They can earn achievement points for any they complete. Give the control to the child: if they want to do extra homework – go for it. If they want to play out – let them. After all, they are all little individuals with their own likes and dislikes, hopes and fears, ambitions and worries. It doesn't matter what their skills are; academic, social skills, football, cooking, being around animals. They need to carve their own way in the world, and to be able to find out who they are and where they fit in. They need to have evenings and weekends free to discover themselves and enjoy their lives. They're only young once. Let our kids be kids!


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Cicely Tyson dead: Queen challenged us to be our best selves
DCTCRS February 2, 2021 5 min read
We just keep losing them.
Our heroes. Our legends. Our giants.
It began that awful Sunday morning of Jan. 26, 2020, with the helicopter crash that claimed the life of Kobe Bryant along with eight others, including his daughter Gianna. And honestly it feels as though the rest of the year were spent trapped in a perpetual state of mourning, our hearts tied to a conveyor belt of heartbreaking goodbyes, the news ticker cruelly doubling as a running obituary dedicated to the lives that inspired us to live.
Pat Quinn, who died in November, was the cofounder of the Ice Bucket Challenge, which led to 2.5 million Americans donating $115 million to the ALS Assn. John Thompson, the first Black NCAA basketball coach to win a national championship, died in August. Chadwick Boseman died that month too. Civil rights icon John Lewis, in July. Playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer, in May. Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
There was hope that 2021 would be different.
It has not been.
January has already claimed Tommy Lasorda, Larry King and Hank Aaron. Longtime NBA writer Sekou Smith died on Jan. 26, the same date we lost Kobe. And now our queen, Cicely Tyson.
It is not a coincidence that as the country continues to grapple with a darkness many naively assumed was in our wake — a darkness so emboldened that it tried to smother the light on Jan. 6 — that the stanza most repeated from Amanda Gorman's inauguration poem is a reminder that "there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it."
We keep losing our giants.
Which means we must now be giants.
For it cannot be a coincidence that on Jan. 26, 2021 — the day many of us were reflecting on the loss of Kobe, the day that began this unprecedented string of great loss — Tyson's memoir was published. A 432-page diary documenting her 96 years of heartache and love, darkness and light. It is no coincidence that with America still very much shaken by a President Trump-incited insurrection and by the cowardice of Congress members who continue to downplay their roles in it, one of the last things Tyson would do is leave us with an unvarnished account of this country's resilience by sharing details of her own.
In an era when celebrities and athletes in their 20s are having memoirs published, the fact that Tyson resisted telling her story until this season of uncertainty cannot be a coincidence. In the book's introduction she explained that she didn't want to write her autobiography until "I have something to say" — the response she said Barbara Jordan, a fellow civil rights activist who became the first Black Texan elected to Congress, gave when Tyson asked her, "When are you going to write your book?"
"When you ask God for strength, as I do daily, He doesn't usually just drop it from the sky," Tyson wrote. "He often answers by placing you in a circumstance that requires you to build fortitude while relying solely on him."
I don't know who else needed to read that, but I certainly did.
I also needed to see the cover — a stunning photograph taken in London to promote her movie "Sounder," for which she received an Oscar nomination in 1973. For the Harlem-born daughter of West Indian immigrants, it is quite fitting that the first role the deeply religious Tyson would land was on the NBC faith-based series "Frontiers of Faith" in 1951. Refusing to play characters she found demeaning to Black women, Tyson would go on to spend more than 60 years using her platform not only to garner awards but also to challenge stereotypes about what it means to be a Black woman in America.
Cicely Tyson's "Just As I Am."
This sense of purpose is embodied on the cover of her memoir. The sepia tone image stunningly captures her eyelashes which frame the searing confidence in her eyes, her shaved head showcasing the former model's natural radiance while boldly declaring her Blackness is beautiful at a time when Hollywood had no problem expressing otherwise. The book's title, "Just As I Am," rests near the top of her perfectly shaped head like a crown.
Or perhaps a halo.
So many halos over these last 12 months.
Charley Pride, the first Black member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died in December. Chuck Yeager, the pilot who first broke the sound barrier, also died that month — as did Olympian Rafer Johnson. David Dinkins, the first and only Black mayor of New York City, left us the month before.
One by one, God keeps calling our giants home.
But during one of Tyson's last television interviews, I was reminded that our legacies are not footprints in the sand, destined to lose depth and meaning as the wind of time blows. Instead, think of them as a compass, pointing the generations that come after in the direction they must go.
The direction the country must go.
"When the time comes, what do you want us to remember about you?" CBS' Gayle King asked Tyson.
The Oscar-, Tony- and Emmy award-winning trailblazer bowed her head before taking in an audible breath. When she lifted it back up, a smile slowly emerged, her lashes perfectly framing the confidence in her eyes — still.
"I've done my best," she said. And then, after a playful shoulder shrug, she added, "That's all." Her voice textured and clear. My hope is that the Grammys will see fit to honor her for the audiobook, as completing the coveted EGOT would be a wonderful tribute to an entertainer who did more than simply entertain. She inspired.
I couldn't help but wonder whether King were the only one Tyson was speaking to. Was she thinking of her mother, who initially didn't approve of her acting career? Was she talking to God? Or was she sending one last inspiring message of hope to the rest of us? A challenge to be our best selves.
To be giants.
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