Remembering the Patriarch of the Family

This is how we describe our father, Father of Ultra (ウルトラの父).

Thank you, dad, for you undivided love and care throughout my life. I will write a lengthy note about me and dad.

Sayang Dad :)

Wear Like The Champions

Being a loyal supporter (or tifosi in Italian) is quite incomplete without donning the shirt of the champions, the other being at the holy ground of the team themselves. RS Iskandar has the story.

E

very time you wear your favourite team's shirt, you can declare to all that how proud you are to be a part of the champions without ever playing a single minute as an outfield player.

Mind you, I am not in any way a Manchester United fan. I don't hate them but simply dislike them. What an overrated team, just like the English national football team. Enough said.

The newly crowned champions of Serie A TIM (the top tier of the Italian Football League) of season 2010-11 are AC Milan, better known as Milan. The 18th championship (scudetto in Italian) tied them at par with their cross-town rival, Internazionale Milano (or Inter for short). Both teams, along with Juventus, are among Europe's strongest club football teams, and are also well recognized internationally. Milan have coveted most international titles, earning them the rights to proudly display the slogan "il club più titolato al mondo" (the most successful club in the world) under their crest on their shirts. In addition, Milan is the only European team to adorn the UEFA Badge of Honours in all competitions, having won the top European club championship (the UEFA Champions League) seven times. Unlike champions of other leagues, the Italian champions instead sport a small shield, known as scudetto to signify their previous year’s victory. In England, for example, Premier League champions will adorn golden league patches, in contrast to normal white patches to distinct themselves from their opponents.

I'm through with the details. Moving on with the topic.

As usual, nearing the end of the season, I would be hovering the Net for news and images of what the new shirt for the next season would look like. There would be many leaked photos and designs, as well as rumours. As the end grew near, I stumbled upon what would be the confirmed design of Milan's new home shirt (la maglia casa). The news came from a reputable source, KitKross.

According to Milan's official website, the official launch of the new home shirt will be made during the Adidas Italia week. And when the launching was published, I said to myself that I must grab this shirt before counterfeiters could even get them sold here. So I made my move to Milan Store to order my champions' shirt.

Last season's strip was a such a hit that I almost missed it. Still looking for the TECHFIT™ PowerWEB version though. So, I must get this one customized. In addition to the strip, I added the Serie A TIM patch, the UEFA Badge of Honours, the club's slogan and a name set… which I put my name (3 ISKANDAR). The shirt itself came with the affixed scudetto patch at the centre, signifying their league crown victory. The complete shirt cost me approximately RM 610.00 including shipping charges and delivery by United Parcel Service (UPS). The purchase was done on Thursday morning and I expected five days of delivery.

Or so it seemed.

26 May 2011, 1056 hrs

The consignment (il consegna della milano, as I called it) is out of the warehouse and ready for delivery. The warehouse is at Milan, but obviously not at Milanello, San Siro or the Via Filippo Turati headquarters. I received a notification email on this matter from Milan Store.

26 May 2011, 2145 hrs

Il Consegna reaches Signor UPS' northern Italian facility at Bergamo for scanning and delivery. It's gonna be out of Italia very soon.

26 May 2011, 2345 hrs

Tired of being scanned, il consegna is now thrown to Herr UPS' European port at Köln, Deutschland (that's Cologne, Germany, folks!)

27 May 2011, 2316 hrs

After a night of anxious sleep, il consegna arrives at Shenzhen, China for further handling. Too much hands and laser scans. Can't wait for it already.

29 May 2011, 0900 hrs

Encik UPS Malaysia has il consegna scanned, molested and checked at UPS Sepang facility. Come to ay papi!

30 May 2011, 1042 hrs

The lovely Miss Raudah of NSTP Mail Room has signed il consegna from Abang UPS. The shirt is now at my office. 

I was on leave that day. I woke up to track il consegna as I knew the last location was in Sepang. It was like an unbelievable deception to eyes when I saw the delivery status: DELIVERED. I blinked twice and all came to my senses that il consegna is indeed at my office, waiting to meet its rightful owner. Four days, all the way from Italy… and only time and distance separated us (I was in Kuantan that day). I immediately called my colleague and instructed him to keep il consegna as I will come later to collect it. I told nothing of il consegna and promised to make and official presentation on Wednesday.

