The English Blog

Cartoon: How To Play Like Germans

BACKGROUND
For more than 40 years, England fans have wanted the national football team to be more like the Germans. Now, it seems, they’ve got their wish. For the England team’s latest kit bears a striking resemblance to the strip worn by West Germany in 1966. The kit, unveiled yesterday, was designed by Nike to mark the 150th anniversary of the Football Association. Full story >>

THE CARTOON
The cartoon by Andy Davey from The Sun shows the England team in the dressing room before a match. Three players (Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and Andy Carroll) are putting on lederhosen — leather breeches which are traditional Bavarian men's clothing. Cole tells the manager Roy Hodgson, "Boss — these aren't going to make us play like Germans." You can say that again!

VOCABULARY
1. Footballers traditionally address their manager/trainer/coach as boss. In fact, recently retired Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has told his players they can call him all the names under the sun - but never to refer to him as 'boss' again. Read more >>
2. Kit is special clothing and equipment that you use when you take part in a particular activity, especially a sport.

FASHION NOTE
Get your lederhosen here!

ALSO SEE
• Mein gott! Now England will wear Germany’s kit (Daily Express)

 

Related articles

Is this the only way we can match the Germans? New England shirt looks just like 1966 rivals

Goal: The Rise of German Soccer

Eurozone crisis in cartoons

Cartoon: Mac on Sir Alex Ferguson's Resignation

This cartoon by Mac from The Daily Mail relates to news that Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will step down at the end of the season after over 26 years in charge at Old Trafford.

The board of Wrigley's Chewing Gum Ltd. is having a meeting. A man interrupts with news of Sir Alex's resignation, telling his colleagues, "We face ruin. Alex Ferguson has retired".

EXPLANATION
Ferguson was famous for standing on the touchline, chewing gum and yelling at players and referees, and even chewed gum during interviews. His resignation is therefore bad news for the gum manufacturer as sales will drop.

COMMENT
The cartoonist is, of course, exaggerating, but it would be interesting to know if Sir Alex's chewing gum habit has boosted sales over the course of his career.

VOCABULARY
Your resignation is a formal statement of your intention to leave a job or position. • The managing director has offered his resignation and it has been accepted. The corresponding verb is resign. • The most successful manager in the history of English football has resigned.

Related articles

Sir Alex Ferguson resigns: Football greats pay tribute

Sir Alex Ferguson Retires, Man Utd Confirms

Sir Alex Ferguson to retire at end of season: 'I'm leaving Manchester United on a high'

Live: Sir Alex Ferguson future

Sir Alex Ferguson's 49 trophies - the most successful managerial career Britain has ever known

Reuters Video: Ferguson blows final whistle as Man United manager

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson will retire at the end of the season after more than 26 years in charge, bringing to a close the most glittering managerial career in British soccer. Ivor Bennett looks at the impact his move will have on one of the world's richest and best known sporting clubs.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: It was making the headlines before it was even announced - and this time, the rumours were true. Alex Ferguson is stepping down as Manchester United manager at the end of the season, after 26 years in charge. To say it's the end of an era is no understatement. He's British football's longest serving manager, and its most successful. His retirement has shocked fans around the world.
SHAHIED MOTAN: "I don't think anybody can ever replace him."
NELSON NG: "I know there has been rumours coming out, but no-one expected it to be so sudden."
ARI HARYANTO: "It is a great loss for Manchester United and for Manchester United fans."
REPORTER: Ferguson's won an unparalleled 38 trophies while at Manchester United - this season's premier league his latest triumph. During his tenure, the club's gone from an also-ran to the dominant force in English football, and was twice champions of Europe. Football finance expert Sue Bridgewater says his impact shouldn't be underestimated.
DR SUE BRIDGEWATER, WARWICK UNIVERSITY: "Charismatic, visionary leaders play important parts in an organisation. There's no doubt at all that Alex Ferguson has embedded a culture, and a way of working, and has played a very pivotal role in the success of Manchester United."
REPORTER: Ferguson's success was the driving force behind the club's 2.3 billion dollar listing on the New York Stock Exchange last year. Now he's going, shareholders are starting to get nervous. The club's pricing dropped slightly after the announcement as speculation grew about Ferguson's replacement. Josh Raymond at City Index says the stock could drop more if the right man's not found.
JOSH RAYMOND, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, CITY INDEX: "I think in the longer term there will certainly be a market reaction because all of it is obviously done in terms of how the business performs. Man United is a listed business as much as a sports club. The revenue side of it is dictated by how they perform on the field. So a quality replacement for Sir Alex Ferguson is needed and that will help to calm some of the shareholder uncertainty that we've seen."
REPORTER: At 71, Ferguson's retirement has been long time coming. Bookmakers have been taking bets on his replacement for over a decade. The latest favourites are Everton manager David Moyes and Real Madrid's former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho. Whoever gets the job, one things for sure - they'll have big shoes to fill.

