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Stephen Jay Gould, an American paleontologist and influential writer of popular science once said, \u201cI’m not a great deductive thinker, but I will admit to having competence in a very wide range of things – not being afraid to try to write about baseball, choral music and dinosaurs in the same week and see connections among them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Many would say that making connections across various facets of life has a tremendous combination of entertainment and educational value. It is tough to top programming that provokes critical thinking while retaining a light-hearted atmosphere that encourages leisurely enjoyment. While the search for these kinds of media can be arduous, folks don\u2019t have to look any farther than WCGR, Concordia University\u2019s student-led radio broadcast network. The One-Two,<\/i> a new radio program on Wednesday nights from 7:30-9:00, may be the go-to outlet for your healthy dose of soccer and politics. The intriguing combo that elaborates on both \u201cthe beautiful game\u201d and current events is fueled by the dynamic duo of Rowand Esmiel and Diego Ramirez.<\/p>\n
As far as the structure of the show, Esmiel explains \u201cWe will try to engender a lively discussion of every week\u2019s Premier League games, La Liga games, and then an overview of title races around Europe. Then we\u2019ll have a little current events section and a \u2018guest corner\u2019 where we have people of note give their in-depth opinions.\u201d As far as to whether or not listeners need to have a working knowledge of soccer or follow it closely, he adds, \u201cWe\u2019ll be very general in the beginning and try to be informative and talk about the basics of each league so that people who don\u2019t have a specific understanding can become informed. If we say anything that is topical we will explain it in depth so we hope that nothing we say will be too steeped in jargon for people to get.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Esmiel, the show will bring together two of his life\u2019s passions \u2013 soccer and politics. A senior at CUC, Esmiel has extensive knowledge in both categories. In addition to his studies in the area of political science, Esmiel has also had the opportunity to work in politics during a semester in which he studied in Washington D.C. where he worked closely with the House of Representatives and the progressive caucus in the house and senate. He cites working directly with a few congressmen as his most relevant experience in politics. Additionally, he described his role on his high school debate team as \u201can avenue to get into political culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Esmiel also connects his interest in politics to his personal background. While his birth place was Hamilton, Ontario in his native Canada, his family culture actually hails from Kurdistan, a region in southeastern Turkey. He states that his Kurdish background and culture as a minority group contribute to his involvement in politics. \u201cNot only in America, but in our own homeland we are a stateless people. We are the world\u2019s largest population of stateless people [meaning] we don\u2019t have a country so, obviously, it is not difficult to become politically active because that theme is always relevant,\u201d Esmiel notes. He moved to the United States after about five years in Canada and a yearlong stay in Kurdistan, but the influence of his Kurdish culture would never fade. His mother and father both spoke Kurdish so, naturally, that was his first language and the predominant language spoken in his home growing up. \u201cI was part of the culture in that there was Kurdish music in the house, Kurdish food, and even Kurdish clothing and gifts in the form of hats and shoes and all the images and symbolism of our culture,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
Continuing with politics, his father was the founder of a Kurdish discourse forum in Hamilton, Ontario hosted by his graduate school – McMaster University. \u201cHis watching of Kurdish news and current events was naturally in my peripherals,\u201d says Esmiel. All in all, it is easy to see how politics are relevant in his life from a cultural perspective on an international level as it boils down to \u201cWanting to be current in my background translated into being interested in the news in general, so that\u2019s how I became interested in current events,\u201d concludes Esmiel.<\/p>\n
Diving into the second aspect of the show, soccer is an integral part of Esmiel\u2019s life and has been for quite some time. While he grew up playing the game mostly in his backyard and neighborhood in a casual environment, he has a bit of competitive playing experience that features two years as a member of the Junior Varsity team at Parkway West High School in St. Louis, MO. Nearing the end of his undergraduate college experience, Esmiel can still be found playing the game as he frequently attends futsal open gym sessions and intramural events on campus at CUC in addition to competing in indoor leagues when he returns home for breaks in St. Louis. \u201cI think of myself as a bit of a Xabi Alonso, I like to dwell on the ball, look up and find a pass,\u201d he says with a smile.<\/p>\n
As far as becoming seriously involved in the depth of the sport, Esmiel adds that the 2008 European Championship and the 2010 World Cup were pivotal. \u201cI\u2019ve always had an interest in playing the game, but it was at that time that watching it blew up for me.\u201d After these matches, Esmiel notes that he began closely following his favorite players – notably David Villa and Fernando Torres into their respective clubs. The interest in following specific players opened the door to social media platforms and \u201cI found more subcultures of soccer that drew me into the debates, the storylines, and players that suddenly became interesting,\u201d explains Esmiel.<\/p>\n
Together with his co-host Diego Ramirez, a Sociology\/Marketing double-major and member of CUC\u2019s men\u2019s soccer team, the duo hopes to inspire listeners to engage in an up-beat mix of soccer and politics.<\/p>\n
Lastly, Esmiel communicates the idea that, \u201cSoccer is a form of expression, a form of soft power to be wielded and displayed in the international community such that I believe there is an inherent link between politics and soccer. But also, it\u2019s a form of escapism like reading a book that you really like or any kind of hobby that takes you away from your day to day life because soccer has its own drama, its own controversy, its own storylines and themes and characters to attach to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are prepared to be informed by listeners on things that they find interesting. We\u2019re all about fresh content so we encourage conversation regarding any sort of interests, hobbies, or events that they find cool.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Stephen Jay Gould, an American paleontologist and influential writer of popular science once said, \u201cI’m not a great deductive thinker, but I will admit to having competence in a very wide range of things – not being afraid to try to write about baseball, choral music and dinosaurs in the same week and see connections […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":2724,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-concordia-news","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spectator.cuchicago.edu\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}