Later that day, my brother and me made a stop to collect il consegna at office en route to Melaka. I can't contain the excitement and almost leaked the packaging. I kept it intact and thanking my colleague. Upon reaching Melaka, I got Kyoko (my Canon G12 camera) ready to snap every moment that will happen. And the moment came…

 

Il Consegna della Milan

Belissimo grande! I was speechless upon seeing and caressing the shirt. I officially became the first Milanista in Malaysia to own and wear the fully customized new Milan shirt! I was so happy!

Presenting the new Adidas AC Milan SS Home Shirt 2011-12 in S size. The version I purchased, is of course not the player's version, but an official replica of the player's version. It's quite difficult to find a player's version, as the manufacturer directly supplies players’ kits. The other way to tell this (in this case, Adidas), is the label. An official replica uses ClimaCool™ technology; ForMotion™ or TECHFIT™ PowerWEB are for players as their fabrics are lighter, cooler and more comfortable for maximum performance.

 Fresh from Milan Store

 Customization labels

 

Maglia dei Campioni!

The "scudetto"

 

"The most successful club in the world"

 The official Serie A TIM rubber-textured patch

 

The UEFA Badge of Honours. 7 Volte Campioni d'Europa!

 Customised nameset

 The club's full name in glorious gold script

 The official presentation and photography

"These are the champions"

And as promised, I wore this shirt on Wednesday as my presentazioni ufficiale to positive response and awe, as they always love to see original stuff from overseas, as usual. At the end of day, I managed to get my friend, Jann Jayeff for a mini photo shoot at our office.

I now have 10 Milan shirts from various seasons, tallying the estimated cost of RM 2,500. Good money if I ought to sell them, but no bids or offers accepted. I treasure them greatly like national artefacts.

Now, I'll wait for the away shirt, which would be launched anytime soon. Leaked photos for both away and third kit are already circling around the Net.

Forza Milan! Tu sei tutta la mia vita, 18 volte campioni d’Italia!

Of Being Loyal and Rival

I have no brand preference. I am not a sponsored athlete. I’m just a copywriter, even so Kilometrico or Stabilo never approach me for pen sponsorship for my career.

I wear both Adidas and Puma brands, as reflected on my AC Milan and Italy shirts. Both German power brands are well known, and beyond sports, they ventured into other areas as well. I gotta admit that some Adidas products are better than Puma, and vice-versa.

I stumbled upon this interesting article while looking for some work-related stuff. I knew that both brands are “rival siblings” and would like to share this with my friends. Read and learn from it.

The Town that Sibling Rivalry Built, and Divided

The small Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach might seem a sleepy backwater, but it's home to two of the world's top sportswear companies, thanks to a 60-year-old fight. For decades, the rivalry split the town in two.

The small Aurach River gurgles through the heart of Herzogenaurach, population 24,000, and gives the town its name. But this peaceful, meandering waterway once symbolized a bitter, protracted family feud that divided the town into two distinct camps.

It was all about footwear.

"The town became known as the town where people tend to look down because you'd always tend to look at shoes the person is wearing before you strike up a conversation," said Barbara Smit, a Dutch financial journalist and one of the authors to tackle the story of the Dassler brothers, Rudolf and Adolf.

They started out making shoes together before having a terrible falling out. Their argument resulted in the creation of two sports giants, Puma and Adidas, both still based in the provincial town.

Partners, then enemies

Rudolf and younger brother Adolf, Rudi and Adi to friends, began their shoe business in their mother's laundry room in the 1920s. At the time, electricity supplies in the town were unreliable, and the brothers sometimes had to use pedal power from a stationary bicycle to run their equipment.

"They were very different characters," said Smit. "Adi Dassler was always more thoughtful, a craftsman who enjoyed nothing more than fiddling with his shoes, whereas Rudolf Dassler was a more abrasive, loudmouthed salesman. They complemented each other very well to begin with."

Their new, lightweight sports shoes began to attract attention and they moved into a location south of the Aurach River near the train station.

The Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory jumped onto the world stage in 1936 when they found themselves providing footwear for American Jessie Owens, who won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics.

