There I was, just popping over to the Turkish shop across the street when I noticed that the billboard on the corner had changed adverts.
And there I was trying to find a link between Vancouver and The Netherlands!
I know that this advert would never be accepted anywhere in Canada and that it’s no big deal here and simply funny. There’s a cultural difference right there. No freaked out parents claming this traumatises youth. It’s a nice change from the usually photoshopped tits and ass featuring underaged girls for useless products. As if the men’s speed skating outfits weren’t revealing enough.
Tags: advertising, Vancouver
A recent study by HBB Consultancy revealed that the Elfstedentocht, a rare and gruelling outdoor skating race, is a better known and higher valued sports brand in the Netherlands than the Olympic Games, Algemeen Dagblad reported yesterday.
Both events are about as old, but the Elfstedentocht is held on average every seven years, when conditions in Friesland are harsh enough to freeze over 200 kilometres’ worth of canals. On the list of strong sports brands, the Olympics only get a peek in at three, after the Elfstedentocht and football goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar.
As for the athletes, Van der Sar is better liked among men, whereas women prefer speed skater Sven ‘Svencouver’ Kramer.
Although Ajax is rated the top brand among football teams, arch rivals Feyenoord take off with the best appreciated stadium (De Kuip).
(Photo by Remko van Dokkum, some rights reserved)
Tags: brands, Edwin van der Sar, Elfstedentocht, Olympic Games, speed skating, Sven Kramer, winter
After a horrible farming accident involving many broken bones, a coma and a full splenectomy some five years ago, Geert-Jan van der Wal still won yesterday’s Veluwemeertocht (Lake Veluwe tour) outdoor skating race.
It wasn’t an easy win by the looks of it on television. It involved a gruelling last-minute sprint with fellow skater Jouke Hoogeveen, which had Van der Wal screaming out in pain. “I had to scream, my entire legs were in such terrible pain. I was exhausted. Man, I never would have thought this five years ago.”
Of course, he has his unbelievable determination to thank for his improbable win, but he also says eating his mom’s pancakes before the race gives him “the engine of a scooter”.
(Link: depers.nl, Photo of Veluwemeer by MPhernambucq, some rights reserved)
Tags: skating
This artwork called ‘Sports jacket ball’ was made by Dutch artist Sander Reijgers. His work caught my attention because it uses sports fabrics as well as actual blow-up dolls. This football with a black blow-up doll is appropriately called ‘Black Woman’ and yes, I dare speculate it’s a nodd to the 2010 World Cup football in South Africa.
(Link: trendbeheer.com)
Tags: football
This year it’s my turn to do a list of top stories we’ve featured.
Tags: André Rieu, Grootveld, mobile application, Prince Willem Alexander, Vinkenoog
Dutch nationality is apparently just an incovenience to some speed skaters. Five skaters, Rob Hadders, Robert Bovenhuis, Arjan Stroetinga, Jorrit Bergsma and Christijn Groeneveld wanted to qualify for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver by becoming Kazakh citizens and skating for Kazakhstan. For reasons I can’t wrap my brain around, four of them thought they could have their cake and eat it too, and have dual citizenship. Dutch law clearly states that if someone voluntarily takes on another nationality, they are legally obliged to give up Dutch citizenship. I know, I’ve been through the process myself and decided to stay a Canuck.
Four of them went through the process, and if it is true that they have indeed become Kazakhs, then they do not have a legal resident’s status in the Netherlands. One of the skaters, Bovenhuis, who stopped the paperwork by not signing certain things, wonders what’s up. All five skaters were not allowed to compete in last week’s NK afstanden (Dutch long-distance championship) because they were no longer Dutch citizens.
Guys, you got some really bad advice. Every single immigrant I know here knows better than this. The rules apply to you too, and you suck for trying to pull it off. Bovenhuis, you get points for waking up and smelling the coffee, good for you.
(Link: gelderlander.nl, Photo: Jeroen)
Tags: passport, speed ska
The Dutch have this party tent idea they bring with them and set up at the Olympics and other major sporting events called the Heineken Holland House. It’s a bigazz orange party tent for the athletes and their fans to have a drink, watch Dutch athletes perform on TV and party. It’s been a hit for years and of course the Dutch want to bring the party over to the Vancouver winter Olympics 2010 to watch stars like Sven ‘Svencouver’ Kramer kick all the men’s asses at speed skating. For three weeks, people would get to hang out with Dutch athletes, celebrities, politicians and maybe even Dutch royalty while enjoying a Heineken and some choice Dutch junk food.
But oh no. Canadian bureaucrats in the province of British Columbia and in Ottawa at the national level are being more difficult than the Chinese were in Beijing about permits, building codes, Canadians losing potential jobs to Dutch people and an array of other undiplomatic stupidities.
I’m truly embarrassed for British Columbia and Canada right now. Sort that out!
(Link: vancouversun.com, Photo by Quistnix, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 1.0.)
October 19, 2009
The Helmond Cup is an unofficial football championship grafted onto official competitions. The team that beats the last champion in an official match becomes the new champion, so that you get a chain of champions across many unrelated competitions.
It was founded by the Huisman family from Hillegom, avid fans of Helmond Sport, a club that has yet to get out of the Dutch second division. Since it was founded in 2008, the Helmond Cup was won and held shortly by teams from the Netherlands, France, Ukraine and Spain. You can it follow its travels at the Ajaxtalk forums.
A similar cup is the Unofficial Football World Championships, founded by Scotland fans when Scotland beat archnemesis England, who were then the real world champions. Currently, the Netherlands hold that trophy, although we might lose it next month when playing Italy in a friendly match.
(Photo by Wikimedia user Carolus Ludovicus, some rights reserved.)
Tags: Helmond
October 2, 2009
A Feijenoord (Rotterdam football club) fan decided to complain to the director of NAC (Breda football club) for the free sausage rolls (’worstenbroodjes’) that were handed out at the game last Sunday. The Breda fans were given the free meat snack to comfort them for their team getting kicked 2-0 by Feijenoord.
The Feijenoord fan thought they should have thought of vegetarians, maybe even offered a meat-free alternative. It reminded me of the airplane I took yesterday which offered cheese or pork sandwiches. It can be done.
I get what they guy is saying, but then you’d have to think of obese people, people who have low-sodium diets, gluten-free eaters, diabetics, people with peanut allergies, kosher, halal, and so on.
Surprise: we live in a mostly meat-eating society. Just say no and don’t eat it is also an option.
(Link: meatandmeal.nl, Photo: veggieunwrapped.com)
Tags: Breda, Feijenoord, NAC, Rotterdam
September 21, 2009
Speed skaters have suffered no ill effects from the economic crisis, reports Z24 (Dutch).
The on-line financial magazine points out that sponsor contracts for long track speed skating teams tend to be long term. Insurers TVM and DSB for instance have sponsorship contracts in place until 2014. “Skating has loyal partners,” Barbara Peeters of Referee Sportsmarketing is quoted as saying.
But the main reason appears to be the loyalty of the fans. “Skating is not a sport, but a madness,” the TVM team’s manager Patrick Wouters said.
And what may also help is that skating matches generate an enormous amount of exposure. Whereas the most popular sport, football, is behind a pay wall with only an hour of summaries shown on public television, long track speed skating is shown 120+ hours a year. With only a few companies sponsoring the sport, logos tend to be on screen for a long time.
Tags: crisis, skating, speed skating, sponsoring
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