IDIOM
If you blow the final whistle, you signal the end of something. The metaphor comes from the referee blowing his whistle at the end of a football match.

Related articles

Sir Alex Ferguson's 49 trophies - the most successful managerial career Britain has ever known

Ferguson retires as Manchester United's manager, who's next?

David Moyes v Jose Mourinho: Manchester United don't need change - they need more of the same

David Moyes tipped to replace Alex Ferguson as Manchester United boss

Manchester United's best XI under Sir Alex Ferguson

Cartoon: Biting Criticism

Several of today's UK national dailies feature cartoons inspired by the Luis Suárez biting incident. This one is by Peter Brookes from The Times.

BACKGROUND
During Sunday's Premier League match at Anfield, Liverpool's Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez bit a Chelsea player on the arm. The incident was not seen by the referee, but Suárez has subsequently been fined by his club and charged with violent conduct by the Football Association and faces a long ban. Full story >>

THE CARTOON
George Osborne, the UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer, is portrayed as the Chelsea player who got bitten. Only it's not Suárez who has taken bites out of his arm, but the credit ratings agencies such as Moody's and Fitch. Osborne's shirt has the word 'ECONOMY' on it, so the biting incident is being used as a metaphor for the damage done to the UK's (i.e. Osborne's) economic strategy by successive credit agency downgrades.

The title of the cartoon is a play on words. Biting criticism or wit is very harsh or unkind. • He made some biting remarks about the whole occasion.

VOCABULARY
Bite is an irregular verb: bite, bit, bitten. • He was bitten by a dog, so he bit the dog.

MORE CARTOONS
• Dave Brown (The Independent)
• Matt (The Telegraph)
• Mac (The Daily Mail) 
• Paul Thomas (The Express) 
• Andy Davey (The Sun) 

Related articles

Suarez charged for bite by FA

Liverpool's Luis Suarez faces lengthy ban after biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic

Poll: is it time for Liverpool to sell Luis Suarez?

Photoshoppers get to work on Luis Suarez after bite on Branislav Ivanovic

Liverpool's Suarez faces FA probe after 'bite' incident

Reuters Video: Unlikely soccer sensation goes viral

Video of an overweight man with incredible soccer skills becomes an Internet hit. Sharon Reich reports.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: A Welsh Maradona? Maybe ... But one thing you can be sure of - Andrew Cassidy is an Internet sensation. Video of the 50-year-old in Milford Haven, Wales, bouncing a soccer ball with his body, has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube since it was posted two days ago. The former fisherman is incredibly agile. But says he has had no intention of bringing his skills to the field.
ANDREW CASSIDY: "I had a friend of mine who died, who was a flatmate of mine and I was overweight and I needed to think about something else and I started doing it to lose weight and for something to keep me active, you know, keep my mind active, and it's just carried on from there."
REPORTER: And now, newspapers are reporting that he'll be heading to Dubai to show off his fancy footwork. Organizers of the World Freestyle Football Championships have invited him to perform at the opening ceremony in May.

Related articles

Welsh Maradona

'Fat footballer' Andrew Cassidy: Fame a 'dream come true' - video

Need to Read: The 20-stone 50 year old who thinks he's better than Messi

20-stone footballer gets 1m hits on the internet

Move aside Gareth Bale: Watch the 20-stone Welshman whose football skills have racked up ONE MILLION YouTube views

Cartoon: Mac on Becks' H&M Underwear Ad

This cartoon by Mac from The Daily Mail was inspired by David Beckham's new underwear ad for H&M, which was directed by Guy Ritchie. In the ad, Beckham is shown running around Beverly Hills, dressed only in his pants and slippers.

In Mac's cartoon, the action is transposed to snowy Britain, and Becks is frozen solid. A policeman is on the phone to David's wife Victoria, telling her, "Your husband's out in his underpants again ... okay, we'll shove him on the roof rack."

