Empezamos!

It is an exciting day as we are on the cusp of the start of the Spanish futbol season. La Segunda Division starts its play tomorrow with Rayo Vallecano-Zaragoza and Levante-Murcia. So in order to get prepared, let's start meeting some of the teams.

Alaves - This team from the Basque town of Vitoria once put one of the greatest charges into any European futbol final. Their epic UEFA Cup final with Liverpool in 2001 will go down as one of the greatest. Sadly, as the game went into extra time, Liverpool scored the now extinct 'golden goal' off of an own goal of all things. Alaves was an underdog going into this final and showed all of Europe their heart and courage. Since then, it's been rough times at the Mendizorroza. Perhaps this is the year they can recapture glory and make it back to the Primera.

Albacete - Its formal name is Albacete Balompie. Albacete is in the Castilla-La Mancha region of the country. They are mostly a 2nd division team that did make a couple cameos in the Primera in the last decade. Former national team-er Fernando Morientes started his career there before moving on to bigger and better things at Real Madrid, Liverpool and now in Valencia.

Alicante - This is a city better known as a tourist spot. Don't even think about trying to visit this part of Spain during the month of August. This seaside resort was thrilled to see their boys get promoted from the Segunda B so expectations are minimal this year. The fans would probably be happy to see Alicante stay up for another year.

Castellon - Yet another team, like Alicante, who plays in the Comunidad de Valencia. They are a mainstay in La Segunda but did have a brush with fame in 1973 when they made it all the way to the final of the Copa Del Rey. That team featured current Spanish National Team coach Vincente Del Bosque.

Celta de Vigo - Ah Celta.... One of my favorites. I've had the good fortune of not only being in Vigo several times in my life, but also catching a Celta game at the Balaidos. However my fondest memory of Celta is the Fall of 1998, watching them beat Real Madrid in the Bernabeu 1-2. Celta was in their Primera Division heyday with Revivo, Catanha, Mostovoi and Karpin. There was also a young Frenchman by the name of Makelele who roamed the field for the 'Vigueses'. Celta owned Madrid that night and I had a ball watching it with my Galician friends. Celta was relegated in 2006 and stumbled last year to a mid-table finish. This team made great strides less than a decade ago in European play. I hope they can get back there soon.

Cordoba - In a town best known for "La Mezquita" a relic of Andalucia's Muslim heritage, CF Cordoba has never given its fans much hope in prayer for a promotion to La Primera. This team has mainly bounced from La Segunda to Segunda B. As of late, they are constantly in danger of being relegated to Segunda B. I would not be surprised if that happens this year.

We'll talk about more of the teams next week. Here is the schedule for this week:

Jornada 1
Rayo - Murcia
Levante - Zaragoza
Celta - Girona
R.Sociedad - Las Palmas
Alicante - Xerez
Tenerife - Gimnástic
Salamanca - Alavés
Huesca - Castellón
Córdoba - Hércules
Albacete - Sevilla At
Elche - Eibar

Welcome!

To the ones and ones of you who may accidentally end up looking at this blog, I say welcome! I have started this blog to chronicle my quirky obsession with 2nd division (and beyond) Spanish futbol.

A quick background - In the Fall of 1996, I hopped on a plane and headed to Madrid, Spain to do a semester abroad in college. I had the benefit of living with a Spanish family. Fortunately my Spanish host father was a 'fanatico' of futbol so it was instilled in me from the start. I devoured copies of Spanish sports daily newspapers such as Marca, El Mundo Deportivo and As, mainly so I could help improve my Spanish but also equip myself with the knowledge to speak with the locals. It worked.

One thing that the Spanish sports media does not lack for is hype and drama in their print. This was evidenced by Marca referring to the Spanish 2nd Division as "El Infierno". In English, that bluntly means, "Hell". But why should the level just below the 1st division receive the scarlet letter of "Hell"? Maybe it's because teams who fall from the 1st division into the 2nd division sometimes never recuperate and they never make it back to La Primera. Oviedo, Compostela and Extremadura - I'm looking at you. And it's why teams who do gain that precious promotion from El Infierno into the 1st Division have over-the-top celebrations where the club president can be found drinking cidra/una rioja/jerez/cava etc... in the town's fountains or in its Plaza Mayor.

So here we are, a blog devoted entirely to El Infierno and its bastardly cousins in the lower divisions of Spanish. If anything, hopefully before you skip on to a more interesting blog, you might learn a little about Spanish culture, history, language y por supuesto, futbol.

I'll be back soon with a season preview...