I Don't Blame The Beautiful Game
AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FILMMAKER (July 2010)
WHOLPHIN: So, this is a real story? Depressing. What is the name of this poor guy?
CHRISTOPHER: I can only say his nickname, El Gallinazo, which is Spanish for The Vulture. He earned the name upon scoring his first professional goal off a rebound from a teammate's penalty kick. There was a pile of bodies near the ball when he swooped down and struck it into the back of the net. At the height of his popularity, the fans would wave their arms like a bird and sing (in another language), "Do you see the Vulture? There's only one. He is circling above our heads. Do you see the ball? It is his feast. And the goal, it is his nest." Or something like that.
WHOLPHIN: What league was he in and what team did he play for?
CHRISTOPHER: All I can say is that he played as a striker for a second division club.
WHOLPHIN: How did you hear about him?
CHRISTOPHER: One day, a few years ago, in the produce section of a grocery store, I accidentally knocked an orange off the shelf. Being a soccer player myself, I had a reflex reaction to kick the orange back up so I could catch it, but I miskicked it and the orange sailed out of reach. El Gallinazo, who happened to be passing by, caught the orange dead on his foot and asked me if I wanted it back. I said no. He then flicked the orange up in the air and kicked it with his other foot into a handbasket about twenty feet away. I was so impressed that I knocked another orange off the shelf and we kicked it around for a few minutes until an old lady stopped us to ask if we'd ever tried the broccoli raab. Our friendship quickly evolved and soon we were watching Premier League games at obscure Thai restaurants. I had no idea of his match fixing experience until further down the road. I guess it took a couple years before he trusted me enough to reveal his story.
WHOLPHIN: Who were the guys that were after him. Was the whole league dirty?
CHRISTOPHER: The league itself wasn't dirty, it was people outside the football association who were fixing matches.
WHOLPHIN: What has happened to him since then?
CHRISTOPHER: El Gallinazo is very selective with the information he chooses to reveal. I only get fragments of his big picture, mostly peculiarities. I know he has a fobia of women's earrings, for example. Over the years, however, I've managed to piece together the more relevant fragments to create a rough sketch. Imagine an urban monk of sorts, spending most of his time alone, occupying himself with a number of solo activities that include reading (strictly poetry and non-fiction), meditating, practicing yoga and keeping up with his soccer training. He must also have a day job of some kind because he never answers the phone before six on weekdays.
WHOLPHIN: Is he still playing soccer?
CHRISTOPHER: He still trains by himself, but for his own reasons that I don't fully understand, he doesn't want to play soccer with other people.
WHOLPHIN: Have you heard of this type of thing happening in other leagues? In World Cup play?
CHRISTOPHER: There is an excellent book on this subject called The Fix by Declan Hill.
WHOLPHIN: Have you ever illegally bet on a game?
CHRISTOPHER: Never.
WHOLPHIN: Who were you rooting for in the World Cup?
CHRISTOPHER: It changes game to game depending on what style, line-up and formation the teams have chosen. Typically I know who I want to win by about twenty minutes into the first half. Being an American, I wish I could say my favorite team for the entire tournament was the USA, but unfortunately I heavily disagreed with their squad selection and at times found them frustrating to watch. The US team had a few excellent players (some of them spending most of their time on the bench) and a few undeniable moments of greatness, but in my opinion, the best players in the country won't make it anywhere near the national team or any first division professional club under the current structure and mentality of the US Soccer Federation. If the USSF doesn't make some critical changes to their system and leadership, the players with world-class potential that secretly exist in this country will continue to fall into obscurity as unrecognized, wasted soccer talent.
WHOLPHIN: What are you working on next?
CHRISTOPHER: I'm mainly trying to find a way to earn a living, ideally as a writer and/or director. Unfortunately, I've been ramming my head against the same industry walls trying to get a foot in the door for quite some time now. Aside from that, I've been polishing up my feature-length scripts, including a more elaborate version of "I Don't Blame the Beautiful Game". I'm also looking to raise a little money to finish the audio for two nearly completed projects. One is a re-edit of my first feature, Giver Taker Heartbreaker, which premiered at the World Film Festival of Bangkok in 2009. The other is my most recent short film about a man who finds his stolen bike chained to a street sign and decides to wait for the new owner. Until now, I've paid for all of my projects using money I earned from my design service, but times have changed and I need to start looking for alternate sources for funding as well as alternate sources of income.