VOCABULARY
1. A roof rack is a metal frame fixed on the roof of a car, used for carrying large objects, bicycles etc.
2. To shove something somewhere means to put it there quickly and carelessly. • Is it OK if I shove some clothes in the washing machine?

Related articles

This is a video of David Beckham running about half naked in his pants. Don't mention it

David Beckham teases fans with sexy H&M shots

I've got your Beck: Body double used for rear shots in David Beckham underwear ads

Cartoons: Mac's Pick of 2012

david beckham takes over h&m twitter feed and posts la underwear vid

Was Volkswagen's 'Get Happy' Super Bowl Ad Racist?

One of the most talked-about commercials during Sunday's Super Bowl was an ad for Volkswagen in which a white, happy-go-lucky businessman from Minnesota speaks in a stereotypical, exaggerated Jamaican accent.

Some commentators have accused the ad of being racist. During a segment Monday on CNN's Starting Point with Soledad O'Brien, New York Times columnist Charles Blow blasted the ad, calling it "like blackface with voices." Meanwhile, Barbara Lippert, editor-at-large of Mediapost.com, complained on the Today show: 'It's just saying, ''Black people are happy.''' Read more at MailOnline >> 

However, the Jamaican tourism minister has reacted positively, saying the ad is very creative and truly taps into the tremendous mass appeal that Brand Jamaica and its hospitable people have globally.

Check out a stream of all the 2013 Super Bowl ads here.

DISCUSSION POINT
Was the ad just a funny joke, or did it actually cross the line into racism? What do you think?

TRANSCRIPT
MALE OFFICE WORKER: I hate Mondays.
FEMALE OFFICE WORKER: Yeah, they're the worst.
DAVE: No worries, man. Everything will be alright. Ha ha ha, yeah, mon.
MALE OFFICE WORKER: Come on.
DAVE: Don't fret, me brother. Sticky bun come soon.
DAVE: Yeah. Wicked coffee, Mr. Jim.
DAVE: Julia, turn the frown the other way around.
COLLEAGUE: Hey Dave, you're from Minnesota right?
DAVE: Yes, I. The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. The Gopher State.
BOSS: So in conclusion, things are pretty dismal.
DAVE: You know what this room needs? A smile. Who want to come with I?
WINSTON: You guys are three minutes late.
CO-WORKER: Don't be no cloud on a sunny day.
BOSS: Yeah, chill Winston.
WINSTON: Sir?
DAVE: Respect bossman.
VOICEOVER: That's the power of German engineering.  

Related articles

Volkswagen Super Bowl Commercial 2013: Was The 'Get Happy' Ad's Jamaican Accent Racist? (VIDEO)

The Least Happy Jamaican: On Volkswagen's Super Bowl Commercial

Volkswagen's Super Bowl Ad Isn't Racist

Does Jamaican flavor of Volkswagen's Super Bowl ad go too far?

Critics Calling Volkswagen's Super Bowl Commercial Racist (VIDEO)

Cartoon: Beckham Moves to PSG. French Tattooists Celebrate.

This cartoon by Paul Thomas from the Daily Express relates to news that David Beckham has joined French football club Paris St Germain on a five-month contract (see articles below).

EXPLANATION
In addition to being known as a football player, David Beckham is famous for his slew of tattoos that he shows off on his usually shirtless body (see here). This is why members of the Federation of French Tattoists are celebrating Becks' arrival with champagne, no doubt anticipating a boom in the demand for tattoos!

COMMENT
This cartoon provides good material for a discussion of cultural stereotypes. French men wearing berets and striped shirts (not to mention the twirly moustache). The Eiffel Tower to represent Paris. Tattoo aficionados as fat blokes with shaved heads and earrings. See here and here for more on French stereotypes.

VOCABULARY
A tattoo is a permanent picture that is drawn on a part of your body by putting ink into your skin with a needle. Tattoo is also a verb: He decided to have an eagle tattooed on his back. The place where you go to get a tattoo is called a tattoo parlour. 

NOTE
You can see loads of photos and watch an extract from Beckham's PSG press conference at Mail Online. 