But after the war, the fraternal relationship fell apart. In Smit's book, "Pitch Invasion," she theorizes that it could have had something to do with Nazi party links and that after Rudolf was picked up by American soldiers and accused of being a member of the SS, he was convinced that his brother had turned him in. Others speculate it could have had something to do with their wives, or a simple misunderstanding in a bomb shelter. No one really knows for sure.

What is certain is that they felt they could no longer work together and in 1948 the Dassler Brothers Shoe Factory was split in two.

"More of less in the middle of the night, Rudolf Dassler packed his bags and moved on the other side of the little river," said Smit. "He established Puma on the other side. From there on in, the town was really split in two like a sort of mini Berlin with this little river as a partition in the middle."

And like Berlin's famous wall, it wasn't advisable to cross over, at least when it came to shoes.

Brand loyalty became paramount for many residents. Two camps formed, and dug in.

There were stores, bakers and bars which were unofficially known as either loyal to Rudolf's Puma, or to Adolf's new company, Adidas, which he named using his nickname, Adi, and the first three letters of his last name. There were two soccer teams: the ASV Herzogenaurach club wore the three stripes; the 1 FC Herzogenaurach had the jumping cat on its footwear. Intermarriage was frowned upon.

"I knew a butcher who played for the Puma team," said Ernst Ditrich who works at the town's museum. "He told us the guys from the Adidas team didn't need to bother buying at his store. He didn't want to do business with them. That sort of thing happened."

Wayward son

The brothers never did reconcile. While they are buried in the same cemetery, their graves are about as far apart as possible. But one of their descendents decided the family feud had gone on long enough.

Frank Dassler is the grandson of Rudolf Dassler and grew up living and breathing Puma. Growing up, he had no contact at all with his great-uncle Adolf's family.

"They stayed kind of enemies during the rest of their lives," he said. "It's certainly sad, but from a business point of view it was a good decision, since it motivated both companies to innovate."

But these days, Frank Dassler sits not in Puma's new glass-and-steel headquarters on the bank of the river, but in an office at the Adidas campus further north, on the site of a former American army barracks. Two years ago, he took a job as the Adidas Group's head legal counsel.

"My stepmother and my stepbrother weren't very happy about this decision, they thought it would be a betrayal against my grandfather," he said.

His taboo breaking raised more than a few eyebrows in the town and the local newspapers were not always so kind.

"But this rivalry was years ago, it's history now," he said.

Lost its punch

Indeed, young people today seem little concerned with the once-intense rivalry.

"It's not so strong anymore. It was like that before, but now, I don't think people care so much," said 14-year-old Teresa, who was wearing Puma shoes but carrying an Adidas bag. "Sometimes Puma has something better, sometimes Adidas. It just depends."

But Hermann Lindner, 41, who was with his family (all wearing Puma) at a festival for the Argentinian team who is staying in the town for the World Cup, says the two camps haven't entirely folded up their tents.

"No, it's not as extreme as it used to be, but you still find people who stick to Puma and other who only wear Adidas," he said. "People do make the distinction."

And while most think things are better now that rivalry has cooled, some knew how to make the most of it when it was raging, Frank Dassler says. He remembers that when handymen would come to work at his grandfather's house, they would sometimes wear Adidas shoes on purpose. When Rudolf would see their footwear, he'd tell them to go to the basement and pick out a pair of Puma shoes, which they could have for free.

"Rudolf simply couldn't stand the fact that someone was wearing an Adidas shoe in his private home," Dassler said.

A Dream in Time

 

Suddenly, in the midst of the forest, as I was lost; and I heard a voice.
 

“Rizal Iskandar,” it said, “whither are you wandering alone?”
 

“Who are you?” I answered. “And where art thou?"
 

A tall figure appeared, wearing a black and tan costume, with a white scarf. He was handsome, and smiled as he walked towards me, as if he came from an unseen platform or stairs of clouds.

 

“Lost are we,” he said, “you should seem surprised to see me, but you are not.”
 

“I never expect to see you here. After all, I am in search of myself. This dark forest is trapping me to an unknown space,” I said desperately.
 

“Look here, Iskandar. You have the power, the power that could guide mankind to love. Why can’t you use the power to love yourself? Indeed you are, my friend, have your say.”
 

“What would be of me? I wish I could use it, but it is against my principle.”
 

“It is against the rule, my friend. Rules are conditions; they may have exceptions. Principles, as you hold to it could not break the bond that are what you call law.”