Related articles

Beckham joins PSG, donating salary to charity

David Beckham confirms plans to donate full PSG salary to charity

David Beckham to play for Paris Saint-Germain

Column: Beckham brings 'wow' factor to Paris

Cartoon: Beckham to Leave LA Galaxy

Reuters Video: Armstrong gets emotional

Lance Armstrong chokes up talking about his kids during part two of Oprah interview. Julie Noce reports.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: In part two of Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah, a moment of visible remorse when asked about his children.
LANCE ARMSTRONG: "When this all really started I saw my son defending me and saying that's not true, what you are saying about my dad is not true, and it almost goes to this question of why now (pauses, shakes head) he can't (pauses) yeah (pauses) that's when I knew I had to tell him."
REPORTER: Armstrong's tell-all interview, in which he admitted to using performance enhancing drugs to help him win seven Tour de France titles, comes after denying the claims for some 13 years. Armstrong fought back tears when describing the moment he told his children that he had been lying. The disgraced cyclist also said the punishment he received from the US Anti-Doping Agency - a lifetime ban from competing - was too harsh, equating it to the death penalty. But USADA is unlikely to offer a reduced punishment unless outstanding questions can be addressed - like whether he doped in 2009 and 2010, a charge he denied during the interview with Oprah.

Related articles

Reuters Video: Armstrong admits doping to Oprah

Lance Armstrong: I Deserve to Compete Again

Lance Armstrong: I deserve to compete again

Part II: Armstrong Shamed by Doping Scandal

Tearful Armstrong wants to compete again

Reuters Video: Armstrong admits doping to Oprah

Cyclist Lance Armstrong admits to doping during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Julie Noce reports.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: It was the first question she asked him, and he finally said yes.
OPRAH WINFREY: In all seven of your Tour de France victories did you ever take banned substances or blood dope?
LANCE ARMSTRONG: "Yes"
REPORTER: After denying it for years, Lance Armstrong stately plainly and without emotion that he did use drugs to help him win seven Tour de France titles during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Armstrong said he did not believe he could have won without doping. He told Oprah he never considered himself to be a cheat and was confident that he would have gotten away with it, until the drug testing procedures were dramatically improved. Several of Armstong's fellow riders testified that he had doped in an investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last year.
LANCE ARMSTRONG: "I was a bully in the sense that I tried to control the narrative and if I didn't like what somebody said, for whatever reasons in my own head, whether I viewed that as somebody being disloyal or a friend turning on you, or whatever, I tried to control that, and said 'That's a lie. They're liars'".
REPORTER: Armstrong had offered to pay more that $5 million to the U.S. government in compensation for an alleged fraud against the U.S. Postal Service, which had for years sponsored his cycling team. It's possible that Armstrong could face a prison sentence for lying under oath.

Related articles

Lance Armstrong admits doping to Oprah

Cartoon: Lance Armstrong Recycled

Lance Armstrong confesses to Oprah Winfrey: My mythic story would have been impossible without doping

Lance Armstrong Interview: Cyclist Confesses Doping To Oprah

Armstrong admits to doping in Oprah interview

Reuters Video: Lance Armstrong discusses doping with Oprah Winfrey

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey says cyclist Lance Armstrong '' didn't come clean the way I expected'' of her much anticipated interview with the disgraced athlete. Deborah Gembara reports.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: It's the interview many have been waiting for. The cyclist is expected to confess to using performance enhancing drugs.
OPRAH WINFREY: "I would say he did not come clean in the manner that I expected. It was surprising to me. I would say that for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized and riveted by some of his answers."
REPORTER: Armstrong has always denied doping but this will be first time he addresses the issue since he was stripped of his seven Tour De France titles last year.
OPRAH WINFREY: "I think the most important questions and the answers that people around the world had been waiting to hear were answered and certainly answered."
REPORTER: A cancer survivor who went on to win cycling top prize, Armstrong's story made him a hero far beyond the world of sports. In the wake of a US Anti-doping Agency report last year, which described as the ringleader of a highly sophisticated doping ring, the once-revered cyclist has become a cautionary tale about the extent athletes will go to in order to win. His interview will air on Winfrey's OWN network on Thursday.

Related articles

Watch: Lance Armstrong's Interview With Oprah Winfrey: Cyclist Admits Doping

Lance Armstrong 'admits to doping' in Oprah Winfrey interview

Lance Armstrong 'comes clean' in interview with Oprah Winfrey

Cyclist Mark Cavendish's frustration boils over at Lance Armstrong questions

Cartoon: Lance Armstrong Recycled

Cartoon: Beckham to Leave LA Galaxy

This cartoon by Andy Davey from The Sun relates to reports that David Beckham will leave current team Los Angeles Galaxy in ten days’ time, starting a £12 million global tug of war that could make him football’s highest paid player. Read more >>

THE CARTOON
The scene is the L.A. Galaxy dressing room, where a whole area is devoted to Beckham and his products (shoes, underwear, sunglasses, male grooming products). Beckham is looking at himself in a mirror as he arranges his hair. One of the other players comments, "The dressing room just won't be the same without him". You can say that again!

GRAMMAR
"Won't" is the contracted form of "will not". • David Beckham says he won't make a decision on his footballing future until Christmas or the New Year.

Related articles

David Beckham Is Leaving The L.A. Galaxy, Is Australia Next?

David Beckham Is Leaving The L.A. Galaxy, Is Australia Next?

Beckham in £12m global tug of war

David Beckham to leave LA Galaxy: Paris St Germain favourites to sign former England midfielder

David Beckham Ends Los Angeles Galaxy Career

Cartoon: Lance Armstrong Recycled

This cartoon by Joe Heller from the Green Bay Press-Gazette relates to news that Lance Armstrong has been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned for life after the International Cycling Union (UCI) ratified the United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) sanctions against the American cyclist (and drug cheat).

The cartoonist plays on the word 'cycle', showing different types of cycle before the final image—a recycle bin containing Armstrong's trophies and cycling kit.

VOCABULARY 
If you recycle things that have already been used such as bottles or sheets of paper, you process them so that they can be used again. • The objective is to recycle 98% of household waste. 

ALSO SEE
• "Sickened" UCI strips Armstrong of Tour wins (Reuters)
• Lance Armstrong stripped of Tour de France titles - video (BBC News)
• Lance Armstrong Is Stripped of His 7 Tour de France Titles (New York Times)

Cartoon: "Doped" vs Dope

This cartoon by Patrick Blower from The Daily Telegraph uses a play on words to connect two news stories. On the left, we can see disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who has been banned for life by USADA for doping, coercing other riders to use performance-enhancing products and trafficking drugs. And on the right, Conservative MP and Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell who has been at the center of a controversy since clashing with police officers who stopped him cycling out of the main gates of Downing Street. It is alleged that the senior Tory called the officers “f------ plebs”. He has insisted he did not use “the words attributed” to him, but has refused to detail exactly what he did say.

VOCABULARY
1. If someone dopes, they take drugs. • It wasn't only US Postal that was doping, of course. More than half the Tour de France winners since 1980 have either tested positive, been sanctioned for doping, or admitted it.
2. If someone calls a person a dope, they think that the person is stupid. • A parish priest has slated Taoiseach Enda Kenny as "a dope" over the controversy surrounding his Vatican visit.

ALSO SEE
• Andrew Mitchell must tell truth over 'pleb’ row or quit, say police (The Telegraph)
• Lance Armstrong's former teammate spills the dirt on disgraced champion's sordid regime (Herald Sun)

Reuters Video: Doping evidence against Armstrong overwhelming-USDA

New evidence released by the US Anti-Doping Agency says Lance Armstrong ran the most sophisticated doping ring in sport history. Julie Noce reports.

TRANSCRIPT
A new report from the US Anti-Doping Agency reveals overwhelming evidence that pro-cyclist Lance Armstrong was heavily involved in a massive doping scheme. 1000 pages of evidence provided by the agency include first hand accounts, scientific documents, financial payments, emails and lab tests that show quote "undeniable proof" that Armstrong was not only a willing participant, but the ringleader of a sophisticated doping ring. 11 former teammates gave sworn testimonies admitting they had used and were a part of the doping scheme.... the most surprising being that George Hincapie who was thought to be one of Armstrong's most loyal and trusted friends. Armstrong has never failed a drug test and has always denied any wrongdoing. But last month he received a lifetime ban from professional cycling last when he decided not to defend himself against USADA's doping charges. At the time, he challenged the agency to prove its case. They did so with the release of the report. Armstrong has so far not responded to the report. The International Cycling Union has 21 days to file an appeal.

ALSO SEE
• Lance Armstrong was ringleader of biggest doping conspiracy in sporting history, say USADA (The Telegraph)
• Lance Armstrong's team 'ran most sophisticated doping programme ever' (The Guardian)
• Tour de France legend Lance Armstrong 'threatened to sack team-mates who did not use drugs  (Mail Online)